Dale chief exec ‘relieved’ with EFL vote on season
ROCHDALE chief executive David Bottomley says he was disappointed the EFL decision to curtail the season took so long but is ‘relieved’ with the eventual outcome.
Dale’s season was curtailed last week after clubs voted with an ‘overwhelming majority’ to calculate the league table on an unweighted points-per-game basis.
Now, Dale’s chief executive says the decision could have come much sooner.
Bottomley told BBC Radio Manchester: “We could have taken a much earlier decision and saved a lot of angst,” he added. “There has been a lot of ruffled feathers.
“Within our league there are some very big clubs. Sunderland, Ipswich, Portsmouth and Peterborough, clubs that command crowds that would look good in the Premier League.
“There is more financial interest in League One of clubs trying to get back to where they think they belong and that has driven a lot of things.
“At Rochdale we like to think even if we would have been in a different position we would have felt the same and I think we would have done because in our 130-year history we have played fair all the time.”
The League One season is set to conclude on July 13 after the English Football League announced the dates for the play-offs. Portsmouth will take on Oxford in a semi-final first leg on Friday, July 3, in a match kicking off at 5.30pm. Later that evening, Fleetwood host Wycombe in a 7.30pm kick-off. The return legs will be played on Monday, July 6, with the final scheduled for a week later at Wembley.