Here’s the latest and last for this season from Keith and the Team
Welcome everybody today, especially you away supporters who have made the long trip and hopefully you won’t be too upset on the way home after the result.
TODAY’S MASCOT
Ollie Strand turns 9 on May 8th.
He lives in greater Manchester and plays local football for Stockport Vikings FC operating as a goal scoring midfielder and has supported Rochdale AFC since he was 4 years old, he even made it onto the pitch to celebrate during our promotion season.
His favourite player is Ian Henderson and he has been a regular season ticket holder for the last three seasons and is delighted with the news that he will now be free of charge for the next three seasons.
BIRTHDAY PARTY
Thomas Taylor is celebrating his birthday and has invited his classmates and teammates from Milnrow Juniors to join us for a fun packed day out at Spotland and hopefully cheering the Dale to another victory.
Thomas, aged 7, lives with mum, Louise, dad, Chris and big sister, Rachel, he attends Shawclough Primary School, where he loves doing games and PE.
Thomas plays for Milnrow Juniors on Saturday morning and trains with them on a Monday night.
He has a very keen interest in football with his favourite team being Barcelona.
According to mum, he loves telling jokes and is a real cheeky chappy
KICK IT OUT/HALF TIME CHALLENGE MATCH
We dedicated the fixture against Blackpool to supporting the work of Kick It Out with Hamer Community School and Healey Primary School displaying the banner which promotes Kick It Out plus playing their hearts out at half time.
The day was a huge success with all the players warming up in the T Shirts plus the match officials
You can report incidents of discrimination for free through the @KickItOut app: http://bit.ly/1eZJODV
KNOW THE SCORE
April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month and players and managers are supporting the fifth annual campaign, we at Rochdale AFC continue to support this worthy cause at today’s match with all players wearing T Shirts.
Bowel cancer is the UK’s fourth most common cancer, with 41,000 new cases each year. It’s also the second biggest cause of cancer death. Every 90 minutes three people die of the disease. That’s 44 people each day – the equivalent to four football teams – but it needn’t be that way.
- If you’ve had bleeding from your bottom or suffered a persistent change in bowel habit that has lasted three weeks or more, especially if you’ve been going to the toilet more often or experiencing unexplained looser stools, tell your doctor. Other symptoms include: a pain or lump in your stomach; feeling extremely tired for no obvious reason; unexplained weight loss.
- You’re not wasting anyone’s time by getting it checked out. If it’s not serious, your mind will be eased, but if it is bowel cancer, we know that when it’s diagnosed at the earliest stage, more than 9 in 10 people will survive their disease for five years or more, compared with less than 1 in 10 people when diagnosed at the latest stage. A trip to your doctor could save your life.
Bowel cancer can affect anyone at any age so it’s really important everyone is aware of the symptoms as early as possible.”
Throughout football ‘Star of Hope’ badges are being worn during the campaign, which is supported by the Professional Footballers’ Association, League Managers Association, the Men’s Health Forum and leading bowel cancer charities.
To find out more visit www.knowthescore.org.uk or follow @KnowTheScoreUK on Twitter.
See you all next season for another exciting brand of football from the lads and again I thank Keith Hill and his management team for allowing the players to support us at many of the activities undertaken by the Trust.