Rochdale Association Football Club is an English professional football club based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. They play their home matches at Spotland Stadium. Formed in 1907 and nicknamed the Dale, they were accepted into the Football League in 1921. Since that time, they have generally played in the fourth tier of the Football League, though they did win promotion in 1969, before suffering relegation back to the fourth division in 1974.

The side finished the 2009–10 campaign in third place in League Two, winning promotion to League One. Rochdale established themselves in League One in the 2010–11 season, finishing 9th. However, they were relegated back to League Two in 2011-12. Although the club have not won any competitions since joining the League, they do have the distinction of playing in the final of the League Cup in 1962, the only bottom division team to have done so.

Rochdale AFC was formed in 1907. Since then they have had just two promotions and three relegations, with promotion coming in 1969 and 2010 and relegation in 1959, 1974 and 2012. The 1959 relegation followed the 1958 restructuring which saw the combination of the two Third Division sections into the Third Division and Fourth Division. In the restructuring, Rochdale managed to secure a spot in the Third Division, but were relegated at the end of the season to the now lowest Fourth Division.

Coordinates: 53°36′49″N 2°09′40″W / 53.6136°N 2.1610°W / 53.6136; -2.1610

Rochdale  /ˈrɒtʃdeɪl/ is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, 5.3 miles (8.5 km) north-northwest of Oldham, and 9.8 miles (15.8 km) north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, population 206,500. Rochdale is the largest settlement and administrative centre, with a total population of 95,796.

Historically a part of Lancashire, Rochdale's recorded history begins with an entry in the Domesday Book of 1086 under Recedham Manor. The ancient parish of Rochdale was a division of the hundred of Salford and one of the largest ecclesiastical parishes in England comprising several townships. By 1251, Rochdale had become important enough to have been granted a Royal charter. Subsequently, Rochdale flourished into a centre of northern England's woollen trade, and by the early 18th century was described as being "remarkable for many wealthy merchants".

Morten Gamst Pedersen (born 8 September 1981) is a Norwegian footballer who plays for Blackburn Rovers and the Norway national football team.

Pedersen had his breakthrough in the Norwegian Premier League club Tromsø IL, scoring 7 goals in the 2004 season, before he signed with Blackburn with only half a season played by August. The fee was £1.5 million, which could rise to anything up to £2.5 million on the basis of future appearances.^{[citation needed]} Gamst was required to fill the gap left by Damien Duff, who had left in July 2003 to go to Chelsea.

Pedersen was signed by former Blackburn boss Graeme Souness back in 2004, just in time ahead of the new campaign 2004–05. The Norwegian international made his Premier League debut in a 1–1 draw against Manchester United on August 28, 2004, a match Blackburn were leading until deep into injury time. He initially struggled to make an impact in the Premier League and had lengthy period of not being selected after Graeme Souness was replaced by Mark Hughes as the Blackburn manager in September 2004. However he started the year of 2005 in style, scoring against Cardiff City on his return to side and going on to score three goals in his next three matches. In his first season in English football he featured in 27 matches and scored 8 goals in all competitions.