WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
We trace Rochdale’s 1968-69 Division Four promotion winners
BILLY RUDD is a member of a small club – one of only three men to have captained a Rochdale promotion-winning side.
Rudd was the skipper when Dale, under manager Len Richley, won promotion from Division Four in 1969 for the first time since being elected to the League in 1921.
Gary Jones captained them for the 2010 promotion success and then Peter Cavanagh last season before he was released in the summer.
Consistently, on the three occasions they have climbed out of the Football League’s basement division it was after finishing in third place!
Rudd admits that when Bob Stokoe signed him from Grimsby Town in February 1967, promotion couldn’t have been further away from their thoughts.
Rochdale, who had applied for re-election in 1966 and 1967, just wanted to finish outside the bottom four because it was felt chairman Fred Ratcliffe was running out of favours.
“I didn’t want to go and see Bob Stokoe when he was trying to sign me, but I did and when he found out I was from Manchester that was fatal. I couldn’t get away.
“He took me to the chairman’s palatial office and eventually I signed and the brief was simply to stay up.
“The chairman had been reelected many times and was using up all of his favours and we man- aged to avoid it by a couple of points.
“Bob Stokoe then had a big clear out and must have brought in eight or nine new players. But he then left for Carlisle and Len Richley took over
“On Boxing Day, when we played up at Workington we would have been in the bottom six had we lost.
“I remember we stopped for a pre-match meal in Cockermouth in a place that had a big roaring fire and they had a job to get us back onto the bus.
“Anyway, we beat Workington 2-1 – Reg Jenkins got both of the goals. And then we only lost two more games for the rest of the season.”
The following week Dale hammered Grimsby Town 6-1 at Spotland and then beat Bradford Park Avenue 4-1 and Aldershot 3-0 to start climbing the table.
Towards the end of March they found themselves in the top three where they stayed for the rest of the campaign.
They finally clinched their first ever promotion in their last game of the season, with a 3-0 victory over Southend United at Spotland. Jenkins again scored two.
Rudd says: “We started to look at it with about eight or nine games to go and felt we might have a shout.
“When it got into the last three or four games you knew exactly what other teams were doing and it became a strong possibility.
“We had a bit of a blip in our penultimate game at Halifax when we lost 1-0 and I think a few people thought we had blown it. The Southend game was a tremendous occasion.We had the bit between our teeth that day and didn’t give them a sniff.” 1. Reg Jenkins: Rochdale’s most prolific marksmans was a shipwright in Plymouth Dockyard then drove a lorry, living in Millbrook near Plymouth. He died in Tenerife in January 2013 aged 74 2. Matt Tyrie: Scottish youth goalkeeper lived in Carluke, Scotland and worked for Prudential as a customer care officer at their Stirling business office for almost 30 years before his death. 3. Joe Ashworth: Remained local after retiring and worked for the HM Prison Service, spending 23 years at Hull, Strangeways and New Hall until his sudden death in April 2005. 4. Graham Smith: A full-back who ran the family plumbing business TA Smith and Sons in his native Pudsey, Yorkshire. He also worked as a football scout. 5. Chris Harker: After a spell as trainer at Darlington, he spent 25 years working for Magnet as a fitter-joiner and then as a caretaker at Hummersknott Comprehensive School until retiring. 6. Colin Parry: The central defender lives in his home town Stockport. He worked as a miller at Nelstrops Flour Miller for over 30 years. 7. Steve Melledew: He has coached Reading’s youth team and managed Newbury Town, while working as a bailiff and then a business consultant in Reading. 8. Norman Whitehead: After hanging up his boots, Norman worked on the Mersey Ferry Service. He is now a maintenance worker in a Wallasey nursing home. 9. Joe Fletcher: Is still living in his native Manchester. He spent 21 years working as a regional manager for Vent-Axia then ran his own business, Euro Fans and Accessories. 10. Billy Rudd: Is now retired after serving Blackpool as a coach then becoming a self employed decorator and joiner in Bury. 11. Vince Leech: After running a guest house on Blackpool’s south shore Vince helped his wife run a hairdressing business in Poultonle-Fylde. 12. Vince Radcliffe: Jimmy Dickenson’s replacement at Portsmouth, settled in Perth, Western Australia spending 17 years as a sales manager in the confectionery industry. He died in March 2014 aged 68 13. Dennis Butler: After coaching Rochdale, Bury and Swindon and managing Port Vale, he ran Bamford sub post office and then worked for Rochdale Council’s Education Department 14. Derek Ryder: Worked as a sales rep for Scottish and Newcastle brewery and then as a free trade development manager for Tetley before becoming a self employed gardener in his native Leeds. 15. Hughen Riley: He entered the pub trade in 1978 and now lives in Salisbury and was landlord of the Silver Plough at Pitton. NOT PICTURED Tony Buck: After settling in Northampton, he became service manager for a Ford dealership and then service controller at Axux (UK) Terry Melling: He worked in the building industry until 1986 when a accident left him deaf and disabled from serious head injuries.