Second year referee Geoff Eltringham is the man in the middle for Friday night’s FA Cup tie with FC United.
This is an appointment which Keith Hill won’t relish, as he was highly critical of Mr Eltringham in September 2009 when he refereed Dale’s 2-1 home defeat by Bradford in the JPT.
However, he gave an assured performance in Dale’s Carling Cup tie at Barnsley in August, so maybe a year on the league list has seen his abilities at this level reach a more acceptable standard.
Certainly being appointed to a live televised match would support this view.
So far this season Geoff has refereed 11 games, showing 42 yellow cards and six red.
His most recent match was the League 2 game between Morecambe and Stockport on Tuesday, while a fortnight ago he refereed Preston’s thrilling 4-3 win over Crystal Palace, which was only Geoff’s second Championship level fixture.
His first was at Turf Moor in August where Burnley defeated Leicester 3-0.
If you like Geoff’s performance, then why not add him as a friend on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Geoff-Eltringham/535107595