Rochdale A.F.C.
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| Full name | Rochdale Association Football Club |
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| Nickname(s) | The Dale | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1907 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Spotland Stadium Rochdale |
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| Capacity | 10,199 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | Chris Dunphy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager | Steve Parkin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | League Two | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005-06 | League Two, 14th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rochdale Association Football Club are an English football club based in Rochdale, Lancashire. They play their home matches at Spotland Stadium and are managed by Steve Parkin. They have an average attendance of around 2,500.
Nicknamed 'The Dale', the club have spent the last 31 seasons in the Football League's bottom division, currently entitled League Two. This is the longest time any team has been in the bottom division of the football league. Some wags have even renamed it "the Rochdale Division". They reached the League Cup final in 1962 - the only time a club from the bottom league division has reached the final of a major competition - where they lost to Norwich City. The club barely avoided relegation in the 2003/2004 season after two good seasons where they ended up one point outside the play-offs (8th place) and two places inside (5th place). However, they lost their play-off semi-final to Rushden & Diamonds.
The season after this they reached the Fifth Round of the FA Cup, beating clubs such as Preston North End and Coventry City, but losing eventually to Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1. In the 2004/2005 season the club improved on previous seasons by finishing in a respectable 9th place. In 2005/06, the club finished in 14th, despite an excellent start to the season which saw them in the playoff places in December. This disappointment prompted the manager Steve Parkin to release 6 players from the first team squad before the last league match against Lincoln City.
Steve Parkin and his assistant Tony Ford have had two spells at the Rochdale helm. The first reign lasted from the summer of 1998 until November 2001, when they moved to Barnsley - where they spent less than a year before being sacked.
When Alan Buckley was sacked in late 2003, Parkin and Ford were re-appointed and have remained in charge ever since.
Ford was a regular player for Rochdale in the autumn of 2001, by which time he was 41 years old and one of the oldest and most experienced men ever to kick a football at senior level. But he hung up his boots after following Parkin to the dugout at Barnsley.
Rochdale now enter a new era, with David Kilpatrick stepping down as Dale chairman, and Chris Dunphy taking over, and Rochdale are surely in for an interesting ride. Parkin made his first signing of the 2006/2007 summer in the shape of 21 year old left-winger Adam Rundle; with a squad so small at this moment in time, more signings were needed, notably defenders Nathan Stanton, Lee Crooks and Lewis Edge whilst missing out on the likes of Lawrie Dudfield, Michael Branch and Rory McArdle.
Rochdale then suffered a major blow on the eve of the transfer window. Despite being offered a wage reported around £2,000 a week, Rickie Lambert who was top scorer for Rochdale in the previous season scoring 22, was sold to Bristol Rovers for £200,000. Money with which Parkin was then allowed to act quickly with Parkin adding three new players to his already small squad. Former Torquay midfielder Morike Sako and defender James Sharp were signed on short term contracts and Keith Barker was in drafted in on loan from Blackburn Rovers.
Making their debut in the 1-1 draw with Hereford United, the new signings impressed and so started the best run of form this season for the Dale. This included the 5-0 demolition job at Darlington and the impressive 2-1 win at Wrexham AFC. Unfortunatley the run of form was brought to an abrupt end by Lincoln City who embarrased Rochdale 7-1. This was followed by a disapointing performance to local sides Stockport County and Bury.
As it stands Rochdale are placed 21st in League Two(November 7, 2006.) However despite the growing pressure on manager Steve Parkin, further loan signings have been made in the shape of Glenn Murray and Rory McArdle both until January. But it's believed that Rory McArdle will be singing on a permanant basis for Rochdale in January. Any ambitions for The Dale in the FA Cup will have to be put on hold until next year at least, following a 1st Round defeat on penalties to fellow League 2 rivals Hartlepool United. This came after the pair had played out two draws in 210 minutes of football.
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[edit] Player Records
- Most league goals in a season - 44 Albert Whitehurst (1926-27)
- Most league goals in total - 119 Reg Jenkins (1964-73)
- Most league appearances - 317 Graham Smith (1966-74}
[edit] Current Squad
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[edit] Players out on loan
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[edit] External links
- Rochdale A.F.C. on BBC Sport: Club News - Recent results - Upcoming fixtures - Club stats
- Official Site
- Rivals.net Unofficial Site
| Football League Two, 2006-2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Accrington Stanley | Barnet | Boston United | Bristol Rovers | Bury | Chester City | Darlington | Grimsby Town | Hartlepool United | Hereford United | Lincoln City | Macclesfield Town | Mansfield Town | Milton Keynes Dons | Notts County | Peterborough United | Rochdale | Shrewsbury Town | Stockport County | Swindon Town | Torquay United | Walsall | Wrexham | Wycombe Wanderers edit |
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