Graham Salisbury from Preston will be the referee on Saturday under orders from his wife to get the game cancelled so he can go last minute Xmas shopping.

Graham Salisbury is one of those referees who just goes about his job with quiet efficiency.

He’ll never reach the Premier League and tends to officiate mainly in Leagues One and Two, but you never hear of much controversy involving him.

We haven’t seen Mr Salisbury since the 2005/06 season when he reffed us four times.

He did both league games against Notts County, awarding us a dubious penalty at Meadow Lane, but turning down one more obvious moments later.

He was in charge when Leyton Orient won 4-2 at Spotland just before Christmas that season, although the red card he gave their Shane Tudor didn’t affect the result.

Mr Salisbury also refereed one of the most remarkable Dale games of modern times. That was our 3-2 LDV Vans Trophy loss at Tranmere when Paul ‘The Difference’ Tait scored not once, but twice. That’s right all you non-believers, TWICE!!!

Delving even further back we find that Graham took charge of Paddy McCourt’s first game in a Dale shirt – the 2-0 LDV defeat of Southport in October 2001.

He was also in the middle when bury slutched a 3-0 win here in August 2004.

Graham’s last Barnet match was early last season when they recorded a 3-2 win at Macclesfield.

On searching Google, we find that Graham Salisbury once wrote a fiction book called Shark Bait, which was, according to reviews, ‘a sad commentary on the personal morality of adolescents’.

We don’t think it’s the same Graham Salisbury … Google tells us our Graham Salisbury was a drummer with the band The Crocketts who were set up at the University of Aberystwyth in 2000.

Or maybe not!!


5 famous Grahams

Graham Barrow
Graham Poll
Golden Grahams
Graham Gooch
Jimmy Graham


4 famous Salisburys

Ian Salisbury
Salisbury Plain
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury, Wilts

Photo: Action Images

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