Blogger Dan White travels to Spotland, the home of Rochdale as relegation threatened Essex outfit Colchester United were the visitors.

Ground: Spotland 7/92
Game: Rochdale 2-1 Colchester United
Date: 07/03/2015

Thoughts on the ground:
I arrived in Rochdale and the first thing I noticed was how dead and quiet it was. I felt like I was on the set of The Walking Dead. Thankfully, after walking into the town centre, I managed to find people, shops and tourist attractions. While wandering around, I got a message on Twitter. Usually I ignore them because it’s either my mom retweeting my movie blogs but this time it was Rochdale sending me a message. They said that because I was helping out Prostate Cancer UK, I could do some pitch side photos at the game. This is something I’ve always wanted to do and I finally got the chance. When I first read the message, I didn’t know what to do! I told them everything and said that I was interested in doing pitch side photos. They were happy for me to do this and wished me luck in completing the “Doing the 92” challenge.

I arrived at Spotland and met with everyone who helped raise money for Prostate Cancer UK. Overall, I had a lot of fun doing this as you get to meet fans and get to chat with them about how they think their season has been. One fan told me that Rochdale should sign Jon Stead from Huddersfield Town in the summer. At the time of writing this, Stead is currently on loan at Bradford City. Another fan said that they need to sign goalkeeper Jamie Jones, on loan from Preston North End, to a permanent deal.

I collected my pass and bib from the reception and made my way to the pitch. When there, I almost panicked as I had never done this before and wasn’t sure on where to go. Thankfully, one of the club photographers told me that if you do pitch side photos then you are allowed to go anywhere except the dugouts. So I chose to sit next to the Rochdale dugout and I learned right away that I am woefully unprepared. I don’t have expensive cameras and lenses. I don’t even have a stool to sit on. I ended up sitting on the ground to which Rochdale manager, Keith Hill, said “Nice to see someone different from everyone else”. I don’t know what he meant by that but he also wished me luck in completing the 92.

I have no idea how he found out but I was very happy to get some endorsement from a manager.

Thoughts on the game:
As the game started and I took my seat next to the Rochdale dugout, I couldn’t help but notice that the stand in front of me was almost empty apart from one section which had the Colchester United fans. I think Colchester only sold fewer than 200 tickets but it looks small for a stand that seats about 5000.

After six minutes, Rochdale had taken the lead thanks to a Rhys Bennett header. Bennett would later get yellow carded after 30 minutes. I have no idea how he got yellow carded but he did. The rest of the first half after the goal saw both teams have shots at goal but neither team getting any luck. One thing that I thought was impressive was Jamie Jones’s saves. He really impressed me and I think Preston should give him a start when his loan deal comes to an end. The second half started and after ten minutes Ian Henderson scored from a really hard angle which caused Rochdale fans to chant “Going down” at Colchester fans.

Colchester are currently in the relegation zone as I type this. Colchester fans responded with “Staying Up” chants. After 63 minutes, Colchester had scored from a penalty thanks to Chris Porter. I didn’t see why the referee called a penalty at the time but after watching highlights on Sky Sports, one of the Colchester players went down in the box without being touched. But the penalty didn’t help them as the game ended with a 2-1 win for Rochdale. After the game, I had a chat with some of the fans in the pub who were looking at the league tables. One fan said that he was looking forward to an away day at Blackpool but not at Millwall. They were hoping that the Millwall game takes place on a Saturday rather than at night during the week.

Overall, I had a lot of fun at Rochdale. We manage to raise a lot of money for Prostate Cancer UK and I got to do my first ever pitch side photos. This is something that I would really like to do but I’m not entirely sure on how to do it without licenses. I would like to say a massive thank you to both Prostate Cancer UK and Rochdale FC for making my day better than expected.

Atmosphere 3.5/5

Location 3.25/5: Located just outside the town centre. A 5 minute bus ride or a 20 minute walk

Value for money 3/5

Pie Rating n/a: Too scared to try 🙂

Pint Rating n/a: Don’t drink. Pint of Coke was £2.45

Programme 3/5: £3 for a programme

Character 3.5/5

Stewarding 4/5: Very friendly

Overall 4.25/5:

You can keep up with Dan and his groundhopping exploits on Twitter @DanWhite1993 and his the92.net profile here. To see Dan’s work from grounds up and down the country head to danwhitephotography.wordpress.com.

Have you ticked Spotland off your 92? Add it to your profile here www.the92.net/ground/spotland or if you’re thinking of going plan your visit there using our away day planner here www.the92.net/plan-your-away-day/spotland.