"It was like the World Cup final" – former Wolves defender on the most dramatic end to a season

The words of former Wolves defender Ethan Ebanks-Landell, who was the captain of Rochdale during the incredible and frantic finale to an extraordinary season which, finally, saw them promoted back into the Football League.

To compare the final day of the season, Rochdale with 105 points welcoming York with 107 for a deciding showdown – with only one automatic promotion spot available – to anything like a World Cup, would normally seem somewhat far-fetched, or even crazy.

But let’s face it.

As the World Cup – for real – kicks off today, if it matches anything like the entertainment and excitement provided by Rochdale and York in the final weeks of their season, and then on the last day, we’ll all be setting our alarms for Ecuador against Curacao at 1 o’clock in the morning.

Back to Rochdale’s story. Surely one of the most incredible in their 119-year history. Akin to being the first, and for a long time the only, team from the bottom division to reach a League Cup final, as they did against Norwich in 1962. Or taking Manchester United to penalties in the third round of the same competition in 2019, Luke Matheson, later of Wolves, grabbing the equaliser in a 1-1 draw.

For three years they had been absent from the Football League following relegation in 2022/23. After a previous loan spell with Rochdale, former Wolves man Ebanks-Landell has made more than 150 appearances during four years at the club as a permanent signing.

On top of a half-century chalked up at Wolves where he progressed through the club’s academy, and 125 during three years with Shrewsbury, at 33, and with almost 450 appearances in total to his name, he has certainly secured his place in the ‘experienced’ category. Or ‘vet’, as he and Jack Price used to refer to each other.

But even he had not gone through anything like what happened to Rochdale this season, especially that battle with York which went as close to the wire as any battle could.

“When it came to that last game of the season, the build-up and attention around it was pretty crazy,” says Ebanks-Landell. “I can’t imagine what life’s like at Manchester United, but for little old us, we had all sorts of media attention and interviews going on during that week.

“I didn’t know everyone cared about the National League so much!

“I’m normally fairly calm and chilled but there was definitely a big buzz about that week and that game, the title coming to a head between two top teams and two teams who play a good brand of football as well.

“For me personally, I was very excited, and woke up that morning thinking I just couldn’t wait for the game.

“But at the same time, nothing changed for me in terms of preparation or how I approached it.

“It was great to have such a big game and to play in front of a big crowd, a crowd bigger than a lot of League Two attendances, but it was also important to try and treat it in terms of just another game in terms of trying to get a result.”

Having been part of the Rochdale squad who were relegated in his first season, Ebanks-Landell had been determined to help them return to the league.

They had gone closest in 2024/25, reaching the play offs but seeing a 3-1 lead overhauled and losing 4-3 to Southend after extra-time in the first eliminator.

That led to hope and expectation heading out this time around, and Rochdale seized on the momentum and were in the top four all season, and in the top two for the entirety of the second half of the campaign.

“Having reached the play offs last season, we had the mindset that we could at least get back there, but you never quite know until you get started whether you can actually achieve something,” adds Ebanks-Landell. “We got off to a good start, and then kept on rolling.

“We had a great number nine in Emmanuel Dieseruvwe, scoring a lot of goals, but we were also defending well and producing clean sheets to get results.

“And then we had Oliver Whatmuff in goal, on loan from Man City.

“He was incredible, and probably won’t thank me for saying this, but I reckon he’ll be England’s number one at some point in his career.

“So, while we could never say promotion was definitely on the cards, we certainly thought we were in with a decent chance.”

Ebanks-Landell only missed three games during the regular season. But Rochdale, having topped the table for no fewer than 25 weeks of the campaign, found themselves overhauled by York in the final weeks.

The Minstermen embarked on an incredible run, from the start of November, winning 26 and drawing three out of 31 league fixtures.

“Our run was very good but York’s was ridiculous and I don’t think I realised how good it was until the end,” Ebanks-Landell admits. “Towards the end, we lost a game and drew a couple we would usually win and that’s all it was.

“It wasn’t like we messed anything up, we got so many points, and so at the end it was just about trying to keep everyone calm and ready for the World Cup final of the National League!”

They were trying to keep calm, but in doing so that was behind a backdrop of some incredible late drama – even before the final game – which ensured they took it to the last day.

In the closing run of five games to the season prior to the decider against York, Rochdale scored no fewer than four goals from the 89th minute onwards. Away at Sutton United, they scored on 89 and 90 to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win. At home to Wealdstone, also a goal down, they scored on 77 and 90. And at Braintree, after conceding an equaliser on 90+1, they responded with a winner on 90+9.

Character, fitness, resilience. It all plays a part. As well, maybe, as Ebanks-Landell being thrown up front!

“Sometimes I think it’s the football gods,” says the centre-back. “I think if you do things properly and work hard in a game you get your rewards, right up to the final whistle.

“And maybe we got points in some games to make up for others when we dropped some.

“The gaffer (Jimmy McNulty) as well. He just lived and breathed the next moment.

“We all believed in that next moment, and kept working right to the end, believing it would come.

“Then of course we’ve got our number nine Mani scoring goals, as well as Hendo (Ian Henderson), Rochdale’s record goalscorer, coming off the bench.

“Hendo is so good, I mean he’s ancient, but he knows where the back of the net is, and can still make something out of nothing.

“There were games when I was sent up top to try and make things happen, and sometimes I would mess it up by being offside, but I would look at Hendo and say ‘we’re gonna score here aren’t we?‘ And he’d say ‘yes’.

“We always believed we could get goals and come out on top of games even if we weren’t playing well, and that is what kept us right up there until that final game.”

And so, it all came down to that last day drama. In front of a crowd of more than 7,000 at the raucous Crown Oil Arena, formerly known as Spotland. It was a tension-filled affair of few chances which, of course, given the incredibly intense battle for top spot, and Rochdale’s taste for late goals, was only ever going to have one ending. A dramatic one.

Rochdale needed to win, York just to draw, and on 105 minutes, Dieseruvwe headed home to put Dale in front, and in sight, of the three points that they needed.

Pandemonium ensued with a celebratory pitch invasion as the home fans were convinced, perhaps understandably, that they had clinched promotion.

Yet incredibly, agonisingly, there was still time for York to respond. In a goal scored on 113 minutes, albeit the eight-minute gap in between was mainly to restore calm and order, Josh Stones’ effort following a goalmouth scramble was adjudged to have crossed the line. No goal-line technology in the National League. So, the referee and assistant’s call was final.

Cue more pandemonium, another pitch invasion, and this time, not enough time for Rochdale to come back. A place in the Football League for York, and the play-offs for Dale.

Amid the crushing disappointment and drama, it was a good old-fashioned response of an honest post-mortem over a few beers which quickly refocused hearts and minds in the aftermath of the defeat.

“There wasn’t really much in the game, and then we got the goal, and I asked the ref how long was left, and he said 60 seconds,” Ebanks-Landell recalls. “I was like, 60 ******* seconds, surely we can do this now.

“But then, not long after the restart, maybe the footballing gods were with them that day because they then got an equaliser.

“I was right next to the incident, and people are still asking me if the ball crossed the line.

“I don’t really have an answer for that, it’s so difficult to say, I’m not sure that it did but there’s nothing that makes a difference now – it’s history.

“Then I asked the ref how long was left, and he said ‘10 seconds’. And that was that, the game was drawn, and York were up and we weren’t.

“The night after the game was tough. But we all went up to the bar where the owner had put a bit of money behind in case we had won.

“We had a few beers, got some stuff off our chests, and it was the best thing we could have done.

“If I’d gone straight home, it would really have weighed on me for a while but just being together and saying a few things that needed to be said was a massive help.

“We were given the day off on the Monday and came back into training on the Tuesday, and the gaffer was great. He told us that everyone was saying it was going to be difficult for the losing team to lift themselves for the play-offs but that he didn’t believe it.

“He said we had already played in the biggest game of the season, against York, and that even if we made it to the play-off final at Wembley, we wouldn’t feel as much pressure. And he was right.

“Against Scunthorpe we were as good as we had been all season, went two goals up, and even though they pulled one back – which was offside by the way – we were calm in that moment and saw it out.”

There was however more drama to come for the Rochdale comeback kings. Why wouldn’t there be? On 69 minutes at Wembley, Boreham Wood scored to go 2-0 up, and Rochdale were staring down the barrel of another dose of misery.

But substitute Tyler Smith hit back on 78 minutes, and the prolific Dieseruvwe, with just seconds remaining, on 97, took the final into extra-time, and, subsequently, penalties.

Whatmuff was the hero, saving two penalties, with former Wolves young pro Ed Francis among the scorers for Rochdale, as they prevailed 3-1 to provide the perfect finish to such a rollercoaster few weeks.

“We weren’t at our best in that final, and Boreham Wood showed they are a very good team, but we just kept on fighting, never gave up, and finally got the job done,” says Ebanks-Landell. “It was the first time I had even been involved in a penalty shootout, although I told all the boys I scored for the under-nines once, but when it came down to that I was just really chilled and trying to keep everyone relaxed.

“I was like, ‘don’t stress, we were dead and buried at 2-0 down and not even supposed to be here, so go and hit your penalty, and whether you score or not, whether we win or not, we’re all going to the hotel to get bevvied up anyway.

“I think everyone was shocked by how calm I was, but that was just my way of trying to keep everyone relaxed, and Oliver and the lads that took the penalties did so well and got us over the line.

“People always say the play-offs are the best way to go up, well I think I’d have preferred less tension and a couple of weeks extra holiday, but of course playing at Wembley was a brilliant experience, and to do it with that group of players, and the gaffer, who is a really good friend of mine, made it extra special.

“Being captain was obviously also special, but I think as everyone who knows me will know, it doesn’t really change me at all.

“I’m not one to talk about myself, and I will always say what I feel about things regardless, but being captain means getting involved with a bit more stuff off the pitch which I have enjoyed.”

Ebanks-Landell can now return to the Football League having signed a new contract for the new season. Although it won’t be with McNulty as manager, his former boss’s impressive work having been noticed and he has landed a new position with Stockport in League One.

“It’s great to be back in the league as sometimes you do wonder if you will ever get back,” he admits. “It will be brilliant for the fans as well, having League Two clubs back at our ground and going off on all the away days, and there are some big clubs in the league.

“The gaffer has done a great job in helping us get there, and I’d just like to wish him all the best as he takes on his new challenge, as we do with ours.”

Bringing it all back to Wolves, Ebanks-Landell’s success captaining Rochdale to promotion was repeated the following day by his former first-team and academy team-mate David Davis, who skippered Kidderminster Harriers back into the National League after winning their play-off final against South Shields.

And Ebanks-Landell, a League One title winner at both Wolves and Sheffield United, and Davis, are part of a bigger Band of Brothers who became mates during their respective spells at Molineux, and have remained close ever since.

Carl Ikeme is another – he was there watching Rochdale’s play-off final at Wembley – and so too Ebanks-Landell’s brother Andre, himself a former Wolves Academy scholar, and Greg Treasure, a former sports science intern at Molineux who completed his Masters while at the club.

They were all together, with Davis, for Ebanks-Landell’s stag do recently, and again this very Tuesday, for the very happy occasion of his wedding, to Melissa.

A day which presumably passed with much less drama than Rochdale’s title run-in!

“I think Wolves was a special time for all of us, and when you share something like a promotion together, as we did from League One, and all the challenges involved, you have that affiliation,” says Ebanks-Landell. “It’s like being in the military, when you don’t see someone for a while, but you catch up and have a special handshake or whatever, there’s that certain look in your eye.

“We’ve achieved something together, and been through a lot together, and will carry on talking about those days at Wolves for a very long time!”

So too now Rochdale, and the incredible finale to 2025/26. The World Cup has a lot to live up to!