When Rochdale AFC played at Wembley in May 2008 we had a support totalling around 16,000. This was five times our average home support and members of The Trust board were seeing faces at Wembley that they ‘knew’ but hadn’t seen for years. Many of these faces belonged to fans whose attendance has dropped as they have had tpo move away from Rochdale for varying reasons.

What was also noticeable was the number of odd accents to be heard in conversation. Just where had all these extra fans come from?

The Trust Board quickly decided that possibly as many as half the extra 13,000 had travelled to Wembley from outside the OL postcode and decided that something needed to be done to embrace this potentially large pocket of support.

Rather than give the idea to the club, The Trust decided in June 2008 to set up its very own Exiles Branch of the Trust. We set a target of 50 members for the first season but that figure has been passed and stands at 82 (23/02/09).

The members of the Exiles club get weekly updates from the Dale Trust via email about events at Spotland and are also consulted on Trust and club policy where it is felt appropriate. Indeed, many exiles are professional people who have skills in all walks of life that The Trust hopes it can harness to the good of Rochdale AFC.

The Trust also sends out information prior to each away game advising of a suitable pub where exiles can meet and forge new friendships amongst fellow exiles.

The Coup de Grace for the Exiles this year will come on February 28th when we entertain Grimsby Town. The club put forward an offer for the Exiles to club together and act as match sponsors for the day. A staggering 62 of them have confirmed their attendance and this opportunity is officially sold out, but if successful, it will hopefully be an annual event!

The Trust will continue to attempt to woo as many exiles as it can under one big umbrella, and in time, membership may break three figures.

Exiles Day a huge success

The Grimsby home game on Saturday saw a very successful first Exiles Day at Spotland where 54 Exiles convened to act as match sponsor.

One exile had made a 16,000 mile round trip from Indonesia to attend and said he was also going to get to Barnet on Tuesday night before flying home.

Other fans between them racked up over 20,000 miles to attend and enjoyed a pre-match tour of the stadium which included, to their delight, a quick Q&A session in the dressing rooms with Keith Hill who took the time to meet the exile army of fans.

Not only did the team make the day with a hard fought 2-0 victory to move us to second in the league the exiles took advantage of the club’s hospitality and several disappeared to the Sandy Lane End to relive an old haunt from yesteryear.

The exiles were fantastically looked after by Iain Johnstone at the club and enjoyed full sponsorship privileges choosing Clark Keltie as Man of the Match where young exile Jake Cadney from Birmingham presented the award in the lounge afterwards.

Nearly all exiles asked on the way out if it could become an annual event as they’d thoroughly enjoyed a trip back to Rochdale to watch real football at a real football club.

The Dale Trust would like to thank all 54 of those attending and hope all thoroughly enjoyed the day out.

Picture guide:

1) The exiles gather at the dug outs as part of their pre-match tour

2) Mrs Cooper of Suffolk gives Keith Hill some team selection advice in the
dressing rooms

3) Harry Spencer of Herts gets the chance to walk on the pitch

Exiles Day at Grimsby Town match

Saturday 28th February 2009 sees something of a Trust goal being achieved. It was back at Wembley that the Trust noticed so many faces we’d never seen before. The largest Rochdale support since the club’s record attendance match in 1949 had gathered at one ground. Where did they all come from?

It was obvious from listening to accents that they were not all from Rochdale, so over the summer the Trust devised a plan to try and unite the army of exiles under one umbrella where the more committed exiles could play a bigger role in supporting the Dale and hopefully forge friendships amongst fellow exiles.

The Trust launched its Exiles wing of the Trust last July and are delighted to announce that over 80 exiles have joined – many of whom live abroad. The exiles (via the club) were then offered the chance to ‘club’ together and act as match sponsors at today’s match. Over 50 immediately put their names down for this event and will be getting the red carpet treatment from the club including a pre-match tour of the stadium and a chance to see how things are done behind the scenes.

For some exiles their early recollections of Spotland will have been the buckets in the old main stand catching the rain water, so the tour will be a real eye-opener for some.

For the sake of posterity, the full list of those attending appears below with where they reside. If successful, this is hoped to become an annual event.

Phil Barton                    Bishops Stortford
Matt Barton                   Bishops Stortford
Dave Booth                    London
David Bottomley             Henley
Simon Bottomley           Henley
Ian Buckley                   Telford
Wendy Buckley             Telford
Bob Buckley                  Herts
Maggie Buckley             Herts
Stuart Clarke                 Worthing
Trevor Clarke                 Northampton
Mary Clarke                Northampton
Ben Cooper                   Kingston Upon Thames (2)
Bert Cooper                   Beccles (Suffolk)
Rod Cooper                   Beccles (Suffolk)
Mike Coupe                   Costa Del Smithybridge
Dave Coupe                   Luton
Colin Cadney                 Birmingham
Jake Cadney                 Birmingham
Dorset Dale (aka Tony)   Dorset (3)
Geoff Ferguson              Eastbourne
Jackie Ferguson            Eastbourne
Frank Finningan             Manchester
Colin Hudson                 Cambridgeshire
David Hudson Cambridgeshire
Margaret Hudson Cambridgeshire
Gill Hudson Cambridgeshire
Norman Hudson Cambridgeshire
Paul Jenkins                  Leicester
John Kirby                     Carnforth
Antony Lack                  Derby
Brett McCormack           Bristol
Sam McCormack           Bristol
Graham Marchant Castle Douglas (Dumfries)
Matt Marchant Castle Douglas (Dumfries)
Rob Marchant                Gosport
Mike Marchant               Gosport
Terry Moore                   Bristol
Matt O’Neill                   London
Pete Oliver                    Preston
Pat Oliver                      Preston
Mick Patch                    Watford
David Sibbert                 Oxfordshire
Barbara Sibbert              Oxfordshire
Lee Shackleton              Newtown – Wales
Emma Smith                 Derby
Paul Speed                   Bolton
Harry Spencer               Herts
Trevor Stott                    Colwyn Bay
Richie Webb                  Fareham
Tim Williams                 Colwyn Bay