1) Stephen Banks

Probably the only selection in this side where the player has played for Dale before playing for Bradford. Came to Spotland with Neil Edwards out injured, and let four in on his debut, and was at fault for a couple of them. Not to be outdone, he soon settled and made himself a very welcome loanee. A similar spell followed at Bradford the season after. He made the news a couple of weeks back having been downgraded at Hearts from first team keeper / coach to simply being the youth team's goalkeeping coach.

2) Jimmy Graham

Right we know that Jimmy Graham was never a right back in a million years, and we could have had Tony Ford down for this team, but it was felt that Graham's contribution to Dale over the years made him a natural selection, and even had we stuck him at right back, we're certain no one would have beaten "our Jimmy". Graham was a fine full back for Dale over the years, and whilst he certainly looked like he'd come to Dale for last hurrah before retirement, he'd only been something like 22 when he came to the club from Bradford for £15,000.

3) Lee Todd

Now Todd was a bit special for Dale. Many an eyebrow was raised when we signed him on the eve of the 2000-1 season, as he was known to many from Stockport's meteoric rise up the divisions. We weren't disappointed, as he was every bit the player we hoped it would be, with a few free kick goals thrown in for good measure. Always quite happy to get stuck in, even with his own team mates, with two on field handbags moments, including one where Flicker had to grab him round the throat. When Todd left Dale, it came as a bit of a surprise to everyone, but whispers had it that for the entirety of his contract, Bradford had been stumping up half of it, and once those two years had finished, it was up to us. I don't know whether that played a part in his release, but on leaving Dale he disappeared completely into a black hole, never to have been heard of again.

5) Joe Cooke

When I first started going to watch Dale regularly, it's fair to say that we weren't very good. But amongst that side of relegation battlers, we had a couple of superstars. Steve Taylor grabbed the headlines, but it was Joe Cooke at the back who was the daddy of the side. Cooke was the Alan Johnson or Nathan Stanton of his day. There was no getting past Cooke at the back, and for two seasons, he was practically a one man defence. Of course, we can't discuss Cooke without making reference to the Barry Diamond moment. Possibly the most famous sending off in Dale history until Perkins' recent effort, when he lamped Barry Diamond during a Dale v Stockport game whilst Diamond was a Dale player playing for County on loan.

6) Terry Dolan

History hasn't judged Dolan particularly well. He lasted one season at Spotland at the back end of his career, but it's as a manager that he's remembered the most. He came having been sacked by Bradford City and whilst his time at Spotland was hardly exciting times, it was definitely progress and he gave us our first top half of the table finish in twenty seasons. And followed it up the season after too. Before swanning off to Hull, seduced by the bright lights of the Humber Bridge. He was a disaster at Boothferry Park as we sat back, counted the compensation rewards, had great fun during the Sutton days and enjoyed tales of possibly the best football chant ever from them lovable Hull scamps (grrr its a rugby town)

7) Mark Stuart

There must be something in the water over on that side of the Pennines as like Jimmy Graham, Stuart suffered from the sort of premature aging which would have you listening to Radio 2 whilst still in your teens. A wizard on the wing, and even better than that when the pitches were nice and dry in the parts of the season closest to the Summer. Always capable of that little bit of magic and did so on many occasions. The free kick against Preston NE that time was the stuff of genius. He had a couple of years at Bradford in a move which didn't really work out for him. The Mark Stuart we knew was vastly different for the one famed for scoring the winner for Charlton at Old Trafford.

8) Lee Duxbury

When Duxbury came to Dale in 1989, he was seemingly surplus to requirements at Valley Parade. He came to Dale on loan for a couple of months, did well and would certainly have been a permanent signing had we come up with the money. He played for Dale in that 5th Round game against Crystal Palace before heading off back to Yorkshire. His career at Bradford went from strength to strength and he made over two hundred appearances with the Bantams. A similar spell followed at Oldham before his career was finished in embarrassing circumstances.

4) Chris Lee

Now, we could easily have got a picture of the Chris Lee who played for us, but we felt that those Dale fans who remember Chris Lee will be less intimidated by a picture of the actor Christopher Lee playing the Prince of Darkness. Lee was very much the scapegoat of the day for two reasons. One, he was the son of assistant manager Jeff Lee, and two, he was dreadful. His Dad being assistant was levied as the sole reason for his inclusion in the team, and provided ammunition for many a Fanzine page during his time. Bizarrely, he played League football for a few more seasons, notably at Hull City, where his Dad was assistant manager. Unsurprisingly. The Stephen Vaughan jnr of his day.

11) Eui Martinez

When I first started going watching Dale, football was in a different era, and the thought of an expensive foreign signing like Martinez was a luxury which put us above all of our peers. Of course, Martinez was as English as morris dancing, cream teas and a crap National side, but it sounded good when he brought him in from Bradford. Despite his thick Yorkshire accent, he got plenty of stick from opposition supporters due to the Falklands conflict at the time. But he played like continental genius that his name suggested he was, and the song of "Oh Eui Eui......." made him my first Dale hero.

10) Peter Costello

Costello came to Spotland as Terry Dolan drafted in every ex Bradford player going in the Summer of 1990, with the Bantams getting ten grand for his services. He proved to be an outstanding signing, and was responsible for Dave Sutton's first win as manager after a long barren spell, and he famously got the 5'O Clock goal against Northampton one time. But his time at Spotland didn't last and two thirds of the way through the season, he was sold to Peterborough for a profit of £20,000. He made a return to Spotland in opposition colours the following season, and was close to tears at the grief he got from the Dale supporters.

9) Mark Leonard

It's up for debate as to whether Mark Leonard is one of the most unpopular strikers that we've had play for the club. His unpopularity wasn't debateable but a striker? Really? We got stuck with Lenny twice. Once when we shelled our forty grand to the Bantams for him, only for Preston to rescue us a few weeks later by buying him back off us. He came back later as one of the Barrow boys, and he didn't disappoint those with low expectations. His overall record for Dale stands at seven goals in over a hundred appearances, and it doesn't matter a jot that his girlfriend got his shirt tattooed on her leg, he was garbage and we were well rid. Just three seasons too late.