It's hardly the glamour tie of the FA Cup, but you'd think the people of Rochdale would at least like a day out in Wolverhampton. Paul Kelly, of the Express & Star, spent an afternoon in the Lancashire town which is facing an away date in the West Midlands…

Fans of lowly Rochdale FC have been talking of their DISAPPOINTMENT - after drawing Division One promotion hopefuls Wolves in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

"We were obviously hoping for the big boys like Manchester United or Liverpool," declared Rochdale FC club shop boss Paul Woodhouse after the dramatic FA Cup draw.

Once Wolves were drawn at home to Rochdale the Express & Star hit the road for the Lancashire town to find out more about the place, her people and her treasured, if not very well supported, football club.

With the M6 and civilisation barely out of sight we arrived in Rochdale only to drive past a public house called the Clog and Shawl - and from then on, we reckoned, it would be Lancashire stereotypes all the way.

Spotland, as Rochdale FC's windswept ground is called, was the other side of town and shared equal billing on road signs with The Gracie Fields Theatre, named after the town's great singer.

And in case we didn't know who she was, a regular at the Church Inn - just a clog's throw away from Spotland - would later burst into song for us with one of the girl's classic ditties.

A deserted Spotland showed no signs of the euphoria that had graced her terraces 48 hours earlier after a capacity crowd saw Dale beat Coventry 2-0 to book a berth in the FA Cup's fifth round.

Even though Rochdale FC, promoted only once in their history, are Third Division strugglers they share a common curse with the big teams of the north-west - the glory-hunter.

Club shop boss Paul Woodhouse, a fan for 40 years, explained: "It annoys you because the rest of the year we are only getting gates of 2,800.

"Our capacity is 10,600 and on Saturday we sold 7,000 tickets. Where are they the rest of the time?

Even when we are at the top of the division we struggle to get 4,000. They obviously support Rochdale but not enough to come every week."

Could this be because of the ground's facilities? No - Spotland is on a par with grounds in the First Division and its club shop would embarrass bigger teams.

Could it be the beer or the pubs? No - an Express & Star taste-test revealed the local brew, Lees, to be better than your average pint.

Is it the food? No - the Express & Star found that the meat and potato pies were second-to-none in the Willbutts Lane Chippy opposite the away end at Spotland.

Even the local delicacy of rag pie, made of suet and meat, flies off the shelves after a home game.

So it must be the fans.

Despite home gates that would shame a Conference side, Rochdale FC reckon they will sell all their allocation of 4,000 tickets for the FA Cup clash at Molineux.

Five minutes after the draw we had people ringing up asking to book places on the coach and for tickets and we haven't even had them yet," said Mr Woodhouse.

Around the corner at the matchday pub, the Church Inn (the other's called The Cemetery) regulars are puzzled about how to get to Wolverhampton.

They soon ditch their plain-speaking northern accents for a bit of Black Country mickey-taking when our men come to quiz them about their side's FA Cup heroics.

Landlord Alan Shore said: "We lost on Tuesday against Lincoln and I thought we were going to get stuffed on Saturday but we played brilliantly."

If they can repeat their FA Cup form at Molineux one man for certain won't be disappointed: worried Rochdale FC boss Paul Simpson - a former Wolves ace.

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