Nigel Miller will make his 12th visit to Spotland on Saturday for Dale’s game against Bradford.
The experienced County Durham official was thought to be retiring from duty in each of the last two seasons, but he has gained good enough marks and passed the fitness tests to allow him to still referee at Football League level.
We last saw Mr Miller in March for the 3-0 home win over Portsmouth, which was Dale’s first victory with him as referee for almost five years, as this list of all his Rochdale games shows:
Dec 2003 v Boston (h), W 1-0
Oct 2004 v Yeovil (h), W 2-1
Nov 2005 v Chester (h), D 2-2
Apr 2007 v Macclesfield (h), W 5-0
Mar 2008 v Stockport (a), L 0-2
Oct 2008 v Carlisle (h, JPT), D 2-2
Nov 2009 v Notts Co (h), W 2-1
Aug 2010 v Colchester (h), L 1-2
Mar 2011 v Huddersfield (a), L 1-2
Aug 2011 v Sheffield Wed (a), L 0-2
Mar 2012 v Tranmere (h), L 0-2
Oct 2012 v Morecambe (h), L 1-2
Mar 2013 v Aldershot (h), D 1-1
Mar 2014 v Portsmouth (h), W 3-0
So far this season, Nigel has refereed four games, showing nine yellow cards. His most recent appointment as the man in the middle was at Tranmere v Cheltenham last Saturday, while on Tuesday he was fourth official at Burnley v Sheffield Wednesday in the Capital One Cup.