Within a month of the opening of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1830, a committee met in Manchester to appoint provisional directors for a railway over the Pennines. Originally the line was proposed to run from Manchester to Brighouse, but a change to Sowerby Bridge was soon made for the site for the temporary eastern terminus. One objector to the proposal was the Rochdale Canal Company, but in 1836 Royal Assent was received for the line with a provision to build to Normanton and on to Leeds. Rochdale with a population of 31,000 in 1831 would benefit greatly from the opening of the railway. A prosperous market town when other neighbours were mere villages, the Rochdale Canal had turned the town into one of the great cotton spinning centres of the North West of England. Work began on the railway in 1837, George Stephenson being the engineer. The original station in Rochdale was replaced in 1889 by the present station which is a quarter mile closer to Manchester. By 1911, the population of Rochdale was 91,000.
Consolidation of the railway lines in the area continued. In Oldham there was a lot of enthusiasm to improve communications with their neighbours. The Oldham Alliance made attempts to link to Rochdale, and eventually in 1859 under the the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, an Act was obtained for a line from Oldham (Mumps) to Rochdale. The line being opened in December 1863.
In 1870, the LYR opened a branch line which had fearsome gradients from Rochdale to Facit. In 1881 it was extended to Bacup where it met on to the East Lancashire line that ran on to Bury.
Originally a football team in Rochdale formed in 1896-97 to play in the Lancashire Combination. A year later it joined the Lancashire League but foundered. In 1900 a new club called Rochdale Town was formed. This too entered the Lancashire League but struggled and in 1903 the Lancashire League closed down. In 1907 a new attempt to form a club in Rochdale was made and this officially dates the beginning of the club of today. This new club entered the Lancashire Combination a year later and in 1921-22 became a founder member of Football League Division Three North. In 1958-59 re-organisation of the Leagues placed Rochdale in Division Three.
Last season, Rochdale battled alongside Macclesfield Town against relegation and at the end of December manager Alan Buckley departed by mutual consent. Steve Parkin was re-appointed manager after his unsuccessful spell at Barnsley. Parkin managed to keep Rochdale in the League, but only just. This season the Dale find themselves again near the dreaded drop zone.
The Silkmen managed the double over the Dale last season, winning both at the Moss Rose and at Spotland by the score 2-1. The win at Spotland being a good morale booster for the Silkmen as the team clawed their way to safety.
For all the stats on recent encounters between the two clubs, see the FootyMAD preview under Match Day on left.