The Trusts archivist, Ian Chrimes besides curating various bits of memorabilia belonging to the Trust also runs his own website which features as many of Dale programmes as is possible. With some dating back to 1910, Ian has built up a rather unique collection, all scanned and posted on his site, to date there are about 4500 images to view. They are not just first team but programmes from all other levels of Dale featured games from first team to youth games, league and cup.
As Ian said “The aim of me setting the site up was to enable both Dale & none Dale Supporters the chance to view images from days gone by and recall any memories they may have from that game or season. I have supported Dale since the mid-70s and have probably seen around 2000 games both Home & Away”
Ian continued “I used to sell programmes in the early 80s when they were the cheaper paper ones and probably the worst ones the club produced. Since then, they have come on leaps & Bounds and credit must go to all the programme Editors & Contributors.
The vast collection can be interrogated in several ways, opposition teams, specific date or a particular season and the aim eventually is to have all (if that’s possible?) of Dale related programmes ever printed scanned and, in the archive,
To View this remarkable collection, we asked Ian to break down the site links so we could share them with members and fans alike and we would encourage all fans to have a look, its our club’s history in print and if any Dale fan has any programmes that they think Ian has missed, or, if they want to chat to Ian then get in touch with by email on, iain@rochdaleprogrammes.co.uk
Here are the links we asked for but if you want a general overview then click HERE
The site is basically broken into Sections
1)1921-Present is a Season By Season archive of covers from that particular season.
http://www.rochdaleprogrammes.co.uk/programmesSeason.php
2)Opposition-An A-Z of teams we have played over the last 100+ Years
http://www.rochdaleprogrammes.co.uk/programmesSeason.php
3) Covers-Depicts a Seasons Cover design
http://www.rochdaleprogrammes.co.uk/programmesCovers.php
There are numerous other Sections featuring Cup Matches, Promotion Seasons, Friendlies etc:
With more to come at a future point.
There is also a small For sale section where Supporters can purchase Dale programmes for a small cost of which a percentage will go to the Trust.
Ian again “I would love to collate a site that has every programme issued but sadly this will never happen. The site should Contain around 4500 unique images (by the end of year 2023) but is a very time-consuming procedure so may take a little longer.
If there any Dale supporters out there that can provide any images of Dale Programmes not already on the site, then please get in touch
