It was the last of his four Burnley games that season and on this occasion there was no shocking penalty decision against us as there had been in two of the previous three against Everton and Portsmouth.
From Stoke, Dowd will be 52 in January and is one of the longest serving officials in English football which saw him run the line in Football League games from 1992 before making it into the middle five years later.
His first Premier League game came 13 years ago next Monday between Fulham and Everton; and he made his mark with seven yellow cards and sending off Luis Boa Morte (Fulham) and Everton's David Weir.
He was given three more top flight games that season but is now, very much, one of our top referees and this season has only dropped into the Football League on one occasion for a Championship game between Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday in August.
He's refereed nine Premier League games since, plus one Capital One Cup tie between two Premier League clubs, and it is fair to say he hasn't been shy when using his cards. There have been just two red cards; Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic in their 1-1 draw at Manchester United and Palace's Mile Jedinak eight days later in their 3-1 home defeat against Sunderland.
The yellow card count, which includes Burnley's Stephen Ward and Scott Arfield, has, however, already reached 52, an average of over five per game. There have been 21 yellow cards for home team players and 31 for away team players.
He hasn't had a card free game since December 2012. That was a Premier League game at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and Aston Villa. Maybe he was just too busy that day counting the goals as Chelsea won 8-0.
His last game was last Monday's 1-1 draw between Villa and Southampton at Villa Park. There were just three yellow cards in that game for Jores Okore of Villa and Southampton's Nathaniel Clyne and Victor Wanyama.
Phil Dowd is currently in 14th place in RATE THE REF with a rating of 59.12 out of 100.
Tonight I expect we'll see one of the country's more officious referees and don't expect it pass it without a flurry of cards.
The assistant referees are Dave Bryan (Lincolnshire) and Darren Cann (Norfolk). The fourth official is Chris Foy who refereed our home draw against Manchester United.
Previous Burnley Games
| Season | Opponents | V | Res | Y | R | Burnley Players Carded |
| 1998/99 | LINCOLN | h | 1-1 | 5 | 1 | n Ford, Reid n Reid |
| 2000/01 | GRIMSBY | h | 1-1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2000/01 | GILLINGHAM | a | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | n Branch |
| 2001/02 | SHEFFIELD WED | a | 2-0 | 5 | 0 | n A Moore, Briscoe, West, Weller |
| 2002/03 | FULHAM | h | 3-0 | 2 | 1 | n I Moore |
| 2002/03 | WATFORD | h | 4-7 | 2 | 0 | n McGregor |
| 2003/04 | WEST HAM | h | 1-1 | 5 | 0 | n Blake, Branch, West |
| 2004/05 | LEEDS | a | 2-1 | 4 | 0 | n Duff, Sinclair |
| 2004/05 | BOURNEMOUTH | h | 2-0 | 4 | 0 | n McGreal, Sinclair |
| 2004/05 | DERBY | a | 1-1 | 4 | 0 | n Grant, Valois |
| 2005/06 | HULL | h | 1-0 | 3 | 0 | n Harley |
| 2006/07 | LEEDS | h | 2-1 | 3 | 1 | n Hyde |
| 2007/08 | IPSWICH | a | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | n Alexander, Elliott, J O'Connor n Spicer |
| 2008/09 | SOUTHAMPTON | h | 3-2 | 6 | 0 | n Carlisle, Thompson |
| 2009/10 | EVERTON | h | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | n Elliott |
| 2009/10 | PORTSMOUTH | a | 0-2 | 6 | 0 | n Bikey, Mears |
| 2009/10 | CHELSEA | h | 1-2 | 2 | 0 | n Bikey |
| 2009/10 | LIVERPOOL | h | 0-4 | 3 | 0 | n Duff, Cork |
| 2014/15 | LEICESTER | a | 2-2 | 4 | 0 | n Ward, Arfield |