Dale’s home game against Grimsby Town on Tuesday night will be refereed by DECLAN BOURNE.

The Nottinghamshire police officer is in his seventh season on the National Group and this will be his eleventh Dale appointment, the second this season and the fifth in the last 18 months.

We last saw Declan in the 1-0 defeat at Colchester at the end of August, while his most recent Spotland appearances was on Good Friday when he refereed Dale’s 4-2 reverse to Morecambe.

Earlier last season he was in the middle for the FA Cup fourth qualifying round loss at home to York City, while in April 2025, Declan oversaw the FA Trophy semi-final against Spennymoor Town. Two months before that, he took charge of our 1-1 draw at Southend United.

Mr Bourne was also at Spotland in December 2022 when he officiated the terrible 4-1 loss to Harrogate Town and in the previous April, Declan refereed a 0-0 home draw versus Swindon Town.

In October 2021, he was the referee at Barrow where a mopping up operation by the Holker Street groundstaff (and Henry Hoover) allowed the game to take place, albeit after a 30-minute delay.

Dale won that match 2-1, as they did at Bristol Rovers in January 2021 in a behind closed doors fixture with the same referee.

Two months before that game, Mr Bourne was at Spotland, where a customary injury-time goal for AFC Wimbledon gave them a 1-0 victory over Brian Barry-Murphy’s hapless Rochdale team.

Saturday will be Declan’s sixth appointment of the season, with the most recent being Swindon v Newport in the Jersey Mike’s Trophy four weeks ago.

SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS DALE GAMES
Nov 2020 Dale 0 AFC Wimbledon 1
Jan 2021 Bristol Rovers 1 Dale 2
Oct 2021 Barrow 1 Dale 2
Apr 2022 Dale 0 Swindon 0
Dec 2022 Dale 1 Harrogate 4
Feb 2025 Southend 1 Dale 1
Apr 2025 Dale 2 Spennymoor 2 (FA Trophy)
Oct 2025 Dale 1 York 2 (FA Cup)
Apr 2026 Dale 2 Morecambe 4
Aug 2026 Colchester 1 Dale 0

Photo: Action Images via Reuters