| Fred Ratcliffe 12:26 - Aug 31 with 2477 views | BuckTheTrend |
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the passing of "Mr. Rochdale" Fred Ratcliffe.
Mr. Ratcliffe joined the Club Board in 1946, becoming Chairman in 1953 (at that time, the youngest Chairman in the Football League) before being appointed President in 1979. In the Club’s then only promotion season of 1968-69, he was integral in financing the £5,000 transfer of Tony Buck from Newport County which was the final piece in the jigsaw of a great team. Subsequent years saw him frequently reaching into his own pocket to keep the Club alive and this stewardship, along with his respected standing in the football community, saw The Dale successfully stave off a number of re-election scares. Fred is survived by his daughter Judith Hilton who still attends most games at Spotland/Crown Oil Arena.
At the time of his passing, Fred would have been proud to see the Dale at the top of the league (Division 4), after a 4-1 Bank Holiday mauling of Stockport County.
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| Fred Ratcliffe on 13:42 - Aug 31 with 2364 views | TalkingSutty |
I left school at 15yr old to go and work for Fred Ratcliffe as a spring maker. Didn't take my exams which i now regret. I did an apprenticeship which involved one day at Rochdale tech college or up at Robinsons engineering on Fishwick street. Judith and her brother Stuart were our bosses. Firm but fair. I still see Judith up at the Dale.The shop floor at Ratcliffe Springs was like the university of life, some proper characters who all looked after the young apprentices. We even had a football pitch adjacent to the factory. Fred would turn up in his blue Rolls Royce regularly, and on our last day before Xmas he would walk the factory floor and give us all our Xmas present...a mince pie and a can of Boddingtons. I could always get a flyer to catch the supporters club coach to midweek away games and as a Dale fan it was good to work for the Chairman of the Club. Got a lot of good memories from working there and still friends with a lot of springmakers. The pay was poor at that time though so eventually i left. Had it not been for Fred Ratliffe i'm pretty sure that Spotland would have been housing a long time ago. Fred Ratcliffe, David Kilpatrick, Chris Dunphy...three fabulous Chairman. |  | | |
| Fred Ratcliffe on 00:28 - Sep 1 with 2093 views | AussieDale |
| Fred Ratcliffe on 13:42 - Aug 31 by TalkingSutty |
I left school at 15yr old to go and work for Fred Ratcliffe as a spring maker. Didn't take my exams which i now regret. I did an apprenticeship which involved one day at Rochdale tech college or up at Robinsons engineering on Fishwick street. Judith and her brother Stuart were our bosses. Firm but fair. I still see Judith up at the Dale.The shop floor at Ratcliffe Springs was like the university of life, some proper characters who all looked after the young apprentices. We even had a football pitch adjacent to the factory. Fred would turn up in his blue Rolls Royce regularly, and on our last day before Xmas he would walk the factory floor and give us all our Xmas present...a mince pie and a can of Boddingtons. I could always get a flyer to catch the supporters club coach to midweek away games and as a Dale fan it was good to work for the Chairman of the Club. Got a lot of good memories from working there and still friends with a lot of springmakers. The pay was poor at that time though so eventually i left. Had it not been for Fred Ratliffe i'm pretty sure that Spotland would have been housing a long time ago. Fred Ratcliffe, David Kilpatrick, Chris Dunphy...three fabulous Chairman. |
Not been on here for years now and I’ve told this story before but thought it worth re-telling.
I was working in Martins bank in Rochdale at the time of Tony Bucks transfer. Fred Ratcliffe held his accounts there. At least one of his accounts was ‘frozen’ with a figure of £100,000 overdrawn and other accounts weren’t that healthy either. I’d regularly hear the manager grumble about ‘that bloody football club’.
As a Dale fanatic I took particular notice of his rantings. When news broke about Dale buying Tony Buck for £5,000 he went absolutely ballistic. I can distinctly remember other staff being taken aback by his outburst.
As a junior staff member I had to take the mail across the road to the post office. The following day I was taking the mail and spotted a letter addressed to the Football League or something similar in Latham St. Anne’s if I remember correctly.
Remembering the outburst of the day before I didn’t like the look of things. Dropped of all the mail with the exception of this letter. I took this letter to a little park on the other side of the post office and, after some nervous moments, opened it. One sentence that stood out read something like ‘We strongly recommend their immediate expulsion from the Football League’. Without fully understanding what that meant I knew it wasn’t good so I ripped the letter up, took it home and put it in the bin.
Who knows if the bank followed up with another letter as I left Martins shortly afterwards. | | | |
| Fred Ratcliffe on 10:31 - Sep 1 with 1837 views | samueloneils |
| Fred Ratcliffe on 00:28 - Sep 1 by AussieDale |
Not been on here for years now and I’ve told this story before but thought it worth re-telling.
I was working in Martins bank in Rochdale at the time of Tony Bucks transfer. Fred Ratcliffe held his accounts there. At least one of his accounts was ‘frozen’ with a figure of £100,000 overdrawn and other accounts weren’t that healthy either. I’d regularly hear the manager grumble about ‘that bloody football club’.
As a Dale fanatic I took particular notice of his rantings. When news broke about Dale buying Tony Buck for £5,000 he went absolutely ballistic. I can distinctly remember other staff being taken aback by his outburst.
As a junior staff member I had to take the mail across the road to the post office. The following day I was taking the mail and spotted a letter addressed to the Football League or something similar in Latham St. Anne’s if I remember correctly.
Remembering the outburst of the day before I didn’t like the look of things. Dropped of all the mail with the exception of this letter. I took this letter to a little park on the other side of the post office and, after some nervous moments, opened it. One sentence that stood out read something like ‘We strongly recommend their immediate expulsion from the Football League’. Without fully understanding what that meant I knew it wasn’t good so I ripped the letter up, took it home and put it in the bin.
Who knows if the bank followed up with another letter as I left Martins shortly afterwards. |
There are so many humdrum posts on this site and it was a delight to read this.
Out of all the claims as to who has saved or attempted to destroy our club, I think this is the most powerful.
It must be a great comfort to you to know that all those years ago, it might have been the teenage you who actually saved the club from possible extinction, even putting your job at risk in doing so.
Is this why you escaped to the colonies? | | | |
| Fred Ratcliffe on 15:32 - Sep 1 with 1615 views | foreverhopefulDale |
A true hero and legend of the Club. And of course an employer of many in the town. |  |
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