Fresh hopes for Dale fans in fight for survival
ROCHDALE AFC supporters have been offered fresh hope in the club’s fight for survival.
Dale chairman Simon Gauge announced last month that his family’s credit limit had been reached, having invested more than £500K in the cash-strapped club.
Gauge and the current board of directors have been involved at Dale since 2021, taking up their positions shortly after the club was relegated from League One.
The cost of staving off a hostile takeover attempt from Morton House in the summer of 2022 took its toll on finances and the club took a further hit last year with relegation from the Football League for the first time in 102 years.
Having lost more than £1m in revenue over the last twelve months, Gauge said the board was looking for a £2m investment to gain 90% of the club.
If the funds could not be secured by the end of March, Dale faced the threat of liquidation.
However, the club is now due to enter a period of exclusivity with a US investor, according to reports in The Guardian.
Chairman Gauge said in a recent statement that the National League club had received several approaches from potential investors over the last few months, but the fan-owned club’s shareholding structure had put several off.
He added that investors ‘want to be able to buy up to 90% in one simple transaction,’ and that was not possible given the current structure.
That structure will be top of the agenda when the club holds an EGM next Thursday (March 7th), with The Guardian reporting they already have an investor lined up and plan to enter a period of exclusivity with the one bidder.
That would offer both parties time to finalise a deal and the US investor, who has not been named, would have the opportunity to carry out due diligence.
Gauge laid bare Dale’s plight in his recent statement announcing the EGM when he said: “To be clear, the existence of Rochdale AFC is at stake. The opportunity to give a long-term future is now in the shareholders’ hands.”