Spotland Stadium 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 a capacity of 10,249. Spotland was originally known as St Clement's Playing Fields, after the nearby St Clement's Church. Having previously been used for cricket, it became the home of St Clement's Rugby Club in 1878, until they disbanded in 1897. As well as staging local rugby competitions, the ground briefly hosted two short-lived football clubs – the original Rochdale A.F.C. from 1900 to 1901 and Rochdale Town
English public school football games football games: the Field Game and the Wall Game at Eton; Harrow Football; and Winchester Football. School Football games also had a influence on the origins of Australian rules football. The earliest recorded football matches in Australia were English school football matches and the Cordner-Eggleston Cup (first played in 1858) is officially acknowledged as the first game of Australian rules football. Each of the English public school games had its own offside rule. Many of these completely prevented forward passing. The 1847 rules of Eton College, however, were probably the first to resemble the modern game, stating: "A player is