Don't stop me now!

Summer holidays. Like a lot of people, I scrimp and save my pennies all year long to afford my two weeks in the sun.

Two weeks of rest, relaxation, over indulgence, stomach upsets, sunburn and insect bites. Bliss.

But as good as all of that sounds - being a Rochdale fan; my annual trip to foreign parts has a few hidden extras.

It usually begins on the first day of the holiday - on that inevitable trudge to a supermarket for supplies. As you meander along some dusty street in Greece, Turkey, Spain or wherever your fancy takes you - you become aware that the bloke walking towards you has developed a sudden and unswerving interest in your left nipple. He is being as casual as you like - trying not to draw attention to himself - but the look of fixed concentration tells you all you need to know. He stares and stares until you are a matter of feet apart - and then you see the dawn of realisation spread across his face and he walks onward seemingly satisfied with his James Bond-esque surveillance work.

Before we go any further I should point out that my left nipple in and of itself is not of particular note: no piercings, no individualistic tattoo's. The reason for the interest is simply that I am wearing my Rochdale shirt - and that like most Rochdale fans abroad, I am probably the only one for miles around. In truth, I am probably the only one my fellow tourist has ever seen. My guess is that he scuttled back to his apartment and uttered in a breathless tone - "You are not gonna believe what I just saw...". Well maybe.

We Rochdale fans are truly a rare and exotic breed - it makes you feel rather proud.

But the reaction of the occasional 'stealth' tourist is nothing to the reaction from the locals. I have had the following conversation with just about every holiday barman I have met down the years:

"What is your team my friend?"

"Rochdale"

The responses have been: "Who?", "Do you like any big teams?", "Do you like any teams I have heard of?", "Why?", "Don't you like football?", "What is Rochdale?" - mostly you just get a very polite but utterly blank expression.

In Turkey last year I was reading the menu board outside a restaurant when I became aware of a bit of a commotion to my right. A waiter was shouting at the top of his voice: "Hey Newcastle! Come inside, I do very good price". After a moment it became clear that he was in fact shouting at me (centenary shirt you see). Fair enough I thought - I was pretty hungry, so I gathered up my family and walked over to him. As I did, he looked at my left nipple, pointed at the offending area and with a look of barely concealed disgust said: "What - is this?".

I can also reveal that wearing either the current home shirt or the centenary shirt in Rome guarantees numerous funny - boardering on aggressive - looks and really slow service in any resatuarant, cafe or bar - presumably from Lazio and Roma fans. However, in Sydney wearing a Rochdale shirt will guarantee that random Australian's will stop you in the street to excitedly tell you that their father, mother or grandparent was from Rochdale.

Wherever you go, being a Rochdale fan certainly attracts attention.

However, this years 'Rochdale On Tour' experience was a little more special than most.  I was in Area 51 - the bar in Sidari, Corfu (not the super secret defence related installation in Nevada - I did try booking the one in Nevada - but Thomas Cook don't seem to have it on their website), listening to the musical stylings of Keith Mitchell - literally, if you can shout it out, he can play and sing it - his version of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' was brilliant.

As Keith shared his amazingly diverse repertoire with us I reflected on the last couple of seasons for Dale.

In the 2007/08 season after yet another serious soaking at Macclesfield I started writing a Dale blog on Facebook. What started out as a bit of a joke for the benefit of a few friends gained momentum as Rochdale surged into the play-off's and then all the way to Wembley. For 2008/09 I decided to indulge a boyhood dream - to get to every League fixture, home and away and blog my journey on Facebook.

It was a truly amazing journey. I escorted a Norwegian Dale fan on his first visit to Spotland. Met god (possibly). Made my debut as a match comentator on hospital radio. Became Dale's official photographer for one night. Gave Rory McArdle a lift to hospital and prayed for divine intervention on that May Sunday night at Gillingham.

The thing was - what next? I had done what I set out to do. So that was that then. The end. Time for a rest.

Which brings me neatly back to Area 51. As I enjoyed Keith's interpretation of Suspicious Minds and sipped on a pint I was keeping half an eye on the big screen which was showing Sky Sports News.

Then something happened...

The picture cut away from the smartly suited man talking into the camera and a face appeared. On the screen the face was easily three feet accross. Flushed and beaded with sweat it was a very familliar face. I jumped out of my seat and pointed - "THAT'S DAGGERS!". Indeed it was - Chris Dagnall. Sky Sports News were showing two minutes of highlights of Dale's friendly against Everton. I was entranced. Spotland - on telly - in Corfu! Unsurprisingy Everton won - 4-1 - and the caption man insisted on referring to Craig Dawson as Craig Dobson - but it didn't matter.

I may have been thinking of retiring from my mission to educate the world about Rochdale AFC before that moment - but after it, my mind was made up. Anything which is capable of making me jump out of my chair is surely too precious to leave behind.

I had been half heartedly toying with the idea of a new blog for the 2009/10 season before that moment in Corfu. After it, May Contain Football became a very real thing.

So what can you expect from May Contain Football? Well, the title is something of a give away. Some of it is actually about football - Rochdale AFC to be precise. The rest is preoccupied with largely non-football related material - my eternal struggle with the most uncooperative Sat Nav in the world, the state of driving in Britain these days, the nonsense that is half time entertainment, why club mascots are desirable or even necessary - oh, and quite a lot about pies, actually an awful lot about pies.

If you only read one Dale related blog this season which is mostly nothing to do with football - read this one. Otherwise read any one of the others - there are some really good ones, they talk about tactics, formations and such. You will get none of that here.

Enjoy!