One thing which has always been clear about supporting Rochdale is the extremely healthy following we have from people who do not live in the Rochdale area. Any away game, especially at those in the South of England, will always see a large proportion of the away supporters made up from non Rochdale based supporters.

Indeed, it is not just away games. The exiled Dale supporter is becoming more of a regular at Spotland. The introduction of the Exiled Season Ticket a few years ago is a testimony to this, and its success goes some way to indicating the great number of "out of towners" we have watching Rochdale on a regular basis. A look at the Dale In Exile page which up until recently existed on the RochdaleAFC.com website is further proof of this ever increasing section of the support.

Furthermore, the past year or so has seen the formation of the South Manchester and Cheshire Supporters club (amicably known as the SMAC lads). They have gained around forty members who meet up once a month to discuss all matters Dale in a social setting. They are now firmly established, with their high point being when Richard Jobson attended their end of season meeting in 2002-3.

In addition to that, the legendary Burks group is a prime example of what a group of exiled supporters can achieve, with their membership running close to 250 in their 25th year of existence.

We at Dale Trust feel that this is an area we deserve to be as involved with the Supporters Trust as anyone, and it is an area that we are very keen for the Trust to pursue. We know there has been attempts in the past to establish a Southern/London based Supporters club, but the Trust will provide an excellent focal point for the Exiled supporters to rally around, and the centre for hopefully many activities.

This is very much a long term project for the Trust, and it probably won't be a few seasons that we get to see the full benefits of having an Exiled branch within the Supporter Trust. We appreciate that we have to speak to supporters who come into this category to identify how we can meet their needs, and we may find that there are exiled supporters who are keen to get involved with the Trust and who see this as their sort of thing.