YESTERDAY, Manchester City and Manchester United met for the first time ever in an FA Cup final. Next season, a few miles north up the road, a less glamorous Greater Manchester derby will be revived as Rochdale join Oldham Athletic in the National League.
Some dispute whether the fixture counts as a Greater Manchester derby, not least because many locals see themselves as being from Lancashire, not Greater Manchester.
Oldham fans of a certain age, who can remember playing City and United in the Premier League, begrudge classing their neighbours as their rivals and Rochdale have historically had more of a rivalry with Bury.
In recent years, however, when both played in Leagues One and Two, the clash became known as the 409 Derby – areference to the bus that runs between the two towns – or El Flatcapico, and was established as one of the first fixtures fans looked out for.
Both clubs have had a tough time lately in the shadow of the Manchester giants. Having been in steady decline since the glory years of the early ’90s, Oldham went into freefall under previous owner Abdallah Lemsagam. They were relegated to League Two in his first season, and there were reports of bills being unpaid, wages being paid late and a revolving door recruitment policy, on and off the pitch. Paul Scholes resigned as manager after just 31 days, saying “unfortunately, it became clear I would not be able to operate as I intended and was led to believe”.
Solidarity
On 23 April 2022, a 2-1 defeat at home to Salford – amatch that was interrupted by fans invading the pitch carrying a banner stating “GET OUT OF OUR CLUB”, with the last 11 minutes being played behind closed doors – saw Latics become the first former Premier League club to be relegated out of the Football League.
Rochdale, who have never played higher than the third tier, have arguably had a less spectacular fall from grace. Their 36 consecutive seasons in the bottom League division between 1974 and 2010 is the longest continuous spell any club has spent there, a fact that is bizarrely listed on the Rochdale Council website under “Proud sporting achievements”. Their eighth place finish in League One in 2015 was their highest placing since the regionalisation of the bottom two divisions ended in 1958.
Having previously been seen as a model of a stable fan-owned club living within its means, though, Dale have endured a torrid few years.
The 2021-22 season was overshadowed by an attempted hostile takeover by Morton House MGT. One of the businessmen involved, Andy Curran, was suspended by the FA from all football activity for 63 days in January 2022 after calling the Rochdale board “nancy boys” and offering to settle their dispute in “a fight in a boxing ring”. Following a miserable 2022-23 campaign, which saw first Robbie Stockdale then Jim Bentley sacked as manager, their exit from the League after 102 years was confirmed on April 22 with a 1-0 defeat at Stockport.
As expected, there has been gloating from both sets of fans at the other’s predicament, but there has also been solidarity. Before the two teams last met in January 2022, Dale Supporters’ Trust organised a walk from Spotland to Boundary Park and invited Oldham fans to join in.
Atmosphere
At the time the Trust were fighting legal action being taken against them and the club by Morton House MGT. Oldham were rooted to the bottom of the League, and their fans were putting pressure on Lemsagam to sell the club. As well as raising awareness of both clubs’ plight, the walk also raised money for local charities.
Are the fans looking forward to meeting again? Andy Halliwell, of the Boundary Park Alert System podcast, is. “Since 2010, it’s undeniably been a derby, with our neighbours even competing above us for four of those years. For Latics fans of a certain vintage, of which I am one, I look forward to the day when that is no longer the case, and our regular rivals are clubs of a similar size and history.”
His co-host, Dave Bradley, agrees: “I can’t wait for the El Flat Cap Classico, the atmosphere at both home and away games is electric. I really hope next year the games are the Christmas and New Year’s Day double header. Rochdale are a local club with a decent fan base. Hopefully both can reach the Football League soon, although I want Oldham to get there first!”
Having seen the fate suffered by neighbours Bury and Macclesfield, both Oldham and Rochdale are keen to turn their fortunes around. There’s a lot at stake for both clubs this season. Bragging rights in the 409 Derby would be a good start.
