It’s said that Rochdale have been in their fourth tier of English football for so long – 36 years to be exact - that's it’s been dubbed the 'Rochdale Division'. I've always known it as 'League Two' or 'Division Four' myself, but each to their own…
I must admit that for personal reasons, I was pleased that 2008/09 wasn't the season they ended their run as my team, Gillingham, faced them in the play-off semi-final, eventually winning 2-1 on aggregate. (To any aggrieved Dale fans, I wouldn’t worry: at current rate it looks like we’ll be swopping divisions come May anyway). But during those games I was suitably won over by the club, the team, the manager Keith Hill and the situation - 36 years and counting - that I decided to adopt them as my 'team' in League Two. I like to have a team to watch out for in each division; it can make Final Score a bit more interesting.
Thirty six years is a long time to stay in one division. In the last two years alone the Gills have changed divisions twice, being relegated from League One and then winning promotion straight back up. The only positive each year for Rochdale would have been that with four teams relegated from above and two coming up from below, they would at least get six different grounds to visit each season.
It might have got to the point where fans were prepared to go down to non-league, just for a change (or perhaps not). One conspiracy theory doing the rounds was that the board are content for the club to remain rooted in the basement division, and don’t want to win promotion due to the increase in costs: wages, fees, policing, etc.
The permanent signing of loanee Chris O’Grady for a fee believed to be around £90,000 surely blows that theory out the water. Scorer of 12 goals in 21 games on loan at Spotlands, the fee and the fact they fended off a host of clubs to get his signature proves that the board are fully behind Hill’s ambitions to get out of League Two.
The signs are already promising. Five points clear, eleven points clear of third and twelve clear of fourth in a notoriously tight division – just three points separate Dagenham in 3rd from Notts County in 8th – ‘Dale already have a bit of breathing space. Long-suffering fans will say they’ve had false dawns before and that it’s too early to start getting excited but - whisper it – this may just be the year the Dale’s run comes to an end.
But what will the fourth tier be known as then?
Written By Michael Pilcher
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