Lincoln and Rochdale meet for the 115th time on Saturday, a rivalry that extends back 99 years to the earliest days of Division Three North. Lincoln won the first-ever game between the two clubs on 4 February 1922, but then lost seven of the next eight as Dale established early dominance. However, Lincoln now have 43 wins to Rochdale’s 38 due to a run of just four defeats in the last 26 meetings. Remarkably, only seven of the previous 114 matches have finished goalless, which bodes well for an exciting game on Saturday.
Lincoln’s biggest win stands at 7-1 in 2006-07, while Rochdale can point to a 7-3 win on Christmas Day 1926. That game is notable for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that they had won their previous game 8-1 against Chesterfield. Rochdale scored 72 goals at home that season on their way to a second-placed finish in Division Three North, with striker Albert Whitehurst setting a club scoring record with 44. Whitehurst scored five against Chesterfield, and followed up with three more against Lincoln; to complete a fantastic week, he added two more in a 3-2 return win at Lincoln two days later.
That’s enough history for now, it’s time for some…history:
