A letter arrived at FootballCynic HQ just before Christmas citing that we ‘glorified the big clubs by continually reporting on them’. The letter ranted on and was finally signed by ‘A Rochdale fan’. Now, if that ‘A Rochdale fan’ is under 40 years old, he or she would almost certainly never have seen anything other than – to use the popular but long winded term - the fourth tier of English football (or 4TEF as well call it in the marble halls of FootballCynic.com). Dad would have had to have taken ‘A Rochdale fan’ as a toddler or less to Spotland to have witnessed the delights of higher level league football. It’s hard to picture a Rochdale man in 1972 taking a babe in arms to the a Division Three clash (3TEF), isn’t it?

However, this could change as Rochdale are now riding high in Division Two, having defeated Grimsby Town and the big time could be returning to Rochdale. Whereas Rochdale’s Centre of Excellence might have seemed like a lame joke in the past, things have changed. How many recall that League Final against Norwich City, where ‘Dale’ fell at the final hurdle. Since then, the only near glory was a play-off defeat at the hands of Rushden & Diamonds. So, can The Dale achieve the dream? We hope so, as a return to 3TEF seems a real possibility.