Ben Toner will make the short trip from Darwen to referee Dale’s first meeting of the season with Wigan on Saturday.

The official is in his third year on the referees’ list and this will be his sixth appointment at a Dale game and the fourth this season!

The most recent of those was last month when Ben refereed Dale’s Checkatrade Trophy tie versus Lincoln.

Just before Christmas he was the fourth official at our 1-1 home draw with Walsall and back in September, Mr Toner was the man in the middle for the dramatic 2-1 win over Doncaster.

In December 2016, Ben was in charge of Dale’s 3-2 Spotland defeat of Scunthorpe and he was also due to referee the home game against Port Vale last March, but the match was postponed and Seb Stockbridge officiated on the new date!

Toner’s other Dale game was in March 2016 when he was in the middle for our 2-0 loss at Shrewsbury.

A 32-year-old science teacher in Fleetwood, Ben has refereed 27 games this term, showing 74 yellow cards and four red.

His most recent match was Mansfield’s 5-0 home win over Newport last Tuesday.

Photo: Action Images

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