| Port Vale 4 v 2 Rochdale EFL League Two Saturday, 31st October 2026 Kick-off 12:30 |  |
Refwatch - Port Vale v Rochdale Friday, 30th Oct 2026 16:37 by TVOS Dale’s lunchtime trip to Port Vale on Saturday will be refereed by DECLAN BOURNE. If you’re thinking there’s a sense of deja-vu here after the Grimsby ‘Refwatch’, then you’d be right, but there are mitigating circumstances. Mr Bourne was appointed to the Grimsby game, but was replaced on the night by Scott Oldham, presumably due to an injury or other personal reasons. The referee at Vale Park on Saturday was scheduled to be female official Emily Heaslip, but now she has been replaced by Declan Bourne, for reasons unknown! The Nottinghamshire police officer is in his seventh season on the National Group and Saturday will be his eleventh Dale game, 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 appearance 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 five weeks ago. SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS DALE GAMES Photo: Action Images via Reuters Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
You need to login in order to post your comments |
   Rochdale Polls[ Vote here ] |