| Full name | Rochdale Association Football Club | |||
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| Nickname(s) | The Dale | |||
| Founded | 1907 | |||
| Ground | Spotland, Rochdale (Capacity: 10,249) |
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| Chairman | Chris Dunphy | |||
| Manager | Chris Beech | |||
| League | League One | |||
| 2010–11 | League One, 9th | |||
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| Current season | ||||
Rochdale Association Football Club is an English professional football club based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.[1] They play their home matches at Spotland Stadium. Formed in 1907, they were accepted into the Football League in 1921. Since that time, they have generally remained rooted to the bottom division of League football, though they did win promotion in 1969, only to be relegated back in 1974. However, the side finished the 2009–10 campaign in third place in League Two, winning promotion to League One for the coming season. Although the club have not won any competitions since joining the League, they do have the distinction of playing in the final of the League Cup in 1962, the only bottom division team to have done so.
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Rochdale AFC was formed in 1907.[2] Since then they have had just two promotions and two relegations, with promotion coming in 1969 and 2010 and relegation in 1959 and 1974. The 1959 relegation followed the 1958 restructuring which saw the combination of the two Third Division sections into the Third Division and Fourth Division. In the restructuring, Rochdale managed to secure a spot in the Third Division, but were relegated at the end of the season to the now lowest Fourth Division.
After the First World War the Football League was expanded and the club unsuccessfully applied to join. Finally, in 1921, Rochdale were recommended to be included in the new Third Division North, and played their first League game at home against Accrington Stanley on 27 August 1921, winning 6–3. However, this first season ended with the club bottom of the League, having to reapply for membership.
The club 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 finished bottom of the league in 1977–78, but were successful in their bid for re-election. Southport, who had finished one place above Rochdale, were demoted instead and replaced by Wigan Athletic.
Rochdale finished bottom for a second time in 1979–80, but were again re-elected – by one vote over Altrincham. In 1989–90 the club reached the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time, but lost 1–0 to Crystal Palace.
Steve Parkin was appointed as manager in 1998, but left to take over at Barnsley in November 2001. John Hollins was appointed as his successor and, after more than two decades of mediocrity, in which the club finished in the top 10 only three times, the club finished the season in fifth place, entering the promotion play-offs where they lost to Rushden & Diamonds in the semi-finals.
The following season the club reached the fifth round of the FA Cup again the following season, but lost 3–1 at Wolves. Hollins was replaced by Paul Simpson in 2002, and Alan Buckley appointed and sacked as manager in 2003. Parkin then returned to the club as manager, until being sacked in December 2006.
His replacement, Keith Hill, who was initially appointed as caretaker-manager, led Rochdale to a 5th-placed finish in 2007–08, securing a play-off place. After beating Darlington 5–4 on penalties in the semi-finals, Rochdale reached Wembley for the first time in their history. However, despite taking the lead in the match, they lost the final 3–2 to Stockport County.
In the 2008–09 season, Rochdale reached the League Two play-offs for the second consecutive season, finishing 6th in the table on 70 points. The following season the club were promoted for only the second time in their history.
Rochdale played 36 consecutive seasons in the Football League's bottom division from 1974 to 2010, the longest time any team has been in the bottom division of the League, with some even derisively renaming it "the Rochdale Division".[3] The club have the lowest average position of all the clubs which have existed continuously in the Football League since its expansion to four divisions in 1921–22 (76th), and since its expansion to 92 clubs in 1950–51 (79th). Additionally, they share with Hartlepool United the distinction of having played the most seasons in the Football League without ever reaching the top two tiers (82 seasons through 2009–10).
Season 2009–10 ended a 41 year wait for promotion with a win over Northampton Town as Rochdale secured the third automatic promotion spot. Rochdale continued their progression under Keith Hill, now with the club for 3 years, with a secured spot in League One in 2010–11 despite a disappointing end to the season.
In 2010–11 Rochdale finished 9th in league one with 68 points, equalling their highest league finish since 1969–70.
On 1 June manager Keith Hill joined Championship side Barnsley. Former Manchester City apprentice and youth coach Steve Eyre was confirmed as Hill's replacement on 12 June 2011.Eyre's spell at Spotland didn't last long,as he was sacked after a 0-0 draw against Yeovil,in which Glovers keeper Rene Gilmartin played the second half with a dislocated finger. Director of Youth Chris Beech was appointed as caretaker manager.
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| Rochdale home colours, used until the 2006/07 season |
Rochdale's current home colours are black and blue shirts, white shorts and blue and black hooped socks. Previously, Dale's usual colours were all-blue, which was introduced in 1949. Prior to this, Rochdale wore black and white stripes, which was influenced by the strong Newcastle United side of 1907 (the year Rochdale were formed), the strip which they adopted for their centenary season in 2007.
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| Rochdale's centenary kit, used in the 2007/08 season. |
This black and white kit was re-introduced in the 2007/08 season as the one-off centenary kit; the new Internazionale-influenced design is an amalgamation of both the striped kit and the blue kit to herald the second century of Dale's existence.
Other kits have included white shirts with black shorts, white shirts with blue shorts and a blue shirt with white sleeves.
Rochdale's away kit comprises white shirts with a purple stripe, purple shorts and purple and white hooped socks. Other historical away kits have included yellow, teal, green and red.
It was announced in June 2009 that the kit supplier for the next three seasons would be Carbrini.
The Dale have had sponsored shirts since 1983. Former sponsors include Carcraft, MMC Estates, All-in-One Garden Centre, Smith Metals, Keytech, Freebets and Carbrini. On 28 April 2011 The Co-operative was unveiled as the clubs new principal sponsor in an initial 2 year deal.
The club crest / logo used by Rochdale AFC focuses on a variant of the arms of the former County Borough of Rochdale.
The coat of arms, based on those of the local and reputed Rochdale family with certain additions, was granted to the Borough by Heralds College in 1857. At its centre, a shield shows a sack of wool and a cotton plant, representing the local wool and cotton industries. Around the edge of the shield sit eight martlets (birds). These are taken from the Rachdale family coat of arms (mentioned above) and are widely used on heraldic devices. Above the shield and helm (in the position technically known as the 'crest' in heraldry) more local industry representations are made by the inclusion of a fleece of wool (suspended by a band) and the iron centre of an old mill-stone (known as a mill-rind).
A motto below the shield reads; 'Crede Signo'. Roughly translated this means; `Believe in the sign`.
The blazon (official heraldic description) for the arms reads as follows:
'Argent a woolpack encircled by two branches of the cotton tree flowered and conjoint proper; a bordure sable charged with eight martlets of the field; and for a crest on a wreath of the colours a mill-rind sable and above a fleece argent banded or.'
When, in 1974, Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council was formed (taking over from Rochdale County Borough Council and five other Borough / Urban District Councils) a new coat of arms was created and awarded for Council Use. Rochdale AFC, however, continued (and continues today) to adopt the old Rochdale County Borough arms.
Rochdale play their home matches at Spotland, which has a capacity of 10,249. The stadium was built exclusively for the Dale in 1920, but since 1988 the ground has been jointly owned by the football club, Rochdale Council and Rochdale Hornets.
Since their admission to the Football League in 1921, Rochdale's main rivalries have been with Bury, Burnley, Oldham Athletic, Halifax Town, Accrington Stanley and Stockport County.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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For a list of notable players in sortable-list format see List of Rochdale A.F.C. players; for all Rochdale players with a Wikipedia article see Category:Rochdale A.F.C. players.
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