Rochdale AFC: The Squad, The Kit, The Ground and The Games

In my last post, I gave a brief introduction to the club with their history and my reasons for continually supporting them.  In this post, I will look more at the present state of the club and yesterday’s friendly against Stockport County.

The Squad: In this section, I will go through the squad, including recent departures and arrivals (any that happen in the remaining five weeks of the transfer window will be covered in a later post).

Goalkeepers: This season, the two senior goalkeepers, who were at the club last season, remain here.  Sam Russell was signed from Darlington last summer and has proved himself to be a keeper who is solid in just about every area, a tendency to punch being the only occasional weakness.  After missing the end of lastseason with a broken finger, early pre-season indications seem to point to Sam being number one this term.  James Spencer was the other keeper to be signed last summer, this time from Dale’s other play-off rivals Stockport County.  After a promising start to the season, injury saw a loss of his position and his confidence that led to errors in his final appearances of the season.  Hopefully, Spencer will show the ability he has to compete with Russell for the number one jersey.  On a side note, anybody who is familiar with Dale’s play-off campaign may be wondering what became of Tommy Lee, who starred for Dale after he was brought to the club on the terms of an emergency loan.  Unfortunately, the management decided that three senior goalkeepers would be too much and, therefore, did not sign him.  He is currently a free agent after being inexplicably being released by his parent club Macclesfield Town.

Right full-backs: Simon Ramsden was last season’s principal right-sided defender and will likely continue in this role.  He is solid and defence-oriented, with the lack of attacking options that he provides being a possible criticism.  Apart from that and the odd mad moment, ‘Rambo’ is an excellent option to have in this division.  Scott Wiseman has been signed from Darlington this summer to offer competition for Rambo.  I have not had the opportunity of seeing him play yet, though I believe that he will provide an attacking option in this position as well as the ability to play at right wing should he be needed.  As for departures, Gary Brown has been released.  I viewed him as an excellent prospect two seasons ago, but he has not played since then due to injury.  Sadly, this caused him to be released.

Left full-backs: Tom Kennedyhas been the club’s dedicated left-back since he signed from arch-rivals, Bury, last summer.  Filling the void left by Alan Goodall, TK has been a virtual ever present at the left-side of defence.  TK gives the side an attacking option with his exceptional left foot which also offers a threat from set-pieces.  He is also very consistent in defence and definitely a player that Dale need to keep hold of.

Central Defence: The centre of defence has been consistently dominated by the partnership of Nathan Stanton and Rory Mcardle, one of the best in the division.  Nathan Stanton joined the club a couple of seasons ago after his release from Scunthorpe and he has been a fan favourite throughout his time at Spotland.  Possessing deceptively blinding pace for his bulky build, Nathan’s last ditch tackles have become the stuff of legend among the Rochdale faithful and have dug the side out of more than a couple of holes.  With only a lack of height as a weakness, Stanton is an integral part of the team.  This lack of height is a problem that is made up for by Stanton’s ‘partner-in-crime’, Rory Mcardle.  Signed from Sheffield Wednesday after two successful loan spells, Rory often towers over defenders in League Two.  With his aerial prowess, ‘The Wall’ -as he is often known-has impressed many, including Northern Ireland, where he is an international at under 21 level.  Mcardle also brings a goal threat from set-pieces to the Rochdale side; he scored Rochdale’s 1st at Wembley to the (then) delight of the supporters.  To back-up these two, Rochdale also have former Manchester City youngster Nathan D’Laryea.  Also capable of playing at right full-back, D’Laryea’s exceptional footballing education at City’s academy has led him to become a classy defender who is, unfortunately, a bit inexperienced, causing him to succumb to pressure in the play-offs.  Dale also possess another cover player in Marcus Holness.  At 19, Marcus is one of the youngest members of the squad and is definitely one for the future.  After signing from local rivals Oldham Athletic, Marcus has shown signs of having all the necessary attributes of, one day, succeeding Stanton and Mcardle.

Right Midfield:  Like Holness, Kallum Higginbotham is another youngster signed from Oldham’s youth setup.  Higgy is small, agile and has pace to burn-very much a traditional out-and-out winger.  After initial impressing, Higgy’s inexperience led to his form fading.  Consequently,  it is an important season for the winger as he must start showing his skills more consistently and improve to fulfil some of his great potential.  Ben Muirheadis the elder statesman on the right-hand side.  Possessing great pace and bags of experience,  the Manchester United youth product was signed from Bradford after a loan spell.  Personal problems have led him to be transfer-listed, though it looks as though he may stay; after all, he did score the most important penalty in Rochdale history-the one that led to Wembley.  Joe Thompson is a youth product who has shown plenty of potential.  While he still needs to win over many fans, Joey’s performances have led to him even winning the League Two apprentice of the year in the 2006-07 season.

Left Midfield: While all of the wingers at Rochdale AFC tend to swap sides in an effort to confuse the opposition, the left-hand side undoubtedly belongs to Adam Rundle.  After being signed by former manager Steve Parkin, he found himself out of the side due to tactics not being able to accomodate him.  Thankfully, current manager Keith Hill has given Rundle the chance to shine which led to him having a terrific season last term; ending with Rundle being one of the assist leaders in the league and scoring Rochdale’s 2nd at Wembley with his weaker foot.  Much is expected of the north-easterner in the new season.

Central Midfield:  This position has seen the most changes in the Rochdale team over the summer, due to the departures of Jon Doolan and David Perkins.  Jon Doolan’s departure was not unexpected as the veteran’s contract expired, this lead to him becoming player-coach of Southport.  David Perkins, on the other hand, was signed by League One side Colchester United after impressing many with his commanding performances in central midfield.  He will be missed by Dale fans without a doubt.  But on the bright side of life, Rochdalestill have the legend that is Gary Jones on their books.  In his second spell at Rochdale, Jonah as amassed the most appearances for the club and is the current captain.  Jonah is a firm fans’ favourite and fills a Roy Keane-type role at the club-i.e. he is determined, aggressive, hard-working and inspirational.  If I’m honest, he should change his name to Mr. Rochdale! As far as the club is concerned, he is indispensable. Due to the departures, Jonah is joined by a couple of new additions; Clark Keltie and Ciaran Toner.  Clark Keltie joins Dale on a free after he decided to leave Darlington.  Ironically, his last goal for Darlington was his first at Spotland as he cracked in a brilliant penalty to ‘assure’ Darlo’s position at Wembley (or so they thought).  First indications appear to show that Clark is a quality addition to the side and it would seem he possesses excellent passing, vision and awareness skills.  Definitely a bargain and one to watch for the season.  Ciaran Toner is an experienced campaigner who was also signed on a free after he was released by Grimsby.  With two Northern Irish caps to his name, Toner has the experience of a big stage, something that no one in the Dale squad can lay claim to.  As a result, Toner may become essential in May when the race for promortion is at it’s climax.

Centre Forwards: Possibly the position that may decide Rochdale’s fortunes this season.  Correction: WILL decide Rochdale’s fortunes.  The high profile sales (by Dale’s standards) of: Grant Holt, Rickie Lambert and Glenn Murray over recent seasons has seen the departure of top scorers.  Will this season seem the same fate for the class of ‘09?  Hopefully not.  Oh, and hopefully one of them will make at least 20 goals.  By far the best candidate for this is Chris Dagnall.  Daggers has been a consistent scorer ever since he was signed from Tranmere Rovers a few seasons ago.  In my opinion, he is the best Rochdale player and often looks the difference between Dale and their opposition.  The only thing that holds him back is the serious knee injuries that seem to crop up year after year.  The last two seasons have both seen Dagnall sidelined for long periods with knee injuries.  His record of 9 goals in one of these seasons and 23 in the other just prove his class.  He also provided my favourite game of last season; returning from 6 months out to score an 8 minute hat-trick in the 4-1 victory against Rotherham United, including Rochdale’s goal of the season (a curler from 25 yards into the bottom corner with his weaker foot).  Here’s hoping Dagnall has a brilliant, injury-free season.  Last year’s top scorer was Adam Le Fondre.  ‘Alfie’, who was signed from Stockport County, scored 17 goals last term that played a large part in Dale’s promotion push.  Often seen as inconsistent by some fans, Le Fondre can be a difficult player to judge.  Some days he is constantly in the right place at the right time and converts with ease.  On the other hand, some days he is lost and will miss a handful of simple chances.  While the inconsistency could possibly be put down to his youth, fans will be looking for an improvement, though 17 goals again would definitely compensate for poor performances.  Lee Thorpe is the elder statesman of the Dale attack.  At the age of 32, Thorpe has had more teams than Carol Vorderman can count to, but his excellent quality in the air and in holding the ball up give Rochdale something a little bit different as they often lack physical presence at times.  While Thorpe should have an important role to play, he is still recovering from a broken arm that was suffered on the coach up to the play-off semi-final while Thorpe arm wrestled with Rene Howe (now at Morecambe).  This could cause his fitness levels to be low for a while after missing some pre-season.  The new addition to the Dale attack is Jon Shaw.  Shaw looks like a decent signing with many of the attributes that Rochdale required, namely strength, power and an aerial threat.  It must also be mentioned that 20+ goals in a relegated, potless Halifax side is very impressive.  Hopefully, Shaw can soon settle in and reproduce is form at a higher level.  The final striker is youth team product, Will Buckley.  A player who came up through the ranks last season, Buckley will be looking to force his way into the first team this season.  This should be helped by his ability to play in numerous other positions, such as central midfield and right midfield.  Hopefully, Buckley can impress this season.

The Kit:  This would not get a mention unless it was the third radically different kit i as many years, which it is.  After moving from the tradition all-blue to the black-and-white centenary kit (rochdale’s original colours), Rochdale will now be wearing a black-and-blue striped kit that combines both of them.  This kit is deemed as a ‘halfway house’ between the two kits of the team’s 1st century, making it the ideal colours to go into the Dale’s 2nd century….it looks really nice, that is all thats worth knowing!!

The Ground: Spotland is a standard lower league ground to be honest, although definitely nicer than some of the worst grounds in the league (Dagenham….).  It is your standard ‘3 parts seated, one part standing’ setup with a 10,000 capacity that is rarely troubled with average attendances weighing in at about 3,000.  What truly sets the ground apart is Wilbutts Lane chippy that is metres from the ground.  Widely acknowledged as the best chippy in the league, many a fan has enjoyed the delights that are created in that grease-filled gallery of fast food.  Do yourself a favour and pay it a visit.

The Games: Rochdale have had multiple friendlies as they prepare for the new season.  Unfortunately, I was unable to attend any of the away games, of which the majority was formed.  So, consequently, my pre-season comprised of two home games against play-off nemesis Stockport and Premier League big wigs, Bolton Wanderers.  First, I’ll give a brief description of the goals in each game:

Okay, so both games were nil-nil draws.  It is a rather ominous sign for the season, though as both teams are in higher divisions, I’m not overly concerned.  In both games, Rochdale looked sharp and bossed the match, putting together some slick passing.  The sole highlight of the dull match against County was Ciaran Toner’s effort striking the bar.  One of the few debutants, they all played well though this was the closest that any of them came to an end product.  The game overall was a friendly in every sense of the word with the players very reluctant to shoot.  The onion bag was troubled about as much as the audience’s heart rate!  Anyway, Bolton, despite the scoreline, was a different beast.  Rochdale belied their less illustrious opponents and consistently pegged them back into their own half.  This forced Bolton to play on the counter attack, leading to a more open and exciting game with lots of chances.  Even my grandfather enjoyed it- a long-time Bury fan!

Anyway, now you are up to speed at the club.  I will update this post in later posts with future transfer activities (especially loans) and, of course, matches.  Roll on August 9th!!! UP THE DALE!

Believe in the Sign: An Introduction

As many of the eagle-eyed will have noticed, this is the ‘daleandshaker’ blog.  As a result, after the Bury section, here is the Rochdale section and a general introduction to the club and myself.

My name is Liam and I support Rochdale AFC, widely acknowledged as the least successful side in the Football League.  Many wonder why I decide to dwell in deepest, darkest Lancashire and support a team that serves more of a purpose as a punchline than promotion-chasers.  Well, my story is a little more complicated than my Bury counterpart.  Unlike him, I have only been a Rochdale fan for a few years.  While this may seem to make me a ‘lesser’ fan (Boo! Hiss!), I haven’t had quite the easy introduction that he has had to his chosen club.  While Gareth was introduced by his family, my family are also supporters of Bury FC!  So what caused me to strike out against ‘The Man’?  After many years of supporting north-west bigwigs- Manchester United (like many of my family) – my thirst for football demanded something more.  I was tired of only being able to see football through the confines of television.  I yearned for the atmosphere, the tension and the humour that can only be experienced by a live football match.  Well aware that United would be unable to offer this to me, I decided to do what every self-respecting fan should do: support my local team.

My local team at this time were Rochdale AFC.  Shockingly enough, my first ever live match had been a Bury game, but, as I had moved from the Bury area at the age of ten, Rochdale were now my local team.  So, one day, I went to a match with my friends.  Immediately I understood the delights of the lower league; namely the mistakes, the atmosphere (you can hear every shout) and the sheer fanaticism that exists down ‘here’.  I am far from Rochdale’s number one fan, but I have been there when it’s rough and, trust me, it’s a truly joyless pursuit at times, when supporting a struggling team.  But the joy it gives me, and the other 3,000 lunatics (see 17,000 when your going to Wembley), to follow this small club through their trials and tribulations cannot be questioned or replaced.  So there it is, my initiation.

For those of you who cannot even begin to identify this club, it is now time for a history lesson.  As I have mentioned above, Rochdale AFC aren’t exactly what you’d call a celebrated club.  So, consequently, my history will be somewhat briefer than my Bury counterpart who seems to have amassed an encyclopedia (despite that Bury are hardly a picture of success themselves, with two FA Cup wins that your great- grandparents would struggle to remember being the only major successes).  It all started in 1907, those with a bit of maths nous will be able to notice that Rochdale have just celebrated their centenary, but more on that later. For the first 55 years not a right lot happened to be honest as Rochdale continued to be consistently mediocre and even had to apply for re-election to the Football League on many occasions (think of it as an election taking place to decide whether you should be thrown out of a division after finishing bottom).  But in 1962 came a sign. A sign Rochdale fans could believe in (NOTE-Believe in the sign is the translation of Latin on the club’s badge as well as a highly rated book about the club from Mark Hodkinson).  Rochdale reached the League Cup Final, thus becoming the only team ever to do so from the bottom division of League Football.  Unsurprisingly, the Dale lost to Norwich City 4-0 on aggregate after two legs.  But this gave Dale fans a brief brush with success that was only complimented in 1968/69 when a Reg Jenkins-inspired side achieved promotion to give the fans a fully-fledged taste.  Typically, Dale were relegated five seasons later, minimising the effect of what, so far, has been their only promotion.

As a result of this decidedly dismal run, Rochdale have been in the bottom division of league football since 1974 which is a (particularly unwanted) record.  This has lead to Division Four, Division Three or Coca Cola League Two (it has been renamed three times while Rochdale have been in the league) being dubbed as “The Rochdale Division”.  Oh how I love the English sense of humour so much!  Mercifully, the Dale have recently been on a bit of a rise, with the appearance of such footballing luminaries as: Grant Holt, Rickie Lambert, David Perkins, Chris Dagnall, Gary Jones and Jon Doolan (errr, forget the last one) on the hallowed Spotland turf.  The Dale even threatening to escape the doldrums that have become comfortable surroundings in the 2000s.  In the aforementioned decade, Rochdale have twice competed in the League Two Play-offs that decide the fourth team to be promoted.  In 2001-2002, Rochdale got to the play-off semi-finals where they lost to Rushden & Diamonds 5-4 on aggregate.  In 2007-2008, Rochdale  went one better and managed to get to the final after an unbelievable season under former players, Keith Hill and Dave Flitcroft (aka The Dynamic Duo).  This was Rochdale’s 1st visit to Wembley Stadium (let alone the new one) and I was lucky enough to be among the 60 coach, 17,000 strong horde that descended on an unsuspecting London.  Sadly, after a fantastic semi-final victory on penalties against Darlington, Rochdale could not repeat the feat and eventually succumbed to a 3-2 defeat against Stockport County.  That concludes the history lesson (considering that was two months ago, it will have to do) for today.

So if that little adventure through the genrations of mediocrity at Spotland Stadium (the home of the club) has not shown the obsession that is required to support a club such as this, let me spell it out for you.  “We’re sh*t and we know we are” as many fans helpfully put it.  But every day we are becoming less sh*t and that is what it is all about.  So as I chronicle the last season before I embark upon an adventure of my own at university, I will aim to show you the pain, agony and even the odd ecstasy of supporting this club as they hopefully continue a meteoric rise into the new season.

It is likely that my next updates will be covering this week’s home friendlies against Stockport County and Bolton Wanderers as well as an introduction to the squad ahead of the big kick-off on August 9th.

And so it begins.

21 July 2008, 14:56

My name is Gareth and I support Bury FC. It may seem dramatic to put this in the style of an addict, but in many ways there is no more fitting a style for such a statement. 

I am now into my 15th year of this affliction and an end does not seem in sight. To many it may seem masochistic. The heartbreak, dejection and sorrow may seem worthless. But somewhere in my heart the thought of an away win at Accrington spurs me on, somehow the 93rd minite  winning tap-in from two seasons ago gives me hope and somewhere in my brain reality is suspended while the hopeless becomes the possible. I know at times it will be bad, I know sometimes it will be worse and I know that occasionally it will simply be depressing. But it will always be mine.

It hasn’t always been bad though. Bury, to most people outside of Manchester anyway, is a bit like Fiji. You know you’ve heard of it, you know its had some sort of history and if you were given an outline map, you’d be able to point in its general direction. It is not, though, somewhere you are likely to visit. To those a little more ‘in the know’, Bury essentially has four pieces of trivia attached to it. The first of these is that it has a market which proclaims itself to be ‘World Famous’. What actually constitutes ’World Famous’ is unclear. Although the fact that it has an ‘indoor’ and an ‘outdoor’ section must help.

The second titbit is that Bury is the home and birthplace of the blackpudding. The blackpudding can best be described as a cousin of the well known, humble sausage. Like many of the best things in life, it is simply a combination of ’left overs’. This may sound harmless enough, but blackpudding is up there with marmite asone of the most opinion splitting foods known to man. This all comes down to its most famous ingredient, pig’s blood. The blood, when boiled, gives the pudding the rich black colour after which it is named. Although this key ingredient may make some queasy, those of us who can’t get enough of the stuff take a kind of bizarre pleasure from having the ‘guts’ to put away plate after plate of the delicacy. 

Like any regional food, ther is a long running debate as to what is the ‘proper’ way of serving blackpudding. Personally I like mine boiled, cut and covered in English Mustard (although tomato sauce is acceptable). It now seems more common to cut the blackpudding, before cooking, into thick circles which are then fried. This can usually be found on commercially made ‘Full English’ breakfasts. Although one does not pretend to be a food critic, this does, to a Bury lad born and bred, seem to be the food equivalent of buying yourself a solid gold toilet and then urinating in your sink. 

The third point of note is that Bury was the birthplace of Sir Robert Peel, the founder of the modern day Police force. This proud moment in the town’s history is commemorated in the shape of a statue of Sir Robert which stands in the Town’s centre. He also lends his name to a nearby pub. Many visitors to the statue have, over the years, noted that the buttons of Peel’s waistcoat are actually on the wrong side. This may seem good material for lighthearted banter, but it is infamously noted in Bury folklorethat the artist was so distressed by his error that it eventually lead to his suicide. In a similar way to blackpudding, the modern Police force somewhat splits opinion. It seems that, as a town, we were not born to seek consensus.

Before I move on to the fourthpoint, I will highlight a few points that are also worth of mention. Bury’shistory largely centres around the cotton trade. It was once a large mill town and the football club’s badge shows both a cotton plant and the Flying Shuttle which revolutionised  the industry. The Flying Shuttle was invented by John Kay, another of Bury’s famous sons. The author of the ‘Just William’ books, Richmal Crompton, was born in the town and Victoria Wood is another ‘girl done good’. The band ‘Elbow’ are also from Bury. The town is namechecked in teh TV series Porridge and was home to radio favourite Mike Read. Read is also noted as a famous fan of Bury FC, a point which brings me neatly onto my fourth nugget of Knowledge, essentially the point of this piece.

Bury has one thing that makes it part of an elite club. It has a professional football team, playing in the Football League. There are afterallonly 92 of us. Since joining the league and winning the Second Division in their first season, 1894, they have never lost their place. Not bad for a club once dubbed a “tax dodge for Liverpool”. Like all football teams we have a nickname. Although ’The Shakers’ may seem a slightly odd moniker, but the story behind it, which sees our Chairman at the time, a Mr J.T. Ingham, answer a question on what were Bury’s chances of beating the stronger Blackburn Rovers in the 1892 LancashireCup final with the wonderful “We’ll shake ‘em, in fact we are the Shakers”

Without wishing to recount the entire history of Bury FC, there are some points which are worthy of mention. Bury have lifted the FA Cup on two occasions. The first of these was in 1900 when the Shakers saw off Southampton in the final with a 4-0 win. They were back again three years later to again lift the famous cup. This time hammering Derby County. The 6-0 scoreline remains the biggest FA Cup Final win in the history of the game. 

Bury’s drop into the Division 3 North in 1957 signalled the start of a period of oscillating between the bottom divisions. This was rudely interupted between 1995 and 1997 though when manager Stan Ternent steered ‘us’, after my birth in 1991 I was already an avid fan just as my Dad had been when my Grandfather first took him to Gigg Lane in the 1960s, to back-to-back promotions from the Third Division (now League 2) to the First (now The Championship). Legends were made in the forms of Dean ‘Deano’ Kiely, Chris Lucketti and my all time footballing hero Mark ‘Spike’ Carter. Complete with my middle name of ‘David Lee’, after the lightening quick Bury winger of the time, I thought watching Bury was nothing but a long road of success.

The bubble, though, was soon to burst. Stan Ternent’sdecision that he had ‘taken us as far as he could’ (don’t you just hate that phrase!) as well as the quick exit of out main financialbacker began a slide backwards. This was compounded by some poor managerial appointments and the eventual farce of entering the 2007/08 season with Keith Alexander as Director of Football and Chris Casper as manager, the footballing equivalent of asking Marx and Mussolini to co-write a manifesto. 

So why now? Why in the midst of all this doom and gloom do I want to put the misery and pain onto paper? Well its all a bit different now. Keith Alexander and Chris Casper are gone and in their place stands Alan Knill. The one time Shakers’ solid centre half is now Lord of the Manor. After taking over in February of the 07/08 season, Knill’ssimple but effective style of ‘proper’ football combined with honest interviews and some impressive signings (Goalkeeper Wayne Brown, Defender Efe Sodje and Midfielder Stephen Dawson aswell as the appointment of an experienced assistant in the form of Chris Wilder and even Neil Cutler as Goalkeeping coach) have made the ‘Ginger Messiah’ a firm favourite with the Gigg Lane faithful.

Maybe I want to chronicle the final season before I go to University, and therefore the final one for a while in which I am likely to see more than half of the games. Maybe I think that documenting the season will somehow help it be successful. For once Bury FC feels like a club which is going forwards and not backwards. The club’s official motto is ‘Vincit Omnia Industria’, roughly translated as ‘Hard Work Conquers All’, but there is a new ‘unofficial’ motto amongst the fans. As I prepare to take my seat in the South Stand, noted as the ‘moaner’s’ stand by the way, on August 9th, I keep in my heart our new battle cry, ‘In Knilly We Trust’. Indeed we do.

P.S. All blogs from me will appear in the ‘normal’ font. Those from the Rochdale side will appear in itallics.