The king has had his coronation, now let’s have the Rochdale summation…
Dale’s 102-year stay in the Football League came to an end in April with defeat at Edgeley Park
Tuesday 6 June 2023
NEXT HOME GAME: Huddersfield - Saturday 22 July, 3pm
NEXT AWAY GAME: Lincoln (in Spain!) - Friday 7 July, 12pm
Dear County fans, Stopfordians, and any Rochdale supporters joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Tuesday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.
The last few years haven’t been the best for some of Greater Manchester’s traditional Football League clubs. Bury were expelled in 2019, Oldham dropped out in 2022, and now Rochdale are gearing up for trips to Woking and Wealdstone next season. Dean from RochdaleAFC.com joins us today to reflect on Dale’s demise.
Finally, a big thank you to Dave from DC Plastering for sponsoring today’s edition. Dave’s a talented chap, as you can see from the County badge he created from Venetian plaster for one of his customers. Get in touch if you’d like him to create one for you.
Enjoy today’s issue.
Des Junior
Had King Charles invited you to his coronation celebrations, and insisted you brought him the best food you’d experienced inside a League Two ground this season, what would you have treated him to?
Not sure I'd bother! I'm not one for food at football grounds usually. I did get lost on a drunken walk back to Carlisle train station from Brunton Park and had a life-saving chip butty from a takeaway that I'll never remember the name of, so I'll have to go with that.
Charles is now king of the UK. But who would you choose to be crowned king of Spotland, and who would be locked up in the tower? You can pick anybody who’s had some sort of connection with the club this season.
The king, nay, deity of Spotland this season has to be our very own terrace legend Josh “Jesus” Booth. The man is an absolute force of nature on an away day and has brought more smiles to faces than anyone within the club has this season.
I'd lock most of the players in the tower but if I was forced to pick one it would have to be Cameron John. Came on a big wage, played like he'd never seen a football before, slagged off the town on a YouTube show, and he still has another year on his contract. Ace.
Best moment of 2022-23?
There really weren't many. It would have to be Ian Henderson breaking the club's all-time goalscoring record with the winner against his old club Salford.
Worst moment of 2022-23?
Equally, it's hard to pinpoint just one. The pathetic defeat at Hartlepool in January, aided by two ridiculous red cards, was when the gravity of our situation dawned on most.
Funniest moment of 2022-23?
Ethan Brierley's first league goal for the club against Walsall actually being given despite clearly landing about two yards short of the line. Lovely stuff.
Four Four Two said you’d finish 21st. When Saturday Comes said you’d finish 18th. You finished 24th. Discuss.
It's strange to think most of our fans thought those outlets were being harsh on us at the time. Basically, the mistake was giving Robbie Stockdale the summer. He recruited terribly, started the season with four woeful displays and was sacked. We found ourselves trying to attract a manager who would have to wait four months for a transfer window with very little to work with. Unsurprisingly, anyone half-decent turned us down and we were forced to turn to Jim Bentley, who had been sacked by a club two divisions below us in his last job. He ended up being arguably even worse than Stockdale.
Rochdale 1 County 2 in February. County 1 Rochdale 0 in April. Thoughts?
Actually fairly happy we only lost by the one goal each time as it was clear you were absolutely streets ahead of us in both games. County struck me as a very functional side but didn't need to do much to beat us on either occasion. Although to be fair, I can only comment on the first 60 minutes of the EP fixture as I'd set off to the Produce Hall for a pint by then; I didn't feel like I needed to be there to have confirmed what we all knew was coming for months.
Best and worst away days of 2022-23?
Best – Wimbledon. A rare win and one of those occasions where the entire away end was "on one" and almost seemed to be swaying in unison. A very buoyant train journey back was the cherry on the cake.
Worst – Northampton. It's not the best of grounds to visit anyway being stuck out of town at a retail park, but made even worse by an embarrassing performance and 3-0 defeat.
After decades travelling around the world, Sir David Attenborough’s most recent BBC documentary covered Great Britain. Let’s imagine David and his crew have been filming Rochdale throughout the 2022-23 season. In that famous voice of his, how would he describe them?
“And here we see the Rochdale players. Watch as they gamely pretend to know how to play football, making mistake after mistake, once again proving it’s not to be their day. How many of them have even ended up as professionals is one of the great mysteries of the footballing world. The most ponderous and least threatening of all League Two clubs, their fate will be eventually sealed – one set piece goal conceded at a time."
With Wrexham up and MK Dons down, there’s a couple of teams going into League Two who generally cause quite a lot of debate wherever they go. You’re on Moonpig.com buying a welcome card for both of them. What messages are going inside?
“Dear Milton Keynes. I hope you lose twice to Wimbledon and get relegated again. All the best.”
“Dear Wrexham. Can you lend us a tenner? Or better still, can we have Eoghan O'Connell back?”
Click on the links below to read the previous 2022-23 reviews we’ve published so far.
Carlisle / Grimsby / Leyton Orient / Mansfield / Newport / Northampton / Sutton / Swindon / Tranmere / Wimbledon
Get the County badge plastered in your home
This is pretty cool, isn’t it? Dave from Stockport-based DC Plastering provides internal and external plastering services for private customers and commercial businesses. And as you can see, he’s a dab hand at taking on special requests as well. One of Dave’s recent customers was delighted with this County badge he created.
It’s made from Venetian plaster, an Italian product made from plaster and marble dust. The County badge took around 11 hours from start to finish, and was completed over a few days with the drying process and the painting of the individual colours. If you think this would look good in your home, or if you need any general plastering services, give Dave a call.
Click here for contact details.
Today in SK
☕️ Food and drink ☕️
The Nelson Tavern (SK1) have a great range of offers throughout the week, including £4.50 for drinks off the Doubles Bar, a comprehensive range of shots for £2, and 3 for £6 on Jägerbombs.
Tapas Tuesday at TRUNK (SK7) from 5pm. All tapas dishes are 3-for-2 (cheapest dish free).
🎱 Free pool 🎱
The George & Dragon (SK7). 6pm - 9pm.
Photo of the day
La Finca Golf Course, Alicante
The weather’s pretty good at the moment for a game of golf isn’t it? It’s even better in Alicante where the annual Footballers Golf Classic is currently taking place. Here’s former County keeper Andy Dibble about to tee off on day one, alongside Lee Hendrie.
We’ve got everything from Art & Gifts to Yoga
We might not have found a psychic from Poynton or a dominatrix from Davenport just yet, but we’ve pretty much got you covered for all other products and services you might need across Cheshire and Greater Manchester. Just take a look at this little lot…
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