Rochdale AFC: Club condemns pitch invaders after penalty shootout loss
Rochdale Football Club have condemned a pitch invasion by fans after a shock-loss on penalties to a lower division side that denied the home team a trip to Wembley. The National League club lost a shootout 5-4 in their FA Trophy semi-final clash at the Crown Oil Arena with National League North's Spennymoor Town on Saturday.A spokesman for Rochdale AFC said police were investigating "unacceptable behaviour" at the match after both sets of supporters swarmed the pitch at the final whistle. He said the actions of a "small minority" risked damaging Dale's reputation as a "family-friendly, welcoming club".
Footage and images shared from the non-league clash showed fans flooding the ground after full-time, along with several incidents of disorder outside the ground.Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is working to identify the individuals involved who will be subject to the appropriate sanctions, including banning orders, if found guilty, the Rochdale spokesman said.He added: "The club, along with the vast majority of its supporters, will not accept such behaviour at its matches and adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards those matters."In a statement, Rochdale Supporters Trust said it had received several complaints after the match from "disgruntled" fans about issues to do with turnstiles, staffing and seats and tickets at the Crown Oil Arena.The group said it had written to the club to address the problems to "hopefully enable us to finish the season on a more positive note". The BBC has contacted Rochdale AFC for a response on those claims. GMP and Spennymoor Town Football Club have also been contacted for comment.
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
13 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
DARREN LEWIS - Premier League must honour Uriah Rennie and address glaring issue
Here's a truth about Uriah Rennie. He hated the spotlight. He hated the glitz, the glamour and the fascination that came with being the Premier League's first Black referee. He refused repeated requests for media interviews during and after his career, saving his life story for his memoir, Your Show, by the excellent Ashley Hickson-Lovence. Rennie was a pioneer. A trailblazer. All of the other adjectives you'd associate with an icon courageous to get to the top of the English game. Knowing what we do about the closed ranks of an un-diverse refereeing fraternity, it was some achievement for him to make it to the very top of his profession in the domestic game in the late nineties. The reason why you haven't heard more tributes from top flight referees of colour is because Rennie was one of just two in over three decades of Premier League football. After his final top flight game on the last day of the 2007-08 season, the only other Black man take change of a game in the competition was Sam Allison - 15 years later. Allison's first game, two years ago, was described as 'a pivotal moment' for English football. Now you barely see him in the Premier League. In the top seven divisions of English football - so from the Premier League to the National League, just four referees are Black or Asian - Allison, Joel Mannix, Aji Ajibola and Sunny Singh Gill. BAMRef, the Black, Asian and Mixed heritage Referees Association, was formed in order to do what English football couldn't - or wouldn't - until a few performative attempts a couple of years ago: support, develop and push for more Black referees. Because they are out there. Four and a half thousand of them in fact. Many of them having taken the same courses as some of the officials you see right now in the top two divisions. This year's annual BAMRef conference, beginning on July 19 in Nottingham, will be more emotional that usual. Rennie had been the body's north star before his passing, aged just 65. Some officials of colour knew him. Many didn't. But all of them wanted to emulate his success at breaking through that seemingly impenetrable glass ceiling. Even then, you can only imagine what Rennie went through during the days when even the supposedly forward-thinking English game developed selective hearing or looked the other way rather than confront the racist abuse accompanying criticism of his decisions. Many a time I'd be in the press box as a young reporter, listening to it. Acutely attuned to it. He was 'the Black referee', a rarity. I wanted him to do well. I grew frustrated that he had to put up with it. Some critics dismissed him as a celebrity ref during the early to mid-noughties. They didn't like the fact that he had a life away from the game within which he practised kick-boxing and aikido. They certainly didn't like the fact that he took no bits from any player, regardless of their status within the game. This is a man who sent off hugely-respected, iconic figures such as Roy Keane and Alan Shearer and managed the likes of Ian Wright. A man described as one of the fittest officials the top flight had ever seen. But even that feels as though it perpetuates a trope that Rennie was so much more than. His drive, determination and effective decision-making under pressure enabled him to make that breakthrough. His skill as a fantastic communicator enabled him to make that breakthrough. His calm authority in a flashpoint enabled him to make that breakthrough. Much has been made of the 300-plus games he managed between 1997 and 2008, including 175 Premier League games. But he'd already been added to the Fifa international list in 2000. The promotion to the PGMOL's Select Group of professional referees came the following year. Rennie was so good they simply couldn't ignore him. Now he will never be forgotten. Sky has slashed the price of its bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more. Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more.
BBC News
14 hours ago
- BBC News
Salford sign Barnet defender Oluwo
Salford City have signed Barnet defender Adebola Oluwo on a two-year 25-year-old scored six goals in 36 games last season as the Bees won the National League title."It was an amazing feeling last season, it was the first time I have been promoted as well so it was a new experience for me," he told the club website., external"I just cannot wait to get started here and because I have had that taste of promotion last season I really want to go do it again here at Salford."
BBC News
15 hours ago
- BBC News
Collar and Touray leave Stockport
Stockport County have confirmed defender Ibou Touray and midfielder Will Collar will both leave the club when their contracts expire at the end of the 30, made 75 league appearances in two seasons after joining from Salford City in June 28, scored 32 goals in 150 league games for the Hatters and helped them win promotion from National League to League Collar, chief executive officer Simon Wilson told the club website:, external "He is rightly a man in demand, and we have had to respect that the decision around his next move has to be in the best interest of himself and his family,"
