This Saturday marks 14,945 days since our last promotion. It might well be the Saturday to put an end to that particular statistic. So we ask, where will you be this weekend?
| Of course, the odds are stacked against this Saturday being the one. It's not just our result, there's other results needed to. But ask yourself the question, what if this Saturday is the one? The scenario is simple. If Dale win, and Rotherham don't win, then it will only be some sort of goal difference suicide pact that could prevent Dale from taking their place in League One in season 2010-11.
And if the clutch of clubs on 64 points fail to pick up victories, then we could we could even be tossing away the calculator and celebrating that P letter appearing next to our name in all the Sunday papers. So where will you be?
Do you look forward to telling your grandkids about how you were huddled round the radio listening to live commentary of the day Dale finally managed to escape the basement division?
Did you watch through the seventies and eighties wondering where the next point was going to come from so that you could celebrate promotion sat in front of the host from Countdown on your widescreen?
And is 41 years of "what might have been" really deserving of coming to an end sat next to your computer listening to online commentary?
There is only one place to be this weekend and that is Torquay. As Dale supporters, we've earned our stripes through years and years of nothingess and football fans up and down the country will be raising a smile in our direction when its finally confirmed.
The motorways will be a sea of black and blue as we head to Torquay, with many enjoying the hospitality in what is a proper, traditional League Two town. It's the only place to be, and well worth asking your fellow Dale supporter at 3am on Sunday morning if he has a bit of floor space for the night.
If it doesn't happen this weekend, then so be it, it doesn't happen. But this magnificent side of ours is deserving of your attendance anyway. After everything they've done for us this season, it's the least we can do and the boost of seeing an away end packed to the rafters of Dale supporters at the other end of the country will be immeasurable.
We're at the stage where its impossible to miss even a second of this season, and to do so will only leave you with regret.
"Dad, were you there when Dale ended forty odd years without promotion?"
"No son, I stopped at home because I didn't think it would happen till the following Tuesday".
After everything you've been through as a Dale supporter, do you really want to take the chance of missing out on the celebration to end all celebrations? Don't do it to yourself. You'll spend a lifetime regretting it.
See you at Torquay. |