We've had Wimbledon, the Women's Cricket World Cup, some blokes cycling around France and a bunch of rugby players as you finished your Saturday morning cornflakes. The long Summer wait is finally over. Dale are back.
Bradford at home seems a lifetime ago now, but this Saturday we're back in action as we head to National League AFC Fylde for the first game of the 2017-18 in what is fast becoming the traditional preseason opener.
There's not been too many changes over the Summer. Dale supporters of a certain age will recall times where the first side in preseason had no passing resemblance to that which finished the previous season, but this year, it's been a case of tweaking here and there. The new players that we hope to get a glimpse of will be Jordan Williams, Reece Brown, Brad Inman and Brendan Moore.
Dale supporters will be ticking off a new ground this Saturday. The days of keeping an eye out for the Birley Arms are long gone. This time we are heading for Mill Farm (PR4 3JZ) where they have been playing for about a year now.
The new ground has a fantastic 2000 seater stand, two covered terraces and an open end. There's a bar at the ground called Bradley's Sports Bar.
Entrance to the ground is via pre-bought tickets, not dissimilar to what they have at Fleetwood. You can purchase them in advance and print them off if you wish. You can do that by visiting https://tickets.afcfylde.co.uk/default.aspx
You can sit down for £10 or stand for £8 (£5 or £3 for juniors).