The Trust met with the Board of Directors on Tuesday evening before the AGM to ask them questions sent in by Trust members.
The Board were asked about the decision to stop the coach picking up in the Town Centre and Littleborough explaining that for those that were unable to drive, it was difficult to get home from Spotland late at night. The Directors agreed to discuss this with the Coach Firm Options, and that there were plans already being looked at to introduce a Dale Travel Club for next season.
One of the Trust’s Exile Members raised the question of no longer being able to have tickets sent out for away matches that brought a cost implication with many fixtures being extra on the day and saw the club missing out on the 5%. The Board responded by saying that supporters could ring up and order over the phone for these tickets and have them posted out and this has been the case throughout the past season. Furthermore, the club would look to check with Clubs in the League 1 which of them currently offer the facility of away fans collecting tickets on matchdays.
In recent years, there have been moves from Supporters Trusts and fan groups to make their stadiums ‘Assets of Community Value’. Could the Trust and the club confirm whether they can work together and look to make Spotland an ACV to ensure that the ground would be safeguarded for the future? The Board replied that the Stadium has been protected under “Assets of Community Value” from 2014 under the five year period applicable, and the application for renewal is currently being processed.
One Trust member brought up the recent launch of Dale Lotto had promised proceeds would go to supporting the Dale Academy, asking would it be possible for the club to give a regular update just how much has been given over? The Board of Directors replied by stating that In addition to supporting the Academy, the proceeds from the Lotto will also support selected charities to benefit the community with the current charity being supported being Prostate Cancer. The Directors agreed that the club would publicise the share of the proceeds raised which directly supports the Academy.
A question was asked about how often do the Trust and the Dale board commit to meeting next season to take questions from supporters? The intention is for the Trust Board to meet with the Board of Directors a minimum of twice per year in this format. However, in addition, there will be meetings between regular members of the Trust Board and relevant Directors, during the year, regarding specific issues which may arise. There will also be Fans Forums arranged during the season to allow for questions/discussion between fans and the Board of Directors.
The amount of money raised from the sale of shirts and associated Errea leisurewear was asked about, as were plans are in place to increase sales? We were informed in reply that whilst actual figures were commercially sensitive, sales in the club shop over the past four years had increased by close to 50%. The club appreciated the input from supporters in the selection of the kit in recent years. The club will be hosting a Kit Launch day on June 15th, with Errea will be supporting the event with their exhibition truck on site. Comments from fans regarding additional items to be considered are always welcomed by the Club. Internet sales are growing and sales through a unit in one of Rochdale’s retail centre is planned, and the club have sold items up at the Soccer Factory. The club trialled two pop up units in the Main Lounge last season, and following this, a pop up unit at Crown Oil Arena is also planned for the coming season to allow everyone approaching the stadium access to club merchandise.
As has been the case in the pretty much every single meeting with the Directors, questions were sent in about the pitch and work that was planned for it. We were informed that Premier Pitches Limited were due to start work on the pitch on May 20th. Premier Pitches were responsible for a number of pitches at League One level, with Peterborough and Bristol Rovers cited as examples. as usual as agreement has been reached with Hornets not to play on the pitch once the work has started until an agreed date of 30th June.
One Trust member asked about the club exploring the possibility of a smoking/vaping area as most clubs seem to accommodate this. We were told that providing a specific smoking/vaping area for all fans within the stadium has unique problems, in that it is impossible to create as it has implications on the various sections/divisions within the ground, and to provide anything other than several areas would mitigate against specific fans. The club said that the Ground Safety Officer had been asked to investigate what happens at other clubs to investigate the possibility of such an area.
The issue of stewarding in the Pearl Street Stand was brought up with queries over searches, stewarding within the stand and incidents that had occurred in this stand over the season. The club responded that the stewarding in that stand is a mixture of stewards that are employed by the club and from a company that they use on matchdays (Taurus). We enquired whether it was possible to maintain the club’s stewards in places like the Carlsberg Lounge but we were advised this wasn’t always possible due to staffing. A new CCTV system is being introduced over the Summer that will prove to be highly effective when dealing with issues that arise. The current system is several years old, possibly from a time when the Pearl Street Stand was built. The new system will much improved and will involve facial recognition software.
We received questions from two Trust members that related to the appointment of the Chief Executive, the Club Charter and a number of questions associated with this. These were put in full to the Chairman and the Board of Directors. The club responded to these in their entirety by stating that The Board of Directors have made the decision to appoint the current CEO and retain full confidence in his appointment and the selective process applied.
The trouble that occurred in the Bradford City game was asked about and why the club were underprepared on the day for the Bradford City away support on the day. The club responded by stating that the Safety Advisory Group meets before every game as part of the intensive planning for each fixture. This group consists of the Police, Ambulance Service, Doctors, Rochdale Council and representatives from the opposition. The meeting covers all aspects of safety for each game and will recommend sufficient levels of stewarding for all games All the intelligence for this game suggested that there would be no more than 1,500 away supporters at best for this fixture, with advance ticket sales for the game being minimal. The club stated that they were unable to comment on many of the specifics that were asked about due to an ongoing investigation.
The Trust have requested that if a representative from the Trust can attend such a meeting next season as a one off to see and report back to members the level of scrutiny and planning that takes place with each game.
The final set of questions referred to the Sunderland game, both in terms of the accommodating of away supporters and the movement of Rochdale supporters. The club were very clear that every decision that is made is with the intentions of putting Rochdale supporters first. With a first team wage bill that outstrips the income from home supporters over the course of a season, every decision that is made at the club to bring in income is done so to support the first team on the pitch for the benefit of the supporters, whether that be in extra tickets to Sunderland supporters or each cup of coffee that is sold at the ground.
It was expected from the Safety Advisory Group that it was likely that as a consequence of the aforementioned Bradford game that U Block may have been closed anyway from a safety point of view for this fixture. There had been a huge take up of the free tickets to the Wycombe game for those who were affected by the closure of the stand.
Whilst it was acknowledged that the number of Sunderland tickets sold was less than expected, the sale of the dining package was in line with expectations despite places being advertised on the day preceding the match.
We were told that the Stewarding of the Pearl Street Stand was no more expensive for splitting the stand as it would have been had that end been filled with Dale supporters alone, and looking at it overall, the club feel that the decisions taken around this game made it worth it.