Rochdale is to the north-east of Manchester (a little north of Oldham), on the way out towards Leeds.  It’s a road journey of about 170 miles from Nailsworth – a journey time of just over 3 hours for travelling Rochdale fans.

Rochdale may either be ring-rusty or very fresh.  They have had some severe drainage issues with their home pitch.  This means they won’t have played a league game since Boxing Day when they arrive at The New Lawn.

In spite of the pitch issues, Rochdale are in 7th place in the league – in the play-off places.  They have games in hand over every other team in the division.

The reverse fixture back in August was a goalless draw.  It may be a similar story on Saturday.  Rochdale have (along with York) the meanest defence in the league with just 20 goals conceded in 22 games.  FGR have only conceded 21 times in 25 games, so expect a tight encounter.

Rochdale are very comfortable away from home with 19 points from 12 away games.  They’ve scored goals pretty freely – 34 so far – half of these coming from their twin strike pairing of Kairo Mitchell & Devante Rodney.

It is hard to look past Rochdale’s twin strike pairing of Kairo Mitchell and Devante Rodney.  Mitchell has scored regularly throughout the season and has a tally of 11 goals so far.  Rodney is 2nd top scorer with 6 goals.

Grenadian and former Leicester City Academy product, Kairo Mitchell (number 9), is bang in form for Rochdale.

Backing up Mitchell is fellow forward Devante Rodney (number 10).  Rodney is a forward with pace, energy, strength and a high work rate.

Rochdale, known as ‘the Dale’, play their fixtures at Spotland Stadium (also known as the Crown Oil Arena for sponsorship reasons).  Spotland has a capacity of 10,249 and has been Rochdale’s home for over a century.

During the 1990’s and 2000’s, three new stands were built which transformed the stadium.  The last of which to be built was the Willbutts Lane Stand (away fans are located on one side of this stand).  The Sandy Lane End is the only remaining terrace, but it is now covered.

The ground may have been improved but Rochdale’s pitch has become a bit of a nightmare for them.  After being praised for the quality of the pitch in the early season, drainage issues have become a real problem.  Their last 3 home games have had to be called off, including this week’s home match against York City.  They are hoping the pitch will be playable for the visit of Yeovil on Jan 25th.

One of the more impressive stadiums in the National League, but Spotland has big problems with its playing surface.

There was a time in Greater Manchester when people referred to League 2 as ‘the Rochdale division’, because the club spent so much time there.  Rochdale still have the distinction of having spent the longest of any club in the bottom tier of the EFL.  In fact, Rochdale had only ever played in the 3rd or 4th tier of English football over 102 years.  Up until 2023 the club had played the most seasons in the EFL without ever reaching the top 2 tiers nor being relegated to the National League!  But 2023 saw them drop to the 5th tier for the first time.  They have been dogged with financial issues and aborted takeover bids.  But in May 2024, the club was bought by local businessman Sir Peter Ogden, co-founder of one of the UK’s largest computer businesses, Computacenter.  Dale fans will be hoping that their new billionaire owner will be heralding a new dawn.

Will new owner, Peter Ogden, be Rochdale’s saviour?

Rochdale is a product of the Industrial Revolution.  The manufacture of woollen cloth, was locally important as far back as the 1500s. At that time the textile industry was rooted in the domestic system, but towards the end of the 18th century mills powered by water started to appear.  Water power was replaced by steam power in the 19th century fuelled by local coal and Rochdale became one of the world’s most prominent cotton processing towns.

Rochdale is 10 miles north-east of Manchester’s centre but very much part of the Manchester metropolis.  It is one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the country.  In 2021, the town of Rochdale’s population was 111,261, and its ethnic makeup was 57.2% White, 34.3% Asian, 2.6% Mixed, 3.4% Black, 2.1% Other and 0.5% Arab.  One estimate claims that more than 40% of children in the Rochdale borough are living in poverty.

In recent years, Rochdale’s politics have caught the eye.  Liberal/Liberal Democrat, Cyril Smith, was the MP for 2 decades in the 20th century.  When the Labour candidate was suspended for a by-election in March 2024, the seat was won by George Galloway.  Galloway was noticeably absent from the count when Labour re-took the seat in July 2024.

Rochdale has also made its name for child abuse.  Former MP Cyril Smith was acknowledged as a prolific child abuser after his death in 2012.  A 2024 report on child sex exploitation in Rochdale from 2004 to 2013 found that there was “compelling evidence” of widespread abuse, and that Greater Manchester Police and Rochdale Council had failed to properly investigate these cases, leaving girls “at the mercy of their abusers”. While there were successful prosecutions, the report said that the investigations only “scraped the surface” of what had happened, and that many abusers had gone unpunished.

The Cenotaph in front of Rochdale’s Town Hall, the latter widely recognised as one of the finest municipal buildings in the country.

In short, there are loads!  football broadcaster Mark Chapman, actor Anna Friel, broadcasters Andy & Liz Kershaw, politician Sajid Javid, footballers Gareth Barry and Craig Dawson, singer Gracie Fields, naturalist & broadcaster Bill Oddie, to name a few.

Singer Lisa Stansfield is a Rochdalian.

Former politician Cyril Smith was Rochdale born and served as Rochdale’s MP from 1972 to 1992.  He died in 2010.  He is believed to be the heaviest ever MP at 29 stone.  In spite of allegations during his lifetime, it was only after his death that investigations finally uncovered a long and extensive history of child sex abuse by Smith.  Sadly, child sex abuse seems to continue to be a problem in Rochdale judging by recent headlines.

Rochdale’s mascot, Desmond the Dragon.