“I’m dreading it and feel physically sick thinking about it”
Twelve years ago, County travelled to one of their north-west rivals where the final nail was drilled into their Football League coffin; Rochdale could suffer exactly the same fate later today
Saturday 22 April 2023
It’s D-day if you’re a Rochdale fan. Or quite possibly R-day* to be more precise. If Hartlepool beat Crawley this afternoon, you’ll need all your fingers and all your toes and a calculator too in order to work out the various permutations at the bottom of League Two going into the final couple of games. But today, the maths are very simple for the Spotland club: if they lose, they’re down; if they draw, they’re down; if they win, they’re still down if Crawley get three points; if they win and Crawley don’t, they’re safe for another week, but still odds-on to drop into the National League next season. It just means Sutton or Harrogate will switch off the life machine in a week or two, which I’m sure Rochdale fans would prefer, rather than their neighbours who also beat them at Wembley in 2008.
For County, there’s no D-day scenario, as nothing can be decided today. Win, and A-day** remains a very slight possibility (although I feel Stevenage have to lose at Mansfield today for us to have any chance of squeezing into the top three now). Draw, and we edge slightly closer to PO-day***, but with work still to be done. Lose, and we could still career off the promotion path altogether and suffer a head-on collision with FTSUC-day****, missing out on the top seven completely when Hartlepool come to town in a fortnight.
One thing’s for certain, it’s going to be an exciting old afternoon at Edgeley Park. And we haven’t even mentioned the fact Wrexham will probably return to the Football League today, although there’s nothing really for me to add there, as the Welsh club have had more TV coverage than the Queen’s death over the last 24 hours. GO REX HAM! YOU CAN DO IT!!
Ahead of what could be a historic day in SK3 this afternoon (for the visitors anyway), today’s main feature is an interview with Charlotte Cromarty, a proper sound Rochdale fan who hosts The Dale Way podcast, while also representing her club as an ambassador for the Her Game Too campaign.
Finally, a big thank you to Paul at Colourtone for sponsoring today’s edition. See below for further details on what they have to offer.
Come on County!
Des Junior
*Relegation / **Automatic / ***Play-off / ****Fuck the season up completely
Well, here we are. You’ve been making a fight of it under Jimmy McNulty, but it’s looking like today could spell the end for Rochdale as a Football League club. How are you feeling?
I’m absolutely devastated. As much as we’ve been expecting it for the majority of the season, it’s horrible. I think what worries us the most as fans is whether we’ll still have a club in years to come. We’ve become worse and worse since Covid and never really recovered after the shenanigans of the ‘hostile takeover’ and the various managerial changes that haven’t worked. Our chairman has also admitted that we need outside investment as our fan-owned structure isn’t sustainable to compete with other clubs in these modern times. So there really is a lot of uncertainty around the club. We also need to appoint a full-time manager, which is a decision the club have got to get right.
Under McNulty, you’ve actually picked up eight points from his five games in charge. If the board had replaced Jim Bentley sooner than the end of March, would Rochdale be staying up?
I can’t really say to be honest. Our performances under McNulty have been a lot better and part of me feels like we would have had a stronger chance. But from watching us this season, and the way we have lost games, I personally think we deserve to be where we are in the league.
I do want to give credit where it’s due to Jim Bentley on his signings, however; the addition of Danny Lloyd and Owen Dodgson have made a huge difference for us. Although he did have to go because we weren’t improving, he couldn’t get the best out of his players and some of his decisions were questionable.
When we last spoke in February, you said: “I’d love a team of 11 Danny Lloyds.” Have Dale fans properly taken to him?
I absolutely adore Danny Lloyd! He’s been a breath of fresh air both on and off the pitch for Dale. I would love to keep him next season but he’s far too good for the National League; he really does deserve better. A lot of Dale fans think he should be Player of the Season, which sounds crazy because he only signed for us in December, but he really is a contender for it. He always gives 100%, he’s very encouraging to the other players and he comes across as a really likeable character. I still stand by the fact that I would love a team of 11 Danny Lloyds.
If relegation is confirmed today, what’s the main feeling in the away end at 5pm - anger, sadness or bewilderment?
I think it will be all three to be honest. We’ve already come to terms with the fact we’re going down; to be honest most of us wrote Dale off after the defeat at Hartlepool in January. Then we had a couple of glimpses of hope but it’s just not been enough. I think there will be sadness because it’s the end of our reign in the Football League which is all we’ve ever known; and anger towards certain individuals our fans aren’t happy with following some of their decisions, with a lot of anger directed at the players too for their performances this season. It’s going to be an extremely sad day for everyone connected with Rochdale. I’m dreading it and feel physically sick thinking about it.
What’s your prediction? Is there any hope left?
As much as this season has been awful for us, I can’t bet against Dale. So I’m going to go for a 2-2 draw, with goals from Danny Lloyd and Devante Rodney.
If the ‘R’ does appear on the league table today, the derby with Oldham is back on the fixture list next season. How do you think the Latics will react to you joining them in the Vanarama?
Oh, if you have a quick look on social media they’re looking forward to having us back. I’ve missed the derby myself, but I was hoping we’d be meeting again in better circumstances and in League Two. I’ve seen comments from a few Oldham fans laughing at our situation, but this happens everywhere, and I appreciate a minority of our fans were the same to other local clubs when they struggled which I find revolting. As a football fan I hate seeing any club suffer. It’s obviously great beating your rivals on the pitch, but off it I think people should be more respectful, regardless of which club or fanbase it is. We all love our clubs and it’s heartbreaking seeing them suffer.
Give your car a lick of paint
Granted, Stockport used to be a little rough around the edges. But the town’s getting a good old lick of paint these days, with fancy new offices, apartments, bars and restaurants springing up. You can’t be driving up and down the A6 in a tatty car with chipped paintwork, so give your car a nice lick of paint too. Colourtone is your go-to company for that. They’ve been servicing the automotive and industrial markets in Cheshire and Greater Manchester for decades, and carry an extensive range of car paint and industrial paints.
Visit colourtone.com for further details.
Today in SK
🍺 Whether you think County need the points this afternoon to still have a chance of automatic promotion, or simply to seal our play-off place, today could be a nervous one at Edgeley Park if we don’t manage to score an early goal. Settle those nerves with a pre-match visit to The Petersgate Tap and a couple of pints of the 7% Medusa’s Gaze. Or get tanked up on What’s For Afters at 10.5% and you won’t even give a toss if Rochdale win 7-2 again. (I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t joke about that yet.)
🕺 As always, Bask is the place to be on a Saturday night if you’re sticking on your dancing shoes. DJ Gareth Brooks is on from 7pm till 2am. Free entry.
Photo of the day
Happy Glen Taylor Day everybody! It was four years ago today when this beautiful man scored the goal against Chorley which put County top of the National League going into the final game at Nuneaton.
Never mind Google or Yell.com, we’ve got you covered
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