Rochdale Town F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Rochdale Town

| fullname = Rochdale Town Football Club
nickname = The Angels, The Messengers,
The Guardians, The Castlemen, The Garrison
founded = 1924 (as "St. Gabriels")
ground = Butterworth Park Castleton Rochdale
capacity = 1500
chairman = "David Ritchie"
manager = "Mark Canning"
league = North West Counties Football
League, Division One
season = 2007-08
position = North West Counties Football
League, Division Two, 17th
pattern_la1=_black_stripes_thin1|pattern_b1=_blackstripes3|pattern_ra1=_black_stripes_thin1
leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=000000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=_unknown|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=FFFFFF|

Rochdale Town Football Club are an English football club based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

The club was founded as a church team in 1924, under the name St. Gabriels F.C. Until the 1960s, its players had to be Catholic and regularly attend both church and Sunday school. Once these restrictions were lifted, the club began to win regional trophies. They moved to their present ground, Butterworth Park, in 1979, and joined the Manchester Football League in 1984, having previously played in the Rochdale Alliance League. In 1990, the club's name was changed to Castleton Gabriels and they joined the North West Counties Football League, but they began to struggle at the turn of the century when their main benefactor stopped contributing and they had their worst ever season in 2003/4, conceding over 100 goals and finishing bottom of the league. They were bottom again in 2004/5, but were not relegated in either season as the league was under-subscribed.ref|undersubscribed Their start to the 2005/6 season was no more impressive, with a 10–2 defeat to F.C. United of Manchester on 10 December leaving them bottom of the league on −3 points, having had four points deducted for registration irregularities, eventually finishing the season on a single point.

In 2008 after a recent run of poor league positions, Gabriels changed their name to Rochdale Town, and formed links with the major team of the town, Rochdale A.F.C. It is hoped that the new name will attract support and sponsors from the wider Rochdale area, rather than just Castleton. They have also adopted Rochdale's centenary kit of black and white stripes.

References

* [http://www.nwcfl.co.uk/ North West Counties Football League official website]
*Match programme, Castleton Gabriels F.C. v F.C. United of Manchester, 17 September 2005
* [http://www.rochdaleafc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10441~1344382,00.html Rochdale AFC article on name change.]

Notes

# In the 2005/6 season, there were three spare places in division two of the North West Counties League. Although it has six feeder leagues, none of the clubs that have recently qualified for promotion have been able to meet the ground requirements.