Rochdale v Grimsby Preview

The Opposition

Rochdale AFC was formed in 1907, and last season played in a black and white striped kit to commemorate their centenary season. It almost brought them promotion to League One but they lost out to Stockport 3-2 in an epic play-off final. Rochdale are the longest serving team in League Two, having occupied a place in the division for 35 years, and former managers include Steve Parkin, John Hollins and Alan Buckley.

The past 5 seasons have been up and down for the Dale with league finishes of 21st, 9th, 14th, 9th and finally 5th last season. Last season started indifferently for Rochdale with only 3 wins in their first 13 games and were stuck in mid table around Christmas time. But after the turn of the year the results changed, with 5 wins out of 6 in January and 5 wins out of 7 in April. This run saw them storm up the table, at one point it looked like they could gatecrash the top 3 but they finished in 5th place, 2 points behind Stockport but 11 points ahead of 8th placed Chesterfield.

The play-off semi final pitted them against Darlington; a tense opener saw Darlo take a narrow 2-1 lead to Spotland. The 2nd leg was a much more open affair with Rochdale coming from behind to win 2-1 and take the tie to extra time and penalties, which Rochdale won 5-4. It would be their first ever trip to Wembley stadium and Stockport County were waiting for them having beaten Wycombe in their semi-final.

The final was an open, attacking game full of drama and great goals. Rory McArdle put the Dale 1-0 up but Stockport went 3-1 up with goals from Nathan Stanton (og), Anthony Pilkington and Liam Dickinson. Adam Rundle pulled one back to set up a frantic finish but in the end Rochdale had to make do with another season of League Two football.

The summer and January transfer window saw little action for Rochdale as Keith Hill (above) endeavoured to keep the same side that came so close to promotion last season. Ciaran Toner was signed on a free from the Mariners in the close season and has become a major figure in the Dale midfield during the 22 games he has played. Midfielder Clark Keltie and defender Scott Wiseman also signed in the summer, with the latter coming with a decent amount of lower league experience from Darlington. Midfielder Nicky Adams was signed on loan from League One leaders Leicester in January and scored on his debut against Dagenham. Ex-town defender Simon Ramsden is still at the club, playing nearly 100 games since his move from the Mariners in 2006. Adam Le Fondre (left), born with an unlikely Manchester name plays up front for the Dale has a goal record of better than 1 in 3 for the club since his move from Stockport in 2007 and will be a handful for the town backline.

Chris Dagnall. Scouser frontman Dagnall was signed from Tranmere Rovers 3 years ago after being told he wouldn't make it at Prenton Park, and since his move he has become one of the best strikers in the division with 31 goals in 97 games for Rochdale. He signed for the club after a loan spell in which he struggled to find the net, but ex-manager Steve Parkin clearly saw his potential and brought him in on a free. Although this season he has only found the net 8 times he is a scorer of important goals, and is bound to come to life at a time where Rochdale are on the brink of gate crashing the top 3. Oh how Town could do with him at the minute...

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Despite a good overall record against Dale Grimsby have lost 7 out of 10 against them.

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Rochdale Head-to-Head (19th on The Opposition Ladder)

Last Meeting

Grimsby 0 Rochdale 0 (Sat 09th Aug 2008)

The opening game of the season saw Grimsby fortunate to escape with a point.

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