Dale sack Hill after six years in charge
THE Rochdale AFC board has sacked Keith Hill – the most successful manager in the club’s history.
The 49-year-old achieved two promotions with a club whose only previous elevation from the Football League’s bottom tier came in 1969.
Hill was also the first man to take Dale to Wembley, during his first spell, in 2008, and returned there last season when he led the club to the fifth round of the FA Cup and a memorable clash against Tottenham Hotspur.
Hill’s record for success on a small budget, while developing young players, stood him in good stead at the Crown Oil Arena.
Handed a five-year contract in the summer of 2017, Hill promoted the club’s ethos of developing from within, selling off the occasional crown jewel and generally being fiscally prudent while attempting to compete in a division peppered with much larger, richer clubs.
However, the dynamics changed when former chairman Chris Dunphy stepped aside in December. Just two months into new chairman Andrew Kilpatrick’s tenure, Hill has gone.
His side were beaten 2-0 at League One leaders Luton Town at the weekend, making it nine defeats, one draw and one win from their last 11 games.
Dale are five points adrift of safety in the League One relegation zone and have shipped 31 goals in 11 games so far this year.
The poor run of form saw a growing sense of discontent among fans – not so much among vast swathes of home supporters on matchdays, but certainly among the few who voice their opinions in anonymity on the online fans’ forums.
For them, Hill’s spiky reaction to criticism of his players had become an issue, while a number of them never forgave him for quitting Dale to take a shot at Championship management with Barnsley in 2011.
In a statement published on the club’s official website yesterday morning, the club revealed Hill and assistant manager Chris Beech had seen their contracts terminated.
It read: “Rochdale Football Club has terminated the contracts of Keith Hill and Chris Beech with immediate effect.
“It has been the most difficult decision that the Board has had to make but it is felt that due to results on the pitch, that a new direction is needed.
“We believe the next five games against opposition in and around us represents a great opportunity to try and retain our League One status, which is why this action has been taken now.
“Brian Barry Murphy and Tony Ellis will take training this week ahead of Saturday’s game against Shrewsbury Town. As a duo, Hill and Beech have enjoyed huge successes with the club, including most recently the promotion to League One in 2013/14, as well as securing three top 10 finishes in the division since then. “The pair also had many FA Cup successes together, reaching at least the fourth round of the competition in four out of the last six seasons. “Hill has achieved two out of the three promotions in Rochdale’s history and is rightly regarded as the club’s most successful manager. Beech had been at the club for 12 years, starting out as youth team manager, and was the catalyst, along with Hill, behind the success of the Academy as we now know it. “The Board would like to place on record their thanks to Keith and Chris for their exceptional services to the club and wish them all the best for the future. A further announcement will be made in due course.”