Dale will meet a new referee on Saturday when Neil Hair takes charge of their League One game at Southend.

The Peterborough-based official is in his first season on the referees’ list and this will be his debut at a Rochdale game.

Neil’s first league appointment was Oldham v MK Dons in August and since then he has refereed entirely in the two basement divisions, as well as Maidstone v Macclesfield in the first round of the FA Cup.

His 15 games have yielded 46 yellow cards and three red, two of which came in the Plymouth v Blackpool match in September.

Another red card shown by Mr Hair was to Tranmere’s Liam Ridehalgh in the FIRST MINUTE of last season’s National League play-off final between Rovers and Boreham Wood at Wembley.

That appointment showed Neil was the top performing referee in the non-league game last season and it seems he has moved up to the EFL with little fuss, if his appointments and lack of controversy are any guide.

Photo: Action Images

Rochdale Polls