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Reply | Rochdale in the SPL
at 19:27 1 Jun 2015
If you're talking about the current Dale squad, I'm not really in that much of a position to judge. The only time I see the Dale is the brief highlights shown on BBC on a Saturday night.
If, however, you are talking about the size, stature and potential of the club then there are quite a few Dale-type clubs which thrive (for a time at least) in the SPFL Premiership (ex-SPL). I moved to Perth in 1990 and, on the basis of "if you can't be with the one you love...", I started to support St Johnstone.
Saints are a small club, surviving on a hardcore support of around 2,500-3,000, boosted by the visits of the likes of Celtic, Aberdeen, and the Dundee clubs. Like Dale, they are run as a very tight ship by passionate supporters who just happen to be successful local businessmen. They squeeze every last bit of value out of every penny they spend and with every decision comes the question "does this put the survival of the club at risk?"
They have a manager who knows how to build a squad with limited resources and then get them playing football, and even the stadium is similar to Spotland. Squint, as I did on the day they last won promotion to the SPL, in some ways wishing it was the Dale (this was before the first of Dale's two recent promotions), and you could imagine yourself back watching Rochdale.
And the most important similarity? They punch above their weight! This is the third consecutive season that Saints have qualified for Europe, and, of course, we won the Scottish Cup in 2014 - a victory for small clubs everywhere and a personal reward for me for supporting my two hometown teams, through thick and thin, mostly thin, for nearly five decades!
Given the kind of club they are, Rochdale AFC would be more than capable of matching the record of St Johnstone, the Dale of the far north. |
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Reply | Dale's early tv appearances
at 19:42 21 Feb 2013
I've just checked on statto.com, and the table before the Luton game had Luton on top with a superior goal average, table: http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/division-three-old/1969-1970/table/
You are correct that Dale went top for five days when they beat Mansfield away 2-1, but that was on Monday, 3rd November. On the Saturday (8th) Luton went back on top by drawing at home 1 - 1 with Barnsley, while Dale were getting beat 3 - 1 away to Halifax. That is how it stayed until the Luton game two weeks later (presumably it was the FA Cup on the 15th).
I would recommend the statto.com website for confirming the memory (or otherwise!) - it allows you to see the results for each date, and how the table looked at the end of each match day. |
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Reply | Dale's early tv appearances
at 19:34 20 Feb 2013
I do remember the Luton game on Match of the Day, where it was the top of the table clash (old Div 3). If we'd have got the victory we would have leap-frogged Luton to go top of the table. We lost 2-0, and a disastrous points haul from December and January ended the promotion attempt.
I was at the Chesterfield game on 25/11/72, and it didn't show the team or the club in the best light. The Dale had made a decent start to the season, and had been near the top early on (which is probably why Granada scheduled the game). The run had, however, been built upon a promotion-standard away form, but, sadly, the team had always struggled at Spotland. That home form really slumped in November. Three successive home fixtures saw us lose to Scunthorpe 2-0, Bangor City 2-1 in the cup, and then, on telly, 2-1 to Chesterfield. I remember it being a grey, drizzly day and the coverage just portrayed Spotland as a dour place to be. Dale went 2-0 down, scored one back, and then went (I thought) all out for the equaliser - the highlights, however, didn't really give the impression of a fight back (perhaps it was my young imagination).
As for the Coventry FA Cup coverage, this was from what I can only describe as some sort on cine-camera. IIRC it was mounted on a tripod and was operated by a guy from on top of the Main Stand tea-bar. I don't remember it being on the local TV news that night, but the footage did re-surface some years later when one of the local news programmes - Look North or Granada Reports - did a crisis report during one of the club's near collapses (ie. how did they go from this boom time to this slump). I have no idea who did the coverage, but they were also there for the next cup game v Colchester. |
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Reply | Sub 2000 crowd for Tuesday?
at 19:09 22 Oct 2012
A Sub 2000 crowd? Is that why the club have taken the game to a smaller venue?
BBC Sport:-
NPOWER LEAGUE TWO
Venue:  Castleton Sports Centre Date: Tuesday, 23 October Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Coverage: BBC Sport website, BBC Radio 5 live, BBC Radio Manchester, BBC Oxford
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19958385
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Reply | Rangers
at 19:18 21 Jul 2012
I think it would be farcical if punishments like that were handed out. Trying to re-write history kicks off all sorts of 'what-ifs' that could never be resolved. If Rangers hadn't have used dual contracts and tax avoidance (evasion?) schemes would their squads have necessarily been weaker? Even if they had been might Celtic have then spent less in trying to keep up with their big rivals - there has been a footballing 'arms race' between the two for years.
And then the consequences for the other clubs might have been different. Even now some of the SPL clubs are grasping this situation in a positive manner - season ticket sales at many clubs are up, Aberdeen are leading a campaign for the league to have a 'sell-out Saturday' in a few weeks. Had both Rangers and Celtic been weaker this past decade then some of the other clubs might have galvanised themselves for a realistic challenge - as it was the Old Firm were just so far in front that the rest settled for being the best of the rest.
As for the cups, would it mean that Queen of the South were actually cup winners a few years ago? But then they probably would have played against another SPL team had Rangers not been as strong, so probably would not have won anyway.
No, I think this is a pretty grubby attempt by Celtic to stick the boot in whilst their bitter rival are down - they have been taunted mercilessly by Rangers' fans for being behind in the number of titles won - and Scottish football shouldn't get involved in or encourage these petty squabbles. One idea that has been put forward is that the titles/cup wins are stripped from Rangers but not awarded to anyone else - they just remain unawarded for those seasons.
As for legal action, from what I know of Scots legal system, I'm not sure Celtic would be successful, or if they were that they would get anywhere near what they wanted. Furthermore, taking legal action over a footballing matter might fall foul of FIFA's policy of avoiding the courts - ultimately Celtic could find themselves expelled! Having them re-apply for membership, and starting again in Div 3, would be interesting, though! |
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Reply | Rangers
at 17:57 21 Jul 2012
Rangers have reluctantly agreed to the 12 month signing ban (even though it was overturned by the courts they couldn't do otherwise if they want to get their SFA membership) but it doesn't start until 1st September ie they can sign players in the current transfer window but not in January, nor in next years pre-/early-season window.
So, they've got about six weeks to sign some experienced players capable of winning both SFL Div 3 and Div 2 (with the help of their best 18 year olds, of course). |
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Reply | Rangers dropping down to Division 3
at 11:56 15 Jul 2012
Just another point relating to Hampden.
I read the other day that Scotland is now the only footballing nation in the world to have two FIFA 5 star rated stadiums in their fourth tier. |
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Reply | Rangers dropping down to Division 3
at 11:54 15 Jul 2012
There has been a huge backlash from fans of non-Old Firm clubs, with the threat of walking away from Scottish football altogether if the authorities fiddled it. This has concentrated a lot of minds in most boardrooms - you can survive if TV revenue falls, but there's no point if your fans have disappeared.
I agree about Regan and Doncaster, they have been adamant that Scottish football can't survive without Rangers in the top flight. If that is what they believe then they have to make way for replacements that can make a go of the mess we're now in.
This is a great chance to reform the game here, and the first step has to be breaking the power cartel the Old Firm has represented for years. No veto on SPL votes, equal sharing of TV revenues, and even going back to the sharing of gate revenues that used to common in football.
Regan and Doncaster have talked about the long slow lingering death of Scottish football without Rangers, but that is what we've been going through for years with the dominance of the big two. It is decades since another club won the league title, and if we are saying clubs cannot survive without a few visits from the OF what happens if they ever find another league that will have them? No, it's time to bite the bullet, get new leadership and find an alternative way for football to survive. |
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Reply | Rangers dropping down to Division 3
at 11:35 15 Jul 2012
No, it is their permanent home and has been for most of their existence - 'First' Hampden was at what is now a nearby bowling club; 'Second Hampden' was at what is now Caithkin Park (former home of defunct Third Lanark - the pitch still remains, as does much of the overgrown, tree-infested terracing); 'Third' Hampden' is the current home.
Queens Park were the first football club in Scotland and joined the (English) FA. They even provide all the players for the first international game between the two nations.
They had a huge influence on the early days of Scottish football and seemed to be the natural host for internationals. As crowds increased they merely piled up more thousands of tons of cinders to provide more terracing, until the bowl could take 150,000 spectators.
The club have remained true to their early roots and have remained an amateur club, hence the fact that they are such a lowly club playing in such a large stadium. I am almost certain that they still own the ground, but the improvements have been paid for with SFA money and government grants.
Queens Park do have another stadium, just behind the west stand, called Lesser Hampden - they used to play some league games there but it is now used for youth teams. The ground was built on farmland and the old farmhouse is now the football pavillion - possibly the oldest football building still in use.
When you think about how much property they own, and the fact that their amateur status means they don't pay out much, they are probably the richest club in Scottish football.
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Reply | Anyone for Tennis.
at 18:24 8 Jul 2012
Just for the record...
Murray has never owned a Paraguay shirt, has never worn a Paraguay shirt and has never claimed that he has.
And I doubt very much that he is anti-English, having English family, an English girlfriend, living in England...
All that ever happened was that, as a young tennis player being interviewed he was joking with his interviewer. The guy asked him whether would be supporting Scotland in a forthcoming tournament, knowing full well they hadn't qualified, and sniggered. Murray simply replied he'd be supporting ABE, as many young Scots would - as a wind-up! What was a light-hearted conversation wasn't treated as such by the journalist, and Murray was tarred as some sort Anglophobe. One lesson he learned from that was to be very careful with journalists. |
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Reply | rangers not wanted..
at 15:56 4 Jul 2012
Four weeks!
I thought that the SPL clubs were going to chicken out as they have been under incredible pressure from Neil Doncaster, ceo of the SPL. He has promised 'financial Armageddon' if Rangers spend more than one season out of the SPL. That pressure will now be applied to the SFL clubs.
What is important for me is that the non-Old Firm clubs take this opportunity to reform the voting rules in the SPL. Any proposal on a substantive issue needs an 11 to 1 majority for it to be passed, meaning that Rangers and Celtic voting together can block any change (and they always vote together on anything financial). |
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Reply | rangers not wanted..
at 22:28 28 Jun 2012
You're not far wrong there. Some of the junior leagues, particularly in the west of Scotland, are like the 'land that time forgot'. Some of them have been big clubs in the past, when junior football was very popular, some have even been in the league many decades ago. Some of the grounds haven't changed since the 40s, and some look as though they haven't been maintained in that time either.
Benburb, just around the corner from Ibrox, attracted crowds of up to 20,000 when my grandparents used to watch them (1920s), and the (very dilapidated) ground today still has a massive terraced stand on one side - catering for crowds of around 100.
There was a fantastic website on Scottish non-league football which had details and pictures of all clubs in the country, but it seems to have disappeared recently. |
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Reply | rangers not wanted..
at 22:00 28 Jun 2012
At the moment there isn't a vacancy anywhere, and there won't be until the EGM of the SPL (4th July?). If they are expelled then either Dunfermline or Dundee take their place.
The vacancy would then be in the SFL, and the decision would then be up to the remaining 29clubs. In theory any club could apply for the vacancy but I'm sure the SFA would want to push through its league reorganisation and use some 'incentives' to persuade the clubs to vote Rangers in.
If the SPL1/SPL2 thing comes about then the idea is that the whole league structure comes under the control of the SFA, so they will have a big say. |
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Reply | rangers not wanted..
at 21:38 28 Jun 2012
Gretna were initially relegated to Division Three as a result of their financial meltdown, but the club then folded. The re-formed club then successfully applied to the East of Scotland League, which is, effectively, the bottom.
Why not relegate Rangers lower than Div One? The thinking could be that the opposing clubs are just too small to cope with such a club. A couple of clubs - Dumbarton and East Fife - have grounds that consist of a single stand with a capacity of 2000ish. Could they really cope with the Ibrox travelling support?
As a compromise they could put them in Div One and give a massive points deduction. Even that probably wouldn't prevent them getting promoted. |
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Reply | rangers not wanted..
at 21:16 28 Jun 2012
On the clubs voting to prevent Rangers entering the SPL, I think they p***ed a lot of clubs off by taking the SFA to court. Also, I'm not sure that a visit of Rangers brings that much benefit these days. When they come to Perth these days they only increase the crowd by about two thousand, then the club has increased policing and stewarding costs.
Also, the SPL clubs have been wanting to curb the voting power of the Old Firm for a while now and this gives them the opportunity to force that through. At present any significant change needs an 11 to 1 majority, meaning the Old Firm can veto any change that goes against their interest.
As for the reorganisation, aren't they also wanting to regionalise the lower leagues? I know there are plans for a Highland league and a Lowland League, but I can't remember what was going to happen with the rest. |
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Reply | rangers not wanted..
at 20:59 28 Jun 2012
Two of those places have teams, but in the North Caledonian Amateur League. Even if Rangers were punished that harshly they'd be in the Southern Glasgow Saturday Morning League (or whatever it's called).
More appropriately, put them in the Western Junior League playing against the likes of Benburb, Arthulie and Pollok! |
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Reply | Stadium company - future threats
at 20:18 26 May 2012
I really fear for Hornets and Oldham if they remain in the new Championship 1. While I think admitting the four new clubs, along with the current 'expansion' clubs is a great idea, the division could be disastrous for any heartland clubs. More clubs in developing areas in the midlands and the south are needed for the talent that is being nurtured there, but more thought could have been given to the likes of Hornets. The burden of expanding the game is being placed mainly on the RFL's weakest clubs. How on earth Hornets are expected to travel to Neath, Hemel, Northampton, Gloucestershire, Tottenham and Coventry/or Oxford, and remain viable is anyone's guess (although I think travel is going to be funded, I'm sure extra costs will occur - like accommodation!). I think we all know that they will struggle to attract adequate gates against these teams, although on-the-field success may be an attraction.
I'm not sure the description of the 'southern' teams as 'make-believe' or 'mickey mouse' is entirely fair. Hemel are a strong and solid community club, with their own ground, clubhouse and (soon-to-be-built) grandstand, and have been waiting for years for planning permission so they can make the step-up. London Skolars are a well-financed and established club - just not very good (in common with other teams down there they just can't compete with even 'down at heel' heartland clubs of a similar status. South Wales are doing a great job in providing local players with opportunities to play at semi-pro level, and North Wales seem to have a secure location at the university owned Racecourse.
Gloucestershire seem a really innovative project, backed by the university, and, again will provide playing opportunities that would not be available to lads from that area. The backup from the uni - in terms of sports science, facilities, marketing, admin, physiotherapy, etc - should be invaluable at this level.
Coventry have long been run as a 'professional' club, even if their players are unpaid, and have access to a great stadium at this level. The club has a youth development programme and the city has five other clubs (if you include nearby Leamington) - how many does the Rochdale district have these days?
Not sure about the Oxford bid, and the Northampton club is based upon the football club (hasn't had a good history, that type of expansion club), but these are solid, seemingly well thought out, and definitely long overdue, attempts at expanding the game. Potentially disastrous for any 'heartland' clubs left adrift there, though. |
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