Spotland Stadium has staged an event in a World Cup in any sport. The event was sold out with almost 9,000 people attending, setting what was incorrectly claimed to be a new stadium record, even though Rochdale AFC had 24,231 for an FA Cup tie v Notts County in December 1949 and three higher crowds for FA Cup and play-off games between 1990 and 2008 against Northampton, Coventry and Darlington. Spotland Stadium Spotland Stadium, known as the Crown Oil Arena for sponsorship reasons, in the Spotland area of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, is home to Rochdale A.F.C. and Rochdale Hornets R.F.L.C. and has
English public school football games the Summer and Hockey in the Winter; but the manlier youths pull in the boats during the Summer and play at Football in the winter". See also the quotation below which confirms that the football season began in Autumn. This is noteworthy because traditionally football had been played in England during Shrovetide. School football clubs (and other sports) were a central part of life at nineteenth century English public schools. In "Five years at an English University" (1852), American Charles Bristed describes his time at Cambridge University in the 1840s. During a discussion on Eton and Rugby School (drawn upon