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A brief history of Rochdale FC
By Nathan Jackson
August 8 2008
Rochdale AFC's history can be summed up by the words "THE ROCHDALE DIVISION". Dale have been in the fourth tier of English football for 45 years but things have been looking far better recently for the club under the management of Keith Hill. However, will Rochdale ever escape?
If I'm being honest, it wouldn't take me 5 minutes to write Rochdale's preview history due to their lack of success. The Dale formed in 1907 and they were accepted into the Manchester League, before joining the Lancashire Combination League in 1908. Dale won the division in 1911 and failed to win election to the Football League, it was initially their idea to form the third division.

The Football League created a Third Division split into North and South sections and Rochdale joined in the 1921/22 season. A 6-3 victory over Accrington Stanley was a good start to a season that would inevitably finish in them finishing bottom of the League, forcing the club to reapply for membership.

The 1962 League Cup final was the first, and to date only occasion when a fourth tier club has reached the final. They were outplayed though, losing to a strong Norwich City side. 12 years later and the club were relegated to Division Four and the club have remained in the division, in all it's guises, ever since. It has since become known as the "Rochdale Division" as they have spent double the amount of time in the division than the second longest serving side, Darlington.

The club finished bottom in 1977/8 but weren't demoted, that dishonour instead fell on Southport. The Dale finished bottom again 12 months later, successfully applying again. Many mediocre seasons later saw Rochdale eventually have a semi-successful season, reaching the Playoffs for the first time in their history. They faced a decent Rushden side and crashed out in the semi finals by a 4-3 aggregate scoreline.

Success again became starved for Rochdale until the appointment of Keith Hill. The former Rochdale player has been a success so far, including winning by large scorelines against sides such as MK Dons and Stockport. Rochdale just missed out on the 2006/7 Playoffs but they did reach the end of season lottery 12 months later.

Despite losing 3-1 on aggregate leading into the final 45 minutes, the Dale scored two second half before progressing to the final. They faced Stockport County and despite being the better team for long periods of the game, Rochdale would eventually turn out to be 3-2 losers and Rochdale are now preparing for their 35th straight season in the fourth tier.

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