Is it to give poor old Rochdale, officially the Football League's least exciting team, a chance of actually getting out of the division?
34 years without a promotion or relegation. Do you think their fans ever wonder why they bother?
The boring answer is that after the introduction of Div 4 in 1958 there were 22 Div 1 and 2 teams plus 24 Div 3 and 4 teams.Would be interesting to hear a constructive answer.
Don't knock the changing of rules.The boring answer is that after the introduction of Div 4 in 1958 there were 22 Div 1 and 2 teams plus 24 Div 3 and 4 teams.
Two teams were relegated from Divs 1 and 2 with four teams relegated from Div 3 as there were two extra teams in the division.
The football league was virtually a closed shop but after 3 years of finishing bottom of Div 4 Bradford Park Avenue lost their vote for re-election in 1970 and were replaced by Cambridge Utd of the Southern League. Two years later Barrow failed to be re-elected after finishing 3rd from bottom.
It wasn't until 1973-74 that they introduced 3 promotions to the top flight.
Rochdales proud 34 year record would not exist today if the rules were the same in 1978 when they finished bottom of Div 4. They got voted back in. That was the same season as we finished 11 points ahead of the next team, Blackburn, but failed to get promoted on goal difference. There were only 2 points for a win in those days and we won 6 more games than Blackburn that year! The following season we were promoted behind 'The team of the 80's' but sadly Mr Venables side got relegated two years later
Don't knock the changing of rules.
If it hadn't have been for that brief experiment of ranking teams with equal points by taking account of goals scored, rather than goal difference, who would have been relegated out of the Football League in 1997?
Hereford.?
Is the INCORRECT answer!
We stayed up that season because of the league "trying something out".
Is the INCORRECT answer!
We stayed up that season because of the league "trying something out".
Welcome to Rochdale AFC: proudly occupying the Football League's bottom division since 1974.
34 years without a promotion or relegation. Do you think their fans ever wonder why they bother?