We are delighted to announce that Trust Membership is now open again for Dale supporters to sign up for. We have taken the decision to reduce membership to just £5 for this season only. We have done this due to the uncertainty regarding attending matches in the 2020-21 season and down to the impact that the global pandemic has had on our community.
The Dale Trust was set up back in 2004 with the intention of strengthening the links between the Supporters and the Football Club, whilst providing an opportunity to fundraise for the Club and support the wider community where appropriate. It is run by an elected committee and owns over 12,500 shares within the Football Club itself.
In recent years, the Trust has re-strengthened its relationship with the club. An ongoing dialogue with the club enables us to report back to our members and our efforts have helped the club to be regarded as one of the most transparent English football. The Trust’s relationship with the club allows differences of opinion to be aired in a constructive manner.
It’s pretty much a cliché these days, but the strength of any Trust is in its members, both in terms of numbers and interaction with the Trust. We want a relationship with our own members, where they feel free to express their opinions on all matters Dale to allow us to communicate this to the club. The Trust represents the members and will always go with what the membership wants. This is something that we need to work on even more throughout 2020-21 to provide a platform for all members to be represented.
Throughout the season, the Trust will look to arrange a number of events, some football related, some fundraising and some which are more social. The aim is to cater for everyone’s tastes. Our Curry Night is legendary these days, with some fantastic speakers over the years. Other events include Fans Forums, Quiz Nights, Race Nights and Consultation evenings.
Our most recent growth area has been the development of our Exiles’ membership. This is part of the Trust set up to look after those who happen to to live away from Rochdale. These now number over a quarter of all the members with 150 signed up last season. We have in recent years appointed an Exiles Coordinator in Sheffield based Ian Goodwin and this has led to Exiles Newsletters and two Exile Days per season, one at the Crown Oil Arena and the other at an away game.
There are three ways of joining the Trust. You can come and see us at the Trust Desk in the Dale Bar before any home match, you can fill out the Trust form and send it to our PO Box address, or you can join online. If you’re joining online, you can sign yourself up or your whole family all at the same time if you want.
If you’re in two minds whether to join up or not, here are some of the benefits that you will receive upon signing up:
- You get a newsletter emailed out at the start of every month that details what the Trust has been up to and what is coming up. A Trust survey suggested that members found this newsletter to be the best way of keeping up to speed with Trust activities.
- Trust members are given the opportunity to ask questions to the Dale board. The Trust will meet with the Board of Directors twice a year, and in the build up to that will invite questions from Trust members. We conduct regular meetings with the club as well where we will convey the opinion of the members to them.
- You get discounts for Trust activities. Whilst many of our activities are free of charge, last year the Curry Night was £25 for members and £30 for non-members. Similar discounts will be offered for all paid events.
- You get the chance to win a Player’s Shirt. Each month, we do a poll to find the Player of the Month, and one member drawn at random makes the presentation to the winning player and gets that player’s shirt, and a copy of the plaque presented. When we do the draw, we will often have to draw several times before we get a Trust member
- The Trust will have three Matchball Sponsorships throughout the season wherein six Trust members will join us and a Dale legend for hospitality before the game and tickets to the game. The Trust members will be selected randomly from the membership list.
- Trust members are offered discounts at a number of local businesses. You can save far in excess of your £5 membership fee by taking advantage of our Friends of the Trust.
- Members decide who is on the Trust Committee. When needed, elections are held to fill the positions on the Trust Committee which gives members the opportunity to make appropriate changes.
Click here to join as an Adult or Exile
Click here to sign more than one person up at a time
Click here to join as a Junior
We are unable to offer the “repeating membership” this year due to the drop in membership fee to £5. We couldn’t set it to £5 then revert it to £10 in twelve months. Those people who have already signed up to the “repeating membership” won’t be affected as they will be refunded £5 after signing up.