Rochdale Association Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Rochdale in Greater Manchester. The club plays in the Football League Two, the fourth tier in the English football league system. The club's colours are black and blue and they play their home games at Spotland Stadium, which has a capacity of 10,249. Formed in 1907 and nicknamed the Dale, they were accepted into the Football League in 1921. Since then, the club has remained in the bottom two professional divisions of English Football until they were relegated to the National League at the end of the 2022–23 season.

History Rochdale A.F.C. was formed in 1907. After World War I the Football League was expanded and the club unsuccessfully applied to join. In 1921 Rochdale was recommended to be included in the new Third Division North, and played their first League game at home against Accrington Stanley on 27 August 1921, winning 6–3. However, this first season ended with the club at the bottom of the League, having to reapply for membership.

The club reached the League Cup final in 1962. This was the first time a club from the bottom league division had reached the final of a major competition – where they lost to Norwich City.

The club's first promotion came in 1969, earned by a team largely assembled by manager Bob Stokoe, though it was Stokoe's assistant, Len Richley who steered Rochdale to promotion after Stokoe moved to Carlisle United. In the early stages of the 1969–70 season, Rochdale topped the Division Three table, sparking hopes of a second successive promotion. The team's form significantly declined around Christmas 1969, however, and a failure to halt the team's decline led to the dismissal of Richley. He was succeeded by Dick Conner, who stabilised the club's form and steered them to a 9th-place finish. The following three seasons saw the club finish in the lower reaches of the Division Three table, narrowly avoiding relegation each time. The board viewed merely surviving in Division Three as unacceptable and replaced Conner with Walter Joyce for the 1973–74 season. This move failed to pay off, and Rochdale was relegated after a campaign in which they won only 2 of 46 league games.

The club finished bottom of the league in 1977–78, but was successful in their bid for re-election. Rochdale finished bottom for a second time in 1979–80, but was again re-elected – by one vote over Altrincham. In 1989–90 the club reached the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time, but lost 1–0 to Crystal Palace.

The club reached the fifth round of the FA Cup again in 2003, but lost 3–1 at Wolverhampton.

Keith Hill, initially appointed as caretaker-manager in December 2006, became arguably the club's most successful manager to date. Hill and his assistant manager David Flitcroft led Rochdale to a 5th-placed finish in 2007–08, securing a play-off place. After beating Darlington 5–4 on penalties in the semi-finals, Rochdale reached Wembley for the first time in their history. Despite taking the lead in the match, they lost the final 3–2 to Stockport County.

In the 2008–09 season, Rochdale reached the League Two play-offs for the second consecutive season but lost 2–1 on aggregate to Gillingham in the playoff semi-finals.

The next season ended a 36-year wait for promotion to the third tier with a win over Northampton Town as Rochdale secured the third automatic promotion spot. Rochdale continued their progression under Keith Hill, now with the club for 4 years, finishing 9th in the League One with 68 points, equaling their highest league finish since 1969–70.

On 1 June 2011 manager Keith Hill joined Championship side Barnsley. Former Manchester City apprentice and youth coach Steve Eyre was confirmed as Hill's replacement on 12 June 2011. Eyre's spell at Spotland did not last long, as he was sacked after 27 competitive games in charge, the team having recorded just 4 league wins in this time.

On 24 January 2012, Accrington Stanley's John Coleman was confirmed manager as the successor to Steve Eyre and left his club where he had been for more than a decade. John Coleman's first match in charge was a 3–0 win at home over Bury in the local derby. However, on 21 April, Rochdale lost 2–1 to Chesterfield resulting in relegation from League One after two years in the league. John Coleman's and Jimmy Bell's contracts were terminated by Rochdale on 21 January 2013 following a poor run in form. In January 2013, Keith Hill, previously in charge of Rochdale from 2007 to 2011, was appointed as the new manager.

Rochdale were promoted to League One on 26 April 2014, after beating Cheltenham Town 2–0. Playing at the club's highest level the 2014–15 season was the club's most successful yet. Apart from a couple of games, they remained in the top half of the league all season, eventually finishing in eighth place, their highest league placing.

Key

Key to league record

Level = Level of the league in the current league system Pld = Games played W = Games won D = Games drawn L = Games lost GF = Goals for GA = Goals against GD = Goals difference Pts = Points Position = Position in the final league table Top scorer and number of goals scored shown in bold when he was also top scorer for the division.

Key to cup records

Res = Final reached round Rec = Final club record in the form of wins-draws-losses PR = Preliminary round QR1 (2, etc.) = Qualifying Cup rounds G = Group stage R1 (2, etc.) = Proper Cup rounds QF = Quarter-finalists SF = Semi-finalists F = Finalists A (QF, SF, F) = Area quarter-, semi-, finalists W = Winners

Seasons Year League Lvl Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Position Top goalscorer FA Cup FL Cup FL Trophy Average homeattendanceAverage home attendance = for league games only Name Goals Res Rec Res Rec Res Rec 1908–09 LC 2 38 16 6 16 58 60 -2 38 10th of 20 Patrick Galvin 10PR 0-0-1 1909–10 38 23 8 7 92 33 +59 54 4th of 20PromotedAlbert Worth20QR1 0-0-1 1910–11 LC 1 38 25 6 7 87 45 +32 56 1st of 20Tom Fleetwood21QR5 5-3-1 1911–12 32 23 4 5 81 24 +57 50 1st of 17Alf Gregson21QR4 0-0-1 1912–13C Lge 38 17 10 11 67 51 +16 44 7th of 20Tom Page20R1 5-1-1 1913–14 38 15 9 14 60 51 +9 39 10th of 20Jack Allan17QR4 0-0-1 1914–15 38 12 13 13 63 50 +13 37 9th of 20William Brown22R2 4-0-1 No competitive football was played between 1915 and 1919 due to the World War I. 1919–20C Lge 42 12 10 20 59 88 -29 34 19th of 22Tom Hesmondhalgh 12R1 3-0-1 1920–21 42 19 5 18 63 73 -10 43 10th of 22Harry Dennison23R1 3-1-1 Football League Third Division North created. The club were invited to join. 1921–22Div 3 N 3 38 11 4 23 52 77 -25 26 20th of 20Harry Dennison18QR5 0-0-1 4,550 1922–23 38 13 10 15 42 53 -11 36 12th of 20William Sandham

George Guy 7QR4 0-0-1 5,460 1923–24 42 25 12 5 60 26 +34 62 2nd of 22Albert Whitehurst 15QR5 0-1-1 6,255 1924–25 42 21 7 14 75 53 +22 49 6th of 22Harry Anstiss 23QR6 1-0-1 5,055 1925–26 42 27 5 10 104 58 +46 59 3rd of 22Billy Fergusson 21R2 1-1-1 6,030 1926–27 42 26 6 10 105 65 +40 58 2nd of 22 Albert Whitehurst 46R1 0-0-1 6,181 1927–28 42 17 7 18 74 77 -3 41 13th of 22Albert Whitehurst 36R2 1-0-1 4,222 1928–29 42 13 10 19 79 96 -17 36 17th of 22Jack Milsom26R1 0-0-1 5,355 1929–30 42 18 7 17 89 91 -2 43 10th of 22Tom Tippett29R1 0-0-1 3,440 1930–31 42 12 6 24 62 107 -45 30 21st of 22Tom Tippett18R1 0-0-1 3,162 1931–32 40 4 3 33 48 135 -87 11 21st of 21Reg Watson8R1 0-0-1 3,070 1932–33 42 13 7 22 58 80 -22 33 18th of 22George Snow

Bill Watson 12R1 0-0-1 4,669 1933–34 42 9 6 27 53 103 -50 24 22nd of 22Jack Robson 10R1 0-0-1 3,823 1934–35 42 11 11 20 53 71 -18 33 20th of 22Len Clarke 13R1 0-0-1 4,593 1935–36 42 10 13 19 58 88 -30 33 20th of 22Joe Wiggins 14R1 0-0-1 4,827 1936–37 42 13 9 20 69 86 -17 35 18th of 22Wally Hunt 24R1 0-0-1 4,669 1937–38 42 13 11 18 67 78 -11 37 17th of 22Jimmy Wynn 20R1 0-1-1 5,374 1938–39 42 15 9 18 92 82 +10 39 15th of 22Jimmy Wynn 29R1 0-0-1 6,110No competitive football was played between 1939 and 1946 due to the World War II. 1945–46 R3 2-2-2 1946–47Div 3 N 3 42 19 10 13 80 64 +16 48 6th of 22Joe Hargreaves 25R3 2-0-1 7,577 1947–48 42 15 11 16 48 72 +24 41 12th of 22Hugh O'Donnell 10R2 1-1-1 8,124 1948–49 42 18 9 15 55 53 +2 45 7th of 22Jack Connor 10R1 0-1-1 8,616 1949–50 42 21 9 12 68 41 +27 51 3rd of 22Jack Connor 18R2 1-0-1 8,372 1950–51 46 17 11 18 69 62 +7 45 11th of 24Jack Connor 17R3 2-0-1 6,519 1951–52 46 11 13 22 47 79 -32 35 21st of 24Alan Middlebrough Bert Foulds 10R3 2-0-1 4,992 1952–53 46 14 5 27 62 83 -21 33 22nd of 24Bert Foulds 13R1 0-0-1 6,200 1953–54 46 15 10 21 59 77 -18 40 19th of 24Jack Haines 11R1 0-0-1 6,121 1954–55 46 17 14 15 69 66 +3 48 12th of 22Eric Gemmell 21R3 2-1-1 6,202 1955–56 46 17 13 16 66 84 -18 47 12th of 24Eric Gemmell 13R1 0-0-1 4,833 1956–57 46 18 12 16 65 65 0 48 13th of 24Frank Lord 15R1 0-0-1 6,280 1957–58 46 19 8 19 79 67 +12 46 10th of 24Jimmy Dailey 19R1 0-0-1 6,352Regional Third divisions merged creating nationwide Third Division and Fourth Division. Club qualified to join Third Division. 1958–59Div 3 3 46 8 12 26 37 79 -42 28 24th of 24RelegatedEddie Wainwright 11R1 0-2-1 4,810 1959–60Div 4 4 46 18 10 18 65 60 +5 46 12th of 24Stanley Milburn 15R2 1-2-1 4,599 1960–61 46 17 8 21 60 66 -6 42 17th of 24Ronnie Cairns 22R1 0-1-1R3 2-1-1 3,930 1961–62 44 19 7 18 71 71 0 45 12th of 23Ronnie Cairns 18R2 1-0-1F 5-1-3 4,024 1962–63 46 20 11 15 67 59 +8 51 7th of 24Ronnie Cairns George Morton 14R1 0-1-1R1 0-1-1 3,306 1963–64 46 12 15 19 56 59 -3 39 20th of 24Joe Richardson George Morton 14R2 1-0-1R2 1-1-1 3,020 1964–65 46 22 14 10 74 53 +21 58 6th of 24Reg Jenkins 25R1 0-0-1R2 1-0-1 4,686 1965–66 46 16 5 25 71 87 -16 37 21st of 24Reg Jenkins 19R2 1-1-1R2 1-1-1 2,974 1966–67 46 13 11 22 53 75 -22 37 21st of 24 Reg Jenkins 14R1 0-0-1R1 0-0-1 2,443 1967–68 46 12 14 20 51 72 -21 38 19th of 24 Joe Fletcher 16R1 0-0-1R1 0-0-1 2,292 1968–69 46 18 20 8 68 35 +33 56 3rd of 24Promoted Dennis Butler 16R1 0-1-1R1 0-0-1 5,399 1969–70Div 3 3 46 18 10 18 69 60 +9 46 9th of 24 Reg Jenkins 21R1 0-0-1R1 0-0-1 6,109 1970–71 46 14 15 17 61 68 -7 43 16th of 24 Reg Jenkins 15R4 3-1-1R2 1-1-1 4,866 1971–72 46 12 13 21 57 83 -26 37 18th of 24 David Cross 10R1 0-0-1R1 0-2-1 4,387 1972–73 46 14 17 15 48 54 -6 45 13th of 24 Reg Jenkins Malcolm Darling 9R1 0-0-1R2 1-0-1 3,186 1973–74 46 2 17 27 38 94 -56 21 24th of 24Relegated Leo Skeete 10R2 1-1-1R2 1-0-1 1,890 1974–75Div 4 4 46 13 13 20 59 75 -16 39 19th of 24 Tony Whelan Bob Mountford 10R2 1-2-1R1 0-0-1 1,507 1975–76 46 12 18 16 40 54 -14 42 15th of 24Bob Mountford 17R3 2-4-1R1 0-0-2 1,594 1976–77 46 13 12 21 50 59 -9 38 18th of 24Bob Mountford 11R1 0-2-1R1 0-0-2 1,745 1977–78 46 8 8 30 43 85 -42 24 24th of 24 Terry Owen 11R1 0-0-1R2 1-1-1 1,275 1978–79 46 15 9 22 47 64 -17 39 20th of 24Terry Owen 11R1 0-0-1R1 0-0-2 1,767 1979–80 46 7 13 26 33 79 -46 27 24th of 24Chris Jones11R3 2-2-1R1 0-1-1 1,926 1980–81 46 14 15 17 60 70 -10 43 15th of 24Barry Wellings 14R1 0-0-1R1 0-1-1 2,460 1981–82 46 10 16 20 50 62 -12 46 21st of 24 Mark Hilditch 15R1 0-2-1R1 0-1-1 1,837 1982–83 46 11 16 19 55 73 -16 49 20th of 24 Micky French 11R1 0-0-1R2 1-0-3 1,688 1983–84 46 11 13 22 52 80 -28 46 22nd of 24 Steve Johnson 10R3 2-0-1R1 0-1-1R1 0-0-1 1,491 1984–85 46 13 14 19 55 69 -14 53 17th of 24 Barry Diamond 16R1 0-0-1R1 0-0-2R2 1-1-1 1,434 1985–86 46 14 13 19 57 77 -20 55 18th of 24 Steve Taylor 26R3 2-1-1R1 1-0-1G 1-0-1 1,790 1986–87 46 11 17 18 54 73 -19 50 21st of 24Lyndon Simmonds