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Liquidation threat at Rochdale

Rochdale is having a pantomime by-election while its football club faces going out of business.

Liquidation s the fate Rochdale face, according to their board, if the club’s 650 small shareholders do not vote the club out of fan ownership by agreeing to issue nine million new shares at an extraordinary general meeting on March 7.

These new shares, 90 per cent of the club, will be available to purchase by a new owner for 22p each, which would immediately put £2m into the club.

The club’s current directors took over in June 2021, picking up the pieces after Rochdale were relegated from League One. With their finances already stretched by the pandemic, the board was immediately forced to defend Rochdale from a hostile takeover. They won that war but were relegated from League Two last season, ending a 102-year stay in the EFL.

But Rochdale are not a basket case. Their debts total about £1m and most of that is to the chairman. They also own their stadium, which is worth about £5m and has room for a hotel, bar/restaurant, doctor’s surgery or some other business that can generate a steady income.

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