Football fun with Dale at the Feel Good Festival

Date published: 11 August 2017

Excited children got the chance to take part in a mini-training session with Rochdale AFC at Friday’s (11 August) Feel Good Festival.

Led by academy manager Tony Ellis, academy goalkeeping coach Ryan Ball and youth team manager Chris Brown, approximately 60 boys and girls donned in Dale colours took part in the session, with members of the youth team playing squad in attendance.

Dale Community Trust hosted a penalty shoot-out/dribbling course, and gave away free tickets and goodie bags.

Manager Keith Hill also signed autographs for the young fans on posters, kit and even a phone.

Speaking about the event, he said: “It is superb to see. Kids should be having fun with sport. They have got to enjoy it, they learn through having fun. At such young ages, it should be about having fun and no pressure, seeing the kids have a smile and enjoy playing.

“It is the first year we have done something like this so we didn’t know what to expect, but it is good to see the community support the club and vice-versa.

“We are in a catchment area of so many Premier and League One teams, it is a good sign that so many young supporters are proud to wear the Dale shirt. We have a lot of great supporters and potential future players here today. They are not afraid to show their pride alongside teams like United.”

Photos: Rochdale Online

Four young fans, Charlie, eight, Archie, eight, Harrison, five, and Aidan, three, all thoroughly enjoyed themselves before posing for a photograph with Desmond the Dragon. All were confident Dale will triumph ahead of tomorrow’s game against Scunthorpe.

Aiden couldn’t decide his favourite part of the day as it was ‘all fun’, whereas Charlie loved the dribbling course. Harrison enjoyed having his photograph taken with Desmond, and Archie took a shine to the Dale balloons after kicking the footballs around.

There will be a festival club shop selling Dale's new training wear and replica shirts on the Saturday, plus guest appearances by Desmond the Dragon.