Ollie Rathbone has become the first of the out of contract players to pledge his future to the club by signing a new deal which will keep him at Spotland until the Summer of 2022.

Out of the seven players out of contract, Rathbone was seemingly the one that supporters were most concerned about losing having proved himself to be a popular figure around Spotland in recent years. The deal that Rathbone has signed is a three year contract, which makes it one of the longest deals offered by the club in recent years.

He originally joined the club from Man United three years ago. In what was perhaps rather unique, he turned down a deal on better money at Old Trafford in the pursuit of first team football. He achieved that and now has over a hundred appearances for the Dale first team

We are still awaiting news on the fate of Aaron Wilbraham, Matt Done, Aaron Morley, Jimmy Keohane, Kgosi Ntlhe, and Brad Wade.

Photo: Action Images

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