Get the lowdown on the U’s next opponents: Rochdale AFC.

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The Opposition

Rochdale AFC are a side who have struggled in recent years, and their turmoil off the pitch ended with the club being relegated from League Two in 2023, bringing a close to a 103-year stint in the EFL.

The former League Cup runners-up had competed as high as the third tier just two seasons prior, but found themselves in non-league ahead of the 2023/24 campaign. A difficult season ensued on the pitch, with Jim McNulty unable to guide Dale towards a promotion push having been appointed player-manager at the end of the previous season.

However, the Greater Manchester-based outfit have since from strength to strength, and are currently on course for their highest finish since entering non-league, sitting sixth with a game in hand on everyone else in the top seven. The duo of Kairo Mitchell and Devante Rodney have been responsible for the bulk of the goals scored, with 27 of the 57 goals scored this season being credited to the two forwards, while their backline consisting of the likes of Kyron Gordon, Liam Hogan, Sam Beckwith and more recently, Ethan Ebanks-Landell and Jack Kingdon, has helped Dale to have the fourth best defence in the division.

With the 2024/25 campaign reaching its latter stages, McNulty will be looking to get his side over the line, with promotion via the play-offs a real possibility should they maintain their form.

Recent Form

Spennymoor Town 2-2 Rochdale AFC (5-4 on pens)

Woking 1-1 Rochdale AFC

Rochdale AFC 4-0 Aldershot Town

Rochdale AFC 0-4 York City

Maidenhead United 1-1 Rochdale AFC

Rochdale AFC 2-3 Boston United

The Manager

Jimmy McNulty

Player-manager Jimmy McNulty is enjoying his first spell in coaching after being appointed at the end of the 2022/23 season, taking charge of the club where he had spent almost ten years as a player.

After spending time in the academies of both Liverpool and Everton, McNulty began his senior career at Wrexham AFC, becoming reserve team captain and making one senior appearance for the Red Dragons before departing in 2004, having spent a brief stint on loan at Bangor City in the League of Wales. He would join another League of Wales side, Caernarfon Town the following summer, going on to make 63 appearances for the club over two seasons, scoring twice, whilst also reaching the position of captain.

This would see the defender rise into the Football League, with further spells at Macclesfield Town and Stockport County preceding a move to Brighton & Hove Albion, where he played a handful of times before moving on loan to Scunthorpe United. McNulty would later turn out for Barnsley, Tranmere Rovers and Bury, making the switch across Greater Manchester to Rochdale, where he would end his playing career with an eight-year stint.

McNulty made over 200 appearances for Dale, helping the club to establish themselves in League One over six seasons, before two relegations in two years saw him twice take on the role of caretaker manager following the sackings of David Stockdale and later Jim Bentley. Although he was unable to guide the club away from the League Two drop zone, he would later be appointed as Dale’s permanent manager, and has overseen their rise into the National League play-off places this season, as well as reaching the Isuzu FA Trophy Semi-Final.

One to Watch

Kairo Mitchell

Danger man Kairo Mitchell has proven a thorn in many sides in the lower leagues, and is on course to be Rochdale’s top scorer for two seasons running.

The Leicester City academy product broke out at Nuneaton Borough in 2017/18, and enjoyed further stints at Coalville Town, Dartford and King’s Lynn Town before making the step up to promotion hopefuls Chesterfield in 2021. Mitchell would appear eight times for the Spireites, being enjoying an improved spell at Notts County the following season.

The forward would make 42 appearances for the Magpies, including an important role in their run to the play-offs during 2021/22. He would later miss the club’s eventual promotion back to League Two the following season due to a loan spell at Eastleigh, which would precede his permanent release from Meadow Lane.

The 27-year old made the switch to Rochdale in 2023, and has enjoyed his best run of form in his career so far since moving north. 14 goals in his debut season for the club ensured he would finish the campaign as Dale’s top scorer, and he is already eclipsed that tally this season, notching seven goals from his first six matches seeing him named the National League Player of the Month for September, and he currently had 15 goals to his name, bettered by only seven players in the entire division.

Last Time We Met

Sutton suffered a cruel blow in their trip to Rochdale with a deflected stoppage-time strike consigning them to a 2-1 defeat at the Crown Oil Arena.

After the U’s failed to fully clear the lines, the ball was pulled back to striker Devante Rodney, and his shot wrong-footed Sutton goalkeeper Jack Sims after taking a big deflection off a body in the box.

Earlier, Eduino Vaz expertly levelled the scores with a well-taken right-footed strike after Ryan East headed the hosts in front.

Steve Morison’s side had chances to get their noses in front but in the end left Greater Manchester empty-handed.

Head-to-Head

Rochdale AFC 3-2 Sutton United (23/10/2021)

Sutton United 3-0 Rochdale AFC (05/03/2022)

Sutton United 1-0 Rochdale AFC (19/11/2022)

Rochdale AFC 4-1 Sutton United (29/04/2023)

Rochdale AFC 2-1 Sutton United (09/11/2024)

Played for Both

Kevin Amankwaah

Former defender Kevin Amankwaah played a handful of times for Rochdale during a brief stint in 2012, before joining the U’s two years later.

Although he was born in Harrow, Amankwaah began his career as a trainee for Bristol City and soon became a regular member of the squad, playing over 50 times for the Robins. However, a neck injury sustained in a car crash in 2002 halted his development, and he subsequently struggled to re-establish himself in the team at Ashton Gate, with loan spells at Torquay United, Cheltenham Town and Yeovil Town bringing an end to his time in Bristol, with a move to the latter being made permanent in 2005.

The defender managed to return to regular action during his stint at Huish Park, playing 44 games during the 2005/06 season, and subsequently made the switch to Swansea City where he remained for the next two years. This was followed by a move to Swindon Town, playing 89 games for the club before departing the South-West after more than a decade in the area.

Stints at Burton Albion and Rochdale saw him feature sparingly for both clubs, playing just 16 times for the latter, before returning to Southern England when he joined Exeter City in 2012.

The England youth international spent a year with the Grecians, appearing frequently during the 2012/13 season, but found himself on the move again after being released by the Devon-based club. He once again briefly departed the area when he moved to Northampton Town, but followed this up with a move to Wiltshire-based side Salisbury City.

After a season with the Whites, Amankwaah enjoyed his most lengthy spell away from the South-West with three years at Sutton United, making over 100 appearances for the U’s. He kick-started his time at Gander Green Lane with a promotion-winning campaign in the National League South, and finished it off with a major contribution during the 2016/17 season, appearing in every round of Sutton’s historic run to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup for the first time ever.

This brought an end to his time in South London and he subsequently returned to the South-West, moving to Bath City for two years, before finishing his career back at Salisbury.

Photo Credit: Rochdale AFC