First-year referee Andy Madley will be the man-in-the-middle for Dale’s final game of 2011 at Walsall on New Year’s Eve.

A 28-year-old schoolteacher from Wakefield, Andy is the brother of Football League referee Bobby Madley, who officiated at Dale’s 3-1 home win over Bristol Rovers in February.

Both brothers were linesmen in the Football League and Premier League before their promotions and are obviously hoping to step-up to the top flight middle in the near future.

Andy’s first game as a referee at league level was Morecambe v Barnet in August and before Boxing Day, when he was due at Northampton v Burton, he had taken charge of 14 matches this term, showing 41 yellow cards and three red.

One of those red cards was shown to Torquay’s former Dale striker Rene Howe in their recent 3-0 defeat at Accrington.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters