£110 (Hopefully) To Celebrate Rochdale's 110 Years

I wrote recently about Rochdale, looking ahead to a League One fixture against Port Vale where admission for all was £1 (the match was postponed and will be played on Tuesday 4th April with the same prices applying), that these are 'good times at Spotland, or the Crown Oil Arena as it is currently known, with Rochdale pushing for promotion from League One and in a healthy financial position that was boosted recently by a sell-on fee received from the sale of Scott Hogan by Brentford to Aston Villa.'

Competition remains fierce in the local area, from the big boys of Manchester (and the never-ending diet of live, televised action) to the thriving Non-League scene but, from a distance, Rochdale seem to be in a good place to survive and thrive whatever division they may be in.

It is a far cry from the hand-to-mouth existence of the mid-1990’s as the club board and staff toiled endlessly to keep football alive in the town, a period chronicled superbly in the book ‘Kicking In The Wind’ by Derick Allsop, which went behind the scenes at Spotland for the 1995/96 season.

So it also seems like a good time to launch a season ticket offer that could see the 110th anniversary of the club being celebrated with prices that could reach as low as £110.

From tomorrow (Monday 27th March), supporters will be invited to put down a £50 deposit on a 2017/18 season ticket, the final cost of which will be staged as follows.

Over 2,000 season ticket sales - £250
Over 2,500 season ticket sales - £200

Over 3,000 season ticket sales - £150

Over 4,000 season ticket sales - £110

There's some more devil in the detail, which can be seen on the official Dale website but at first viewing it is an innovative offer.

When I see something like this, I like to dip into a fans forum and get more of a gauge of feeling.

Fan Network has a detailed thread on the subject which is extremely positive about the very fact that the club is making the effort and broadly supportive about the offer itself, albeit with some reservations about the details being both well-argued and well-meaning.