This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Boothman (talk | contribs) at 13:26, 3 August 2006 (→Current Squad). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 13:26, 3 August 2006 by Boothman (talk | contribs) (→Current Squad)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Football club| Rochdale badge | |||
| Full name | Rochdale Association Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Dale | ||
| Founded | 1907 | ||
| Ground | Spotland Stadium Rochdale | ||
| Capacity | 10,199 | ||
| Chairman | Chris Dunphy | ||
| Manager | Steve Parkin | ||
| League | League Two | ||
| 2005-06 | League Two, 14th | ||
| |||
Rochdale Association Football Club are an English football club based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. 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 team struggles to compete with more established football clubs such as Manchester United Manchester City, Oldham Athletic, Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers. This is reflected by the fact that 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 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 D Kilpatrick stepping down as Dale chairman, and Chris Dunphy taking over, Rochdale are surely in for an interesting ride. However Parkin made his first signing of the 2006/2007 summer in the shape of 21 year old Adam Rundle. With a squad so small at this moment in time, more signings are surely set to follow.
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}
Current Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
External links
- Rochdale A.F.C. on BBC Sport: Club news – Recent results and fixtures
- Official Site
- Rivals.net Unofficial Site
Template:English Division Three
Categories: