Dale’s trip to Yeovil Town on Saturday will be refereed by NIALL SMITH.

The Staffordshire official received promotion to the National List midway through last season and made his National League debut when he refereed Dale’s 1-1 draw at Tamworth in late-February.

After three more fifth tier appointments, we saw Niall again on Easter Monday when he took charge of Dale’s 0-0 home draw with AFC Fylde.

Just before Christmas this season, he was in the middle for our FA Trophy win at Leamington.

This season, Mr Smith has refereed six matches in the National League, the most recent being Eastleigh v Halifax at the end of January, as well as several fixtures in Premier League 2. Those six National League games have seen Niall show 26 yellow cards

Photo: Action Images via Reuters