The Lower League Thread

[chavy]

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eh ? Where's Chester come from Ken...I know it's not far from the Wirral but

I was one of those kids that brought home a bird with 2 broken wings, a half squashed frog etc and hoped they would live - consequently I have even been known to holler for Wrexham, I love a good lost cause.................

You're not a closet Welshman are you?

Ken's having an identity crisis.....that Aussie sun has got to him

I must admit never meeting a Scouse , welsh , Aussie before

[LeungKen]

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eh ? Where's Chester come from Ken...I know it's not far from the Wirral but

I was one of those kids that brought home a bird with 2 broken wings, a half squashed frog etc and hoped they would live - consequently I have even been known to holler for Wrexham, I love a good lost cause.................

You're not a closet Welshman are you?

Ken's having an identity crisis.....that Aussie sun has got to him

I must admit never meeting a Scouse , welsh , Aussie before

There's no crisis in being a "Mongrel"

The first foreign language I spoke was Welsh (after Scouse that is) and having grandfathers both Mancunian & Hertfordshirian and cos I had a bent for accents I can talk Levensulme and Norff London, throw in about 5 holidays in Scotland and you start to get some idea of the mixed breed I am.............and this was even before I started my nomadic life

My Dad used to call on Tom Finney and his plumbing business in the late 50's, hence an eye is kept on P.N.E. now and then, there are a few more but you don't want this old Heinz 57 boring you to death.........

[chavy]

There's no "west country" anywhere in you is there Ken? That's all we need, 2 Scrumpy drinkers on the forum....I wonder who the the other is ?

[mrtoad]

There's no "west country" anywhere in you is there Ken? That's all we need, 2 Scrumpy drinkers on the forum....I wonder who the the other is ?

I'm a Pastie and Scrumpy man, I have to make the definition as people may think I'm from Somerset.

[chavy]

There's no "west country" anywhere in you is there Ken? That's all we need, 2 Scrumpy drinkers on the forum....I wonder who the the other is ?

I'm a Pastie and Scrumpy man, I have to make the definition as people may think I'm from Somerset.

Understood mate.......bumkins that Somerset lot

There's a rumour Brummie Barry is on the way down to Southend today !!! Is there any truth in this ?

[mrbojangles]

There's a rumour Brummie Barry is on the way down to Southend today !!! Is there any truth in this ?

Nah mate. I've only ever been to 4 Rochdale away matches. Bury (about 5 miles away) Preston, 30 min drive, Lincoln (don't know why) and Liverpool in the FA cup, when they stuffed us 7-0

[mrbojangles]

Who's Dale got in the cup this round? or aren't they bothering this year

They're away to Southend on saturday.

Allthough they should'nt bother really and save the petrol money

You'll be alright down there MrBJ, chance to stock up on your jellied eels or what ever it is the southern softies eat

Bugger, 10 mins gone Rochdale losing 1-0

[Sunderland]

Perhaps we should add Derby County to the lower league thread. They are woeful in the second half against West Ham. 4-0 down and looking a sorry bunch. Surely going down this season.

[LeungKen]

Chesterfield 1 - 2 Tranmere

Edited November 11, 2007 by LeungKen

[mrbojangles]

Rochdale dumped out 2-1

[chavy]

Never mind MrBJ, you can concentrate on thr promotion push

We could only manage a 1 - 1 draw against the bottom club Lincoln on Saturday

At least Toadie's lot managed to thrash Yeovil

[mrbojangles]

Never mind MrBJ, you can concentrate on thr promotion push

I think Rochdale are just tired at the moment. Holding the rest of the table up

[chavy]

Never mind MrBJ, you can concentrate on thr promotion push

I think Rochdale are just tired at the moment. Holding the rest of the table up

[mrtoad]

Never mind MrBJ, you can concentrate on thr promotion push

I think Rochdale are just tired at the moment. Holding the rest of the table up

As Benitez would say, "keeping it fresh for the title run in".

[chavy]

here's one for mrbj

Rochdale AFC: Walking tall at the bottom Shevchenkos come and Henrys move on but Rochdale just sit there forever. Unnoticed, except by the terminally afflicted and by gloating neighbours from Bury, the weavers from the valley of the Roch have spent 95 of their first 100 years on the bottom shelf, thus qualifying as The Most Unsuccessful Club in the history of English League football.

Well, it's a title. Although apparently resigned to their destiny like a spider in the bath, Rochdale are mildly self-conscious in this, their centenary season.

Rochdale FC: A celebration of drudgery

Never the bride: Spotland Stadium the home of Rochdale AFC

"Doesn't look too impressive on paper," admits the chairman, Chris Dunphy, "but we aim to be knocking on the door of the Championship in three years. Scunthorpe and Colchester have proved it can be done." Yeah, right.

Only last season Chris decided 17 years on the board were enough for anyone who valued his sanity. There were more important things in life, like heating medieval churches without destroying the stonework – his speciality. However, as soon as he pledged to give more time to Chris Dunphy Ecclesiastical Ltd, he was press-ganged into the Spotland hot seat because Rochdale couldn't find a willing Uzbek. Whether you call it the Third Division South, League Division Four or Coca-Cola League Two, Dale have hogged Satan's Waiting Room with the tenacity of asylum seekers in the cargo hold. All they have to show for 100 years of largely fruitless endeavour is one solitary promotion in 1968. They came down again in 1973 and have refused to leave their comfort zone ever since.

Even the Conference didn't appeal, though they flirted with non-League football a couple of times. The chairman of Rochdale Supporters' Trust, Scott Goulding, thinks I'm being unreasonable. "How can you say we're unsuccessful? Only one relegation in a century makes us the most consistent club in the country." He has a point.

I was sorry to miss the centenary dinner, during which supporters were invited to nominate the club's most charismatic servants since 1907. After a prolonged silence, someone remembered Little Joe Richardson scoring a brace of goals in the 3-1 defeat of Blackburn Rovers that helped Dale to an improbable League Cup final in 1962. They lost the two-legged climax to Norwich City, but that was by the by.

More noteworthy were the four-legged beasts that Joe bundled into the back of his van and sold on the streets of Liverpool the following day. Kidnapping Alsatians and flogging them as guard dogs for a fiver a time was how he supplemented his meagre earnings from football. Joe's demise was as bizarre as his life. While working as a drayman for Higson's Brewery, he was crushed by a giant beer barrel that rolled off the cart.

Into the Hall of Infamy he goes, along with poor old Billy Rudd, who paid the price for ignoring tradition. Billy had the audacity to captain Rochdale's promotion-winning side before leading them to a club record ninth place in the old Third Division. He was promptly transferred to Bury, with the parting words: "And take your big ideas with you!"

The town is uncomfortable with success. I suggested Rochdale might launch their second century by dropping the name Spotland and rechristening the stadium The Gracie Fields in honour of their most illustrious daughter. I wish I hadn't bothered. One glance at the grimy metal plaque that passes as a memorial to Gracie outside No?9 Molesworth Street would have prepared me for the blank expressions that greeted my remark.

"They haven't forgiven her for moving to Capri," said my taxi driver. "She probably got out before they could sell her to Bury," I replied.

So why are Rochdale so bad and why does anyone support them? For the answers to this conundrum I turned to Christine Fairhurst — or rather I stumbled over her and her meat pie on my way to the press box. "Pass" was her reply to the first part of the question; "because there's nowt else to do" to the second. She and her friend, Mavis Shellard, follow Dale all over the country. Extraordinary in itself but almost beyond credulity when I heard that Christine lives 67 miles away in North Wales and has no DNA association with Rochdale that genealogists have been able to detect.

Perhaps the chairman could help. Was it the usual "Dad brought me here before I could crawl"? Chris nodded, apologetically. "I'll tell you something else," he said. "People who come to Spotland really care. I've been to Premier League grounds and they don't do passion like us."

Only once in 45 years has he felt embarrassed, even slightly humiliated to be a Rochdalian.

It happened on a wet Tuesday last October when they put an end to Macclesfield's record losing run by handing them a 1-0 victory. "I felt so sorry for our 400 fans in the drenching rain. How much worse could it get? Then they burst into song and I knew we'd be OK."

We need clubs like Rochdale, don't we?

Classic MrBJ

[LeungKen]

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"The Most Consistant Club in the Country"

Consistantly What ?.

[chavy]

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"The Most Consistant Club in the Country"

Consistantly What ?.

Crap Ken

Joe Richardson......what a way to go

Edited November 14, 2007 by chavy

[mrbojangles]

Good piece Chavy. I didn't know we had won the title of most unsuccessful club. Brilliant

[chavy]

Good piece Chavy. I didn't know we had won the title of most unsuccessful club. Brilliant

Only one relegation in their history that takes some doing does that

[mrbojangles]

Good piece Chavy. I didn't know we had won the title of most unsuccessful club. Brilliant

Only one relegation in their history that takes some doing does that

I'll have to do a search for the year but i'm sure we avoided relegation once as the club's ground who where being promoted didn't meet the required standards, so we stayed up

[LeungKen]

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Doncaster Rovers 0 v Tranmere Rovers 0.........

Edited November 18, 2007 by LeungKen

[mrbojangles]

Chesterfield Vs Rochdale.....Postponed

[LeungKen]

Chesterfield Vs Rochdale.....Postponed

Somebody forgot to bring the ball again ?...........

[mrtoad]

Chesterfield Vs Rochdale.....Postponed

I assume it was due to all those international call ups at the weekend.

[chavy]

I hear it's getting a bit cold "up North" this time of the year & the snow is making an appearance

[mrbojangles]

Chesterfield Vs Rochdale.....Postponed

I assume it was due to all those international call ups at the weekend.

I think it was more to do with the Pie and Gravy warmer was broke. There would have been a riot

[mrbojangles]

I hear it's getting a bit cold "up North" this time of the year & the snow is making an appearance

Up in t'hills i believe but i haven't seen any yet. When it does come, shall i post you boys some?

[LeungKen]

I hear it's getting a bit cold "up North" this time of the year & the snow is making an appearance

Up in t'hills i believe but i haven't seen any yet. When it does come, shall i post you boys some?

Pass

[chavy]

I've just been reading about Sven getting 150 mill to spend next summer I'd rather be talking about Rochdale & Tranmere than talking about signing Ronaldinho , Kaka & Messi

Never mind , we've got Crewe this Saturday

[mrbojangles]

I've just been reading about Sven getting 150 mill to spend next summer I'd rather be talking about Rochdale & Tranmere than talking about signing Ronaldinho , Kaka & Messi

I wouldn't

Oh happy days, oh happy days