As the title says… Rochdale AFC takeover MUST happen before end of March or club faces liquidation What a mess
Sad to hear I hope you get it sorted Dale fans it was nearly us a short while ago hope you get your own Frank Rothwell
Been more years than I care to remember since my last visit to Spotland. Hope I can visit next season assuming we don't sort our own issues out. Had the pleasure of meeting Frank by chance on Scarborough's seafront last summer. What a terrific character.
Not read the details but hope you can get sorted. Too many clubs being brought to brink of extinction.
What's the deal with the chairman? Rochdale seem to be officially fan owned, but it practice it looks like one guy holds a lot of sway here?
He's had to recently stump up some of his own cash to help us out, but for me he's been a massive part of the problem over the last 2 years or so, he doesn't seem to know how to run a football club at all, and don't even get me started on how he speaks about the fans at times. The previous regime is mainly to blame for this mess. Gauge helped with fighting off the hostile takeover attempts a couple of years back, but other than that he's hindered us more than he's helped us. £2M is a very small amount for a big club, but for us it's a huge amount of money, I honestly do not see this ending well at all for us. We've had several parties interested in buying the club over the last few months, but if the rumours are to be believed Gauge himself has been hostile towards these potential buyers and made it very difficult for any deals to get over the line, now the clock is ticking, and fast! We need a miracle.
There is more info on SG and how some fans feel towards the situation, quite a lot of reading though... Forum | EGM + statement by JimmyRustler | RochdaleAFC.com (fansnetwork.co.uk) There is a divide in opinions on the matter, but I am leaning towards him being to blame for quite a few of our current issues.
I can kinda tell from the tone of his statement that he is part of the problem. Seems quite heavily opposed to fan ownership which is not a good sign.
Critically, who owns the ground? There’ll be no loans outstanding on its valuation, so the debts are presumably day-to-day stuff.
We own our own ground, which makes us asset rich but cash poor. Judging off SG's statement he is looking to liquidate if nobody buys us out, but only to recoup his own money back, which wouldn't be in the best interests of the club itself... then there is potential administration, which comes with financial implications, as well as a points deduction, I feel he is trying to avoid this, but as I said above, only for his own good not the good of the club. I just fear this is the end sadly, I really do.
I’d post a “like” for your informative post, but it feels inappropriate. Shall be following, good luck.
In the aftermath of COVID like most FL clubs we were skint having had no income for 2 years. Our then board tried to sell the club to a set of unsavoury characters who had no obvious legitimate source of money, links to the town or a positive track record of ruining other clubs. The people involved in this consortium of shysters were also involved in harming Charlton and Swindon in recent years. A poor track record but the FA/EFL didn't seem to mind. And if my sources are correct some of them are now involved behind the scenes at Welling much to their annoyance of their fanbase... Good job FA and NL ownership tests... When Gauge and Co stepped up it was admirable. They stumped up the cash and with the help of some hardworking and savvy Dale fans saved the club falling into some really dodgy hands. Without that I reckon we'd be gone already. That deserves praise and graciousness from our fanbase. However, that goodwill shouldn't last forever. The day-to-day running of the club since Gauge took the reigns has been so poor. There's zero effort to maintain and grow the fanbase or income. I could list endless examples but just looking at the Dale forum and threads there will list the issues. A great recent example. Half season tickets. When we were hovering around the play offs around Xmas did we market them? No. Did we market them weeks later as an '8 game' bundle just after we'd lost game after game. Yes. I'd be amazed if they sell any. Naïve or incompetent marketing. Communication to fans is at best lip service. At worst rude and dismissive. The fans, via the Trust, have been trying to get involved. No suggestions taken forward. The begging bowl comes out often enough though. The whole club just seems to be in terminal decline. Gauge and the other board have one goal and that is recover their money. The interests of the club are not a priority. I'd imagine they have someone lined up who has demanded the actions in the EGM. That would-be buyer is probably not someone who would pass the sniff test from the fans. But the thread of folding the club will probably provide a sufficient stick.
I think people are trying to get the media involved as much as possible, and spreading the word. I’m sure I saw a gofundme page as well on Twitter but can’t seem to find it now though.
Rochdale chairman on threat of liquidation, West Brom takeover edging closer An interesting listen from about 2-15mins sums up the situation. It sounds like someone is lined up to takeover. The "we will liquidate in March" statement seems a stick to beat the shareholders to pass the motions at the EGM. An odd way of doing things when transparency from the off would work so much better. That worries me. Whether the takeover happens and whether they're legitimate we'll have to wait and see. Fingers crossed.
Hopefully the worst doesn't happen. But if it does, what are the chances of a phoenix club being able to use Spotland? The key to most successful restarts is retaining your ground which keeps the spiritual link to the original club in tact and makes it easier to rise through the divisions because you can have big crowds for the lower levels and the ground will automatically comply with all grounds regulations as you move up the leagues. Phoenix clubs that aren't able to retain their original ground usually struggle to get back, like Darlington.
