An overview:
Rochdale Town are an amateur football club based in Castleton, Rochdale, plying their modest trade in the North West Counties Division One, (known for sponsorship reasons as the Vodkat League). The NWCD1 is at level ten of the English football pyramid, ie nine promotions away from the Premier League.
View attachment 17066
They play at the Mayfield Sports Centre, which holds 1640 spectators, (they have been told). However, the average attendance for a competitive match is a paltry 150. They are minnows of football, forgotten men, full-time plumbers with part-time passions. They are, in short, hopeless. My aim (as my alter-ego Kylie Minogue) is to propel this rag-bag bunch of wanderers into promotions, professionalism, and in the end, Premier League football. God knows how long this might take, but I'm willing to keep going until either FM11 comes out or I die of frustration.
Ultimate aims:
- Premier League football.
- Champions League football.
- >50,000 seater stadium.
Pre-cursors to the Ultimate aims:
- Professionalism
- To become the most-watched side in Rochdale (Rochdale AFC have crowds ~2,500).
- Multiple promotions !
You join this story in its second season; I'm sorry I didn't include the first season, but I didn't realise I was going to try to create this scenario at first.
To cut a long story short, Rochdale Town, under the tutelage of unknown female manager Kylie Minogue, romped home with the North West Counties Division One title, a full sixteen points clear of nearest rivals Atherton Collieries in a bizarrely low-scoring league where only one team (Rochdale Town) averaged over a goal a game.
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The key to the success was an influx of higher-league reserve players on amateur contracts, particularly from Conference side Barrow, and the acquisition of formidable veteran striker Julian Alsop. The latter helped set-up countless goals from long-balls and scored a few himself. Sadly, in the off-season, Alsop joined Didcot Town. I should not here that the player called Matt Boothman is a vanity player, but also that his skills are no more or less than the average for the league, and I would expect will become useless as Town rise through the leagues.
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Phil Morris was the epitome of the kind of player the first season's success was built upon.
View attachment 17069
2010/11 then. The bookies have us down as third favourites, which is slightly baffling, but possibly this is due to the two major signings Rochdale Town made over the summer. Paul Dickov, ex-Leicester and Scotland goal poacher and Albano Correia, a big Portuguese lad have both joined on part-time contracts, following Town's conversion to semi-pro status. Most of the initial regen players with awful skills are gone, so now Kylie Minogue can say her team is truly 'her's'.
View attachment 17067
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Finances are okay, but the wage budget seems punitive. However, prudency is a virtue in lower league management; administration is a constant threat for any team.
View attachment 17070
View attachment 17072
Due to the long-term nature of this story, I cannot promise proper monthly updates - bi-annual ones are more likely, or they may coincide with big events (a cup final, a league win).
View attachment 17073
Peace out, cobbers!
Rochdale Town are an amateur football club based in Castleton, Rochdale, plying their modest trade in the North West Counties Division One, (known for sponsorship reasons as the Vodkat League). The NWCD1 is at level ten of the English football pyramid, ie nine promotions away from the Premier League.
View attachment 17066
They play at the Mayfield Sports Centre, which holds 1640 spectators, (they have been told). However, the average attendance for a competitive match is a paltry 150. They are minnows of football, forgotten men, full-time plumbers with part-time passions. They are, in short, hopeless. My aim (as my alter-ego Kylie Minogue) is to propel this rag-bag bunch of wanderers into promotions, professionalism, and in the end, Premier League football. God knows how long this might take, but I'm willing to keep going until either FM11 comes out or I die of frustration.
Ultimate aims:
- Premier League football.
- Champions League football.
- >50,000 seater stadium.
Pre-cursors to the Ultimate aims:
- Professionalism
- To become the most-watched side in Rochdale (Rochdale AFC have crowds ~2,500).
- Multiple promotions !
You join this story in its second season; I'm sorry I didn't include the first season, but I didn't realise I was going to try to create this scenario at first.
To cut a long story short, Rochdale Town, under the tutelage of unknown female manager Kylie Minogue, romped home with the North West Counties Division One title, a full sixteen points clear of nearest rivals Atherton Collieries in a bizarrely low-scoring league where only one team (Rochdale Town) averaged over a goal a game.
View attachment 17065
The key to the success was an influx of higher-league reserve players on amateur contracts, particularly from Conference side Barrow, and the acquisition of formidable veteran striker Julian Alsop. The latter helped set-up countless goals from long-balls and scored a few himself. Sadly, in the off-season, Alsop joined Didcot Town. I should not here that the player called Matt Boothman is a vanity player, but also that his skills are no more or less than the average for the league, and I would expect will become useless as Town rise through the leagues.
View attachment 17071
Phil Morris was the epitome of the kind of player the first season's success was built upon.
View attachment 17069
2010/11 then. The bookies have us down as third favourites, which is slightly baffling, but possibly this is due to the two major signings Rochdale Town made over the summer. Paul Dickov, ex-Leicester and Scotland goal poacher and Albano Correia, a big Portuguese lad have both joined on part-time contracts, following Town's conversion to semi-pro status. Most of the initial regen players with awful skills are gone, so now Kylie Minogue can say her team is truly 'her's'.
View attachment 17067
View attachment 17068
Finances are okay, but the wage budget seems punitive. However, prudency is a virtue in lower league management; administration is a constant threat for any team.
View attachment 17070
View attachment 17072
Due to the long-term nature of this story, I cannot promise proper monthly updates - bi-annual ones are more likely, or they may coincide with big events (a cup final, a league win).
View attachment 17073
Peace out, cobbers!