We met with the Dale Chairman Simon Gauge and COO George Delves on Thursday afternoon ahead of the statement that was put out on the OS on Friday afternoon in which the Club has invited offers for investment (click here), the timing of which has nothing to do with any on the field matters.
We have gone on record on repeated occasions including the EGM of June 2021 that our stance has never been one against any investor getting involved at Rochdale AFC. Our objection in June 2021 was the EGM could have given the power to the Board to sell the Club to any investor without shareholder approval. This was without question proven to be the correct decision given the sale of shares that took place in July 2021.
We stated to the Board on Thursday that we believe any potential investor would need to meet with Shareholders and Supporters before any deal and we couldn’t have a situation where a statement suddenly appears on the Club’s website at 4pm on any one day stating that the Club has been sold.
The Club replied stating that it would be impossible for that to happen these days with the EFL rules on ownership, something that the EFL have tightened up on in recent years. The process now requires due diligence by the Club ahead of any such deal which would allow any investor to build up trust with the Supporters. Any such deal now requires a two-year business deal put in place, and there are additional protections now in place at the Football Club that were not there two years ago.
It was the belief of the Board that all but one other Club in League Two operates without an investor, and it is clear that they have done their due diligence with other Clubs to deals that they have been involved with, with one club in particular cited as a model we’d be keen to follow.
We have offered to work with the Club and to meet with any potential investors, just as we did in April 2021 when we were introduced to a potential investor by then Chairman Andrew Kelly. That was followed with a further meeting and email correspondence before the decision was made not to pursue that deal.
The Club are confident that an investor that matches the needs of the Club can be found.
We will discuss further details of what was discussed at the meeting in the newsletter that we will be sending out to members on Tuesday 3rd January (and published on our website on 4th January)