After 102 years of English Football League membership, Rochdale AFC will, for the first time, participate outside the cosy parameters of the established senior set up.
So, what can we expect from the National League in 2023/24?
I caught up with Notts County fan and National League blogger Tom Williams to find out. I’ve followed Tom’s writing this season after catching one of his analysis pieces by chance. He certainly knows his onions. Give him a follow at @tomhwilliams23 or @AnalystsBar.
Tell me a bit about yourself – what team do you support? How long have you supported them? What got you into writing about the National League?
I’m a Notts County fan currently studying at the University of Reading, so I can empathise with what your fans are going through. I started writing about the National League last summer after my exams, as there was only so much Grey’s Anatomy I could watch with my girlfriend! It started out with quite basic stuff, but has evolved massively over the season.
As a team that has never played outside the EFL since it joined, what can Rochdale expect in terms of the National League standard?
I know everyone says it, but I think you’ll be surprised by the National League! The standard is really high, and not all that dissimilar to League 2, in my opinion. Just look at Stockport; they were a fraction from gaining back-to-back automatic promotions, and they could still go up via the playoffs.
You’ll also be surprised by the style of the teams. Of course, there are sides which play old fashioned non-league football, but there is an increasing amount of sides showing a commitment to playing attractive football. You’ve got teams such as Wealdstone, which are playing possession football using a part-time model, and other sides, such as Altrincham and Gateshead, which play fast, attacking football.
It’s a really diverse division, one with sides possessing a real range of styles. It’s one you’ll grow to love, too; I know I did.
You’ll also be surprised by the style of the teams. You’ve got teams such as Wealdstone, which are playing possession football using a part-time model, and other sides, such as Altrincham and Gateshead, which play fast, attacking football.
Tom Williams
Relegated teams rarely seem to bounce straight back to the EFL. Why do you think this is?
Teams that drop down certainly underestimate the level they’re going to. This certainly plays a factor, but, like you say, it’s quite well documented that sides which go down struggle, so I don’t think a lack of awareness is totally to blame.
Recruitment is a huge issue. Sides tend to bring in players with name value, ones on the way down and sometimes players who haven’t even played at this level before. These mistakes are made time and again, and certainly play a big role in relegated sides struggling.
I also think the structure of League 2, with just two relegation places, directly affects this. To get relegated from League 2, you’ve got to be quite poor (no offence). Usually, it’s sides that are a mess off the field that go down, and, because of the issues behind the scenes, it never gets sorted on the pitch. A combination of all three factors makes navigating life in the National League difficult to begin with.
Usually, it’s sides that are a mess off the field that go down, and, because of the issues behind the scenes, it never gets sorted on the pitch.
Tom Williams
What type of players should Rochdale look to recruit to compete effectively in the National League?
A mixture of National League experience and young, hungry players from the leagues below. While I’m not saying you should avoid EFL players completely, I do believe they should only be to supplement the squad; adding that last bit of quality.
Crucially, it has to be players that are coming for the right reasons. Those coming for one last pay day are never going to put 100% effort in. When the going gets tough, as it often does at this level, you need players you can rely on to get you out of the hole.
Recruiting from the divisions below can be difficult, especially as you don’t have a lot of experience at this level, but you’ve already been recruiting from the National League, which is an encouraging sign. Many fans might not have even heard of some of the players you’ll sign, but, if they are given time, they can provide the quality of this level.
Give me a rundown of the teams in the National League – who do you think will do well next season and why?
The favourite will be whoever loses the play-off final on Saturday. Usually the side who loses in the final struggles; Solihull finished mid table this season after going close last year. But both Notts and Chesterfield are considerably stronger than the rest of the league, so you’d imagine they’ll be clear favourites to win the league.
Oldham are another side who will be heavily tipped, as they had a strong end to the season. Similarly to Rochdale, Oldham dropped out of the Football League last season and, initially, they really struggled. But they’re heavily backed, and made a vast number of signings which eventually got them into contention. They’ve got a really talented squad, so you’d imagine they’ll build on it next year.
The other four sides in the play-offs, Woking, Barnet, Boreham Wood and Bromley, will all be confident of being up there again. All four sides have young managers who have really impressed, and the latter three have all looked defensively solid for the second half of the season. You can add Eastleigh into that mix too. They had a strong campaign, just missing out on the playoffs and, with a rumoured takeover, they could be big spenders this summer too.
I’ve already eluded to it, but the attacking styles of Altrincham (below) and, particularly, Gateshead make them interesting propositions next season. Both will be in with an outside shout of a play-off spot, with their young attacking coaches looking to take their sides one step further.
Who will be the standout players in the National League next season, in your opinion, and why?
My early tip for breakout player is Josh Kelly at Solihull. He took time to adjust to life in the Midlands, but, with Andrew Dallas now gone, he has had the chance to step up and show what he’s all about. A skilful forward with real end product, Kelly is still just 24, so has plenty of time to improve. He’s one to watch next season for sure.
Dominic Poleon scored 35 goals in the National League South this season, and he will be looking to make the step up with Ebbsfleet this time round. The top scorer in the National League this season came from the division below (Langstaff), and Poleon has bags of goal-scoring ability. I’d expect him to hit the ground running regardless of the step up.
If Tyler Cordner stays at Aldershot, I believe he will rise to another level from this season, where he’s already been arguably the best defender in the league. Composed on the ball, Cordner likes to bring it out from the back to start attacks. He’s also excellent defensively; no player made more blocks or interceptions this season.
What is the FA Trophy all about? Something to get excited about or is it a competition that teams don’t take seriously?
I really like the FA Trophy. It’s probably an unwelcome distraction for some sides, especially those at either end of the table, but, for those in the middle, it can turn an average season into a brilliant one. If taken seriously, it can be fairly simple to progress, due to some sides fielding weakened sides, so you can certainly go far.
At the end of the day, it’s a chance of getting to Wembley. Not many sides are able to say that. The final this season is Gateshead v Halifax, both of whom finished mid table. It’ll be a great day out for their fans, and, for whoever wins it, they’ll look back on it as a momentous occasion.
What is the fan experience like in the National League? There will be lots of new grounds for us to visit.
If Notts do go up, and fingers crossed we do, the thing I’ll miss most about the league are the grounds you get to visit. It’s a surreal experience visiting sides like Dorking and Wealdstone, where you are stood right by the pitch! You can interact with the players, almost touch them, and it makes for a truly unique matchday experience.
The atmosphere at some of these grounds is totally unique too. Eastleigh, for example, put us in a covered section where we were able to make ridiculous amounts of noise; it’s probably the best atmosphere I’ve seen this season, bar the play-off semi-final. You also get to experience plenty of brilliant matchday food. Altrincham is a personal favourite of mine, serving an excellent range of food options.
I’ve been quite fortunate this season to get to plenty of away games, and it’s something I would recommend to anyone. The National League has such a variety of grounds, all with something unique to offer. Dorking, for example, had a brilliant selection of pubs, with their owner/manager Marc White putting £300 of his own money behind the bar for away fans.
Altrincham is a personal favourite of mine, serving an excellent range of food options.
Tom Williams
How does the National League look after its member clubs?
I’ll be honest, this one is a bit mixed. They seemed to bow to the pressure Wrexham put on them about streaming, not really considering the impact it would have on other clubs. In fairness, I think the streaming service has had a positive impact overall, and it’s certainly been useful for analysis.
There’s a really fascinating documentary on YouTube called Gate Money: Inside Non-League Football’s Funding Fiasco that shines a prettying damning light on the National League. It’s well worth a watch, and probably gives a better insight than I could here.
In your own opinion, how do you think Rochdale will fair in our first ever season in the National League?
I actually think you’ll surprise a few. I certainly won’t be tipping you to bounce straight back, but the squad you have is actually quite well equipped for the National League already. Toby Mullarkey (below) is an excellent player, and one I don’t think you’ve seen the best of yet. He was, in my opinion, one of, if not the best defender in the league during his time at Altrincham, so he should really step up. Tyrese Sinclair had an amazing time on loan at Altrincham too, so he will be a big asset for you next season.
Tahvon Campbell showed during his limited time with Aldershot that he is more than capable at this level. He will be a good focal point to build round. And even Sam Graham, a player I’ve seen plenty of times for Notts, is good enough for this level. I think who you appoint as manager will be crucial though. If you get that right, you could certainly make a go of having a good maiden season in the National League.
Today, Rochdale AFC’s 102-year unbroken participation in the English Football League came to an ignominious end.
It’s a numb feeling, as the sharper pain was felt two games ago, when relegation itself was mathematically confirmed. Now the grief tourism of the media is over, and the soup has cooled, it is time to reflect.
While it would be easy to blame this season in isolation, the catalyst and subsequent road to this dark day can actually be traced quite readily back to 2017/2018, perhaps even further – and there are plenty of articles on this blog, and elsewhere, that chart this.
However, it is this season I will look at here, so join me, if you can bear it, as we embark on a journey into the National League…
On the field
After a dismal second half to the 2021/2022 season, where many supporters felt manager Robbie Stockdale had run his race, the Rochdale AFC Board of Directors opted to stick with their hand. This allowed Stockdale to embark on a busy summer of transfer activity and, at the time, though many may deny it now, the business actually looked good.
He brought in a much-needed first-choice goalkeeper in Richard O’Donnell, as well as the holding midfielder we had been screaming out for in Toumani Diagouraga; he added experience to the backline by bringing Ethan Ebanks-Landell back to the club, and he added a physical presence up front, too, in Devante Rodney. However, it was the addition of players to increase the capacity of Stockdale’s preferred back three that indicated we may have a problem, especially as midfield options looked less plentiful.
At the start of the previous season, Stockdale had set up his side to get the ball into the box as quickly as possible. His formation at the time did not impact that objective. Why the manager then decided to deviate away from this midway through is anyone’s guess. If Stockdale had shifted formations now and again, especially within games, he might have survived longer, but the commitment to that same structure, once the new season got under way, convinced supporters that things hadn’t changed… because they hadn’t!
Dale started the campaign like a train wreck. They looked a mile off the pace fitness wise, and tactically, too. The side lost all four of their opening League Two fixtures and the board, to their credit, at least acted swiftly in a bid to prevent further damage, removing both Stockdale and his assistant Jimmy Shan. Player/coach Jim McNulty was given a brief stab at leading the team, but couldn’t inspire the requisite change.
More worrying was the fact any new incumbent would now be saddled with a squad that was not put together on the cheap, with little room left in the budget for manoeuvre.
The search for a new manager threw up names such as David Artell, John Askey and Graham Coughlan, but the gig was offered only to one man, former Morecambe and AFC Fylde boss Jim Bentley.
League winners Leyton Orient proved a step above everyone this season, but it’s probably been forgotten that one of our own pivotal points came against them in the first home game under Bentley. Make no mistake, Dale deserved to be on the end of the 1-0 reverse, but Quigley’s last-minute penalty miss, which would have snatched a point, is underestimated in its importance. A point from this game would have lifted spirits even further, especially before the disappointing and comprehensive defeat at Northampton − an initial sign that, even under a new boss, this group of players would often fall short if things failed to go their way early.
Despite that, there was a run of eight games which saw 13 points collected, albeit without the injured Quigley for the latter half of these, following a bad decision to field him in a Papa John’s Trophy match.
Ian Henderson’s history making goal, and the feel-good tale associated with Rochdale-born Ethan Brierley’s assist, probably glossed over the fact that, even during this reasonable run, we still looked limited in terms of goals or even an attacking system to consistently put pressure on opponents. The good thing was, Dale were at least looking better at defending set-pieces. Only eight goals were conceded during what was the most successful period of the season to that point.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t to last. A couple of narrow one-goal defeats started a pattern: the inability to put two halves of football together. It became a repetitive theme that was almost depressingly accepted by the Dale faithful. Even so, it was the 4-1 home defeat to a Harrogate side who were similarly positioned in the table that really set alarm bells ringing, as it was clear that, when we simply had to get results against our relegation rivals, it looked like we never would.
The subsequent cold snap meant we didn’t play again until Boxing Day, three weeks later, again against a fellow struggler in Hartlepool, again at home and again ending in a defeat that left supporters feeling the National League was a definite destination, even with half a season left.
The stats spoke for themselves. In the calendar year of 2022, Rochdale AFC had won just six league games at home. The overall stats didn’t look any better. We lost more league games in 2022 than in any year since 1978. We won 29.7% of the available points in 2022 − the lowest amount since 26.5% in 1986. We endured 15 away defeats in 2022 − only losing more once since 1983.
A poor defensive display at Doncaster further darkened the mood, before a couple of draws against Barrow and Newport at least stopped another rot setting in. There then followed a switch to three central defenders, a move which saw similar positive results to those achieved by messrs Hill and Barry-Murphy when they utilised it in the past. With a returning Max Taylor on the right and Cameron John on the left, Dale produced a much tighter defensive display at Bradford, allowing the mercurial Henderson to notch twice at the other end and secure three surprising, but very welcome, points.
But then it started to unravel again. Taylor was inexplicably moved to the left to accommodate Sam Graham’s return − immediately sending a message to John that he wasn’t going to play much of a part going forward. The resultant defensive discomfort was duly capitalised upon by lowly Colchester and another relegation rival was given a helping hand up the ladder.
Of course, this game also saw the first appearance of loanee Jake Eastwood in goal, probably as much of a surprise to the player himself as it was to both supporters and Richard O’Donnell, who had responded well to a dip in form at the end of the year. If Eastwood hadn’t made a catastrophic mistake to hand the Essex side their winner, things might have been different, but he did and they weren’t. And so it began… the worst of times.
There’s an argument we never really recovered from that point. Eastwood being persevered with, when it was obvious the player himself was visibly uncomfortable with his own presence on the pitch, certainly didn’t make much sense as the defeats started to rack up.
The other transfer window dealings saw little immediate improvement in terms of results, but there was obvious quality in the form of free agent Danny Lloyd and Altrincham’s Toby Mullarkey, whose subsequent performances stood out.
The team seemed destined to retain the wing-back formation, with Odoh at least looking more comfortable in that role − and then Ethan Brierley returned to the side. His absence was much debated, from the trial at Sheffield United (who were under a transfer embargo), to the heartache of his collapsed move to Blackburn Rovers. He put these woes behind him and his eventual reintroduction resulted in a team that at least contained someone who possessed passing ability again.
A better performance and a point at Crewe, a really good win against Stevenage and a crazy 4-4 draw against a Charlie Austin-inspired Swindon all featured Brierley pulling the strings. It’s staggering that he ever failed to be chosen for a midfield that was so obviously lacking.
Still, even Brierley could not find the panacea. A defeat at Grimsby, allied with a habit of not turning draws into wins, meant the trip to Crawley saw us seven points adrift of safety. Too little, too late it seemed.
The awful result that followed not only as good as ended our chances of staying up, but also brought down the curtain on Jim Bentley’s spell as manager. Quite why the decision was made by the board at that point, and not earlier, will be debated for a long time, as there was little in the way of explanation that enhanced the supporters’ understanding.
After giving Jim McNulty a second spell in temporary charge, both board and supporters were rewarded by his first three results − two wins and a draw. However, some concerns among the fanbase were raised by eerily familiar tactics reappearing in the first half at Wimbledon. The Barry-Murphy days of knocking it about at the back, with centre halves stood next to the keeper at goal-kicks, raised an eyebrow or two.
Despite that, we did look much better in the opponent’s half − players such as Brierley, Lloyd and Odoh thrived when we went forward. Unfortunately, the next loss wasn’t that long in coming and, amidst a sea of pyrotechnics and police presence, we fell to what was probably the definitive season-ending defeat against a workmanlike Braford City.
The following draw against Tranmere was more significant, as it brought the first real example of the Spotland crowd finally losing patience.
And so it fell to our local rivals Stockport County to mathematically hammer the final nail into the coffin. In 2008, they were responsible for heartache at Wembley, beating us in that eventful promotion play-off final. Prior to that game, there was a genuine feeling of hope of what might be. This time, the pain felt a lot hollower to me. Probably because I had felt the result of it all season long.
At least the team ensured our last home game as a League Two side ended in victory. A commitment to attack and a high-energy display saw off ten-man Sutton United 4-1. Not much more could be gleaned from the display, however, given the visitors lacked any motivation themselves.
Today’s draw at Harrogate was nothing more than a footnote, an answer to a future quiz question, a chance to say goodbye to League football and the memories made, at least for me, since 1988.
The proceedings were dismissed with no further legal action being taken against either individuals or the Dale Trust.
Additionally, Morton House agreed to transfer its full shareholding of 212,895 shares to a consortium of seven individuals, who were all serving members of the club’s board of directors, for an undisclosed sum.
The club said that the transfer of these shares had received the required level of EFL approval and all seven members of the consortium had cleared Owners’ and Directors’ Test (OADT) previously, prior to their appointment on the board.
Following the transaction:
43.3% of shares in RAFC were owned by the current serving board of directors which comprised eight statutory directors and three non-executive directors;
The Dale Trust continued to own 13.9% and was the largest individual shareholder of the club;
The remaining 42.8% of shares were owned by more than 500 different individual shareholding supporters of the club.
Chairman Simon Gauge said: “Having repaid the mortgage and secured the long-term future of the stadium in June 2022, my board of directors and I are pleased to have concluded just eight weeks later the transfer of the full beneficial shareholding of Morton House to a consortium of serving directors, with EFL permission and which will end all legal proceedings.
“Whilst an unwanted public hostile takeover attempt was unprecedented in the history of our club, the consortium of serving directors have stepped in and prevented a hostile takeover and then delivered a truly fan-owned and fan-led club.
“Operating on a national platform and as a local employer of over 130 people, whilst owning the largest sporting venue within the Rochdale borough which hosts community events every single day of the year, the hard work now really begins to get this club back up the Football League.
“Following events of 1 June 2021, where shareholders removed two directors from the board of the club, it was clear and obvious to all other shareholders and supporters that the breadth, depth and personal integrity of shareholders made any forced sale via a hidden and undesired hostile takeover a practical impossibility.
“With over 500 shareholders, the biggest of which is the Dale Trust, we have now delivered the first EFL club in the North of England which is fan-owned and fan-led and we can now focus on building the club back up so that it delivers on the pitch after this completely unwanted and unnecessary distraction over the last 14 months.
“There has been no personal gain from any of this board of directors who all work for free and who have committed their significant time and financial resources to protect the club’s independence for the benefit of the town. To everyone who has donated a penny in support of us, I say thank you and you have our promise that we continue to do everything we can off the field to give the club the best chances of succeeding on it.”
Just two months later, it was announced that former Rochdale AFC chief executive David Bottomley, Andrew Curran and Darrell Rose had been banned by the English Football League from operating as a ‘relevant person’ for two years, after failure to comply with EFL regulations following the acquisition of shares in the club by Morton House in July 2021.
The attempted takeover became subject to an EFL investigation in August 2021 as to whether “the club, any official, any relevant person(s) and/or any other persons involved complied with the requirements of the regulations in respect of the acquisition of shares in the club in July 2021”.
The EFL said at the time that: “It is alleged that Morton House MGT acquired control of the club, and a number of individuals became relevant persons without the prior consent of the EFL in accordance with the Owners’ and Directors’ Test.”
The EFL said an independent disciplinary commission had determined that Bottomley, Curran and Rose have been banned from operating as a relevant person for two years, while Faical Safouane had been handed an 18-month ban.
Rochdale AFC was also to be deducted six points, suspended for two years.
All parties, who were also required to meet the commission’s costs, pleaded guilty to the charges.
EFL CEO Trevor Birch said: “The updated Owners’ and Directors’ Test is a crucial element of the EFL’s regulatory responsibilities in the interests of all its member clubs, their supporters and everyone else involved or interested in football.
“The breaches in this case were serious as they deprived the EFL of the ability to carry out the necessary investigations into the identity of the proposed new owners, their proposed business plans, and the ultimate source and sufficiency of funding necessary to support those plans.
“These sanctions serve as an appropriate reminder to clubs, their officials and potential owners that disregarding those requirements can lead to significant consequences as this case has proved.”
In a statement released by the club, Gauge said: “We welcome the EFL’s conclusions after a very long and exceptionally detailed investigation into an opaque and unwanted hostile takeover attempt in July 2021 of Rochdale Association Football Club by Morton House and which has been found to have breached EFL rules.
“A club can only ever act through its directors, employees or other agents. Their acts and omissions are also the club’s acts and omissions, hence the club’s guilty plea. The governance of the club during the period leading up to the removal of directors at an EGM on 1 June 2021 was not of a suitable standard for an EFL member club.
“We are pleased the regulator has acted fully and decisively against the role of the club and four individuals to send a strong message throughout football. We hope the EFL continue to prevent individuals that do not meet the EFL threshold for an OADT and who are unable to prove the source and sufficiency of their funding, like Morton House, away from the game we all love.
“As chairman, I have recruited a new larger board of committed people with different skills and experiences and comprising a mixture of eight serving directors, including Supporters Trust representation and three non-executive directors to ensure the governance model of the club is secure and on the right footing.”
There was a celebratory feeling in the wake of these developments. A collective feeling that a huge millstone had been lifted off the shoulders of everybody connected to the football club.
It wasn’t to last.
Gauge issued a statement in December that made for bleak reading. He said the club continued to operate in very difficult financial circumstances and, without one-off events such as player sales, cup runs, or other windfalls, was likely to make a loss in the region of £1.2m in the financial year to June 2023.
He revealed the share issue of the previous year raised around £0.8m. Following an EGM the previous month, the board had further increased the club’s total shares to 1,350,000 by adding an additional 450,000, which, Gauge estimated, would raise £1.06m if all sold.
Despite the shares being on offer for only a month, there then followed what seemed to be a controversial shift from the fan-owned model that had previously been preached.
“Supporters have purchased around 5% of the new shares at the present time, and the club of course welcomes these purchases,” Gauge said. “However, the overall uptake has been low. The Board of Directors is now looking outside of the existing shareholder and fanbase for an investor/s to acquire the remaining unsold shares.”
In an interview given to me by Gauge when he first became chairman, he alluded to this being a possibility should his preferred model not work. More tellingly, though, it seemed to be Gauge’s first major indication that he and his fellow board members may now be prepared to step aside.
“It has become essential that we look for outside investment,” he said. “Anybody putting in this level of investment may want to take a controlling stake in the club at some stage in the future and the board are open to exploring how to facilitate this, providing the investor guarantees the future sustainability of the club. Significant due diligence will be undertaken as part of this process, both internally, and via all relevant EFL processes.”
A further twist was to emerge on April 22 when former chairman Chris Dunphy issued a sensational, controversial even, statement on his Facebook page not ten minutes after Dale’s relegation to the National League was confirmed by defeat at Stockport County.
He announced that he had emailed the current Board of Directors offering to take over the running of the football club and purchase new shares to inject capital into the club.
Dunphy had stepped down as chairman in 2018, leaving the board also, and later sold his shares in the club to US business duo Dan Altman and Emre Marcelli, managers of an investment group NYK Capital Management LLC, and the men behind the smarterscout system.
The club itself issued a statement in response, saying it was pleased to confirm that it had openly engaged with Dunphyand had laid out all protocols that he, and any other potential investor, must follow. The club said a further statement would be given no later than May 10 (this coming Wednesday).
The club then issued a further statement providing a comprehensive update on the remaining available shares.
At the EGM in November 2022, shareholders approved lifting the available number of shares of the club to 1,350,000 and, following that approval, it was revealed that individuals including board members Simon Gauge and Richard Knight, had purchased further shares.
Therefore, 974,730 shares had been issued to nearly 600 different shareholders worldwide, the club said.
In addition, the club said 375,270 shares (27.8%) remained available and “may be allotted by the Board of Directors at not less than £2.35 per share which would inject a further £0.8m of investment into the club”.
The club also confirmed it was in talks with several other interested investors, all of whom had signed NDAs.
It seemed this statement was enough to force Dunphy into an equally public withdrawal of his offer. He said in another Facebook statement:
“Now that the shareholding has been published, it is perfectly understandable that the board would be reluctant to walk away without some sort of recompense.
“Unfortunately, I have to tell you, that I am unable to personally invest the amount of money required, and, as I cannot ask my associates to do what I am not prepared to do, I have no option but to withdraw.”
The future
For the club? Who knows? It’s a first for all of us, this National League lark. We get one season of parachute money from the EFL and then we’re on our own. Many a team similar to us has failed to apply the brakes and careened over the precipice, deeper into the bowels of English football’s pyramid.
The Board of Directors have commissioned football consultancy service MRKT Insights to conduct a thorough review of football operations at the club. A report was due prior to the conclusion of the season. This will hopefully help everyone understand their roles that bit better and hopefully lead to the considered appointment of a first-team manager who suits both the club and the level we will be playing at.
The search for investment partners also continues, we are told, with members of the board regularly meeting interested parties and several NDAs already being signed.
On that score, former chairman Chris Dunphy’s “offer” to “take control and invest in the club” seems to have been a false dawn. As an individual, his reasons for wanting to get involved are obvious and beyond any doubt. However, his “offer” absolutely had to make good on the promises laid out in his statement, to the satisfaction of both shareholders and the EFL (of which we remain a member until June 30). He obviously felt he couldn’t achieve this. I still think he would have a lot to offer our club, but collaboration would have to be at the forefront of any future involvement.
For me though, it is the end of the road. I plan to retire this blog. In my opinion, I have nothing left to offer, other than one final interview with a National League expert that I have already committed to, as I know next to nothing about what awaits us myself. What started life as a fan-news lockdown project, and then became a tool with which to battle an unwanted takeover, has outlived its usefulness. Applying my journalism training to something I love has certainly been an experience and not always a good one.
My journalism − applied to the club in a voluntary way − has allowed me to get more of an insight than most (I’m grateful and resentful of this in equal measure). I’ve striven to maintain my integrity and ask the questions that matter. It’s got me alienated at times, bollocked and even seen attempts at my public humiliation. Regardless, I’ve always called it as I’ve seen it. I did this to give supporters a better understanding above anything else. It’s what I would want from my local media.
I thought this would lead to better times. It’s why I made the effort. We saw off an unwanted takeover and got ourselves a boardroom made up of supporters who have done nothing but give. That seemed a massive positive. Somehow, in all of this, we have actually reached the nadir.
The journalist in me is now very conflicted with the supporter in me. I think it’s impossible for me to be both and retain that essential objectivity. Just writing this final blog entry has hammered home to me what we have lost as a club through relegation from the EFL. It hurts deeply. Therefore, I now want to go back to watching games for the experience of that alone – and there will be lots of new places to visit in the National League. I just want to enjoy football again, if such a thing is possible with Dale. Public pessimism and arguments have taken their toll and I’ve had enough.
Right now, there are fractures among the fan base regarding where we are as a club and what the board and others are proposing to do about it. The board is not above criticism, but the abuse certain members have had to face is unforgivable. Personally, I will be eternally grateful for the time, effort and, most importantly, finance, the board committed to preventing the club being sold off, and subsequent money put in thereafter. I take absolutely no pleasure from our current on-field plight, which saddens me greatly, and it will always be preferable to the alternative, but the way we do things does have to change. I think everybody realises that. The Dale Trust has held three positive meetings with its many members and gleaned a wealth of feedback and ideas for the future. This will hopefully be taken on board by the club itself.
I want to thank any supporter who took the time to read this blog or my social media output. I hope, at some point or more, it has proved useful to you. Even if it hasn’t, that’s okay. At the end of the day, we’re all Dale, we all have our views, and I remain hopeful that things will work out for the best, because that’s all I have left.
Chris Dunphy has launched a sensational bid to regain control of Rochdale AFC.
The former chairman issued a statement on his Facebook page just minutes after Dale’s relegation to the National League was confirmed by defeat at Stockport County.
He said:
Upon taking on the role of chairman in 2006, the club enjoyed a period of stability off the field and the most successful years of its history on it. The boyhood Dale supporter initially joined the club as a director in 1980, spending more than 30 years at the club in total.
He stepped down as chairman in 2018, leaving the board also, and later sold his shares in the club to US business duo Dan Altman and Emre Marcelli, managers of an investment group NYK Capital Management LLC, and the brains behind the smarterscout system.
Jim Bentley has failed to rescue Rochdale’s season. Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
If there were a few optimistic fans remaining before 3pm this afternoon, even they now must concede that Rochdale AFC’s 102-year unbroken Football League history will come to an end when the season concludes in May.
The 2-0 home defeat inflicted by Gillingham leaves a six-point gap from safety for a team that hasn’t looked capable of pouring water out of a boot if the instructions were on the bottom. In short, it ain’t happening.
It’s symptomatic of the whole football club at the minute.
Every morning I wake up and look at social media and the forum. It doesn’t take long before I feel anger. A bit of self reflection says I shouldn’t. As my family remind me, Rochdale AFC is my ‘hobby’, my ‘pastime’. They’re right, of course, and rising inflation and interest rates is what should keep me up at night, not a football club, but it’s not that simple. Something that has been part of my life since I was eight years old as, yes, a pastime, cannot be so easily set aside. What happens to the club affects me in the same way as other things in my life that many would argue are more important. That’s just the way it’s become.
Therefore, what I’ve seen happen over the past four or five years has upset me to the point of anger. My profession − applied to the club in a voluntary way − has allowed me to get more of an insight than most (I’m grateful and resentful of this in equal measure). I’ve striven to maintain my integrity and ask the questions that matter. It’s got me alienated at times, bollocked and even seen attempts at my public humiliation. Regardless, I’ve always called it as I’ve seen it. I did this to help the club ultimately, and to give supporters a better understanding above anything else. It’s what I would want from my local media.
I thought this would lead to better times. It’s why I made the effort. We saw off an unwanted hostile takeover and got ourselves a boardroom made up of supporters who have done nothing but give. That seemed a massive positive.
Even upon our disappointing relegation from League One in 2021, under the management of Brian Barry-Murphy, we had skilled and motivated players, it was just he saw competitive football as one big player-development project and that environment cost us.
What we have on the field now is incomparable to that and is the final result of half a decade of neglect that even a changing of the guard in the boardroom hasn’t managed to salvage. This doesn’t feel like my club anymore. I feel no affinity to the players, the management and even those working at the club.
What is clear tonight, right here, right now, is that the current management team is not up to it. We got an initial dead-cat bounce when they first came in, we looked a bit more robust, leaving behind the sidewinding softness given to us by Robbie Stockdale, but it didn’t last. Yes, Jim Bentley has been saddled with players on contracts of silly lengths, but he took the job with a remit to play with the hand he was dealt. He has had since the end of August to sort things out and he has been given the January transfer window. A few players aside, the squad is as lethargic and without motivation as it was before Bentley arrived, many are even bereft of the requisite quality too. The failure to get a 90-minute performance out of any of them is as damning as it has been costly. By his own words at the fans’ forum, he cannot even get some of them to buy into an increase in training intensity for a relegation dogfight. He has failed, so, quite simply, he’s got to go.
Next season, in the National League, we will have one solitary season of EFL parachute funding, which presents arguably our best chance of a return to League Two. Can we afford to waste that on a management team that clearly can’t cut it? In my opinion, we need to part ways with them now, take the hit financially, and get someone in who can get to know the club (if they don’t already) and absorb what it means to everyone connected to it. By the summer, they’ll know exactly what’s required to make a fist of it in the National League. This, though, will require the board to be brave and make a decision that really should have been made after the Hartlepool defeat.
Due diligence done on Askey makes him the perfect fit for us. He operates on a tight budget, he believes in broken toys and talented youth players, and he has experience at National League level (he had York worrying the play-off spots before he was unceremoniously sacked in November).
There is, of course, another option. Since its formation in 1907, Rochdale AFC has only ever been promoted from the ‘Rochdale Division’ three times. Two of these came under this man’s reign. The club has only ever appeared at Wembley twice. Again, that’s down to this man. Of his 570 games in charge of Rochdale, he won 235 of them (41.2%). He is also responsible for garnering the most points Rochdale have ever amassed in a season (82 in 2010) which also included 25 league wins, a record not achieved since 1927. He also led Dale into the fourth round of the FA Cup four times, one of which led to a fifth-round appearance. His club CV sparkles.
It is, of course, Keith Hill.
Sure, towards the end of his time at the club there was struggle and, with the exception of Tranmere, he has since failed to recapture the sparkle that made him, once upon a time, tipped for the top, but one thing is for sure – he gets our club. Totally and utterly gets it. There will be no adjustment period. He created a positive winning culture once. He could do it again, couldn’t he?
Whatever happens, the board cannot maintain the status quo after today. So, it’s now over to them.
Former Rochdale AFC chairman Chris Dunphy has called for calm after receiving a groundswell of support for his return.
At the weekend, Dunphy shared a post on his Facebook page, reflecting on when Dale were first promoted to League One in 2010.
Supporters flocked to the comments section to ask if this meant he was planning to return to the club, which currently sits bottom of League Two.
Dunphy was asked outright if he would ever consider a return to the club.
Answering, he said: “I would be back in a heartbeat under the right circumstances, but I couldn’t afford to cover the ‘reported’ accumulated financial deficit.
“Seeing the club at the bottom of the league, it is very hard for me take and stand by and do nothing. Over 60 years watching Dale is not a habit you can break overnight.”
These comments then led to supporters taking to social media and messageboards, calling for his reinstatement as chairman.
However, Dunphy stressed this morning that his comments were not an attempt to usurp the current board, which was established in 2021 after two members were removed by democratic shareholder vote, and merely his attempt to answer the questions he was asked with honesty and to reiterate his love for the club.
He said: “I was surprised to see the reaction to posts on my Facebook page, which seem to have been taken completely out of context. I made no statements, but only answered questions asked of me as honestly as I could. In no way do I want to undermine or devalue the work of the current board. In these very different times, it is important that we all pull together and give our full support to the club. I think the current board are doing an exceptional job in very difficult circumstances.”
Dunphy stepped down as chairman and from the board in 2018, leaving majority shareholder Andrew Kilpatrick to fill the position. Kilpatrick announced his own decision to abdicate the role in February 2021, citing personal reasons, with long-time director Andrew Kelly agreeing to step up on an interim basis only.
In March 2021, Dunphy unveiled plans to make a sensational return to the role in a bid to “save this great club”, but failed to attract the necessary support from major shareholders.
Dunphy had previously sold his own shares privately to American businessmen Dan Altman and Emre Marcelli.
Dunphy was chairman during the most successful period in Rochdale AFC’s on-field history, overseeing a first Wembley appearance and two promotions.
Two teams face up to each other on the pitch, ball in the centre circle, 22 players waiting for the referee to blow his whistle. They call this a match. The etymology of which, I assume, would stem from some kind of equal contest. Two teams providing a test for each other. The sad fact is, however, that Rochdale AFC have provided anything but for their opposition for far too long now.
We have become something of a lower league joke. A gimmie. A guaranteed three points and a jolly good time for travelling supporters.
The salad days of the Keith Hill era seem a distant memory, a dream even. Almost as if they never even happened, such is the dire day-to-day existence of the club’s loyal supporters in the here and now.
Both on the pitch and behind the scenes, the worry and doom and gloom is pervasive on messageboards and social media alike, sparking ready recollections of the Rochdale of old, the basement dwellers begging on favour from their peers for league re-election.
Fortunately, I came to support the club at the back end of those days, but have still endured the woes of the 1990s and early-to-mid noughties. Our younger supporters probably feel the current situation even more. Thanks to those Hill years, they’ve been spoiled.
Even without the shield of youth, I don’t, in all that time, recall feeling as low as I do now about the team I support.
The events of the past 18 months and beyond have been well-documented on this blog. Look back through my previous articles and it becomes fairly obvious that the decline on the field is directly correlated to the departure of chairman Chris Dunphy. His stepping down in December 2018 sparked a chain reaction both on and off the pitch that has led us from the heights of threatening the League One play-offs to the bottom end of League Two.
Chris Dunphy
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all milk and honey during the Dunphy era, which got under way in 2005, but there was always a feeling that the right man was at the helm and that he was ably backed by his fellow board members. Well, most of them. You always felt that if the proverbial ever hit the fan, he’d sort it out – because he’d sat on the board through those hard times in the 1980s. He was battle hardened and had the scars to use as experience. It’s a crying shame he felt he had no alternative but to step down when he did, as others in the boardroom sought to take the club in a different direction.
From 2018 to now, we have gone through a board that failed to act decisively enough for us to retain our League One status while almost selling the club to an unknown payroll company, to a board who saved us from that fate but who now seem to lack the experience to deal with on-field matters and a lack of cashflow. Well meaning, absolutely, but potentially no less damaging in the long term.
The current board, made up entirely of supporters of varying lengths of terrace service, deserve eternal credit for their actions in helping stave off the unwanted takeover – at both personal financial and emotional expense. That is not up for debate. It should be their defining legacy.
Sadly, with relegation to the National League as real a possibility as it has ever been, there is a danger this board’s legacy will instead become associated with ending a 100-year membership of the Football League. Something I really don’t want to see happen, for them or the club.
It’s true that the events of the attempted Morton House takeover focused minds to such an extent that what happened on the pitch became secondary. The consequence of this was an overreliance on a rookie first-team manager who was allowed to make too many mistakes unchecked when perhaps he needed a little hand holding from someone with experience. He didn’t get it as, quite bluntly, that experience isn’t there, so he instead saddled the club with players who are, quite bluntly again, not up to the task and on long-term contracts to boot.
The last time that relegation from League Two was anything like a real threat was in 2003/04. The board of that era, led by David Kilpatrick, acted decisively to replace the manager, Alan Buckley, with someone they trusted, Steve Parkin. Parkin, within his restricted means, did what was required.
Here is a little snapshot of the side that earned a point against Southend that effectively made our league status secure that season. There are limited players in that squad for sure, but look also at the pros and leaders in that number – those who would do a job and give blood for the cause. Those who would rally the more limited players. We simply don’t have any of them at the minute.
Yes, the board finally moved to replace Robbie Stockdale this season, and sought out experience at this level in Jim Bentley, but, after his initial dead cat bounce, the reality of the players he has been saddled with has become all too real. The finances, which we are constantly being told are dire, mean Bentley doesn’t have much room to make the squad his own either, making it very difficult to judge his effectiveness as a manager in his own right. He will bring players in this month for sure, but they won’t be his first choice, no matter what is said publicly.
It’s a popular opinion that the board should have removed Stockdale in the summer, thus preventing him from cementing his squad of workaday players. They didn’t, he did, and now here we are.
The stats speak for themselves. In the calendar year of 2022, Rochdale AFC won just six league games at home. If you’re bleating about football finance, gate receipts at League Two level are the bread and butter. We already have quite an apathetic town when it comes to supporting this football club, so that kind of record isn’t going to help matters one jot. Many faithful supporters have now become so disillusioned that season ticket renewals will no doubt decline. If we actually get relegated, well…
The overall stats don’t look any better. We lost more league games in 2022 than in any year since 1978. We won 29.7% of the available points in 2022 − the lowest amount since 26.5% in 1986. We endured 15 away defeats in 2022 − only losing more once since 1983.
Quite simply, it isn’t good enough.
It’s often pointed out to me that I publicly supported the arrival of this board.
Yes, I did. I even helped them out where I could.
I welcomed their efforts in protecting the club from a takeover by an organisation whose credentials didn’t hold up to close scrutiny and also led to an EFL investigation. It was a turbulent time for so many people and the effect on individuals’ mental health cannot be overstated here.
However, I am loyal to the football club first and foremost, not individuals. Whatever and whomever I believe is acting in the best interests of the club has my utmost support. My mantra is that nobody is ever above scrutiny, though, no matter who they are or what position they are in.
I get the feeling that, as much as they deserve all the praise that has been heaped on them, the current board members don’t like the criticism they are now facing. Chairman Simon Gauge this week took to our local paper to air his views. He shed a lot of light on our current plight and a lot of it made sense.
However, there is a fans’ forum coming up in February and I hope supporters ask the questions of the board that they have been relaying to me in confidence. I certainly have some of my own questions after reading Simon’s interview. The board should welcome this. They led the ‘Up for Dale not for sale’ campaign, or at least constantly referenced it, and created a whole ideology about us being a fan-owned club. This was embraced by the supporters and received significant buy in.
Yet, in his recent interview, Simon said: “Everyone needs to be aware we cannot just run the club on the model we currently have because, unless we have a really good cup run or we sell two or three players or get other unexpected monies coming into the club, we lose quite a hefty chunk.”
Why wasn’t that made explicitly clear at the two AGMs in November? Surely the Trust, as significant shareholders, should have known this was a possibility to communicate to members at their AGM?
Why wasn’t it communicated that there would be a window where fans should indicate they want to buy shares? Why weren’t the Trust informed of such a timescale before the move away from being ‘fan owned’ if the uptake wasn’t good enough?
Was it always going to be, “well, we’ll give them six weeks and then look at outside investment and say ‘we cannot just run the club in the model we currently have’ “?
Also in the recent interview, Simon said: “[We] had to sell all of our assets – Jake Beesley, Stephen Humphrys, Ollie Rathbone, Aaron Morley – to get us out of that hole.”
If that’s the case, that we were in a “hole”, why did we immediately spend money on fees for three players (Luke Charman, Tahvon Campbell and James Ball)? How deep was the “hole” if we didn’t look for players who wouldn’t incur such additional fees, especially as we’ve already had to move one of them on, another is consistently injured and the other doesn’t seem to be of the standard required?
Luke Charman was moved on as quickly as he was signed (Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
In short, I feel there is a real disconnect between the supporters and the club again, similar to that which existed during the previous regime. This has been brought about primarily by the woeful performances on the pitch, but also by those issues addressed above, in addition to countless questions about the general day-to-day running of the club and how efficiently this is being performed. The difference this time, of course, is that we know the people now in charge mean well. We know they have the club at heart, but that isn’t always enough to get results and pay the bills.
I, like every other supporter, don’t want to see my club relegated out of the Football League or, worse, run out of money and go to the wall. It’s time to tap into those who have the expertise. It’s time to welcome help from those with experience. It’s time for action. Football finance may be broken, but it always has been as far as we’ve been concerned. We’ve survived before and we need to do so again. There is an army of volunteers possessing a wide of array of skills and knowledge ready and willing to help. It’s time for the club to open its arms to them.
Sometimes the old ways are the best and supporters’ views should never be discounted as just rattle and hum.
Dale have turned to former Morecambe and AFC Fylde boss Jim Bentley. Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
Perhaps one of the more unfair accusations levelled at Rochdale AFC over the dismissal of Robbie Stockdale as manager is that it was done too quickly.
The notion he was sacked after just four games of a new season is a fallacy, however. In truth, he was dismissed after not just a continuation of poor form from the season prior, but a worsening of it.
There is a legitimate argument that the board of directors should have acted at the end of the 2021/22 season and thus not allowed him the summer to overhaul the squad (and budget) with players of his choosing. Yet, had they done that, they may have faced criticism from other quarters. Such is the lot of a football director – damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
But after four straight league defeats into the new campaign, with his charges old and new looking disjointed and, worse, disinterested, supporter pressure mounted to a crescendo the board simply could not ignore any longer. On August 18, along with his assistant Jimmy Shan, Stockdale was given his jotters.
While history will probably recall him among the pantheon of Rochdale’s more unsuccessful managers – just 16 victories in 59 games in charge – Stockdale’s time at Dale was not an unmitigated disaster.
It’s easy to forget, while wrapped in the quilt of disappointment, that he arrived amidst the backdrop of a hostile takeover, so his recruitment was initially limited. Despite this, he did okay, bringing in decent players such as Corey O’Keeffe while getting the best out of players we already had, such as Aaron Morley and Jake Beesley, both of whom went on to land big January moves.
Corey O’Keeffe was among Stockdale’s better signings.
Tactically, Stockdale started out with a 4-3-3 but switched to more of a 3-4-3 after we lost the opening game of 21/22 at Harrogate, which was effective enough to see us to eighth in League Two after 10 games. The risk was always that, if the wing backs were pinned back, however, we effectively had five at the back and just two in midfield, but, for the most part, it was effective. People still fixate on the formation rather than what players were being asked to do within it. It was this that Stockdale changed. It still mystifies me as to why he deviated away from what he was asking players to do in those first 10 games, as that is what seemed to impact on the commitment to get the ball into the box quickly and effectively.
In fact, one of the first things Stockdale told supporters was that he thought along the lines of not being concerned with how many passes his side completed, but rather whether or not it was going to get them into dangerous areas. What changed?
If anything, he probably overanalysed things for a long time and God only knows what Sammy Lee was doing in his much-publicised advisory role.
If Stockdale had shifted the focus of his players, especially within games, he’d probably still be here, but the commitment to that structure once the 2022/23 season got under way made people think things hadn’t changed… because they hadn’t!
The other thing that had persisted, and it has dogged us for a good while now, is our inability to defend set pieces. Zonal marking probably plays a large part in this, but, honestly, it is soul destroying the amount of goals we’ve gifted the opposition from these circumstances.
Robbie Stockdale managed 16 wins in 59 games for Rochdale AFC.
So now it’s over to Jim Bentley to rescue the situation and, more pertinently, our much-cherished Football League status. The former Morecambe and AFC Fylde boss was probably not the first name on any Dale supporter’s lips when considering Stockdale’s replacement but, a combination of outlandish demands and improved offers from current employers, showed Bentley in a more committed light when compared to other possible candidates, and so he was the one offered the job. What was most important, however, was that the board wasn’t seduced by a rookie’s PowerPoint presentation and that a manager who already knew his way around League Two was appointed. Whatever people’s view on Bentley, he definitely fits that category.
In the three games witnessed under his charge so far, he clearly believes in the team being more direct. This approach requires a good No.9 and Bentley addressed that immediately by bringing in Scott Quigley on loan from Stockport County. His only move in the transfer market to date.
However, as good as Quigley was against Carlisle, he was poor against league leaders Leyton Orient on Tuesday night. Yes, he was up against a better defensive unit, which seemed to anticipate every ball, but we are going to need a lot more of his debutant performance if we are to get out of the mess we are in. Less said about his saved penalty the better.
Attack is not our main problem, though. It is the midfield. This was truly highlighted against Orient on Tuesday. Trying to shoehorn Ian Henderson into a role Connor Malley or James Ball would be more suited to, will doubtlessly still be playing on Bentley’s mind.
Against Orient, Bentley looked to have his men get behind the ball when the opposition were in possession in the Rochdale half. He referred to it as “setting traps”. However, we lacked the quality to deliver the final ball on any counter and so Orient rode out the opening stages before going on to pull the strings themselves. The way Paul Smyth enjoyed the freedom of the pitch only served to remind us of the type of player we ourselves were missing. It’s that lack of quality that is concerning. A good few players’ radars were off on Tuesday night and, again, this must be playing on Bentley’s mind. He has inherited somebody else’s players and has to wait until the New Year to do anything about that.
However, he needs to shift Rayhaan Tulloch and Femi Seriki back to their parent clubs soonest if they aren’t going to start games – certainly in the latter’s case. Seriki was starting to adapt to the right-back role, and just needs to learn when not to run with the ball. The versatile Jimmy Keohane never looks as good at right-back as he does left-back for some reason.
Every so often, over the years, there’s been a need to simplify things for a few games – when Keith Hill took over in 06/07 being the best example. So, for now, we need to invoke the inner Mike Bassett, play Abraham Odoh and Tyrese Sinclair wide, Malley and Toumani Diagouraga in midfield, and Devante Rodney and Quigley up top. You’d think Bentley is exactly the type of manager to recognise this.
Maybe Rochdale will be playing four, four, fucking two against Northampton tomorrow. Then again, maybe not.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 18 months, you’ll be well aware of the fact the club was subject to a hostile takeover from Morton House MGT and First Form Construction Limited, which then brought High Court action against those attempting to fend off this move.
With an agreement to purchase shares back from Morton House now also reached, it is hoped that what has been a nightmare period for directors and supporters alike is now at an end.
The fundraising effort of the Trust also needs a nod here, because, even though the High Court action has been settled, the legal team representing it had been working tirelessly up until that point – and still needed to be paid. So, thank you to all who contributed in whatever way you could. You have all played a part in the club remaining owned by the people who make it tick. Yourselves.
We now need to continue to help the board of directors do what is right for the football club going forward. We’ve seen enough naivety, stubbornness, hubris and pocket-lining apathy to last a lifetime.
There is a feeling of relief, if not content, among Rochdale AFC supporters as the curtain comes down on the 2021/22 season.
The win against Newport today was a rare highlight in a poor campaign that thankfully did not see the club relegated and, thanks also to the current board of directors, means we still have a club to support at the end of it.
Make no mistake though, this has been Rochdale’s lowest league finish since 2006. Perhaps that statistic in itself shows how spoiled we supporters have been over the past 15 years or so, where finishing in the weeds of English football’s bottom division was commonplace for years prior.
Yet there has been an intimation of tolerance this time around that was missing in days of yore, due to well-publicised matters taking place off the field. I have covered those issues on this website for the past year or so, as has the national media. While these events do provide some mitigation for the on-field struggles of this season, they do not wholly absolve them. It is important, in fact, to separate the two. The predators lurking in the shadows have been keen to exploit any disenfranchise with team performance via social media to suit off-field agendas. It is vital therefore that supporters see protecting the football club, and what happens on the pitch, as two separate interests.
I, too, have to be fair in my appraisal. Last summer was tumultuous. With then manager Brian Barry-Murphy asking to be released from his contract and the attempted club takeover by Morton House, new manager Robbie Stockdale certainly had his work cut out.
Following relegation from League One, with a host of unwanted records, this season was always going to be one of transition and an attempt at stability. A whole new management team, operating in the foreground of an attempted hostile takeover, was effectively functioning with one hand tied behind its back. Last summer was about getting bodies into the club and then out on the pitch. They may not have been the management’s first choices, but needs must.
Stockdale sought to move the team away from an aesthetically pleasing, passing-for-passing’s-sake approach and implement something that can equate more readily to triumph. His comment at his first fans’ forum, “The right pass at the right time”, summed this up.
He asked for patience on the fronts of recruitment and results. A very fair ask given the circumstances already mentioned. He also had to deal with a squad that had lost key players in Ollie Rathbone, Matt Lund and Stephen Humphrys – the propulsion and the shells of the howitzer.
He set about this task efficiently, bringing in no less than 10 players in a matter of weeks.
Stockdale also inherited some decent players too. Abraham Odoh, Alex Newby and Jake Beesley all began to complement each other to provide a nightmarish front three for defences to handle; Aaron Morley was being utilised correctly; Conor Grant continued to look like he could grow into the club’s next big asset; and the versatility of Jimmy Keohane would benefit any team.
Ollie Rathbone left for Rotherham in the summer.
Added to that, there was a clear emphasis from Stockdale on the team playing to its strengths. After a pre-season of 4-3-3, with the addition of the opening day defeat at Harrogate, we witnessed a change in approach tactically. The 3-4-3 may have been partly borne out of necessity, with COVID impacting the squad in the opening week, but it went on to be our familiar set-up and one which did seem to suit the players we had at that point.
After draws with Scunthorpe and Colchester, a very small minority pointed to the negative connotations of ‘five defenders’, only for a decent run of form to illustrate that was far from the case.
Of course, the risk was the side being outgunned in midfield if those five were pinned back or the wing-backs were too wide, and we need only look at the opening 15-20 minutes at Vale Park to see how that was a potential issue. However, the team and coaching staff demonstrated their awareness in the way they responded to this during the game, ensuring Morley and Dooley were less isolated, with the game then turning on its head.
Crucial to this was the way Corey O’Keeffe and Keohane were producing on either flank, in subtly different ways. The former became something a League Two Kyle Walker, with the ability to step inside, adding to the midfield ranks, while at the same time still contributing out wide. On the other side, Keohane stuck to his touchline more, offering a real outlet, often ending as high up the pitch as the forwards when we attacked. Identifying that the central two need some support also saw Newby and Odoh − principally seen as ‘wide men’ − stationed 10-15 yards further infield than you’d usually see a winger. This created the illusion of a four-man midfield at times, and that’s without O’Keeffe’s excursions into that area.
Corey O’Keeffe excelled as a right wingback from August to December.
Newby seemed to be really getting to grips with the ‘in-to-go-out’ approach, as he drifted out when attacks required his presence to deliver quality crosses. Meanwhile, Odoh was tending to drift towards the ball with the aim to start runs from wherever he received it. In combination, it was quite unique to have two players in similar roles playing them totally differently.
The final addition appeared to be allowing Morley and Dooley to flourish when they could have been exposed, with the regular appearance of a central defender stepping forward, usually the one stationed on the left. In fact, Max Taylor on the right was the only one who rarely left his station as Eoghan O’Connell felt more than comfortable stepping in from his central role in the three. Jeriel Dorsett, despite a shaky start, looked to have potential and liked to channel his inner Jack O’Connell when joining attacks and swinging over crosses from the left-hand side.
Crucial to it all though, was the way Jake Beesley was progressing to the point that it seemed almost a positive Humphrys had left for Wigan. They are different types of striker and what Stockdale’s Dale needed were those Glenn Murray-esque qualities, where a centre forward can work across the opposition back line and occupy defenders all at once. That takes a certain level of ability and footballing know-how and it was obvious Beesley not only grasped that, but looked to learn the role more each and every game.
After 10 games playing in this fashion, Dale sat eighth in League Two, which was seen as progress ahead of schedule at that juncture.
But then the wheels came off somewhat. As Christmas lights began to twinkle as early as November, Dale did not. The side seemed to develop a knack for playing out draws – either ones where neither side looked like scoring in a million years or ones that required our side to claw back a deficit.
Four of these came back to back – against Leyton Orient, Walsall, Stevenage and Exeter – and were hotly followed by two defeats – against Hartlepool and Bristol Rovers. In isolation the defeats were poor enough, but following dropped points in earlier games they took on greater significance.
A miserable festive period saw the team’s league position fall to a lowly 18th. However, there had been some cause for Christmas cheer. One of Dale’s better performances came at home against Newport – a convincing 3-0 win – which gave real hope that Stockdale’s men could kick on from the slump. There then followed an enforced COVID break, however, that robbed the team of any momentum.
January, and the gaping maw of the transfer window, was always going to be key. While the club was still not free of the spectre of unwanted outside attention, it was, at least, operating under more certainty and less restraint. This allowed Stockdale to make a more assured pass at making the squad his own.
The initial loss of forward Jake Beesley and midfielder Aaron Morley sent a ripple of concern through the fanbase, even though the money rumoured to have been recouped for the pair ranged between £500,000 and £800,000.
Aaron Morley was sold to Bolton Wanderers in January.
The concern was justified. Beesley, out of the shadow of Stephen Humphrys, had begun to show what he was capable of in the role of leading man. A mobile forward, tirelessly running the channels, had added goals to his game. Blackpool had clearly seen enough to think this could be transferred to Championship level. The club’s policy has always been to usher players on to better things, if the price is right, of course, and so Beesley was given that chance.
Morley was another blow. Finally, what supporters knew the talented midfielder was capable of, he had started to show. So often misused in the past, in Stockdale’s system, Morley was making things tick. The fact his transition to League One Bolton’s midfield was both seamless, and coincided with an upturn in their form, was no coincidence.
So, with these players gone, and those Stockdale already knew he needed, he had to get to work fast. Targets had been monitored since August and their form tracked. The board had promised any funds received would be reinvested back into the playing squad.
Even prior to Beesley’s departure, the forward line was a code red. Two firm targets were identified, both at non-league level. The first was Darlington’s Luke Charman. A product of Newcastle United’s youth system, he had impressively held on at the club until the grand old age of 23 before being released. Two-footed and a good header of the ball, surprising to many, he failed to find a league club and instead pledged himself to the relatively local Quakers in the Northern Premier League. Nineteen goals in 33 appearances showed he was operating well below his level and Stockdale managed to persuade the striker that Rochdale would give him the platform to follow in the footsteps of Jake Beesley et al. The fact Charman turned down more financially lucrative offers elsewhere to turn out for Dale is also testament to a player who is career driven.
Luke Charman was picked up by Darlington after being released by Newcastle United (Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images).
The second forward signed was, perhaps, the more interesting of the two. Tahvon Campbell, at the age of 25, had plenty of prior experience operating at League Two. It’s fair to say his record here previously had not warmed any heather. However, this season at least, he had brutalised defences while playing for Woking in the National League and his highlight reel showed some real strength, determination and a willingness to shoot low and hard. Stockdale clearly saw something to work with there and, with 14 goals to his name already, made him a Dale player for a decent transfer fee.
One of the biggest criticisms of Stockdale’s side up until this point had been the defence. Eoghan O’Connell aside, it looked inconsistent and lacking in experience. Too many goals had been gifted to opposition sides.
This was addressed with the capture of Paul Downing, on loan from Portsmouth. Almost right away his experience and leadership alongside O’Connell provided a steadied calm that had been too long absent.
And, of course, Stockdale’s defence utilised a wingback system. This, too, was reinforced. The might of Corey O’Keeffe, who had put in an astronomical turn while on loan from Mansfield from August to December, was secured until the season’s end, while Max Clark, released from Fleetwood, stepped in on the left to provide a more reliable option than the oft-unfit Aidy White.
The final piece of the jigsaw was that midfield spot. With Morley gone, Stephen Dooley and loanee George Broadbent had been valiantly trying to keep things moving in there, but Rochdale had been missing a box-to-box type for some time. Enter another non-league solution in the guise of James Ball. Another signing in his mid-20s, Ball was acquired on deadline day from Solihull Moors, the previous home of Jake Beesley and a club that assistant manager Jimmy Shan knows well.
James Ball was the box-to-box midfielder the team desperately needed.
So, with the window closed, Stockdale had found more pieces to fit his system. Importantly, these were the pieces the team needed and each had been considered over a period of time. In fact, it had probably been the most successful transfer window I can remember at the club in terms of recruitment and financial backing. It left supporters optimistic that the 18th spot Rochdale occupied at that point would soon be left behind. While any talk of a late promotion push was fanciful, there was quite rightly a belief that the signings would be enough to quash any fear of a relegation scrap. Yet a relegation scrap is exactly what Rochdale got. In fact, for a good while, there was a genuine fear that back-to-back relegations were a distinct possibility.
Scunthorpe, adrift at the foot of the table, turned to former Rochdale great Keith Hill to save them and, while he couldn’t, both fellow strugglers Oldham and Carlisle made managerial changes that had a much more positive impact.
The Tranmere game in January, a 2-0 defeat, was like watching Dale start again from scratch and the poor form then played out over the next few months, to the point the team was still trying to gain the identity it had managed to find much more quickly at the start of the season.
Meanwhile, the football had become aimless and joyless. The squad seemed to be without pace, guile, heart, width, strength and, most of all, bottle. From the outside looking in, it seemed Stockdale had consolidated a losing mentality forged by Barry-Murphy – but in a lower division!
The gap between the Spotland outfit and the bottom two places narrowed with each passing week. All of the clubs in the bottom 10, bar Harrogate, swapped managers. There were some calls from the stands for Rochdale to do the same.
The board stood firm, no red button was pushed and Stockdale managed to eek out the required wins to keep the trapdoor at arm’s length – but without ever quite finding the consistency of performance to slake the thirst of those seeking confidence in the manager.
So, an 18th-place finish, comfortably away from relegation in the end, probably does represent the stability that was hoped for in the summer. However, there are still doubts among the support that Stockdale is the man to lead us to better times again, especially given this was one of the weaker League Twos of recent memory.
Perhaps the final home game, against Bristol Rovers, captured the season in miniature. A 3-1 lead squandered to end in a 4-3 defeat. Every time the away side got in behind our defence, they looked likely to score, adding an even greater pressure to anything we did at the other end. It says a lot that this writer, and other supporters, were not confident of a result even with a two-goal lead.
Stockdale has a big job to do this summer. He has now put his own foundations in place, while an expected exodus of out-of-contract players will offer even more manoeuvrability. Two things are an absolute must, however – he needs to get goals into the team and rid it of its soft underbelly by creating a physicality suited to the level the team is currently at.
The board of directors have said that reaching at the least the play-offs must be the aim next season and that there will be a budget to match those ambitions.
Stockdale is going to get another crack at achieving this, rumours that he is being courted by Hartlepool notwithstanding. Only then, I guess, can his reign be judged fairly. Let’s just hope we don’t waste another season to find out we were wrong.
All photos courtesy of Dan Youngs unless otherwise noted.
Rochdale AFC squad at the end of the 2021/22 season:
GOALKEEPERS:
Jay Lynch (28)
Joel Coleman (26)
Brad Wade (21)
Jake Eastwood (25) (emergency loan from Sheffield United)
DEFENCE:
Aidy White (30) LB/LWB
Max Clark (26) LB/LWB
Corey O’Keeffe (23) RB/RWB
Matt Done (33) LB/LWB
Jimmy Keohane (31) LB/LWB/RB/RWB
Joe Dunne (20) LB
Max Taylor (21) CB
Sam Graham (21) CB
Jim McNulty (36) CB
Eoghan O’Connell (26) (C) CB
Jeriel Dorsett (19) (season-long loan from Reading) CB/LB
Paul Downing (30) (season-long loan from Portsmouth) CB
MIDFIELD:
Aidy White (30) LW
Stephen Dooley (30) LW/RW/CM/CAM
Matt Done (33) LW/CAM
Alex Newby (26) RW
Jimmy Keohane (31) LW/RW/CDM/CM/CAM
Abraham Odoh (21) RW/LW/CAM
George Broadbent (21) (on loan from Sheffield United until season end) CM
Conor Grant (20) CM/CAM
Ethan Brierley (18) CM
James Ball (26) CM
Liam Kelly (26) CDM/CM/CAM
FORWARDS:
Matt Done (33) ST
Luke Charman (24) ST
Tahvon Campbell (25) ST
Danny Cashman (21) (season-long loan from Coventry) ST/IF
Josh Andrews (20) (season-long loan from Birmingham City) ST
The payroll company at the centre of a proposed takeover of Rochdale AFC owned 80% of an organisation which the Insolvency Service says could not demonstrate the “legitimacy” of £1.8 million in payments, it has been revealed.
Village Energy Solutions Limited was incorporated in February 2018 but, by December 2019, proceedings had commenced to wind up the company after a creditor petitioned the court to shut it down.
In April 2019, Morton House became the major shareholder and, on 4 July 2019, the petition was served by HM Revenue and Customs. Although Courtnell was never listed as a Village Energy Solutions Limited director, she was the only director and sole shareholder of Morton House.
Morton House divested from Village Energy Solutions six days after the petition was issued on 10 July 2019.
Enquiries by HMRC uncovered that the company was originally incorporated as providing real estate and management consultant services and in its first nine months of its existence had three different names – Rasdale Solutions Limited, Caffe Concerto Payroll Services Limited and Concerto Payroll Services Limited – before settling on Village Energy Solutions Limited.
In interviews with HMRC, Village Energy Solutions Limited director Donna Nada, from Ilford, Essex, informed the Official Receiver that the company traded from premises in North West London and provided payroll and HR services.
But, due to Nada’s failure to ensure that Village Energy Solutions Limited maintained or preserved adequate accounting records or provided any form of records to the liquidator, HMRC said it was not possible to verify the true nature of £2.3 million of income and whether this accounted for all the company’s sales and income.
HMRC added that this also meant it was not possible to determine the legitimacy of at least £1.8 million worth of payments out of the company’s bank accounts.
Donna Nada also alleged to investigators that some of this money was used to buy expensive watches for investment purposes. But HMRC said Nada could not explain where the watches were or supply satisfactory documentation.
When pressed for further information on Morton House’s involvement, a spokesperson for HMRC said: “I’m afraid that HMRC has a statutory duty of confidentiality, which means we don’t discuss identifiable individuals or businesses, so we will be unable to provide a comment on this occasion.”
In March 2020, Morton House Business and Corporate Services Limited changed its name to Morton House MGT and First Form Construction Limited and, under this present name, claims to have purchased a 42% stake in Rochdale AFC in July 2021.
This attempted takeover of the club made national news and became the subject of an English Football League (EFL) investigation, as it transpired Morton House’s private acquisition of shares had not conformed to the EFL’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test (OADT). The EFL said it had launched an investigation into “multiple individuals”, demonstrating the depth and complexity of the issue.
In October 2021, Curran was charged by the Football Association with an aggravated breach of rule E3 after being accused of calling members of the Rochdale AFC board of directors ‘Nancy boys’ and the people of Rochdale ‘small minded’. Curran was confirmed guilty by the FA in January 2022 and suspended from all football and football activity, which included a ground ban up to and including Wednesday, 14 March 2022. Curran was also ordered to complete a mandatory face-to-face education programme.
Neither Curran nor Rose are listed as current directors of Morton House, with only Courtnell and a Faical Safouane currently registered as active. Alexander Jarvis has also distanced himself from Morton House.
Jarvis told this writer: “I’m not actually involved in the takeover anymore, but I’m happy to tell you what I know from when I was involved.
“Morton House was invited into the club at the request of the management at the time. The first meeting was with [then chief executive] David Bottomley and other directors. They were very open to outside investment at that time.”
Faical Safouane, listed as majority shareholder in Morton House, was approached for comment, but no response was received.
Jarvis said: “Matt Southall has a relationship with Morton House and they’ve approached him to work with them on a deal. I’m not sure when he initially got involved, but I believe he is now actively involved publicly, you can see that.”
Robbie Stockdale got the players he wanted this January.
A glance at Rochdale’s position in the League Two table, to the casual observer at least, would cause confusion when contrasted with the current mood among the fanbase.
The jubilation and optimism seem at complete odds with the team’s lowly position of 18th.
Yet, after a summer of off-the-field turmoil, where the very future and direction of the club was uncertain, for most of those supporters to be able to watch their team play again has been enough.
Following relegation from League One, with a host of unwanted records, this season was always going to be one of transition and an attempt at stability. A whole new management team, operating in the foreground of an attempted hostile takeover, has managed to deliver that so far. Last summer was about getting bodies into the club and then out on the pitch. They may not have been the management’s first choices, but needs must.
With that in mind, January, and the gaping maw of the transfer window, was always going to be key. While the club is still not free of the spectre of unwanted outside attention, it is at least operating under more certainty and less restraint. This has allowed Stockdale to make a more assured pass at making the squad his own.
The initial loss of forward Jake Beesley and midfielder Aaron Morley sent a ripple of concern through the fanbase, even though the money rumoured to have been recouped for the pair ranged between £500,000 and £800,000.
The concern was justified. Beesley, out of the shadow of Stephen Humphrys, had begun to show what he was capable of in the role of leading man. A mobile forward, tirelessly running the channels, had added goals to his game. Blackpool had clearly seen enough to think this could be transferred to Championship level. The club’s policy has always been to usher players on to better things, if the price is right, of course, and so Beesley now has that chance.
Morley was another blow. Finally, what supporters knew the talented midfielder was capable of, he had started to show. So often misused in the past, in Stockdale’s system, Morley was making things tick. The fact his transition to League One Bolton’s midfield has been both seamless, and coincided with an upturn in their form, is no coincidence.
Aaron Morley showed what he was capable of before his departure.
So, with these players gone, and those Stockdale already knew he needed, he had to get to work fast. Targets had been monitored since August and their form tracked. The board had promised any funds received would be reinvested back into the playing squad.
Even prior to Beesley’s departure, the forward line was a code red. Two firm targets were identified, both at non-league level. The first was Darlington’s Luke Charman. A product of Newcastle United’s youth system, he had impressively held on at the club until the grand old age of 23 before being released. Two-footed and a good header of the ball, surprising to many, he failed to find a league club and instead pledged himself to the relatively local Quakers in the Northern Premier League. Nineteen goals in 33 appearances showed he was operating well below his level and Stockdale managed to persuade the striker that Rochdale would give him the platform to follow in the footsteps of Jake Beesley et al. The fact Charman turned down more financially lucrative offers elsewhere to tun out for Dale is also testament to a player who is career driven. The alleged £41,000 paid out by Rochdale to secure the player is a no-brainer, too. As Joe Royle used to famously say to his Oldham superior Ian Stott, “We’ll make money on this one, Mr Chairman.”
Supporters should not expect too much too soon from Charman, given he has made the step up from part-time training. While he scored an eye-catching hat-trick on his debut in the Central League Cup, his tongue was lolling as he was subbed on 76 minutes. He may need a little time to get reacquainted with the rigours of full-time football once again.
The second forward signed is, perhaps, the more interesting of the two. Tahvon Campbell, at the age of 25, has plenty of prior experience operating at League Two. It’s fair to say his record at this level previously, has not warmed any heather. However, this season at least, he has brutalised defences while playing for Woking in the National League and his highlight reel shows some real strength, determination and a willingness to shoot low and hard. Stockdale clearly sees something to work with here and, with 14 goals to his name already, just how he will slot into system will be intriguing to follow.
One of the biggest criticisms of Stockdale’s side this season has been the defence. Eoghan O’Connell aside, it has looked inconsistent and lacking in experience. Too many goals have been gifted to opposition sides.
This has been addressed with the capture of Paul Downing, on loan from Portsmouth. Already his experience and leadership alongside O’Connell has provided a steadied calm that has been too long absent.
And, of course, Stockdale’s defence utilises a wingback system. This, too, has been pleasingly reinforced. The might of Corey O’Keeffe, who put in an astronomical turn while on loan from Mansfield from August, has been secured permanently until the season’s end, while Max Clark, released from Fleetwood, steps in on the left to provide a more reliable option than the oft-unfit Aidy White.
Supporters’ favourite Corey O’Keeffe signed permanently, but only until the season’s end.
There does seem to be a degree of short termism about the backline, however, with the potential for all of O’Keeffe, Downing, O’Connell and Jeriel Dorsett to move on at the season’s end. One can only assume Stockdale has that eventuality covered and is content with current arrangements as they stand.
The final piece of the jigsaw was that midfield spot. With Morely gone, Stephen Dooley and loanee George Broadbent have been valiantly trying to keep things moving in there, but Rochdale have been missing a box-to-box type for some time now. Enter another non-league solution in the guise of James Ball. Another signing in his mid-20s, Ball was acquired on deadline day from Solihull Moors, the previous home of Jake Beesley and a club that assistant manager Shan knows well. The figurative outpouring of grief towards Ball’s departure by all concerned at Solihull bodes well that Rochdale have landed a good ‘un.
Rumours have also been circulating that Rochdale had beaten their record fee paid for a player this window – that being the £150,000 paid to Stoke City for striker Paul Connor back in 2001. With the way deals are structured these days, however, I’m not sure that the record has been broken. Not yet, at any rate.
So, with the window now closed, Stockdale has found more pieces to fit his system. Importantly, these were the pieces the team needed and each has been considered over a period of time. In fact, it has probably been the most successful transfer window I can remember at the club. It has left supporters optimistic that the 18th spot Rochdale currently occupy in League Two will soon be left behind. While any talk of a late promotion push is probably fanciful for this season, there should be enough in the ranks to quash any fear of a relegation scrap. The blocks are in the place to be built on once again in the summer, and only then, truly, can the Stockdale reign be judged.
Rochdale AFC squad 2021/22
GOALKEEPERS:
Jay Lynch (28)
Joel Coleman (26)
Brad Wade (21)
DEFENCE:
Aidy White (30) LB/LWB
Max Clark (26) LB/LWB
Corey O’Keeffe (23) RB/RWB
Matt Done (33) LB/LWB
Jimmy Keohane (31) LB/LWB/RB/RWB
Joe Dunne (20) LB
Max Taylor (21) CB
Sam Graham (21) CB
Jim McNulty (36) CB
Eoghan O’Connell (26) (C) CB
Jeriel Dorsett (19) (season-long loan from Reading) CB/LB
Paul Downing (30) (season-long loan from Portsmouth) CB
MIDFIELD:
Aidy White (30) LW
Stephen Dooley (30) LW/RW/CM/CAM
Matt Done (33) LW/CAM
Alex Newby (26) RW
Jimmy Keohane (31) LW/RW/CDM/CM/CAM
Abraham Odoh (21) RW/LW/CAM
George Broadbent (21) (on loan from Sheffield United until season end) CM
Conor Grant (20) CM/CAM
Ethan Brierley (18) CM
James Ball (26) CM
Liam Kelly (26) CDM/CM/CAM
FORWARDS:
Matt Done (33) ST
Luke Charman (24) ST
Tahvon Campbell (25) ST
Danny Cashman (21) (season-long loan from Coventry) ST/IF
Josh Andrews (20) (season-long loan from Birmingham City) ST
Fitz for Purpose 