Rochdale fan on a mission

Rob Reed is a 'one-man fundraising machine'

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Rob Reed is at it again. After raising a record-breaking £1,113 through Christmas Draw tickets sales and £1,526 on the Accrington Walk he is now selling Summer Draw tickets to raise more funds for Rochdale Football Club.

Rochdale Online caught up with the 18-year-old from Whitworth to find out how sales are going and asked why he dedicates so much of his time to his beloved ‘Dale.

So far he has sold 420 tickets but emphasises that he is not finished yet. “I have no target but I’d like to crack 750 before the draw on 3 July. It’s more difficult in pre-season because you can’t go round the ground like on match days.”

His relationship with the club began in 1994 when he was just two years old.

“It was against Blackpool and my dad still has the tokens,” he recalls. “Since then I’ve only missed about six home games. The first I remember was a friendly against Bolton Wanderers in 1997 when I got a programme signed by Nat Lofthouse.”

Aside from watching his team from the stands, he also works for the club part-time.

“Two years ago I got a Goldbond round in Whitworth which I’ve had for two years. I have 360 members. I then volunteered in the club shop. I’m now a stadium assistant and work Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. At the moment I’m painting the Sandy Lane sponsor boards and do anything and everything.”

He is also studying to be a plumber at Burnley College, but for now is happy to work in his “place of worship”.

Asked why his weekend revolves around Keith Hill’s starting and eleven and planning journeys to Dagenham, he says it is an “addiction”.

“It means the world to me. It’s not just the club, but the people. Half of the people on my phonebook are people I know from the club. I love the fact that everyone knows everyone. It’s like a family. I love the friendships and the football. We’re real fans instead of watching it in the pub.

"There is one moment that will stay with me forever. I was in the WMG stand, and a man put a couple of quid in my bucket. His son looked at me with his pie, and said: 'What’s it for?' So I explained and then the lad, who couldn't have been more than six, reached into his pocket and said to me: 'There is my weeks pocket money' and dropped £2 into my bucket. I stood there, bewildered. But that summed up what our football club is all about."

He is quietly confident about next season in League One and trusts in the management team and background staff to pull through.

“It will be very tough. It’s unknown territory but I think we’ll avoid relegation because we play good football. We have a good manager and a good infrastructure. The work the club does behind the scenes is beyond belief and the fans don’t see that.”

Questioned over where he would like the money he raises to go, he said: “I want someone to replace Chris Dagnall and to stop Craig Dawson going. I’d maybe like it to go the future, to the youth lads.”

A club spokesman said: “He puts a sterling effort into all the draws. He has become a one-man fundraising machine for the club.

“We started doing the summer draw last season and profited £3,000, so if we can get close to that, or even the Christmas draw which raised over £10,000, it would be brilliant. We urge everyone to get behind the draw.”