Team of the Decade - No. 4
Wednesday, 6th Jan 2010 07:43

Another day, another player for the team of the decade, and for number four in the side, we pick out a central midfielder.

Team of the Decade
1) Goalkeeper - Neil Edwards
Had it not been for a succession of injuries in his final few seasons at Spotland, then we may well have been talking about Neil Edwards as being the man who broke Graham Smith's appearances record for the club and not Gary Jones. However, those injuries were not enough to prevent Taffy making over 250 appearances for the club from when he joined back in 1997 to his eventual departure in 2005. Edwards was an outstanding keeper for Dale and time after time, he managed to pull off the sort of save that you'd have written off as being unsaveable. His most acclaimed Dale performance came at Hartlepool back in 1997, but it certainly wasn't a case of his best days being behind him as we entered the 21st Century. Edwards is currently involved on the coaching side of the game, as an assistant to Fred Barber at Premiership Bolton Wanderers. Almost two thirds of everyone who voted opted for Edwards which tells its own story.
2) Right Back - Wayne Evans
Wayne Evans becomes the second man to be voted into our Best Team of the Decade, the second Welshman to put into the side and the second member of that Steve Parkin side to be voted in. The position of right back had long been a problem position for Dale for many, many years, so it was perhaps no surprise when Evans made such an immediate impact after joining Dale. But there was far more to Evans than just being better than the likes of Copeland, Sparrow, Fensome et al. He showed what an outstanding defender he was, and was rewarded with a string of Player of the Season awards in his opening season at the club - something unheard of for a player in his position. He became something of a Dale stalwart over the years, making not far off three hundred appearances in Dale colours before his departure at the end of the 2004-5 season. Thoroughly reliable at full back, but also possessing a wonderful ability to appear as the last line of defence. Goalscoring was never his forté, but he managed four goals during his time, each of which seemed to have some sort of story attached to it. Evans has recently been appointed as Head of the Centre of Excellence at Shrewsbury Town by his old colleague Paul Simpson.
3) Left Back - Tom Kennedy
When we signed Tom Kennedy from neighbours Bury, you can't say we weren't warned by our nearest and dearest from down the road. Oh how they laughed, telling us how he hadn't been good enough to get into Chris Casper's side, how he'd been cast aside for being Bury's answer to Oliver Reed and how we'd signed a joke of a footballer. How wrong they were. From his League debut, it was clear that we'd signed a cracker. Now into his third season at the club, TK has established himself as not only as a popular player at Spotland, but also as the best player in his position in the Division, something recognised by his fellow professionals last season as he made it into the PFA League Two side. His form has consistently made a mockery of the petty jealousies that accompanied his move to the club. He's missed just a handful of games for the club since arriving, and has weighed in with some important goals to boot and proved himself to be inch perfect from the penalty spot. Kennedy was up against stiff competition for the left back berth in this side, against the likes of Lee Todd and Alan Goodall, but it tells you something that Kennedy attracted almost 93% of all the votes.
4) Central Midfielder
For years, we'd been told that you can't get decent players from non league. Manager after manager had explained that it was far more complicated than just picking players from beneath the Football League and assuming they could do a job amongst the 92. Within a month of getting the job, Keith Hill had made David Perkins his first signing for a pittance. He came described by Morecambe supporters as a left back / midfielder, but wouldn't cut it at league level. In fact, when he signed for Dale, he'd been in and out of the Shrimps side at a Conference level. But nobody could have predicted what we were going to get from Perkins. Within a game or two, he'd been given a run out in central midfield mainly thanks to Gary Jones' injury and he never looked back. It wasn't too long before we'd taken him to our hearts as the lynchpin of our side. He had an engine like we'd not seen in years. He was absolutely everywhere and he must have been an absolute pain in the backside to play against as you wouldn't get a single second to yourself. Perks will always be remembered for his final Dale game in Dale colours that being the 2nd Leg of the Play Offs against Darlington. Minutes after sealing the victory with a wonder goal, he was red carded following Darlington protestations at what was nothing more than a yellow card. His tears on leaving the pitch still bring goosebumps to this day.
5) Central Defender

6) Central Defender

7) Right Winger

8) Central Midfielder

9) Striker

10) Striker

11) Left Winger