Dale’s date at the Theatre of Dreams
DALE fans are pinching themselves after landing a plum cup tie with Manchester United.
Rochdale will travel to Old Trafford for the first time in more than 30 years for the third round Carabao Cup clash – and supporters cannot wait.
Dave Reed, 55, is among those excited fans dreaming of an historic giantkilling against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Red Devils,
currently lying fifth in the Premier League.
Dave said: “The draw is a well deserved reward for all those associated with the club and also the fans and previous chairmen like Chris Dunphy and David Kilpatrick who are responsible for giving us the club that we have today - they kept the club going through the dark days.”
A fan for 43 years, Dave is now a season ticket holder at the League One club, alongside his son Elliot.
He added: “It’s also an opportunity for the Rochdale public to realise they have a football club to be proud of with some fantastic young players and a very good manager in Brian Barry-Murphy. The football club puts the town on the map in a good way and it’s time the public started getting up to Spotland and supporting their town team.”
Rochdale AFC, who took London giants Tottenham to an FA Cup fifth round replay at Wembley two seasons ago, will be looking to bridge a gap of 52 places between the sides in next month’s all-Greater Manchester showdown.
They tweeted the morning after the draw to remind the fans that it had really happened.
They said: “Morning, Dale fans. No, it wasn’t a dream. We really have been drawn away to Manchester United in Round Three of the Carabao Cup.”
The last time Dale played Manchester United was in 1986 in the FA Cup 3rd round. Though they lost 2-0 to a team that included the likes of Mark Hughes and Gordon Strachan, the game is still remembered fondly among fans.
Tilly Mildred Cakes tweeted: “I think it’s fantastic. Went to the 1986 game, which if I remember correctly should of been played on a Saturday which would have meant I couldn’t go because of work, but it was then drawn on a weekday so I was absolutely thrilled. Everyone is as buzzing today as they were then.”
Another fan who wasn’t quite as lucky was Martyn Milligan who posted on Twitter about how he’d missed the cup game because of his wedding, so the chance to go to this fixture was “amazing”.
He added: “The original game was postponed because of the weather and so I decided to go ahead with the ceremony. In those days the replay was the same week, so I was on honeymoon and missed it anyway.”