When considering Rochdale AFC, it's perhaps easy to think of the lack of glamour. For years the club have almost epitomised the unfashionable nature of the lower leagues. The Lancastrian side have spent more consecutive seasons in the bottom division than any other team, they've endured more first round defeats in the FA Cup than any other club and last year, they had the lowest average attendance in the Sky Bet League One.
However, more upbeat supporters at the Crown Oil Arena believe their club may be on the verge of something special. A mere 10 years ago, the dream of becoming a League One club seemed unlikely. Now, their supporters are dreaming of even bigger things – a promotion to the Sky Bet Championship.
Given those poor attendances and the fact that money made from selling off key assets such as Scott Hogan in recent years has been re-invested into the infrastructure of the club rather than the playing budget, it would be something of a minor miracle for the Dale to achieve a promotion this year, but Keith Hill has twice led the club to promotions into the third tier – what's to say he can't lead them out in an upward direction?
The odds are not favourable for Hill and his team, with tipsters such as Bettingpro.com believing they would need a lot of luck and are current unlikely to be promoted as they've already had to cope with injuries to key players such as Ian Henderson and Jamie Allen this season. What's more, striker Calvin Andrew was recently handed a 12 game ban for a shocking elbow on Oldham's Peter Clarke, bringing bad publicity to the club as well as another selection headache for former Barnsley boss Hill.
But there's no doubting that this squad is filled with young talented players who could go onto greater things. Reported Burnley target Callum Camps has captained the team in the absence of Henderson and Allen and done well, whilst the likes of Ollie Rathbone and Joe Rafferty are no doubt hoping to climb the pyramid again having been released by Manchester United and Liverpool respectively as youngsters.
What's more, we've seen the real spirit and togetherness of this team over the last couple of months. The Dale didn't manage to pick up a win in their first seven league games of the campaign and were being tipped for a relegation fight at that point. However, they've since lifted themselves to within touching distance of the play-offs and earned impressive victories over neighbours Bolton Wanderers, Bury and Oldham Athletic in the process.
Such is the history of the club, coupled with the limited resources, very few expect the Dale to achieve the near impossible, but if the likes of Yeovil Town, Scunthorpe United and Burton Albion can enjoy jaunts in the Championship, is it really beyond this unfashionable club to reach the heights they've never reached before?
During Keith Hill's first spell as Rochdale manager, he urged supporters to cast aside long-held doubts that their side could ever achieve success as they chased the play-off dream in the 2007/2008 campaign.
“It's time to believe.” he told them then. Is it time to believe again?
