| Two Down- End of an era (5) 07:26 - May 8 with 5093 views | modelboydave |
That’s the thing with ending’s you never really know when they are going to happen. In the case of Rochdale AFC and their association with the Football league this ending will happen sometime this afternoon, in the Spa town of Harrogate. Several hundred Rochdale fans will witness something that only happens to other clubs, until it happens to your club.
Relegation to the National league was always something which happens to other clubs, a bit like serious illness, something that always happens to someone else, until it happens to you. Thinking back to the early days of the season I saw the team twice at Stevenage and Northampton, after watching these tepid displays I knew then, we were going down.
Today I will watch the team at Harrogate with my Uncle Jimmy, we will be two familiar faces in an away end of familiar faces. We will nod at people we have seen on terraces for years. My support for Rochdale goes back nearly 40 years, Jimmy’s further than that. A nod here, a how do, a pat on the back, a smile, a knowing glance. Relationships you form on the terraces often go back many years, you have shared many battles together and its re-assuring to share dark times with people you have shared good times with and here is the thing, there have been good times.
You may think that a club going down to the National league is in terminal decline and every part of the club is rotting away. There are a lot of problems at Rochdale at present and they are well documented elsewhere, but there are also lots of things that remain a sense of pride amongst the fanbase.
The club own the ground, unlike many other teams in the EFL. They maintain an average of 3,000 supporters at home games. In 2004 a vibrant supporters Trust was set up, and this continues, casting a watching eye over the club, the voice of the fans. The Club’s youth academy is the envy of many clubs and has produced many Gems over the years.
The little things remain the same, the clubs programme under the stewardship of long-standing Editor Mark Wilbraham remains an excellent publication and the Wilbutt’s Lane chippy still sets the standards. The club clearly has many issues but don’t think the club will simply roll over and die, too many people care for that to happen without one hell of a fight.
In my home I have four hard back binders, I call them the 92. They contain 82 football programmes of the grounds I have visited on the current 92 EFL clubs. At Harrogate today I will visit ground number 83. At the end of each season, I remove the two programmes of the teams that are relegated to the National league or conference as I still call it. Sometime in the summer I will remove Rochdale and Hartlepool from these binders. I will replace them with Wrexham and Chesterfield or Notts county.
It is probably only at this moment that It will truly hit me what division we will be in next year, or when the fixtures come out for the EFL in June. Our name will not be present, we will after 102 years of consecutive EFL membership be in the National league.
The National league is like quicksand, the longer you are in it the harder it is to get out. Many clubs slip straight through it, into the abyss of National League North and South. I really don’t know how Rochdale are going to fare. Like most things I do in my life I am going to try and be positive about it. Lots of new grounds to visit, many of them in my neck of the woods, new programmes to be collected, new experiences to be made.
Football is really about fans, the players come and go, some make an impression, some don’t, but fans are part of the fabric and soul of a football club. There are some Rochdale fans I have spoken to for nearly 40 years, and I still don’t know their name, I don’t need too. This experience is not un-common for many fans as strange as it may sound to none football folk.
I have watched these men grow old, grow fat, go grey and in some cases disappear altogether, sometimes people have just had enough, it’s time to move on, try other things. I can never understand that. For me football is like other things in life, you take the good with the bad, you cast a wistful eye on what might have been, when we were young and all that.
During those 102 Years Rochdale have many close escapes, last minute goals, chairman stuck in traffic who wanted us out, teams relegated beneath us who were so bad even we survived, but that’s the thing about luck, its fickle, you never know when it’s going to desert you, in 2023 Rochdale’s luck ran out.
So back to this afternoon, I will pick up my ticket, purchase a programme, wonder onto the terraces. I will cast my eye over the Dale crowd, spotting a few familiar faces, a nod here and wink there. Come full time I may have a tear in my eye, it won’t be the end, but it will be the end of an era. An Epoch.
[Post edited 8 May 2023 19:40]
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| Two Down- End of an era (5) on 07:46 - May 8 with 5026 views | electricblue |
Well said...... |  |
| My all time favourite Dale player Mr Lyndon Symmonds |
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| Two Down- End of an era (5) on 08:13 - May 8 with 4977 views | BillyRudd |
Very eloquent. Pity the team and running of the club this season, was,nt of the the same standard. |  | | |
| Two Down- End of an era (5) on 09:24 - May 8 with 4796 views | DaleiLama |
Logged on just to vote up. First lump in the throat of the day. Second incoming this afty. |  |
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| Two Down- End of an era (5) on 09:34 - May 8 with 4761 views | nordenblue |
A lovely post, perfectly put. Just waiting for the final time in the league ....sad times indeed [Post edited 8 May 2023 9:34]
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| Two Down- End of an era (5) on 09:48 - May 8 with 4710 views | WirralDale |
Excellent post, exactly right. Have tears in my eyes reading it now..
Up the Dale | | | |
| Two Down- End of an era (5) on 10:05 - May 8 with 4650 views | dale1968 |
What a great post.
Since my 1st game in 1974 the Dale has become my 2nd family and I have and will continue to support them through Good & Bad times.
What is done is done and a new chapter starts at 4.50 today.
UTD |  |
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| Two Down- End of an era (5) on 10:18 - May 8 with 4606 views | James1980 |
Fantastic post, poignant and moving. As the I was on train was approaching Harrogate the announcement said ' where will finish our journey today' although coincidental I thought it was appropriate and poignant for today. Rochdale's 102 year journey in the football league finishes today at Harrogate. | |
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| Two Down- End of an era (5) on 11:28 - May 8 with 4443 views | DorsetDale |
Excellent piece of artistry.
I think it's only reading that, that I've finally accepted we're down! | |
| YOU do not have the right to give someone else permission to tell me what I can and can't do. |
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| Two Down- End of an era (5) on 12:20 - May 8 with 4284 views | downunder |
"In my home I have four hard back binders, I call them the 92"
Buy another binder.
Rename your binders 116
Hope that you have an option to go back to 92 in the near future. |  | | |
| Two Down- End of an era (5) on 16:05 - May 8 with 3855 views | KnavesmireBob |
Great opening post. Just got back, as a non season-ticket holder I was really pleased to have been able to get a ticket and be there today. Lovely reception for Ethan when he came off, and the same for McArdle post match. I was on the front barrier right behind big Jim - at the end every time a negative chant started up a couple of fellas behind me countered with a positive one to try and drown it out. If you're reading this you're a credit lads. Loads of differing emotions but overriding feeling walking out of the ground is we're a fanbase with plenty of class. Enjoy your summers and let's see what next year brings. | | | |
| Two Down- End of an era (5) on 19:36 - May 8 with 3553 views | modelboydave |
| Two Down- End of an era (5) on 12:20 - May 8 by downunder |
"In my home I have four hard back binders, I call them the 92"
Buy another binder.
Rename your binders 116
Hope that you have an option to go back to 92 in the near future. |
I am actually creating a new binder for the national league. I will try and complete the 92 at some stage, but it seems not to be a priority anymore. | |
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| Two Down- End of an era (5) on 19:45 - May 8 with 3523 views | modelboydave |
Thanks guys for the positive feedback. It seemed an appropriate time to jot down a few thoughts. Sometimes it’s easier to write things down, I find it helps. A problem shared and all that, | |
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