Rochdale
Tuesday 16th August 2011 KO 7.45pm
Capacity: 10.249
Address: Sandy Lane, Rochdale, OL11 5DR
Main Telephone No: 0870 822 1907
Team Nickname: The Dale
Year Ground Opened: 1906
Pitch Size: 114 x 76 yards
Home Kit Colours: Black & Blue Stripes
Latest News
Being an evening kick off there are unlikely to be many branch members making the trip to Rochdale so we will not be organising group travel.
Meeting Place
The Cemetery Hotel, 470 Bury Road, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL11 5EU Tel: 01706 645635
A street corner local, reasonably close to the ground with well kept beers and a friendly atmosphere. Home made food is available 12 - 2.30pm and the pub is included in the latest edition of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.
Other Boozers and Food Outlets Worth a Visit
Being a good Northern town Rochdale has no shortage of pubs many of which sell good quality real ale. There are also two breweries located in Rochdale: The Pictish Brewing Company and The Green Mill Brewery.
Studds Bar, Sandy Lane, Rochdale, OL11 5DR
Underneath the T.D.S Stand within Spotland Stadium the club bar sells Thwaites beer, pies and pasties. Away fans are usually welcome.
Ratcliffe Arms, Spotland Stadium, Sandy Lane, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL11 5DR
Located in the pub car park, Lees of Manchester beers are available and food is served at lunch time. Pool, Darts and Sky TV are also on offer.
The Cask and Feather, 1 Oldham Road, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL16 1UA Tel: 01706 508224
Not overly convenient for the ground but well worth a visit if you’re a real ale fan. Home to the Green Mill Brewery, a proper drinkers pub with some food served at lunch time. Included in the 2011 Good Beer Guide.
Wilbutts Lane Chippy
A traditional northern chippy with fresh fish and homemade pies. Right next to the ground this lower league institution is well worth a visit.
What's the Ground Like
Rochdale is renowned as one of the friendliest grounds in the football league. Traditional but comfy with a decent view, 3 sides of Spotland are now all seating with only the Sandy Lane end still terracing. The away fans are located in the Westrose Leisure Stand which runs along one side of the pitch and has no supporting pillars to obscure the view. The acoustics are pretty good so it’s a great opportunity to make plenty of noise. Decent quality scran is available in the form of local award winning pies.
How To Get There
Despite being fairly close to Manchester, Rochdale isn’t the easiest ground to get to on the train from London. The journey involves a train to Manchester Piccadilly, transfer to Victoria and another train out to Rochdale with a journey time of over 3 hours. An off peak return will set you back around £70 but advance single fares can be picked up for as little as £12.50. As always book early, cheap advanced tickets generally become available 12 weeks before departure. It’s a fair trek from the station to the ground so you might want to jump in a taxi.
For further information on Spotland and directions for driving to the ground please click here.
When Have We Been There Before?
Last season we won a cracking match 3-2 with second half goals from Noble and Robson after. Prior to last season our previous trip to Spotland was a 4-2 penalty shootout defeat in the Football League Trophy in 2008.