Dale’s midweek trip to The Shay to face FC Halifax Town will be refereed by DECLAN BROWN.

The Manchester official joined the newly-aligned National List for this season, although he had already taken charge of a couple of games in the fifth tier towards the end of last term.

He spent the majority of 2024/25 refereeing in National League North, culminating in Chorley v King’s Lynn in the play-offs.

This season started at Brackley v Eastleigh on the opening day, before Mr Brown appeared at Spotland on August Bank Holiday Monday for Dale’s game versus Sutton United.

He has since been quite active in the National League and League Two, refereeing 17 matches in total in this campaign, the most recent being Cambridge United v Colchester United last Tuesday

Photo: Action Images via Reuters