# 2008–09 Rochdale A.F.C. season

The 2008–09 Rochdale A.F.C. season was the club's 88th season in the Football League, and the 35th consecutive season in the bottom division of the League. Rochdale finished the season in 6th place in League Two, but missed out on promotion to League One after losing in the play-off semi-final against Gillingham. Adam Le Fondre finished as the club's top goal scorer with twenty goals in all competitions.

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 4 | Bury | 46 | 21 | 15 | 10 | 63 | 43 | +20 | 78 | Qualification for League Two play-offs |
| 5 | Gillingham (O, P) | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 58 | 55 | +3 | 75 | Qualification for League Two play-offs |
| 6 | Rochdale | 46 | 19 | 13 | 14 | 70 | 59 | +11 | 70 | Qualification for League Two play-offs |
| 7 | Shrewsbury Town | 46 | 17 | 18 | 11 | 61 | 44 | +17 | 69 | Qualification for League Two play-offs |
| 8 | Dagenham & Redbridge | 46 | 19 | 11 | 16 | 77 | 53 | +24 | 68 | |

## Players
### Squad information

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Sam Russell |
| 2 | DF | ENG | Simon Ramsden |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Tom Kennedy |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Nathan Stanton |
| 5 | MF | ENG | Clark Keltie |
| 6 | MF | NIR | Ciarán Toner |
| 7 | FW | NIR | Lee McEvilly |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Gary Jones |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Chris Dagnall |
| 10 | FW | ENG | Adam Le Fondre |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Adam Rundle |
| 12 | DF | ENG | Nathan D'Laryea |
| 14 | DF | ENG | Scott Wiseman |
| 15 | MF | ENG | Joe Thompson |
| 17 | FW | ENG | Jon Shaw |
| 18 | FW | ENG | Kallum Higginbotham |
| 19 | FW | ENG | Lee Thorpe |
| 20 | DF | ENG | Raphale Evans |

### Statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | League Two | League Two | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | League Trophy | League Trophy | Play-offs | Play-offs |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Sam Russell | 29 | 0 | 23 + 0 | 0 | 3 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 2 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | ENG | Simon Ramsden | 32 | 0 | 25 + 3 | 0 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 2 + 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Tom Kennedy | 53 | 4 | 45 + 0 | 4 | 3 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 2 + 0 | 0 | 2 + 0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Nathan Stanton | 46 | 0 | 39 + 0 | 0 | 2 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 2 + 0 | 0 | 2 + 0 | 0 |
| 5 | MF | ENG | Clark Keltie | 36 | 1 | 26 + 5 | 1 | 2 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 1 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | NIR | Ciarán Toner | 44 | 1 | 32 + 5 | 1 | 2 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 1 | 0 | 2 + 0 | 0 | 2 + 0 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | NIR | Lee McEvilly | 16 | 5 | 4 + 12 | 5 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Gary Jones | 34 | 0 | 28 + 0 | 0 | 2 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 2 + 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Chris Dagnall | 45 | 10 | 25 + 14 | 7 | 1 + 0 | 1 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 1 | 1 | 1 + 1 | 1 |
| 10 | FW | ENG | Adam Le Fondre | 51 | 21 | 28 + 16 | 18 | 2 + 0 | 3 | 0 + 1 | 0 | 1 + 1 | 0 | 1 + 1 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Adam Rundle | 51 | 7 | 32 + 12 | 7 | 1 + 1 | 0 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 1 | 0 | 2 + 0 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | ENG | Nathan D'Laryea | 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 14 | DF | GIB | Scott Wiseman | 36 | 0 | 30 + 2 | 0 | 2 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 1 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | ENG | Joe Thompson | 35 | 5 | 21 + 9 | 5 | 0 + 1 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 2 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 1 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | WAL | Nicky Adams | 14 | 1 | 12 + 2 | 1 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 16 | FW | SCO | Jordan Rhodes | 5 | 2 | 5 + 0 | 2 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | ENG | Jon Shaw | 11 | 1 | 5 + 1 | 1 | 1 + 2 | 0 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 1 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | ENG | Kallum Higginbotham | 9 | 1 | 3 + 4 | 1 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | ENG | Lee Thorpe | 36 | 6 | 18 + 10 | 5 | 2 + 1 | 0 | 0 + 1 | 0 | 1 + 1 | 1 | 2 + 0 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | ENG | Raphale Evans | 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 21 | GK | ENG | James Spencer | 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | ENG | David Flitcroft | 1 | 0 | 0 + 1 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | NIR | Rory McArdle | 49 | 2 | 41 + 0 | 2 | 3 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 2 + 0 | 0 | 2 + 0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | ENG | Chris Brown | 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | ENG | Gary Madine | 3 | 0 | 1 + 2 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | ENG | Callum Byrne | 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | ENG | Craig Dawson | 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | ENG | Kyle Lambert | 1 | 0 | 0 + 1 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | WAL | Mark Jones | 13 | 0 | 7 + 2 | 0 | 1 + 2 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | ENG | Tom Newey | 2 | 0 | 1 + 1 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 30 | MF | ENG | Will Buckley | 43 | 10 | 28 + 9 | 10 | 3 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 1 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | ENG | Marcus Holness | 10 | 0 | 4 + 3 | 0 | 1 + 1 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| 34 | GK | ENG | Frank Fielding | 25 | 0 | 23 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 2 + 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | George Bowman | 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Theo Coleman | 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 | 0 + 0 | 0 |

## Transfers
### In

| Player | From | Fee | Date |
| Ciarán Toner | Grimsby Town | Free | 30-06-2008 |
| Clark Keltie | Darlington | Free | 02-07-2008 |
| Scott Wiseman | Darlington | Free | 02-07-2008 |
| Jon Shaw | Halifax Town | Undisclosed | 05-07-2008 |
| Lee McEvilly | Cambridge United | Undisclosed | 05-01-2009 |
| Craig Dawson | Radcliffe Borough | Undisclosed | 23-02-2009 |

### Loans in

| No. | P | Name | Country | Age | Loan club | Started | Ended | Start source | End source |
| 34 | GK | Frank Fielding | | 21 | Blackburn Rovers | 6 January 2009 | 29 September 2009 | Sky Sports Blackburn Rovers F.C | |