Spotland away days - a neutral's view

Next up in my series of 'Spotland away days' guest posts is Neil Maskell...

Twitter - @moaningmaskell

Website - http://www.floydstreete.blogspot.com

I am one of those armchair supporters which Dale fans must loathe so much. I’ve only ever actually attended two RAFC matches. My excuse? I live more than 200 miles away in Berkshire and I have only actually visited Rochdale once.


My first visit in March 2005 was as a neutral. With my own team not playing that particular weekend I took a trip up to Spotland with a Wycombe Wanderers supporting friend. We arrived in good time, parked up on one of the side streets with ease and made our way over to the RAFC clubhouse. Once inside we were made welcome, we had a decent pint in this tidy little bar where I was interested to read the decorative memorabilia about the 2002/03 cup run.  After finishing our drinks we went over the road to the chippie and we took some rather delicious chips into the away end with us.


The game ended in an unmemorable 1-1 draw but I had thoroughly enjoyed my day. It was an inexpensive, hassle free day at a friendly little club. Paid cash on the turnstiles. Free, easy parking. It reminded me of the game I fell in love with before my own club moved away from their own little ground hemmed in between suburban streets in favour of an all-seater anonymous identikit megaplex on the edge of town without a pub in staggering distance. I liked Spotland. Small but perfectly formed, it seemed to me to be a well-loved and cared-for venue. 


RAFC had first properly come to my attention in 2001 thanks to the pen of Mark Hodkinson. I had previously enjoyed his work following the fortunes of Man City during their one and only third tier season in the late nineties, serialised in The Times and later printed as a collection called ‘Blue Moon’. When I noticed a new volume of Hodkinson’s writing in my local branch of WH Smith a decade ago – ‘Life Sentence’, a series of essays on Dale’s play-off near miss in 2000/01 – I bought the book and was fascinated to learn that Dale had gone more than 3 decades without a single promotion! I kept an eye out for Dale ever since then. 


In 2007, Dale fan Hodkinson followed up with ‘Believe In The Sign’, probably the best book I have ever read on the subject of football. On his website, Hodkinson describes the book as being about “growing up in Rochdale and supporting my local football team”, but there is a lot more to it than that. I would recommend any true football fan read this book, it had me in tears of emotion at times as parts of it resonated with my own childhood, being taken along to watch an unsuccessful lower division side with my dad. By now, Dale were regularly flirting with the play-offs and – with that ever growing run of non-promotion stretching into a 4th decade – I gave serious thought to going to support Dale at Wembley in the 2008 play-off final. Worried I would be a jinx I stayed at home. Dale lost anyway, with me watching on at home.


The following season saw another play-off disappointment and then the following season with Dale clear at the top of League 2 under Keith Hill I really began to obsess about their results, especially when they began to wobble and lose their place at the top of the division! It felt ridiculous, a southerner who had only seen Dale play once in his life sat at home studying teletext, reviewing the league table and calculating the game-in-hand permutations of promotion rivals. Coming home from watching my own team play on a Saturday afternoon, the first result I began to look for wasRochdale’s. 


Then finally, a win over Northampton Town clinched that promotion, and I watched with a smile as SKY Sports News broadcast pictures of the ensuing pitch invasion. Finally, that long period without a promotion was over and I was thrilled to think that two or more generations of Dale fans could celebrate success at last! With my own team’s season over, I even made my way to Underhill, Barnet to watch Dale’s last League 2 match (hopefully last one ever!) and witnessed a rather tame 1-0 loss.


So, bringing things up to date, again I followed the results with interest via SKY and teletext last season and again I became obsessive with the League 1 table towards the end of the season when Dale closed in on a play-off place. Watching the thugs of FC United celebrate their cup win on the Spotland pitch in front of the SKY cameras was a lowlight which exasperated me, but there were some brilliant wins recorded along the way versus big clubs in Charlton, Sheffield Wednesday and Southampton as Dale finished a very creditable ninth place. Keith Hill has now moved on, can Steve Eyre keep this era of success going? Perhaps I’ll even try to attend another match this season!


I hope you've enjoyed reading this guest post from Neil, I certainly have and here's hoping he decides to make an appearance at Spotland sometime this coming season! If you've been to Spotland and would like to write a piece about your visit for my blog then drop me an email at girlonaterrace@gmail.com.

Remembering Rochdale's finest...

Bit of a lazy post today but thought I'd just bring you some clips of a few of my favourite footballers to pull on a Rochdale shirt in the past few seasons, a bit of Sunday fun on a dull and rainy day, so enjoy!

Paddy McCourt

Rickie Lambert

Grant Holt

Tom Kennedy ( at 47secs! lol!)

Adam Le Fondre

Keith Hill - a look back at a Rochdale legend's career

After the whole Keith Hill "will he, won't he" saga finally came to an end this week after he dismissed reports he was taking up the managerial role at Barnsley, while everything was up the air over his future it got me thinking about how much he's achieved at Rochdale and looking back on his management career...so this blog post is dedicated to the man that's made Rochdale the club it is today...Keith Hill.

We have never been and never will be a glamorous club, having spent so long in the basement division and with one promotion to our name, we don't pretend we're something we're not and neither does Keith Hill and that's why I believe he's succeeded at the club in his first management role. We struggle with attendances and we don't have wealthy financial backers.


Keith Hill originally took over the reigns at Rochdale back in December 2006 as caretaker manager after Steve Parkin departed. At the time he was Director of Youth and his position was merely seen as a stop-gap until we appointed someone "better". How wrong we were. We were 22nd in League 2 when he took over, facing the dreaded relegation, but his appointment seemed to turn performances around and in January 2007 his position was made permanent with David Flitcroft by his side...by the end of the season Rochdale finished one place outside the play offs.


The following season Keith Hill and David Flitcroft - aptly named Hillcroft - led Rochdale into the play offs, beating Darlington in a nerve wracking penalty shoot out before we had our time at Wembley for the play off final, unfortunately losing out to Stockport. I actually blogged about this if you'd like a read of my Wembley adventure. Most people thought our performances would suffer, but we bounced straight back to the play offs once again, unfortunately this time we went out in the semi-final stages against Gillingham.


Once again, people talked, had the momentum gone? Had there been too much heartache? Of course there hadn't, we were living the dream flirting in and around the play offs, so when the 09/10 season arrived we really weren't ready for what awaited us...our first promotion since 1969.


We started the season with our "no fear" attitude, something that Hillcroft had implemented in the team, we had no reason to fear anyone in the league and both the players and the fans embraced the culture that Hilly had brought. The 09/10 season will never be forgotten at Rochdale, we took the league by storm, skipping past each and every time, leading the pack ahead of the likes of Notts County. That was until the final leg of the season and, quite rightly, we started to loose that drive as players started to tire. It was a tense end to the season, we threw away so many chances to claim the title including a 5-0 battering away at Torquay but the day finally came against Northampton at home...Rochdale were promoted to League 1. We finished the season in 3rd place behind Notts County and Bournemouth, although I could honestly say most fans saw Rochdale as the true champions of the league.

The celebrations started but it wasn't long before people started to doubt our ability in League 1, many thought Keith Hill's abilities didn't stretch that far, so as I sit here now writing this blog post I smirking at the fact that we've just finished the 10/11 season in the League 1 and we finished just a few places outside the play offs. We battered Southampton home and away and proved we could hold our own against champions Brighton among so many other performances.


But it's not just the results that Rochdale have to thank Keith Hill for, how players have progressed from Rochdale just prove what a hell of a manager he is...Chris O'Grady is the perfect example, he took him from being out of favour at neighbours Oldham to running League 1 defenders ragged all over the pitch. And then there's Craig Dawson, it's almost a fairytale, a local boy playing in non-league football before being given his chance at Rochdale, next season he will play for West Brom.


We might still not be and probably never will be a glamorous club, but we're now a club that footballers want to play for thanks to the Hillcroft regime. They've changed the club from floundering in the lower half of the basement division to contending with a place in the League 1 play offs. And their influence on the pitch has been mirrored behind the scenes, every inch of the club is run professionally right from the centre of excellence through to the first team, yet Hillcroft has maintained a family feeling around Spotland, one where fans are just as important.


And that's where I end this blog post. I don't know what's next for Keith Hill and David Flitcroft, although I know their immediate future is at Rochdale, but we all understand that they're destined for bigger and better things...I just hope that when that day arrives, we bring in someone who can carry on the Hillcroft legacy. And with that I simply finish with, NO FEAR.

Do you remember...Morike Sako

I might just be preaching to Torquay and Rochdale fans here, but to those that have heard of Morike Sako will probably have a good giggle remembering him. In August 2006, Dale fans got a little bit excited when then manager Steve Parkin signed Frenchman Morike Sako on a free transfer from Torquay...fancy foreign names weren't a regular thing at Spotland and standing at 6ft7 we thought maybe, just maybe, he'd offer us something different...how wrong we were...

He'd had a few trials including Bristol City and Blackpool before agreeing to join Rochdale. We were a little skeptical but a little bit excited when he first signed, he was a different mold of player to what we were used to but he was also fairly unknown having had a decent but not impressive previous season at Torquay making 25 appearances and scoring 3 goals. He took up a midfield role for Torquay but he came to Rochdale with more of an attacking role with the hope that his height would give us that edge up front.

He started off well, scoring his first goal of the campaign against Grimsby, which gave us a bit of optimism...but it wasn't long-lived and we found ourselves becoming more and more frustrated with him. We'd never seen a player who had to head the ball down for it to hit the cross bar every time and we started to loose patient with him as he became more of a problem for us than the opposition.

But don't get me wrong, he did chip in...with 3 goals to be precise...including one in the 5-0 win over Darlington...and we've him to thank for the "even Sako scored" chant.

In his time at Spotland, Steve Parkin left and that's when Keith Hill took over, so when it came to the end of December 2006 we all sighed with relief when he told Sako that his contract would not be renewed. Sako clearly didn't favour the sights of a northern town and headed back to another seaside town with an unsuccessful trial at Bournemouth.


Sako's story then took a turn and this is where he could probably have also feature in my series of "where are they now" blog posts...he seemed to kind of disappear from the football world only to pop up in Germany playing for FC St Pauli in the German 2 Bundesliga after rejecting a contract offer from Bury (tee hee hee!!!). He signed another short term contract in January 2007 for the remainder of the season and then signed for the 08/09 season too.

Going off the fact that there is a YouTube video dedicated to his best bits, I get the feeling that they took more warmly to him in Germany, either that or we signed the wrong Morike Sako...!

He went on to play 71 games for the German side and scored 8 goals as well as helping FC St Pauli gain promotion to the Bundesliga in the 09/10 season. I'm sure I won't be alone in saying I was slightly confused after hearing how well he was playing in Germany, I guess English football just wasn't for him. In September 2010 he teamed up with another German side in the Arminia Bielefeld in 2 Bundesliga once again.

And that's where Morike Sako's story ends...his time in English football was more of a short story, but it seems like he's found his place in German football...perhaps the crossbar is higher in their game...

Rochdale AFC 2010/11 End of Season Awards Night

I'll keep this one short and sweet, first of all because most of you probably aren't that interested in who won awards at Rochdale this season, but also because I may have forgotten a lot of the night due to alcohol consumption.



It's always a rush to get ready for the awards night as a girl...it was the last home game of the season and so we waited behind to applaud the players - just a quick mention for Craig Dawson who went all the way round the ground shaking everyones hands - so I was home later than usual. So at 5.30pm I washed my hair and got ready...with a few drinks of course...and then at 6.50pm we were off as it started at 7pm.



Upon arrival it was already packed out; I expect most people go straight from the game and don't bother to go home, but I'm a girl and I need to get tarted up! For those who follow me on Twitter and saw my anxiety over what to wear, I went for outfit number 2 - short navy blue tulip skirt with white vest and white wedges...! What was good to see this year was that most the players were already mingling rather than all being bunched together in a corner.



The awards were given as follows...



Maureen Peacock Youth Player of the Season - Laurie Bell



Wilson Trophy for the Most Improved Player - Marcus Holness



SMAC Player of the Season - Gary Jones



Club Player of the Season - Gary Jones



Player's Player of the Season - Marcus Holness



Dale Dragons Young Player of the Season - Joe Thompson



Frank Bishop Goal of the Season - Gary Jones (Southampton away)



Rochdale Supporters Trust Player of the Season - Gary Jones



The Dale Supporters Trust had put on a band and food...I have to say I was rather impressed by the band, they played good music and were a great alternative to a DJ, I didn't have any food but it looked good and there was a lot too - pie and curry! I also always enjoy seeing the compilation of goals put together for the "Frank Bishop Goal of the Season" awards, always brings back some good memories.



So all that done with and I was onto mingling with the players, getting my shirt signing and of course the obligatory photos - here are a selection, you'll find the rest on my Twit Pic.

Me and Jason Kennedy

Me and Craig Dawson

Me and Nicky Adams

Me and Gary Jones

Me and Jack "the kit man" Northover

Me and David Flitcroft and Keith Hill

The rest of the night is a bit hazy...had a few good chats with players and fellow Daleys...and then we went into town at midnight with a few people from the club and friends...got home about 4am. Once again a mention for the lovely Craig Dawson who spent all night going from fan to fan having a natter, signing things, having pictures and generally being a nice guy, I also got a few hugs...well if you don't ask, you don't get!



All in all, yet another good night, thanks to the Dale Supporters Trust for arranging it and I'll be there again next season...although hopefully next time it'll be minus a huge bruise on my shin, a missing earring and blisters on my feet...!

New Rochdale AFC kit 2011/12 plus new sponsors

Rochdale announced that a press conference would take place at the club today...we started to ponder, what could it be? We never have press conferences, ideas started swilling around. Was Keith Hill leaving? Had we bought the remaining shares in the stadium? Or even were we being taken over by some Eastern billionaires? It was none of them.



In fact, it was to announce our new sponsors - The Co-operative - in a two year deal that will see them as our main sponsors as well as revealing our new kits for the 2011/12 season. (I hope Rochdale AFC don't mind me using this image from their website, so I have also accredited them!)

Image copyright Rochdaleafc.co.uk

The new sponsorships starts from today and the players will wear the new Rochdale kit for the last game of the season on Saturday against Peterborough. In a statement on the official website they said: "The Co-operative will not only benefit from branding on shirts and stadium but will also be running a number of promotions to drive more fans to the stadium to watch live football."



I personally think it's a fantastic sponsor to have and so do the rest of Dale fans; The Co-operative was formed in Rochdale in 1844 and it just seems right.



Now onto the new kit for 2011/12...although they've only released a quick snapshot my first impressions are rather good. I'm not totally convinced about the home shirt, it looks too much like this season's and I am not a fan of the neckline, but I really like the white away shirt with the purple stripe, it looks pretty smart in my opinion. There will be more pictures of the kit released later, so I'll update when I can.



A small number of the new shirts will be available from 2.30pm today but there is very limited stock and the rest will arrive in May. Give me your thoughts on the new Rochdale 2011/12 shirt, what do you think?



You can read more about the new sponsor and new kits on the official Rochdale AFC website and Rochdale Online.

End of season awards...£10 or £150?

I posted a picture of my Rochdale End of Season Awards ticket on Twitter earlier today for no reason at all and I got some interesting replies that got me thinking about the whole thing. 

Our End of Season Awards "do" is after our final home game of the season against Peterborough, probably the same night as many others are. Tickets are £10 and that includes a hot buffet. At Huddersfield it's £50 and at Southampton it's £150 a ticket, despite them both being in the same league as Rochdale.

The doors open at 7pm, so it's always a rush (well it is for me!) to get home, tart myself up and get there in time. We'll arrive at the Ratcliffe Arms, a pub / function room attached to the club with our £10 tickets in hand, the players will most likely already be there, sauntering down after the game in their tracksuits and all huddled together in a corner.



We'll all walk in and try not to make it look like we're staring too much at the players, most the lads still wearing their Rochdale shirts and the few female fans dressed up to the nines hoping for a smile off their favourite player, hair extensions, fake tan and nails all on show. Everyone will loiter for a while, wondering who will make the first move towards the players, trying to think up a witty phrase to strike up a conversation.



Once we're all in, the awards will kick off, but it won't be a famous figure handing them out, throwing out witty jokes here and there, it'll be someone from the Supporters Trust, rather awkwardly speaking to a group of eager faces looking back at them. They'll hand out the awards and with each one we'll applaud and sing our hearts out, the players will go red faced as they try to get through the crowd of people trying to shake their hands before posing for a quick photograph and then it'll all be over.



Most fans will bring their shirts with them if they're not already wearing them, hoping to get every player to sign it, before adding it to the pile of signed shirts in their wardrobes. That'll be the ice breaker, approaching a player to sign your shirt, feeling just a little bit nervous until the rest of the players ask if you want them to sign it too, and one making sure everyone places their signature for you. Last season everyone was given a print out of the team too which we also got signed. 



Photos will also be taken, like these below from other years, players will be willing to have as many as you like taken with them without hesitation and will even take them for you. The girls will flirt a little bit, eying up their favourite player for a conversation and a photograph, and the lads will openly admit how much they admire them.

As you can see, we'll have a hot buffet...it's first on the list so clearly is what the Supporters Trust thought we'd like to hear about first...it'll probably be a homemade meat and potato pie with red cabbage and gravy...quite apt really since our pies are so well known. It'll come out in a big silver tray and like true northerners we'll be waiting for the call before all rushing to form an orderly queue with our paper plates and plastic forks at hand. There may even be mushy pies if we're lucky and seconds are a real possibility.



And once all the formalities are over with we'll start the drinking. The lads will be on the lager, the girls on the alcopops or wine...we'll start to get a bit merry, start singing and the players will join in. Some will have too much to drink, others will be sensible, but they'll eventually merge into our group. The DJ will put on a song that we all have fond memories of and we'll hit the dance floor, fans and players together, celebrating everything that Rochdale AFC stands for.



Once it's over we'll all probably head into town...Rochdale that is...possibly management and players included...we'll carry on drinking and celebrating there before heading home full of beer and getting a kebab on the way home, slumping into our beds and spending the Sunday nursing a hangover but remembering the memories, the funny moments and flicking through some rather odd pictures on our cameras. 



We'll remember those memories for as long as we live, we'll remember posing for pictures, we'll remember the conversation, we'll remember singing our hearts out.



Ticket £10, new hair extensions £40, taxi £10...spending the night celebrating with fans and players...PRICELESS!



I think I know which League One awards night I'd rather go to! And as usual, I can't wait for this season's celebrations!

Rochdale V Carlisle round up

As usual this will be short and sweet, I don't want to bore you with stuff about Dale too much! Pretty much every Rochdale fan was under the impression that this game was a must win if we were to keep our place in the play off race, so the fact that we came away with nothing and the way other results went means we're feeling a little bit deflated.

It looked set to be a great day, the sun was shining so we went to the ground early for a few drinks, The Church pub was packed with Carlisle fans and immediately had a good atmosphere. Once inside the ground ready for kick off, again Carlisle fans were out in force, great support from them all the way through the game and they looked like they were having a great time. 

Slightly disappointed with the atmosphere in the home end, feel like we're losing our spirit a little bit...quite a strange feeling considering how well we've performed this season and I think some people are forgetting that and expecting too much from the players.

Unfortunately, their first goal was an own goal from Marcus Holness, but he didn't seem to let his head drop, he's been an absolute rock this season and is quickly becoming one of my favourite players. I still can't believe how we've performed this season, holding our own and battering some of the biggest clubs! 

Fair play to Carlisle, they came for the win from kick off and were up for it, which made for a great game and their 2nd goal was a beauty! All in all, it was a very good game from two very good sides who played really nice football, just a shame it finished 2-3!

Rochdale

Good points:

• Our fighting spirit seemed to be back


• Marcus Holness didn't let the own goal affect his game


• We worked the ball well going forward once again


• Matt Done scored without mis-kicking (!)

Bad points:

• I think we're starting to run out of steam after such a big season


• Our first touch let us down quite a lot


• We didn't look where we were sending the ball


• Too much "hoofing" for my liking

Carlisle

Good points:

• Each player was up for it and they came for a win


• Seemed to know where each other was at all times


• Moved the ball around really well


• Great support from the fans who were very vocal


• Their 2nd goal was an absolute beauty


• Took care of O'Grady fairly well

Bad points:

• I honestly can't think of any!