First-year referee Andy Davies will make the long trip up from Hampshire to take charge of Dale’s home fixture with Torquay on Saturday.

We wondered if Mr Davies was working in the north and had requested a local game, but further investigation reveals he will be travelling from the south coast, presumably on Friday.

However, Andy is no stranger to travelling as he has also refereed games at York and Tranmere this term.

His first Football League game was on the opening day of the campaign at Exeter, where the home side went down 3-0 to Morecambe.

A week later Mr Davies had an eventful afternoon at Wycombe when he had to abandon the match against Bristol Rovers on safety grounds after thunder and lightning had pounded Adams Park.

Discounting that unfinished match, Andy has refereed 17 games this season, showing 58 yellow cards and four red.

One of his games was Torquay’s 4-1 home loss to Southend in November.

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