Pressure grows on Dale board as US duo step back
Altman and Marcelli decline offer of directorships due to ‘serious internal issues at club’
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AMERICAN shareholders Dan Altman and Emre Marcelli have declined the offer of places on Rochdale’s board of directors, citing unresolved ‘serious internal issues’ at the club.
The club released a statement in February saying that the US investors had agreed to join the board following Andrew Kilpatrick’s decision to step down as chairman and Andrew Kelly’s appointment as interim.
However, within a matter of days, Altman issued a statement of his own via his Linkedin page, saying that both he and Marcelli felt it was ‘not the appropriate time’ for them to join the board.
At the time, the US duo did not reveal the reason for putting their acceptance on hold – however, in a statement released on Monday, once again via Altman’s Linkedin page, he stated they would not be continuing their involvement with the club.
The statement read: “In February this year we were offered directorships of Rochdale AFC and were delighted to accept. However, within hours of accepting we learned of serious internal issues at the club that we felt had to
‘We hope the club can move forward under new and progressive leadership once its interim regime has concluded’
be resolved by the existing Board before we could join. For that reason, we suspended our acceptance of the directorships.
“Since then, the EFL’S administrators have approved our directorships, but the aforementioned issues have not been resolved in what we would consider a satisfactory or timely manner. As a result, we have decided to step back from our involvement with the club. We will continue to hold shares but will consider other opportunities to deploy our expertise and the significant resources of our partnership.
“We regret that we were not able to find a way forward with Rochdale AFC during roughly two years of discussions with the club’s executives and directors. We believe that a multi-million-pound investment in a new training ground, improved facilities, a sporting director, and additional commercial staff would have paid substantial dividends on and off the pitch.
“We hope that the club can move forward under new and progressive leadership once its interim regime has concluded, and we will continue to support the club from afar.
“We will have no further comment except to say, hopefully not for the last time, up the Dale!”
The news comes as a blow to the current Dale board, who have come under fire from supporters in recent weeks over the club’s performance this season – they look destined for relegation to
League Two – and a lack of transparency.
Despite a terrible run of form which has yielded just one home win in the league all season, manager Brian Barry-murphy was given a one-year extension to his deal at the club in December – but fans were not informed until a fans’ forum in March.
On top of that, former chairman Chris Dunphy has publically stated his desire to return to the club and help steady the ship. However, he has branded the current board ‘part of the problem, not the solution,’ and stated he would be looking for a complete overhaul of personnel.