| 50 years 22:23 - Dec 12 with 10954 views | D_Alien |
Almost exactly half a century ago to the day, Dale conceded 5 at home in a cup tie to another team beginning with G from the eastern side of England. Those of a certain age will remember it
Walking away from the ground that day, it felt like the lights had gone out on Dale, but after years of struggle and perseverance, we came good again
I've no idea whether we'll see another 50 years at Spotland. There's a similar feeling right now, but we survived against the odds then, and we may do now
It took another 25 years before we took a proper upward turn. The period between 1999 (the arrival of Steve Parkin) and 2019 (the amazing night at Old Trafford) were, in the main, tremendous and well worth waiting for, since it seemed highly unlikely we'd ever see anything like it. Different times now; football is different. Dale deserve a future, and its fans deserve a club we can once more feel proud of
[Post edited 12 Dec 2023 22:25]
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| 50 years on 22:28 - Dec 12 with 8659 views | EllDale |
Good post.
That cup tie you allude to was a shocker in a shocking season, one of the all time Dale humiliations in my opinion. | | | |
| 50 years on 01:25 - Dec 13 with 8376 views | Edindale |
Still makes me wince but Grantham were not a bad outfit.
you are spot on the town/ supporters deserve a professional football club as part of the community. | | | |
| 50 years on 09:48 - Dec 13 with 8065 views | dawlishdale |
I seem to remember it being a replay. I went to the first match...but recall little about it other than it took an eternity to get there.
We seemed to lose to non league opposition almost every season back then.
Northwich, Droylsden, Altrincham, and Bangor? I think....and probably more. | | | |
| 50 years on 10:48 - Dec 13 with 7974 views | diver |
Aye its not much fun being a Dale or a Man United fan at the moment !! | | | |
| 50 years on 10:50 - Dec 13 with 7968 views | pioneer |
Scarborough…humiliation that day…as they all were. | | | |
| 50 years on 10:55 - Dec 13 with 7958 views | EllDale |
It’s difficult to say when we reached our lowest ebb?
That Droylsden defeat in 1978 was a real sickener and 1980 was a horrible few months.
The upturn was probably around 1981 under Peter Madden. | | | |
| 50 years on 11:42 - Dec 13 with 7866 views | SuddenLad |
Worst day without doubt was Telford at home 4-1 defeat Utterly humiliated and outplayed. | |
| “It is easier to fool people, than to convince them that they have been fooled†|
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| 50 years on 13:34 - Dec 13 with 7680 views | dale1968 |
I have to say that the ultimate low for me was the FC Utd cup game where they cheated the win was probably the worst I have ever felt leaving the ground. | |
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| 50 years on 13:57 - Dec 13 with 7647 views | diplodocus |
...and then there was the time we shipped 7 at home to shrewsbury. | | | |
| 50 years on 13:58 - Dec 13 with 7647 views | Dale_4_Life |
I am with Sudden.
Telford for me having had a good feeling we would win easily before the game. | | | |
| 50 years on 15:37 - Dec 13 with 7553 views | 49thseason |
I doubt there is a team at any level of professional or semi-pro football that doesn't think it is in with a chance when they come to the COA. There is no history of success, no mad partisan crowd, and we kindly provide a nice wide, flat pitch that we have never used to our advantage by utilising 2 wingers and a net busting centre forward since the days of Jenkins and Steve Taylor. Any success has immediately resulted in the key players being sold off as soon as an offer arrived and drinks all round in the boardroom as another squad is broken up to prevent them having to put their hands in their pockets or spend some money building off-pitch income streams.
Last night was simply the continuation of the hand to mouth existance that this club has enjoyed for decades. No doubt Nevett will be sold for peanuts and we will be grateful, the money will be spent on overheads and we will stagger on for another few months. As it was, so will it always be.... | | | |
| 50 years on 17:10 - Dec 13 with 7454 views | 442Dale |
Again, totally rewriting history.
In the season he won the Golden Boot, Steve Taylor player alongside Ronnie Moore and they had various players filling in on both wings who weren’t traditional wingers (Dave Thompson and Frank Gamble both managed less than 30 league games).
Since then we’ve had lots of successful strikers who, depending on how we played, managers to score with or without wingers. There are plenty of examples but the first Keith Hill spell featured the likes of Murray, Le Fondre, Dagnall, O’Grady scoring loads with Muirhead, Prendergast, Rundle, Atkinson, Higginbotham and others our wide.
We’ve had lots of sides who have been successful at home, scoring lots without regular “traditional” wingers too - 10/11, 13/14, 2014-2017 in L1. We were excellent at home across many of those seasons.
And whilst we have obviously failed in recent years, partly due to not capitalising on those glory years off the pitch, the model we had where we developed players within a successful side was proven to work and was the Rochdale Way.
So we have had a history of success. To claim otherwise disrespects those fantastic times. | |
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| 50 years on 19:04 - Dec 13 with 7304 views | Rodingdale |
Eugene Martinez | | | |
| 50 years on 19:57 - Dec 13 with 7235 views | TVOS1907 |
Did we have a partisan crowd when we won 10 consecutive home games from Sep-Dec 2016, for example?
Even Barrow's 1997/98 team managed 15 home wins against a backdrop of most of us wanting him sacked.
We've had two promotions in 13 years, reached the fifth round of the FA Cup in that period, as well as reaching the fourth round several other times. More senior posters on here have even seen three promotions and even possibly the League Cup Final.
Yes, compared to other clubs, they're paltry successes, but they are successes nonetheless.
Of course we are currently struggling - nobody in their right mind would say otherwise - but it's simply not true to say "As it was, so it will always be". | |
| When I was your age, I used to enjoy the odd game of tennis. Or was it golf? |
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| 50 years on 20:17 - Dec 13 with 7185 views | 49thseason |
You and 442 make a brave attempt at defending the club , but the truth is that throughout my 63 seasons its been generally thin gruel with occasional sugar sprinkled on it. Every dog has its day occasionally but extrapolating from a few more fortunate seasons makes no sense. the club has never been adequately financed, every good player we have ever had has been sold for less than they were worth and before they should have been, to pay bills.
Our crowds are back to 2,500 which means the club is costing over £2000 a head per season to run and still losing money every week.... | | | |
| 50 years on 20:25 - Dec 13 with 7164 views | 442Dale |
You’re ignoring facts to support a rubbish argument. Totally proven wrong on the ‘Jenkins and Taylor’ point for a start.
In my time supporting Dale (40+ years) there have been a significant amount of successes, excellent players and fantastic memories.
“a few more fortunate seasons” is completely unfair on all the players/manager/boards/fans who played a massive part in how fantastically we’ve done as a football club at various times. | |
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| 50 years on 20:31 - Dec 13 with 7142 views | D_Alien |
I'd call it more of a brave attempt at supporting the club
There's nothing to defend, in fact. We all know who we are, and don't pretend to be anything else, even during the successful phases | |
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| 50 years on 20:40 - Dec 13 with 7121 views | TalkingSutty |
Great Post. When you support a lower league club you know what you are signing up for. Yes, it's been a constant struggle financially but the promotions, cup successes, Wembley visits, have made it worthwhile in the end. Then you throw in some of the fantastic footballers we've seen playing for the club, the likes of Jones, Lambert, Holt, Alfie, Hendo, Dawson and loads more, you begin to realise that we've had it better than a lot of similar sized clubs, especially over the last twenty years. Now we are at a low ebb but i still believe something or somebody will turn up to kick start the club again. It's been brilliant supporting the Dale and although our fan base is small, it's still great to see the regular faces at games. I don't regret a lifetime of supporting the club, not for a minute. | | | |
| 50 years on 20:43 - Dec 13 with 7111 views | TVOS1907 |
There's no defending of the club at all, but your post made out we've done nothing - EVER.
I've been watching 41 years this week and you're right, for most of the time it hasn't been good and successful.
But up to the last six seasons, we'd had a damned good run, which is what your post didn't address. | |
| When I was your age, I used to enjoy the odd game of tennis. Or was it golf? |
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| 50 years on 20:57 - Dec 13 with 7058 views | EllDale |
Personally the period 2006-2021 made up in large measure for some of the garbage served up between 1973 and 1983. A sort of reward. Enjoy the good times and tolerate the less good ones. | | | |
| 50 years on 10:10 - Dec 14 with 6821 views | Bluebottle |
I'm sure Brad Kelly was feeling a bit deflated at the full time whistle on Tuesday, however it might raise his spirits to be reminded another young local goalkeeper made his Dale debut just short of 25 years ago.
Given his chance at Brunton Park Stephen Bywater shipped 6 goals against Carlisle in his only game for Rochdale before his transfer to Derby County.
A thumping in a tin pot cup didn't do Stephen any harm, not the club who I recall getting a fair bit of income for his subsequent transfers and milestones reached. | | | |
| 50 years on 12:48 - Dec 14 with 6718 views | diplodocus |
Yeh! and dont forget the 3-3 draw at crystal palace. being stitched up at norwich in the FA cup. winning at southampton. Holt's shinned goal in front of 3,000 Dale fans at charlton. its all those historicals that keep us going on and on... | | | |
| 50 years on 12:57 - Dec 14 with 6699 views | EllDale |
Was that Norwich game the second replay?
If so Spotland had been packed for the first replay when Phil Mullington scored.
Ted MacDougall etc! | | | |
| 50 years on 13:23 - Dec 14 with 6657 views | Fantam |
And you're right, EllDale, those moments like the draw at Palace, the win at Southampton, Holt's goal at Charlton – those are the memories that keep us going. They're the fabric of our club, the stories we pass down to the next generation. | | | |
| 50 years on 13:30 - Dec 14 with 6631 views | pioneer |
The (first) replay at Spotland was goaless. Mullington scored a belter in the first game at Carrow Road. His mother travelled to most if not all away games and she wasn't timid in shouting his praises.
She might even had made it on the the photo of the supporters in front of the bus that is on the cover of one of Mark hodkinsons book. Many stalwarts in that photo including Moggy. | | | |
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