Mr Sutton was dropped from the league list at the end of the 2006/07 campaign for poor marks, but he has fought his way back to such an extent that he refereed last season’s Blue Square Premier play-off final between Torquay and Cambridge.

We met Gary early in this campaign when he was the man in the middle for Dale’s U2/glass-induced 2-1 defeat at Rotherham.

His last Dale game in his first spell on the list was in November 2006 when Tresor Kandol scored a hat-trick as we lost 3-2 at Barnet.

Prior to that, he refereed our 1-1 home draw with Cheltenham in August 2005, which was only his second match at league level.

He was also in charge at Wrexham on Boxing Day 2005, when a bizarre penalty awarded against Gareth Griffiths in our 2-1 defeat probably explains why he only lasted another 18 months on the league list!

So far this season Mr Sutton has refereed 22 games, showing 55 yellow cards and five red.

The majority of his matches have been in League Two, including Monday’s clash between Port Vale and Dagenham.

REFWORLD PROFILE: http://www.refworld.com/referee/2339/1

Other famous Garys

Gary Glitter
Gary Speed
Gary Player
Gary Newbon
Gary Ablett
Gary Baldi

Other famous Suttons

Dave Sutton
(Every list needs a Dave Sutton)