Two Rochdales, one goal as football club reaches out to New York namesake

Tuesday, 24 June 2025 12:32

By David Murphy

Club managing director Andy Duff visits Rochdale Village in Queens, bringing shirts, stories and a vision for future links.

Rochdale AFC managing director Andy Duff has helped forge an international link between two communities sharing the same name, one in Greater Manchester, the other in Queens, New York.

During a family holiday to the US, Mr Duff paid a special visit to Rochdale Village, a vast housing cooperative named after the Lancashire town and the birthplace of the Rochdale Principles of Cooperation. He presented two squad-signed 2024/25 home shirts, now displayed in the community and management offices of the American Rochdale.

The trip included a screening of the club’s recent video, For Generations To Come, and a talk to the cooperative’s Board of Directors outlining the club’s history and the Ogden family’s vision for its future.

Mr Duff explained how the idea began: “About 12 months ago, I started to look into different Rochdales around the world to see if we could establish a relationship and tell them about the football club. To discover that the largest Rochdale outside of Greater Manchester is in New York City and was even named after Rochdale, Lancashire, was such a revelation.”

Rochdale Village was established in 1963 to provide affordable housing for working-class families and now spans 120 acres, making it one of the largest private housing cooperatives globally at the time of its opening.

The club sees the visit as a springboard for future engagement. “Hopefully, there is an opportunity to build on this visit and grow the relationship with community soccer sessions, a pop-up retail store at certain times of the year or even a NYC Supporters Club,” Mr Duff added.

“It was a privilege to present Rochdale AFC to another Rochdale and I’m very grateful for the welcome and hospitality that we received on our visit.”

To learn more about the American Rochdale, visit www.rochdalevillage.com.