Dale’s trip to Morecambe on Boxing Day will be refereed by AARON JACKSON.

This is the third time the Liverpool official has refereed Dale this term, having previously been in the middle

for the National League Cup ties at home to Burnley U21 and Manchester United U21 earlier in the season.

Now in his seventh season as a National List official, Friday will be Aaron’s fifth Dale appointment in that time.

In August 2023, he refereed our 2-2 home draw with Bromley, in which a red card was shown to each side, with Adam Clayton ‘walking’ for Dale.

Three months later, Aaron was in the middle as we won 2-1 at Dagenham & Redbridge, a game that is remembered for a magnificent Cian Hayes’ solo goal from distance.

Mr Jackson was also due at Spotland on New Year’s Day this year for the match against Altrincham, but this was postponed as wet weather and pitch problems caused chaos to Dale’s fixture list.

Away from the National League Cup, Aaron has refereed only five times in the league this season, most recently at Carlisle v Woking a fortnight ago. Those games have yielded 17 yellow cards and two red cards.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters