Dale’s first home game back in the EFL against Crawley Town on Saturday will be refereed by ZAC KENNARD-KETTLE, son of the ever-popular Trevor Kettle, who retired from the National List four years ago.

Zac is based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne after studying at university there and progressed through the ranks to become a member of the newly-aligned National List of referees in 2024/25.

This means he referees across League One, League Two and the National League, where Dale saw him four times in the last two seasons.

The first game was our 3-0 win at Boston on the opening day of 2024/25, followed by the 2-0 home defeat of Altrincham in the FA Trophy in March of that season.

Last term, Zac refereed Dale’s 1-0 home win over Aldershot in November and the same scoreline against Boston in March.

So, four previous Dale appointments, with four wins and no goals conceded. What could possibly go wrong?

Saturday will be Mr Kennard-Kettle’s third match of this season, with the previous two being in the National League – Altrincham v Southend and Kidderminster v Eastleigh.

MATCH STAT
When Dale met Crawley at Spotland in January 2015, a game they won 4-1 after fans had spent all morning clearing snow from the pitch and surrounds, the referee was Trevor Kettle, the father of Saturday’s match official

Photo: Action Images via Reuters