Rochdale fans have fought back against the threat of a hostile takeover and safeguarded the club. Since early August, Rochdale have been embroiled in a fight for their future after several major shareholders including Andrew Kilpatrick, the son of former chairman David, and former chief executive David Bottomley sold up to new investors Andy Curran and Darrell Rose.
New investment is rarely treated with caution in football
but alarm bells started ringing when Curran and Rose began paying well over the
odds for shares — in some cases as much as £10 for shares only valued at
£2 each — with little explanation. The pair had a limited digital
footprint and no obvious connection to Rochdale — neither the town 10 miles
north of Manchester or its football club — to explain their desire to invest so
heavily in a team that is self-sustainable and has spent the bulk of its recent
history in League Two.
They quietly amassed enough to constitute ownership of
roughly 42.3 per cent of the club before even approaching the club or
submitting to the EFL’s owners’ and directors’ test.
That is when Rochdale fans stepped in, and it is a testament
to them and their ownership structure that has saved them from an uncertain fate.
Since the hostile takeover attempt was brought to light, fan pressure was key
as Curran and Rose’s firm Morton House announced it would step back and seek to
divest its shares.
Although the first battle was won, Rochdale were in
limbo while they waited to see who might buy up the Morton House shares. There
was interest from former Charlton Athletic chairman Matt Southall, who met with
the Dale Trust to discuss investing but has since moved out of the picture.
Southall’s fractious tenure at and exit from Charlton was a concern
for Rochdale fans.
He told the Trust that, like Morton House, he would oppose
the club’s next move intended to ensure a more stable future and called an
extraordinary general meeting early in October to issue nearly 400,000 new
shares (adding to the existing 502,957 shares) in the football club. The motion
passed with just one shareholder voting against the motion and the backing of
98.6 per cent of the membership of the Dale Trust. No representatives of Morton
House showed up to the EGM.
Shares have sold well, with large quantities already
purchased by local fans, the Dale Trust and the club’s Community Trust, which
should dilute Morton House’s holding from around 42 per cent to below 30 per
cent. The new share issue has also, vitally, put funds directly back into the
club whereas those shares bought up by Curran and Rose did not.
The pair can still sell their shares but Rochdale is now
protected from a further hostile takeover by “an enhanced version of the old
ownership model”, according to another supporter who, like many others, bought shares in the new issue.
They are the proud owners of their club and have cheered
Stockdale’s side through this most tumultuous season in the knowledge that they
have done all in their power to save an asset so important to the community.
Rochdale can dare to make plans again and the new board have fast won the
backing of fans, who will remember those who did not help them through these
past tough months as much as those who did.
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