Author Mark Hodkinson has written another book on Dale, The Longest Winter. This time, he has taken a forensic look at the 1973/74 season, when the club broke all the wrong kind of records. We tracked Mark down and he kindly supplied more details.

Q. Tell us about that infamous season.

A. Rochdale’s squad of 73/74 is statistically the worst ever assembled in the Football League. We finished bottom of the Third Division, winning twice in 46 league matches — the fewest-ever victories in a 46-match season. They were 21 points adrift of safety from relegation and closed the season with a 22-match winless run. One home match, against Cambridge United, was played in front of the lowest-ever post-war ‘crowd’ for a Football League fixture — about 450. The club was too embarrassed to release a genuine figure.

Q. It was before your time as a Dale fan. What made you want to write about it?

A. It’s always fascinated me, a team being that bad and a club that bleak. I’ve often tried to imagine what it must have been like to play in such a poor team, one that had fallen out of the win-lose-draw pattern of most clubs and didn’t ‘turn a corner’ or ‘see light at the end of tunnel’. All they had was a Saturday ritual of defeat upon defeat. Who were these players? What went wrong? How had they ended up at Rochdale? Where did they go to next? What effect did it have on them, as sportsmen and people?

Q. Did you find answers to these questions?

A: I tracked down and interviewed as many people as possible who were in and around the club during this period. I got to about a third of the first-team squad. I was surprised at the level of disengagement among ex-players. None had kept in touch with one another and they were even unaware of who was living or had died. I was also amazed that none of the players or coaching staff remembered the depth of awfulness of the season. I’d remind them and, as if learning this for the first time, they’d shake their head in disbelief that it had been so bad.

Q. Did their experience scar them for life?!

A. Interestingly, and happily, the players appear to have passed through the season without suffering trauma. Their careers continued, either in lower or higher divisions, or the same one. Many later enjoyed relative success at other clubs and this enabled them to reflect on this season at Rochdale as merely part of their progression as sportsmen. They each still claimed a ‘soft spot’ for Rochdale and said they still looked out for their results.

Q. Did it have a greater effect on fans?

A. Definitely. It was catastrophic for those left behind with this mess of a club — fans, directors and staff. Here, there was real trauma. The club’s heart was broken and the ignominy was worn as chain-mail for many years. The recovery was long and slow, shadowed by the fear that the club — perpetually near or at the bottom of Division Four — might lose its place in the Football League. In such circumstances, it was inevitable that the club’s survival and continual membership of the Football League would become such badges of pride.

Q. The season coincided with a miserable time off the pitch, didn’t it, both nationally and locally?

A. The country was in meltdown. The Arab-Israeli War had sent energy prices soaring, causing a near-economic collapse. Edward Heath, the prime minister, declared a state of emergency. Bombs were being detonated across England by the IRA. Power cuts were frequent and the BBC and ITV were instructed to end broadcasting each night at 10.30pm. As inflation took hold, a three-day working week was inaugurated. Mineworkers and others went on strike. Rochdale suffered more than most. The cotton industry was in the midst of a slow but inevitable close-down. Thousands working at TBA (Turner Brothers Asbestos), the town’s main employer, were becoming aware of the threat their job had on their health and lifespan. A Clockwork Orange devotees were on the prowl. Racists were attacking Asians. Violence and vandalism seemed to be everywhere. The football club was a mirror image of the town and country — tired, dark, clinging to life.

Q. It sounds more like a television documentary than a book!

A. That was my aim when I began writing it. I wanted to present a piece of social history as much as a book about football. I’ve done hundreds of hours of research and been up and down the country doing interviews.

Q. Do you think you’ve succeeded?

A. I’m extremely pleased with it, both the writing and the brilliant production job by the publishers. As most fans know, I’ve done a few books on Dale but I think this is my best. I can’t deny it’s a bit gloomy but, and excuse the slight pretension here, I hope readers view it as a weird kind of happy- melancholy, similar to, say, a song by Joy Division or The Cure, or a painting by Edvard Munch or Walter Sickert, or a film by Ingmar Bergman or Roberto Rossellini. Everything turns out fine in the end.

Q. Where can Dale fans buy it?

A. It’s available via Pomona for a couple of quid less than cover price, even with postage: https://www.pomonauk.com/shop/store.php but will also be available in the club shop. These are the best places to buy it rather than Amazon in terms of supporting the club, the publisher and author!

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