A message from the club.
Your Club Needs You: Cover Squad!
As highlighted at our summer Fans Forum, the Club are recruiting a pool of volunteers to help with our rain covers.
Volunteers will assist our ground staff in clearing standing water off the covers and removing them ahead of home matches where they have been deployed.
We are looking to recruit a large number of Dale fans, aged 18+, who are happy to support with a few hours of physical work around 5-6 hours before kick-off.
Individuals will have to share their name and mobile number to be part of a Cover Squad WhatsApp group, which will be used to communicate with volunteers.
A message will be sent to the group when covers are being used in the days before a match, allowing volunteers to reply with their availability, so Club staff can plan ahead.
Supporters who wish to volunteer are asked to email fanservices@rochdaleafc.co.uk, stating their name and mobile number. You will then be contacted in due course.
We plan to thank and reward all volunteers throughout the year and at the end of the season via a number of initiatives to express our gratitude. Thank you in advance
Thoughts from the Trust.
The Trust has recently purchased specialised blotters to assist the Grounds team in keeping the pitch dry and managing water ingress, see
To maintain the pitch quality this season, the club has ensured we have enough covers to protect it from water, as long as we can deploy them on time.
However, there is a broader perspective that these efforts will support, specifically the hoped-for reduction in match cancellations, which can negatively impact team preparation.
Last season, we noticed an increase in the number of games scheduled each week. This resulted in reduced recovery time for players and less time for injuries to heal. Keeping the squad in excellent condition requires both time and effective management, so game cancellations could negatively impact those efforts.
By ensuring that games are played on their scheduled days and implementing the proposed scheme, we can provide players with the best possible playing surface. Recent games have demonstrated just how critical this is.
And who knows, the “Cover Squad” might make the difference between finishing third and finishing first!
Please support this excellent initiative.