Five Cavanaaaaghs, Four Cavanaghs Three Cavanaghs Two Cavanaghs and a Peter Cavanagh.

Position: Right-back/Defensive Midfielder

Appearances: 51

Goals: 2

Arrived from: Fleetwood Town

Left for: Altrincham

Having established himself as an Accrington legend, it was no surprise that Peter Cavanagh became one of John Coleman's signings for Rochdale in the summer of 2012.

An established lower-league stalwart at right-back, Cavanagh will in fact be remembered most fondly at Rochdale for his performances at the base of the midfield in helping to guide the club to promotion in the 2013/2014 season.

Having come through the ranks at Liverpool, Cavanagh joined Accrington in 2001 when they were still languishing in the Northern Premier League, but was immediately established as the club's captain and first-choice right-back by fellow Liverpudlian John Coleman.

In his eight years with Stanley, he was a key part of the club's meteoric rise to the Football League, skippering the Lancashire outfit to the Northern Premier League title in 2002/2003, promotion from the Conference North and then the Conference National title in 2005/2006.

During his lengthy spell at the Crown Ground, Cavanagh usually played right-back but was also capable of slotting in on the left side of the defence or central midfield and his flexibility along with his hearty displays made him a fans favourite among the Stanley support.

While the club were still part-time, Cavanagh supplemented his income by continuing his relationship with Liverpool, working as a coach within the youth academy - something he continued to do even when the club went full-time upon promotion to the Football League.

After three years helping to establish the Reds in League Two, Cavanagh was caught up in a betting scandal at the end of the 2008/2009 season, after it was revealed that he had bet against his own side to lose their final match of the season against local rivals Bury - which they did by a 2-0 scoreline.

While three of his team-mates had placed bets of £5000 or more, Cavanagh's wager of just £5 had reportedly been placed by his brother-in-law - but it didn't stop the FA from slapping an eight-month ban from all football-related activities. This not only led to him losing his coaching role at Liverpool, but also brought about an end to his long association with Accrington, where he had notched up an impressive 226 appearances, having scored 22 goals along the way.

Following the expiration of the ban, Cavanagh did return to football despite some reservations, by joining moneyed Fleetwood Town of the Conference National. In his second year with the Cod Army he again won promotion from the fifth tier of English football as champion and he was offered a new deal by the club at the end of that campaign.

However, the temptation to rejoin his former Accrington boss at Rochdale was too much to resist and Cavanagh left Highbury Stadium for Spotland Stadium in the summer of 2012.

Unsurprisingly he slotted immediately into Coleman's starting eleven and was handed the armband following the departure of Gary Jones that same summer. Starting usually as a defensive midfielder, it took some time for Cavanagh to settle back into life in the Football League and as with fellow ex-Stanley men Kevin McIntyre, Phil Edwards and others, he came to represent something that a lot of the Dale support didn't like about John Coleman.

Whether it was the restrictive style of play or the gamesmanship that was often on display, these former Accy players were singled out for criticism rather often by the Dale support as the club lingered in the lower reaches of mid-table for the majority of the season, despite pre-season noises about wanting an immediate return to League One following relegation in the previous campaign.

Cavanagh's limitations weren't helped by the naivety of players like Ray Putterill and Andrew Tutte in front of him and he was left with plenty of work to do in that holding midfield role. Likewise, when moving in to cover on either side of the defence, his lack of pace was a weak point for other teams to expose and eventually it seemed as though he may be one of the players heading for the exit door when John Coleman was replaced by Keith Hill part-way through the season.

This seemed even more likely to be the case when he was left out of Hill's starting eleven for a significant period after featuring in his first game back in charge, a 0-0 draw at Cheltenham. Cavanagh wouldn't play again until mid-way through March, with Brian Barry-Murphy regaining his starting position at the base of the midfield.

Cavanagh finally made his way back into the team and started to show the kind of performances expected from a seasoned professional in the latter stages of that season, but it still came as something of a surprise when the option of a second year was exercised on his contract by Keith Hill as he obviously had seen enough to decide to stick with his captain for the 2013/2014 campaign.

And what an inspired decision that was, as Cavanagh produced some magnificent performances in his second and final year with the club. Retaining the armband, his level-headedness at the base of the midfield provided the stability required to allow the likes of Ian Henderson, Scott Hogan and Peter Vincenti the opportunity to flourish further up the pitch.

Cavanagh's performances in this campaign were so assured that for years later Dale fans have longer for signings in the 'Cavanagh' mould, with only Keith Keane ever really coming close to replicating his defensive nous at the base of a midfield three in the years since.

He scored just one in that season, a long-range strike at Hartlepool to add to a similar goal scored in his first season at Burton Albion and although he was never the most attractive footballer, he very much did the dirty work for the more accomplished players in the side that season as Dale secured promotion with aplomb.

Given that Cavanagh was approaching 33 by the time the new season rolled around, Hill obviously felt that those limitations would be targeted in League One and decided to release the skipper at the end of the season - although he has reportedly since said that he regrets this decision and feels that Cavanagh's influence could have helped the club in the following season.

Few players have really won the hearts and minds of the Dale fanbase after such a difficult start as Cavanagh, but it was testament to his professionalism and strength of character that he was able to do so, particularly as a player who was never likely to catch the eye with fancy dribbles, goals or assists. His steadiness, willingness to battle and footballing intelligence were recognised by the fans in that second year as key components to a very successful side. Indeed even on his LinkedIn page he describes his role as a player at Rochdale as to 'pass it to the good players'!

Following his release from Dale, Cavanagh returned to non-league to join Altrincham and also returned to his coaching job at Liverpool. He played for one season at Moss Lane, before leaving to briefly become a player-coach at Southport, although he failed to make an appearance for the Sandgrounders.

He also joined Everton as a coach and remained at the club for almost eight years before moving to Manchester City in January 2022.

Photo: Action Images

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