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15 hours ago
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There is arguably no tougher feat in modern football than gaining automatic promotion from the National League. Even Wrexham, with all their Hollywood money, took three seasons to crack the code of the solitary automatic spot. There is an illustrious list of former Football League clubs queueing up at the summit of the fifth tier with an eye on the promised land, all upwardly mobile and thriving after battling through various crises. All but two– one up automatically, one through the playoffs – will end the season disappointed.
Rochdale believe they can be the chosen ones. Saved from liquidation last year by a £2m takeover by local family the Ogdens, the club are now thriving on the pitch under Jimmy McNulty and hoping for a return to the EFL, where they enjoyed a 102-year unbroken stay between 1921 and 2023.
“We’re on our way to the Football League,” was the chant from Dale supporters during a routine 2-0 victory against Eastleigh that kept them top of the National League, on goal difference from Mark Hughes’s Carlisle United. It might be a dogfight to stay there, but on this evidence you would be reluctant to bet against them. “Three points again,” was the next song. This club has renewed belief.
It was Dale’s penultimate home game before an unexpected mid-season move away from the Crown Oil Arena; their problematic pitch is being relaid from 7 December in a significant attempt to tackle a persistent waterlogging problem. Games against Southend in September and Scunthorpe this month have already been postponed after heavy rain. After that crunch promotion clash with Southend is finally played next weekend, Rochdale have three successive away games and will seek an alternative home ground for games against Hartlepool and Brackley either side of New Year’s Day.
It is hoped a new drainage system and hybrid playing surface will remedy a pitch that is also used for rugby league in the summer. Rochdale will not return to Spotland until 24 January when they host Truro City, but the club hope the renovation will be another boon once completed.
The morning and midday Greater Manchester rain again made for a greasy pitch on Saturday as Dale, keen to show why they had lost just once at home this league season, dominated from first minute to last. The Eastleigh goalkeeper, Nick Townsend, was first called into action on 12 minutes to block a fizzing Kyron Gordon shot before the hosts’ debutant keeper, the Bolton loanee Nathan Broome, produced a similar stop to deny the visitors a goal from their first attack. Gordon then swept wide with the goal gaping, as first-half chances came and went for Rochdale, who found Townsend in good form.
It took until the 54th minute for the dam to finally break amid a deluge of Dale chances, as Tarryn Allarakhia’s effort nestled neatly in the bottom right corner via a telling deflection off the Eastleigh centre-back Lloyd Humphries. To say it was deserved was to do a disservice to the home side’s vast superiority. It was no surprise when Allarakhia made it 2-0 with a smart cushioned volley 20 minutes later.
The win maintained Rochdale’s position at the top of the division as close rivals Carlisle, Forest Green Rovers and York also won. Just one point separates the top four. And while Dale still have two games in hand on many of the chasing pack – a result of those postponements – plus a healthy goal difference, McNulty is wary of the topsy-turvy nature of the National League. It’s not just a marathon, it is an obstacle course.
“It was important to maintain momentum,” he said. “We’re very proud of our home record. All credit to the team, they deserve what they’re getting right now. A very clinical and professional performance today and we thoroughly deserved to win.”
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McNulty knows his side are battling some heavyweight clubs. Carlisle and Southend have been in League One in the past six years while Forest Green, who beat the latter 2-1 on Saturday, have featured in the EFL as recently as 2024. Third-placed York, who hammered Aldershot 5-1 to continue their own stellar form, have a long history in league football and, like Carlisle and Southend, boast home crowds of about 7,000.
Scunthorpe were in the Championship in 2011 and, despite plummeting as low as the National League North in 2023, are now on the march for successive promotions, sitting sixth. Hartlepool, another former EFL side, beat Truro 3-1 and are lurking outside the top seven.
The campaign for a third automatic promotion spot from the National League lingers on in the background of this compelling season. “3UP” is now the catchy slogan on everyone’s lips and will only gain traction with Hughes and Forest Green’s Robbie Savage, two high-profile former Premier League players, managing two of the division’s top four. It certainly makes sense, but nothing will change for this season.
Rochdale will continue on their merry way, navigating the most treacherous of paths to possible promotion.
