66 John Seasman

Position : Midfield (also played at centre half and right back)

Played : 1984-5 (on loan from Cardiff); 1985-6 to 1987-88

Appearances : (first spell) 8 (second spell ) 87

Goals : (first spell) 0 (second spell) 4

Our next loanee was somewhat more experienced. John had started out as a striker with Tranmere then somewhat surprisingly moved to First Division Luton for £5,000 before he'd scored any goals. Although he scored on his debut he never managed to really break into the side and moved on to Millwall for £10,000. There he was a regular for five seasons although in his last (1979-80) he moved into a midfield role only scoring once.
In 1980 he moved on to Rotherham where he played alongside Halom in what was probably their best ever side. By 1983-4 he had fallen out of favour and only played 8 games. He started the next season with Cardiff and played 12 games scoring twice but by December they were looking to loan him out and he came to Spotland.

We played him in midfield and he made a favourable impression immediately with his instant control and accurate passing and it was a big disappointment when he chose to join champions-elect Chesterfield when the loan period ended. However when we played them in the last game of the season he was nowhere to be seen and was free to re-join us in the close season.

Everyone was pleased by this and he scored a great goal in the 4-1 thumping of Stockport on the August Bank Holiday 1985. However his shine wore off soon afterwards. His passing was very conservative for someone who used to be a striker. He often drifted out of matches particularly when things weren't going well and seemed a bit soft ; I recall a teacher from my school screaming at him to get up away at Swindon , clearly thinking he was angling to be withdrawn from a tough game. He also had a habit of getting injured in November and recovering in February which seemed a bit suspicious.

At the end of 1985-6 with Tommy Cannon demanding big cuts in the salaries budget John was put on the transfer list at nil value but no one was interested. He started the season in the reserves but Halom had to recall him when his laughable replacement Ray McHale proved hopeless. He duly picked up an injury in October but because Halom had forgotten that the use of an additional substitute was being pioneered in the FA Cup that season he was named for the tie at Nuneaton even though he sat in the stand with his leg in plaster !

By the time he had recovered Eddie Gray had taken over as manager and his return did help in the fight for League survival. As a reward he was offered a new contract for 1987-8 at a considerably reduced rate which he accepted. That season he was often used to fill holes at the back which he did surprisingly well although his use as a sweeper in the 2-1 defeat at home to Carlisle who were below us was baffling ,even more so when they were reduced to 9 men. He narrowly avoided being run over at Turf Moor when a car being offered as a lottery prize was driving round the edge of the pitch at half time and just missed him as the players came out of the tunnel.

Gray offered him a new contract for 1988-89 which he probably deserved but the Board publicly vetoed it and sent John on his way. Shortly afterwards Gray resigned ( to become manager of Hull City) which was probably the real motive behind the action but it did seem a bit callous towards a player who, on balance, had been an asset. John played on in non-league with Northwich and Hyde United. He is now a football agent.

65 Mike Fielding

Guess what -no picture of Mike to be found

Position : Midfield

Played : 1984-5 (on loan from Barnsley)

Appearances : 6

Goals : 0


Mike was a short, ginger-haired youngster without any League experience who played in midfield. He was taken on loan from Barnsley in mid-season 1984-5. He showed an appetite for tackling but not too much else. He returned to Barnsley and was never heard of again , his six games for us comprising his entire League career.

64 Frank Gamble

Position : Winger

Played : 1984-5 to 1985-6

Appearances : 46

Goals : 9


Frank was another member of Vic Halom's successful Barrow side and arrived at Spotland around Christmas time 1984. The diminutive 23- year old had played briefly for Derby a couple of years earlier but despite scoring twice in six appearances he was let go.

The reason was almost certainly that Frank had off-field "issues". He allegedly enjoyed the sort of trips that don't require petrol and it was also said that the other players didn't leave things lying around the dressing room when Frank was about. Nevertheless Halom thought he could do a job and was largely proved right.

Frank was a classic winger to whom tracking back was an alien concept but he did know where the goal was scoring five times in 21 appearances to keep his place in the side.
The following season he was much improved and when we played Peterborough in a top of the table clash on 07.09.85 Frank was the difference between the two sides scoring two brilliant goals to edge the game 2-1. When Wrexham came to Spotland two months later their manager Dixie McNeil identified Frank as the man to watch. Unfortunately his goalkeeper can't have been listening for in the second half Frank pushed the ball out of his hands and ran the ball into the net. With neither official having seen what led up to it the goal was given and it turned out to be the winner leaving McNeil apoplectic.

Unfortunately that was more or less it for Frank at Spotland. For reasons best known to himself Vic Halom decided to blow most of our Old Trafford receipts on a new left winger called Mossman and by the time that fiasco had played itself out Frank had left the club and signed for Morecambe. He later gave Southport good service but never returned to League football which anyone who saw him that season would know was a shame.

63 Ian Johnson

Position : Right back

Played : 1984-85 to 1986-87

Appearances : 81

Goals: 1


Ian was another signing from Chadderton FC but stuck around a bit longer. He was used as a utility defender who could fill in at centre half or either full back position. After 8 appearances in 1984-5, he ended up at least featuring in nearly every game the following season. When we finally offloaded Paul Heaton in the summer of 1986 he at last made the right back position his own.



Unfortunately playing in a much-weakened side exposed his own limitations. He couldn’t read the game and was prone to cock-ups. Both his goals were memorable. The first, in the FA Cup at Nuneaton in 1986, clearly went through a hole in the side netting but I suppose it was their own fault for not keeping their equipment up to scratch. The second opened the scoring in the outstanding 4-2 win at Preston in March 1987. Ian hit a speculative shot from just outside the area. Alan Kelly had it covered but inexplicably (my Preston-supporting friends said it was an old pals act to help Dale’s safety bid in the first year of relegation to the Conference) dropped his hands and saw it sail into the top corner.



Eddie Gray obviously didn’t rate Ian and released him at the end of the season. He went to Altrincham but soon dropped another notch and ended up at Droylsden.

62 Steve Taylor

Position : Forward

Played : 1984-5 to 1986-7 ; 1988-89

Appearances : 101

Goals : 6

Vic Halom did some bad deals but selling Les Lawrence for £20,000 and replacing him with Steve on a free from Stockport was the best bit of business by a Rochdale manager period. The 29 year old began his career with Bolton but scored his first league goals on loan to Port Vale. In 1977 he was sold to Oldham for £40,000 and repaid them with 25 goals in 47 appearances. That earned him a £200,000 move to Luton but Steve failed to settle in the south and after one goal in 20 appearances he was sold on to Mansfield. After one modest season there he moved on to Burnley where he won a Third Division Championship medal and was a key figure inb their run to the League Cup semi-finals. At the end of 1982-3 he was released in a post-relegation clearout and signed for Wigan but moved on to Stockport on deadline day recovering his best form with 6 goals in 12 games. The following season he fell out of favour and hence his free transfer to us.

Steve made an immediate difference to a side which had only won one game at home and helped us climb to a mid-table finish. He was good in the air, fast over 10 yards and a lethal finisher - some of his goals were in the back of the net before the keeper had even moved. He tackled back as well belying a reputation for laziness. His first touch could have been better but you can't have everything. In his second season he was the Division's top scorer (slightly fortunately as Chester's Stuart Rimmer got injured in the autumn when well ahead) with 25 League goals and 31 in total. He got us into the Third Round of the FA Cup and a tie with Manchester Uinted almost singlehanded.

He started the following season in the same style scoring 5 in 9 appearances and one thought he would keep us out of trouble again. However when Rob Wakenshaw was signed "to take the pressure off Steve Taylor" alarm bells began to ring and sure enough just a fortnight later he was gone. John McGrath in the third and worst of three bad turns he did us signed him for Preston for £20,000. For a 31 year old that doesn't seem too bad but we were lost without him and only survived by the skin of our teeth.

To rub salt in the wound McGrath hardly played him and sold him on to Burnley after only 5 appearances.

After Vic Halom was sacked Tommy Cannon said he and Taylor had had an argument but that seemed like he was covering his own back. After 18 undistinguished months at Burnley Steve re-signed for Dale under Danny Bergara in March 1989 marking his second debut at home to Hereford with an outrageous claim to a goal that he was nowhere near to scoring. Though he was better than what we had he was a changed player and spent most of the time berating the referee when you wanted him to get on with the game. He scored 4 in 17 games.

His departure is still shrouded in mystery. He lined up in the team picture for 1989-90 but never featured even in pre-season and eventually re-surfaced on the coaching staff at Boundary Park. Terry Dolan later mumbled something about an injury. Steve next popped up as player-manager at Mossley in 1993 but lasted only a few months with the team winning only once. Steve played four and scored once. He is now a gym manager in the prison service.

61 John Pemberton

Position : Midfield

Played : 1984-5

Appearances : 1

Goals : 0

And here's the good player who got lost amid all the comings and goings. John, who had been at Chadderton FC, was thrown straight into the first team midfield in a night game. I think it was at home to Aldershot. Not surprisingly he was completely anonymous, we lost the match and there was no sign of him after that....

... until later in the season he popped up at Crewe for six games. The following season he was their regular right back and eventually followed Geoff Thomas to Crystal Palace. He had a starring role in their FA Cup Semi-Final defeat of Liverpool in 1990, then played for Sheffield United and Leeds until 1996. He eventually returned to Crewe but to give a nice symmetry to his career he only played one game before taking up a coaching role at Nottingham Forest. He was briefly caretaker manager of Forest in 2008.
He has since coached at Crystal Palace and just been appointed to head Sheffield United's academy.

60 Tony Moore

Position : Left back

Played : 1984-5

Appearances : 3

Goals : 0

Vic Halom was giving Tony another chance in League football after he'd spent the previous season with Worksop Town. He started out with Sheffield United making 29 appearances before moving to Crewe where he made 17 appearances in 1982-3

Tony unfortunately looked like a pub player, balding , tubby and moustachioed and that was about the standard of his play. He was shipped out again to Belper Town pretty quickly.