Scott Mathieson is one of the smallest referees in the Football League, but certainly one of the longest serving.
He joined the list in 1994, meaning he is now in his 18th season at this level.
Mr Mathieson has never looked like making any progress up the ladder, but has enjoyed a couple of prestigious appointments in the last two seasons.
In April 2010 he was the referee for the JPT Final at Wembley between Southampton and Carlisle, while last May he took charge of the League Two play-off semi-final between Torquay and Shrewsbury.
Scott’s last Dale game was in August when he oversaw the first win of the season as we defeated Chesterfield 3-2 in the Carling Cup.
In total, he has been in charge of 17 of our matches down the years, with mixed results:
15 August 1995 York C (h, Coca Cola Cup) W 2-1
10 February 1996 Scarborough (h) L 0-2
07 September 1996 Hull C (a) D 1-1
14 January 1997 Chester C (a) D 0-0
27 August 1997 Stoke C (a, Coca Cola Cup) D 1-1
27 September 1997 Brighton & HA (a) L 1-2
28 March 1998 Doncaster R (h) W 4-1
25 March 2000 Carlisle U (h) W 3-2
10 March 2001 Kidderminster H (h) D 0-0
24 August 2002 Darlington (h) D 1-1
19 August 2003 Stoke C (a, Carling Cup) L 1-2
03 April 2004 Lincoln C (h) L 0-3
29 April 2006 Bristol R (h) W 2-0
25 November 2006 Mansfield T (h) W 2-0
12 February 2008 Hereford U (h) L 2-4
10 March 2009 Bradford C (h) W 3-0
10 August 2011 Chesterfield (h, Carling Cup) W 3-2
So far this season Mr Mathieson has refereed 26 matches, showing 61 yellow cards and two red.
He has had quite a number of high profile appointments at Championship level, including the first Football League game of the campaign - Hull v Blackpool - Nottingham Forest v Derby and the always-tetchy Roses battle between Burnley and Leeds.
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