Interim manager Jimmy McNulty is hoping to take charge of relegated Rochdale on a permanent basis next season.
Dale ended 102 years as an EFL club with a 1-1 draw at Harrogate, with Jimmy Keohane’s first-half goal cancelled out by a Toby Sims effort after the break.
But the Lancashire outfit have at least been relegated with a semblance of pride under McNulty, who oversaw three wins and three draws during the final eight fixtures of the campaign.
On his hopes of staying at the Spotland helm in the National League next term, McNulty said: “The club want to go through a thorough recruitment process and I think that’s good. It’s what should be done.
“It’s partly my doing too because, every time the club have wanted to speak to me about the situation, I’ve just wanted to concentrate on the players and the next game. But I know the club want a head coach and, for certain, I want the job.
“We’ve got six results from the last eight games, which no-one would have said we could have done, so I’m happy with how it’s gone and when it’s my turn, I’ll be speaking to the club in the next few days about how we move forward.”
Delivering his verdict on the game, McNulty added: “It was a good away point and I’d like to know how many passes led to our goal, because I really enjoyed watching it.
“We just looked a bit tired in the second half and it showed how short we are as a squad because we had no real options to help out.”
Harrogate finished nine points clear of the bottom two, having lost just one of their final 10 fixtures after flirting with relegation for long periods of the campaign.
Boss Simon Weaver said: “I’m hoping the form we’ve been on can launch us into next season because we had gone through some hardship and the eye of a storm.
“Lessons will need to be learned but this group of players have shown now that they can hold their nerve under pressure. Our supporters have also stayed loyal and they realise the journey that we’ve been on.
“It’s been difficult at times because we’ve had a series of bad runs but that’s when you find out the most about your friends and fans and they have stood by us.”
He also praised right-back Sims, who scored his first goal in the English pro game having made the unlikely switch from US second-tier outfit Pittsburgh Riverhounds in January.
“It’s easy to think that a move won’t work because he’s 25 and hasn’t played at this level before,” Weaver acknowledged.
“But I think we’ve got a gem in Toby and there’s no player I would have wanted more to score our final goal of the season.”
Leeds cut gap to automatic promotion spots with comfortable win over Coventry
Leeds United closed the gap to second place to just two points in the Championship, following a 3-0 victory over out-of-form Coventry City at Elland Road.
Wilfried Gnonto got the game off to a good start for Daniel Farke's side, expertly turning home a cross just inside the box with a first-time finish to open the scoring.
Last season's losing play-off finalists wrapped up a comfortable victory in the second half with goals from Jayden Bogle - his first as a Leeds player - and Joel Piroe, who has now scored three in four as a substitute.
The victory sees Leeds climb to fourth, significantly taking the opportunity to cut the gap to the automatic promotion places with both West Brom and Sunderland losing.
Coventry, meanwhile, have lost four and drawn one of their last five matches in all competitions. They are fourth-bottom, with just goal difference separating them from the relegation zone.
Second-placed Sunderland missed the chance to go top as they were beaten 2-1 away to Watford.
Regis Le Bris' side went a goal down in the first half to a Festy Ebosele volley before equalising shortly after half-time through Wilson Isidor. They were unable to push on for a winner, with Tom Dele-Bashiru scoring a late penalty to win it for the hosts.
The win leaves Watford in seventh place in the Championship, outside the play-offs on goal difference, while Sunderland stay second.
Managerless Cardiff City lost their fifth straight match in all competitions and are still searching for their first league win of the season after being thumped 4-1 away to Hull City.
The Bluebirds initially went a goal up in the first half through Callum Robinson, which was just their second league goal of the season.
They could only hold the lead for four minutes, before Bachir Belloumi equalised for the hosts. He grabbed a brace 10 minutes before half-time and Hull never looked back.
Two second-half goals ensured another miserable afternoon for Cardiff, who remain bottom of the Championship with just one point after seven matches. Hull are up to 12th.
Nottingham Forest 0-1 Fulham: Jimenez penalty seals Cottagers win
Fulham brought Nottingham Forest's unbeaten start to the Premier League season to a halt with a hard-fought 1-0 victory at the City Ground.
There was very little to choose between two sides separated by a mere point at kick-off, but Raul Jimenez’s second-half penalty, awarded for Murillo's foul on Andreas Pereira, proved decisive.
Forest had started brightly with Taiwo Awoniyi missing an early chance, while Chris Wood saw a potential opener disallowed for offside following a VAR review in the 25th minute.
However, Nuno Espirito Santo's team failed to find a spark without the suspended Morgan Gibbs-White as Fulham's own impressive start to 2024/25 continued.
The result leaves Forest ninth in the table with nine points, with Fulham leapfrogging their hosts to move into sixth on 11 points.
Data Debrief: Fulham maintain unbeaten run
Fulham are undefeated in their last five games in the Premier League since going down 1-0 at Manchester United on the opening matchday.
They last enjoyed a streak of this length between December 13, 2020 and January 10, 2021.
Jimenez has now scored three goals in his last three games, maintaining his good record against Forest, with three goals in two matches against them.
Chelsea 4-2 Brighton: Palmer makes Premier League history as Maresca's side fight back
Cole Palmer made Premier League history as Chelsea beat Brighton 4-2 in a six-goal thriller at Stamford Bridge.
Palmer became the first player to score four goals before half-time in a single Premier League game, helping Enzo Maresca’s side record their fourth straight victory in all competitions.
Brighton took an early lead through Georginio Rutter's header, but were powerless as Palmer took command of the contest.
His remarkable quadruple came in the space of 20 minutes - including a penalty and free-kick - with Carlos Baleba's strike to make it 3-2 swiftly cancelled out by Chelsea's talisman.
Nicolas Jackson and Palmer went close after the break for the hosts, who also had a Marc Cucurella goal disallowed for offside, but they held out for another victory.
The Blues climb to third place, a point behind pacesetters Manchester City and Arsenal, while Brighton drop to eighth after suffering their first defeat of the season.
Data Debrief: History-making Palmer does the damage once more
Palmer completed his third Premier League hat-trick - the joint-most by any Chelsea player along with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard - in the space of only nine minutes and 45 seconds.
The Blues forward also hit the post, was denied by the offside flag and then slotted a decent opportunity wide after the break, so we could have been saluting the first player to score six or more goals in a single Premier League game.
His fourth goal was set up by Sancho, who became the third Chelsea player after Eden Hazard (2012) and Cesc Fabregas (2014) to provide an assist in each of his first three Premier League appearances for the club.
As for Brighton, they are now without a victory in each of their last nine Premier League visits to London, since a 3-0 win over Arsenal in May 2023.
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