Sussex referee Carl Brook will referee Dale for the third time this season when we make the long trip to Exeter City on Saturday.

The 45-year-old, who has been a referee for over 30 years, took charge of Dale’s 3-1 win at Northampton back in August, before making his Spotland debut in January at the 0-0 draw with Bradford City.

Carl was promoted to the National List ahead of last season and after refereeing in League Two for a month, his first League One fixture was Dale’s 2-1 win at Shrewsbury in October 2020.

Later in the season he was in the middle for arguably Dale’s most important game of 2020/21, when we travelled to AFC Wimbledon.

A thrilling spectacle ensued, but from 2-0 and 3-2 up, the injury time goal Dale conceded to make the final score 3-3 actually ended-up costing them their League One status. Probably…

Saturday will be Mr Brook’s 29th match of this campaign and in the previous 28 he has shown 119 yellow cards and nine reds.

His most recent appointment was Plymouth v Sunderland on Monday and in an era when expenses don’t seem to be a problem, Carl has travelled from his Sussex home to places like Tranmere, Scunthorpe, Wigan, Oldham, Harrogate and Bolton, as well as Rochdale, this season.

Photo: Action Images

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