Our first report following the Supporters’ Meetings focuses on the Trust and various aspects of the work that we do.
We have divided the work into six categories. Please direct any feedback on this to info@daletrust.co.uk.
- Trust Director
- Work with the Board
- Ownership of the Club
- Trust Structure
- Exiles
- General
1) Questions regarding the Trust Director
Q: Q: I appreciate that the Trust is run by volunteers, big thank you for that, but I feel there has been a lack of information during these recent torrid times. I know he will be bound by confidentiality, but I would have expected more news from the Trust’s board member. Been great on the ownership tussle with Morton House and on engaging with the Board. But I feel like the appointment of Murray to the Board has placed him and the Trust in a compromising position. There is a difference between strongly communicating a position of RAFC and the Board and divulging confidential information.
Q: Board Director needs to report back all information, Trust prepared to sign NDA with Club on topics to be agreed
Q: What are the restrictions of what can and cannot be released from the Trust Director
Q: Trust Board Member – what level of disclosure is relevant or permitted?
A: We knew from the first day that there would be some things that can be reported back and some things that couldn’t. But we have continued with “some we can, some we can’t” for too long, and from the feedback that we have received, its clear we need to be more structured about what can and cannot be reported back rather than the wishy washy “some we can, some we can’t”. Indeed, our failure to clarify this is no doubt leading to some frustration based on the comments, and we’d all be in a better position if we all knew what can be fed back. Obviously, it will be almost impossible to come up with some sort of definitive list but some clarification from us will be beneficial to all. We will ask Murray to report back on this in next month’s newsletter.
Q: Does a Board member compromise the Trust?
Q: Conflict of interest having Board member
Q: Should we have a Trust Board member?
A: We have to take these points on board and decide if we are a better Trust and Club for having a Supporters’ Director. This is something that we have previously discussed at our own monthly meetings. We must recognise that the way we communicate with the club needs to be effective at all times. There’s no doubting that we need to improve this and the communication that comes with it. From the start, we were always concerned about how such a role would deal with confidentiality and independence as we said at the time. We need to decide if its a case of improving what we have or move away from it. The aim was to ensure that someone from the Trust was present at the Board Meetings when actions are discussed and planned to ensure we are not reacting to it after the event. Equally, should any outside investor come into the Club, it may be even more important to have someone from the Trust on the inside – especially if those making decisions are unaware of the history of the Club and the feelings within the Fanbase. But let it be said, this is a discussion that needs to be had. We have started the election process for Trust Director in May’s Newsletter. We will directly ask the members whether they want to continue to have a Trust Director or not as part of that election process, and if the members feel we are better away from the Club, then that will be the route that we will take.
Q: Trust Director – talk of worth, is it worth having 2. We have the shareholding to justify it. This would bring greater strength in the boardroom and less isolated
A: This is a discussion that needs to be had with both the Club and our Members, as well as recognising the discussions in the previous question. We wouldn’t want to have two Directors simply for the sake of it, so there would need to decide if there was a genuine benefit for doing so. Equally, we’d have to have that discussion with the Club to seek their opinions on it.
Q: Trust Board Member – is it sustainable in its current format?
A: We need to make sure the board member/ members are able to undertake the role and that that the role is simply not open to a very select few due to the nature of the ask of the trust director (s). Our current member of the board is coming up for election and the responses we receive may demonstrate if this is a sustainable model. Succession planning will need to be ensured to allow for it to be effective and successful medium to long term.
Q: Could the Board agenda be known in sufficient time to be discussed at Trust Board level?
A: This is something we can speak to the Trust Director and Club about. Obviously, there will be a level of confidentiality but it need not be an all or nothing approach to this.
Q: Trust should know what they have agreed at Board level
Q: Trust Board should know what they are agreeing to at Board Level
A: Something that is clearly needed and the current method needs to be explored to ensure this is the case because if it’s not then the model is not working.
Q: Can the Trust Director come along to the Trust Desk for sometime on a matchday?
A: Murray visits the Trust desk before every game, though the time that he does this isn’t always regular. We could look to make this more structured if there is demand to do so. If you wish to speak to him before any game, please email him at info@daletrust.co.uk and he will arrange to see you.
Q: Whatever route is taken by the club, I am glad the fans’ voices will be heard through the Trust Director.
A: We shall pass on your kind words to Murray.
Q: Club need to step up and improve comms and take more responsibility. Our director should be more on the ball
A: The Trust Director has been very much involved with the planning of the Supporters’ Meetings to gain feedback and ideas and will be very much part of the solution to ensure that things improve at all levels.
2) Questions regarding the Trust’s Work with the Club
Q: Clearly this is a very sensitive issue but just taking the 2022-23 season as an example, a well run club would have terminated the manager’s contract as soon as there was evidence of no wins in the first couple of months. What was the financial position that supported a “Laissez faire” approach. The Trust of a supporters owned club should be made aware of the implications both financial and personal issues. Maybe they were aware or maybe they were not. In my opinion, they should be involved.
A: This will be discussed with the club as it’s unclear of the current financial status. We have heard the same as everyone in terms of the shortfall over the course of the season but we need a better understanding of where we stand at this precise moment in time and its implications moving forward into the National League, and what can be done to improve matters.
Q: Golden Share. Similar scheme at Brentford to allow the Trust veto over certain matters – ground, kit colours, Fan Director, transparency over buying shares
Q: Commitment between Club and Trust to replace the generic MOU with something bespoke with agreed processes / lines of communication. This needs to be stronger than a MOU and written into the Club articles if possible
A: We will definitely look to this into something that formulates the relationship between the Club and the Trust with key “sacred cows” that must be protected at all times. When we signed the MOU with the Club, it was the generic MOU that was provided by Supporters’ Direct and was almost just guidance material as it carried little weight. It certainly wasn’t something that we constantly referred back to at any time. It would be in everyone’s interest to formulate the relationship between the Trust and the Club with a document that is tailor made to our needs. We will be working this over the Summer and consult members as to what they feel should be included in it.
Q: Demonstrate more that you actually engage with the club as now you seem not to, you seem tame
A: We sorry it comes across that way. We will look at how we currently undertake contact with the club to allow more visibility of what the Trust are undertaking within the club. Small steps have already started, with changes within our newsletter to reflect this but more needs to be done.
Q: The Trust did a cracking job in the takeover period, and fans should be grateful. Would like us to have a bit more of a focus each year – such as buying shares, raising funds, building something etc. Ultimately as a fan owned club (for now) we need to be more engaged
A: We are more than happy to be doing this. The last couple of years have been somewhat hectic to say the least and that has pretty much determined our direction throughout. With the ownership of the Club under scrutiny, its highly likely that this may continue to be the case until this is resolved. We used to publish our Trust Membership form in which we would have a list of three priorities for the forthcoming season – there is nothing stopping us repeating this, with perhaps putting a list of 7 or 8 possibilities to the membership and asking them to select their preferred 3. That way we can guarantee the work we are doing is the work dictated to us by the membership.
Q: More challenge to the Club as to where we stand at any one time?
A: This process we have started through these meetings gives us a very clear position about where the supporters see problems occurring and where they feel improvements can be made. The pressure is (rightly) now on us to deliver on that and make the changes required. Ultimately, all the responses have been provided with the intention of improving the Club and not fuelled through any self-interest. Where we cannot provide the improvements, we need to be justifying this and giving explanations.
Q: At which point do the Trust make major decisions eg egm
A: We like to listen to our members through formal and informal channels. Our email address is routinely available and all of our Board are more than happy to have a chat to any members who have concerns. When we called for the EGM in 2021, we didn’t consult the members beforehand. We didn’t because we felt there was an urgency to act. All members were then consulted about which way they wanted the Trust to vote. We could have had a situation where we called for the EGM and voted against it on the night, had the members voted that way.
Q: Retaining independence
A: Something we always look to achieve so if it is felt this is not the case we need to look at our current structure.
Q: Hold Club to account and to inform how we are keeping fans informed
A: Something we look to do from both inside and outside of the board room but perhaps we need to be more transparent how we are doing this.
Q: Whoever takes over be 1 or 2, or a new Board, they must report back to the Trust Board once a month. Don’t be restricted by Fan Director
A: It’s clear that improved communication is required all over, irrespective of whether an Investor comes into the Club or not. The last couple of years have proved that our supporters are more than capable of swallowing bad news should that be the case, as long as they feel that they are part of that conversation. We need to drive this to ensure that this is better.
Q: The absence of communication on ownership, NDAs notwithstanding, leaves a void which has been filled by rumour, blame gaming and dissension. Now as never before we need a united fan base and the club and the Trust have to take a lead in creating an environment where co-operation and mutual respect can thrive. We won’t always agree but let’s have discussions where other points of view can be heard. The lack of response from the club on the volunteer army has been disappointing.
A: We’d like to think that the purpose behind the meetings was to allow us at taking a lead where both the Trust (and by implication the fanbase) and the Club can work together. We stated at our meetings that whilst we would be raising difficult questions through this process, we need to be prepared for difficult answers at times, but that’s the mutual respect that is referred to. When things can’t happen, it is our intention to give explanations as to why they can’t.
Q: Face to face “forums” monthly. Questions can be vetted, but only sensible questions accepted
A: Given the need to improve communication, a commitment to host monthly forums would be a great way of addressing this over the next twelve months. Clearly they couldn’t be the traditional Fans Forum style events, but we could look at hosting Supporters’ Meetings similar to the ones that have recently held and invite someone different from the Club along each time. In terms of questions, Murray Knight invites questions from members each month in the Trust newsletter.
Q: Involve Supporters Trust in season ticket / matchday prices
A: We can talk to the club about this.
Q: We are desperate now for somebody to be employed by the club that can sit in the Board room and who is 100% focussed on fans. Attracting them, managing them, encouraging them to come back, communicating with them, engaging with them on new ideas. The Trust Board representative has failed as an attempt to represent the fans and we need somebody whose full time job is to improve relations and engagement, with strong KPI targets.
A: The primary role of any Supporters’ Director is to represent the fans. We need to ensure that this is done in a much more transparent manner, and hopefully the work that comes from these meetings will reflect that.
3) Questions regarding the Trust’s response to Ownership of the Club
Q: At what stage did the Trust find out the club was looking to move away from its much publicised fan-owned ethos? If this was before the club announcement at the end of December, why wasn’t this relayed to members?
Q: The change to the Board position on the ownership model should have been a joint communication to the fans. Or the Trust should be clear on why they disagree.
Q: On the big issues the volte face from fan owned to investor-led in November was disappointing. I think I’m right in saying that the Trust was not consulted prior to the change of direction and ignoring your biggest shareholder on major strategic shifts does not sit right with me.
A: We met with Dale Chairman Simon Gauge and COO George Delves on 29th December. It was at that meeting where we were informed that the Club would be seeking an investor and that they would be publishing a statement the following day. We published our own statement soon after the Club had published theirs. In terms of supporting this decision, we will judge any Investor on their own merits and ask members whether they support it. A couple of months ago, we asked Trust members their views on an Investor and over 90% stated they were in favour of one, but the ultimate decision will be whether it is the right one or not and an awful lot of work will be required to ensure that Trust Members can make an informed decision.
Q: I would like to know how much collaboration the trust is getting from the board of directors with regards to the search for an investor.
A: At this time the only person who is involved with potential new investors is the Trust Director due to the NDA’s that are in place. The current Trust board are not involved and have not been involved but we fully expect to be once the Club have a preferred Investor.
Q: Does the Trust agree that this move created uncertainty and confusion among the many supporters who contributed money and/or time to ensure the club was fan owned and do they feel this needs to be addressed by the club?
A: I don’t think anyone could deny that this has created uncertainty and confusion amongst the fanbase/shareholders. One thing we have always prided ourselves on at Rochdale is the stability that we have always enjoyed at the Club, especially at a period in football where we have seen many of our rivals suffer greatly. This especially needs to be addressed, as the rumour mill has been rife as we come to the close season. This will be followed up.
Q: Ensure any new investor has involvement with the trust within the plan
Q: When appropriate, a Q&A session with prospective purchases to air Trust members views
Q: Immediately, I see this as adding an additional layer to due diligence done on any prospective owner- not because I expect this, just because it was done so expertly with Morton House.
A: We have stated that if a new investor is brought forward by the Club, we will look to arrange an open meeting for all supporters to listen to what the Investor is proposing. We would then provide an opportunity where questions can be raised for the Investor that we will follow up on, whilst carrying out due diligence of our own. We have stated that we see these as being non negotiables.
Q: The Trust have spoken about non negotiables regarding investment/takeover. Can this be guaranteed by the Board?
A: We are looking at this as a priority. We have always been clear for several months that these are non negotiables in terms of the Trust supporting any investment, having initially raised this with the Club in December when the investment route was first mentioned. We will look to ensure very quickly that the Club can provide us that guarantee.
Q: The trust have made substantial investment in purchasing shares during the last few years, being made possible mainly through donations and the Cloughie inheritance. How can the Trust ensure that their investment is not made meaningless if the club is sold to a sole investor, and wont this put the trust in a weaker position to manage all the potential risk that comes along with this type of ownership model?
A: If an individual or organisation was to purchase the remaining unsold shares, that will automatically weaken the percentage of shares that the Trust has within the Club.
Q: Are there any plans for shareholders, with the trust being the largest, to ratify any sale?
A: This is something we are planning on raising with the Club in the next few days
Q: Have the trust started to set out the terms that they would be happy for a sole investor to be given a majority stake? If so are their plans to share this with members?
A: This is not something that we have looked at so far, and would occur in the initial conversations with the prospective Investor coming in. That said, it would make sense for us to start work on this sooner rather than later. We will share any ideas with members and seek their opinions.
Q: Should the Trust try and remain a strong influence under any planned changed in key shareholders or ownership? What would the Trust do if a new investor wanted 100% of the shares? Would you sell and what would you do with the proceeds?
A: We are not looking to sell our shareholding now or in the future. In fact, at our AGM in 2021, we introduced protections so that any Share Sale can only happen with a very large majority of Trust Members. We would look at the model that any Outside Investor proposed, judging it on its merits and sharing as much information as we could with our members.
Q: The trust should strive towards a 25%+1 share holding. To ensure control of the club’s destiny. Either through out right share ownership or a consolidated consortium of fans.
Q: Great to see the Trust become the largest shareholder, but it is still only a tenth of the planned shares
Do any Directors want out? If so, should Trust purchase those shares? We know this would not be new capital into the Club
Q: To continue to have a major say. Whilst there remains a significant number of independent shareholders then I don’t see a need for a majority stake but there may be a point in time where this is necessary. In this situation I would probably gift my shares to the trust (I don’t have many – don’t get too excited)!
Q: Good increase in fan shareholding, but still small percentage ownership
A: Whilst we have no intentions whatsoever at trying to achieve a majority ownership in the Club, we are keen to increase our shareholding in the Club whenever possible. We saw in the Summer of 2021 the need to have as many shares as possible, whilst forming a consortium of supporters if required. We continue to purchase a small number shares from the Club on a monthly basis, and this will continue as long as shares are available. We would always prefer to purchase shares from the Club as that money will be going directly to the Club in the process rather than any third party. We are constantly looking to increase our shareholding when the opportunity arises and we have the right financial opportunity.
Q: Protect the Club
A: This is our number one priority at all times
Q: I hope that the Trust will do everything possible to support Chris Dunphy and his colleagues in his bid to rescue the club.
A: The Trust will always act in the best interests of the Club and will consult with members before any major decision. As shown throughout the Morton House affair, when consulting with members, we will not suggest any direction when asking supporters. Along with a handful of other Dale supporters, the Trust Chair met with Chris Dunphy last weekend before the Sutton game. Whilst Chris has withdrawn his planned approach for the Club, we believe that given his years of experience at the Club can only support the Board of Directors and would urge both parties to get around the table at the earliest opportunity.
4) Questions regarding the structure of the Trust
Q: Specific roles of Trust Board members eg 1 person for bars, 1 for Commercial, 1 for Matchday Experience etc. Bit like the Club did at the AGM where they showed which director is responsible for each area of the club. This is line with the shadow boards that has been discussed in the recent white paper following the fan led review. This would allow Trust Board members to specialise and develop relationships with the relevant member of staff / director at the Club, rather than having to prioritise and would ease workload
Q: Fans “Shadow Cabinet” to follow trustees and act as a think tank
Q: Selective working parties to work with Board members
Q: Trust to also say who does what
A: We think this is an excellent idea, and will be something the Trust are looking to have in place prior to the new season for all the reasons given. In fact, we have already started making progress towards this following our Trust Board meeting on 2nd May. We hope that this should allow a clear pathway for any Trust member raising concerns, with a specific contact email for each concern with a designated Trust Board member assigned to it.
Q: Is it worth considering offering a place in the Trust structure to a young person (16+) – may encourage understanding of what attracts (or not) them to our club but also gives an opportunity to let them know of what is not acceptable in or around the ground and the consequences to the club accordingly, eg, racist comments, flares, fighting?
Q: Trust needs to have a youth officer and encourage youth representative on Board
Q: consider attracting teenager/young adult to be more active with the Trust – they are very vocal on Fans Forum/social media so give them a chance to put views across
A: We will advertise someone during the recent Trust sessions a young person did express an interest but recognised they are currently at University so the offer of regular attendance may be limited. But we could actively advertise for such a member. This is something we are going to look to explore in more detail and embrace this has part of the new season.
Q: It might be an idea for Trust Board members to have a “Pen Pic” on the website and perhaps a hierarchial tree
A: We aim to have this introduced before the end of the Month including the roles that people have within the Trust Board. This should make it easier for members to contact the relevant person to deal with any concern.
5) Questions regarding the Exiles
Q: Can we have a chat group for international Dale exiles around the world so we can communicate and coordinate better. I only know 1 fan in my region of the middle east and don’t know who else there is outside of the UK
A: We will pass this on to our Exiles Coordinator. This should be easy enough to sort out and with so many overseas supporters watching the game via iFollow (or its National League equivalent), it will add some community to our international viewers.
Q: As an exiled member, I feel that we are valued less than others. This feeling has mainly come about from the last few fans forums. They are so important to the fans, including myself. Yet they are so inaccessible to exiled members. Conducted on a midweek. Not streamed live. We had the opportunity to email in questions, but not hear the answer. I found this incredibly frustrating and had to scroll message boards to find out what was said. I shouldn’t have to rely on the fans who could attend to hear what was said. There is plenty of room for improvement on this in my opinion.
A: We will look at this around the time of the next Fans Forum. If it isn’t possible to stream the forum or upload it afterwards, we will seek an alternative from the Club for our Exiles.
Q: With new venues at away matches more exiles meetups.
A: We shall pass this on to our Exiles Coordinator. We’ve always enjoyed putting these on – the one thing we need is a home team that is able to accommodate 20-30 of our fans. Alternatively, we could just nominate a pub at a particular game as a meeting venue.
6) General Questions/Comments to the Trust
Q: I wonder whether the Trust could learn from good practice in other successful fan owned clubs such as Exeter.
A: Through our membership of the Football Supporters’ Association, we will regularly speak with other Clubs. We did this extensively before we went down the route of having a Supporters’ Director, speaking with other Clubs who had done the same. Main reason was to try and find out as much as we could, the benefits and the pitfalls from doing so. We did this as well recently speaking to other Clubs who had also dropped into the National League to see what we could learn from their experiences. We are on a mailing list with other Supporters’ Trusts. One of the main benefits from being part of the FSA is that pretty much everything that can happen to a Club has happened somewhere, and Trusts are always very happy to support each other. We have recently helped out Trusts at Southend and Hartlepool.
Q: Ensure fans voice is heard
A: We will look to explore how we can make this more achievable. It’s clear when we look at the current method that it can be improved upon. We will also need increased feedback from members to support this.
Q: Squadbuilder – fans raise funds for an individual player or just to add to squad budget. This is used at a number of other clubs. The Trust to research where this has been utilised at other clubs to see pros / cons
A: A few clubs have looked at this in the past. We will speak to them to find out about how successful they have found it. When we discussed this at the meeting, we had discussions about whether this would be about simply about adding to the playing budget or for an individual player.
Q: Does the Trust believe that the communication coming out of the club could be improved? What do they feel could be done by the Trust/membership to achieve this?
A: We have always stood for greater communication from the club, as highlighted by the fact that we have included both footballing and non footballing communication are amongst the topics that we are addressing in these meetings. We will look at the feedback received from supporters with regards to communication before formulating a plan that we will share with members. It’s clear that improvements are needed and some positive suggestions did come from the three feedback evening set up by the Trust.
Q: Meetings like these need to be the norm.
Q: Hold regular fans voice sessions
A: The current fan lead involvement set up by the Trust has shown this does have some mileage so we will be looking to continue with this type of approach. We are looking to see if there is something that we can introduce to allow similar opportunities throughout the season rather than just doing this at the end of each season, possibly with involvement from the Club.
Q: Dripfeed Donations for Shares purchase
A: We currently are receiving just over £400 worth of donations from Supporters each month that we are spending on purchasing shares. If anyone is interested in joining this scheme, visit here. Further revenue creation through our Events could support this.
Q: Ask for volunteers when needed
A: We are keen to do this and ask for support with specific Trust projects. We have spoken about asking volunteers to support with Trust events or with various committees which would allow members to support the Trust without going the whole hog and joining the Trust Board. This also needs to be looked at with the club they asked for volunteers and if we are running various fund raising events then fan/ membership support will be needed subject to each event need.
Q: More involvement from Trust towards Her Game Too. There was an EFL presentation last month which featured the Women of Watford who launched their own safe space within the stadium. Could this work at Dale?
A: We think that Her Game Too is a fantastic addition to the Dale family and we are more than keen to work with them in whatever way they would like. We have two Trust Board members who are ambassadors with Her Game Too. We’ll be in touch with them over the Summer regarding any joint initiatives. We will pass on the recommendation about the Women at Watford activity. Ultimately that would be down to them but if we could support in any way, we’d be more than happy to.
Q: Club / Trust have to make statements that those causing trouble are not wanted
A: It’s a difficult one because it’s clear this is not a Rochdale issue but something that is seen throughout other clubs and in society. But the club are working with leading organisations in the area to help form an education of change with people that become known. We will cover this more in our Matchday Experience response.
Q: Trust must do things for other causes (charity) which will give us good publicity
A: Whilst we’ve had a lot of focus on our own Club in the past two years, we’ve still made a number of charitable donations. We recently made a donation to the Bradford City staff that walked to Spotland in aid of the Darby Rimmer Foundation (in tribute to former Dale player Stephen Darby) and we are working with our friends from Edgar’s Gift in a charity game later this month. Historically, we have even looked at adopting an annual charity that was voted on by members – this is something that we could return to.
Q: Trust Work and presence on a matchday is well known
A: Something we plan to continue and make publicly known even with the new visiting fans
Q: Trust Board members should be identifiable with a lapel badge or similar
A: Something we can discuss at a future trust board meeting in more detail. Members from the Trust can be found in the Dale Bar before all home games, with Trust Board members operating it on rotation.
Q: We need a clearer process whereby the decisions of the Trust are communicated to members and the public via the website.
A: All the major decisions by the Trust are put to a vote of members. It was agreed at our AGM in 2021 that we would put any vote at the Club’s AGM and EGM to a vote of members, and this would be legally binding. We will use the Newsletter to communicate this and any reasoning behind any other decisions. Hopefully the outcome of exercises like this will be the communication that you are asking for and show the motivation for such actions.
Q: A survey of trust members and wider fan base to get a database of services that fans can offer for free or discounted rates
A: We will work with the Club to assist with the Volunteer Army and this would be a great way of doing it. We will speak to the Club to see if they have any specific trades they are after, whilst also asking people to volunteer themselves.
Q: Put the content from the newsletter on the website after 48 hrs / 7 days so it it still exclusive to Trust members but it still put out in the public domain
A: Following this suggestion, we have started doing this with our May newsletter published on the website on Thursday. We have always liked the newsletter being an exclusive benefit for members but if as suggested we give it a few days, then we can maintain that benefit for members whilst updating supporters as a whole.
Q: I think that football should be left to football professionals – and from what I see that is how the Trust works too – so I’m happy.
Q:Good from the Trust but club hit and miss
Q: Fully satisfied with the way the Trust operates and grateful thanks for all you have done. Communication excellent. Keep going!!
Q: Feedback & comms from The Trust is excellent. The Club, virtually non-existent.
Q:Keep up the good work and have as much impact on the club’s affairs in the future as possible
Q: I only have positive feedback to say about the Dale Trust. The regular newsletters, player of the month votes, exiles day and other events are all very good. More recently, the hard work put in by the trust to buy shares and help save the club from the hostile takeover was remarkable and well appreciated by all fans.
Q: The Trust it acting in a very professional manner notwithstanding the Clubs fall from the EFL . But as always onwards and upwards.
Q: I feel the trust is doing a good job, particularly acting as custodians of the club, if that’s the right word. There are other things they can do which supporters sometimes feel it underachieves on but the focus has to be the existence of the football club with an identity we recognise. Otherwise the rest doesn’t matter.
Q: Good under difficult circumstances
A: Thank you for your observations. We strive to keep improving at all times
Action Plans
| Action | Deadline |
| Put content from the newsletter onto the Trust website | Already in place |
| Speak to the Club regarding Season tickets | 09/05/23 |
| Trust to seek out definitive reasons from the Club the reasoning and timing behind the announcement that the Club were seeking an outside investor | 19/05/23 |
| Trust to seek guarantees from the Club that the non-negotiables that have been spoken about will be adhered to | 19/05/23 |
| Trust to speak to the Club about whether shareholders will be given the opportunity to ratify any large sale of shares to an Investor | 19/05/23 |
| Trust to have conversation with the Club about theoretically have two directors to represent the Supporters on the Club Board | 31/05/23 |
| Trust to speak to Club regarding financial situation of the Club and report back to members | 31/05/23 |
| Trust Board Members to be given individual/paired areas of responsibility that is highlighted on the Trust Website to provide a clear pathway for members to raise concerns over anything related to their support of Rochdale AFC. | 31/05/23 |
| Trust to discuss co-opting Youth officer to the Trust Board at next Trust meeting. | 31/05/23 |
| Trust to have pen pics of Trust Board on the website with details of who does what | 31/05/23 |
| Trust Director to clarify what can and cannot be reported back to Trust Board and Trust Members, and to improve how this is communicated back to members | 01/06/23
(June Newsletter) |
| Trust to seek members opinion on terms needed for agreement with any incoming Investor | 1/6/23
(June newsletter) unless circumstances bring this forward |
| Trust to speak to members about what they would like included in any formal agreement with the Club | 01/06/23
(June newsletter) |
| Trust to ask members if they wish to continue to have a Supporters’ Director on the Club Board | 01/06/23 (Election Survey) |
| Look into the possibility of hosting regular meetings throughout the season similar to the Supporters’ Meetings that we have just held, but with possible Club involvement | 30/06/23 |
| Create a database of services that can be offered by members and supporters to support any Volunteer Army | 30/06/23 |
| Trust to investigate schemes where fans can donate directly to the Playing Budget | 30/06/23 |
| Trust to ask members to adopt a single charity for the year or to just carry out charity work as and when necessary | 01/07/23 (July newsletter) |
| Trust to look to replace MOU with a new formal agreement with the Club as outlined above | 31/07/23 |
| Trust to approach Her Game Too to see how we can support their activities | 31/07/23 |
| Trust to outline 3 priorities for the season to work towards | 01/08/23
(August newsletter) |
| Exiles Coordinator to look into creating a Chat Group for international based Dale supporters | 01/08/23 |
| Trust to look into more Exiles Away Days for next season once the fixtures are released | 01/08/23 |
| Trust to look into making Fans Forums accessible or provide an alternative for Exiled Supporters | 01/08/23 |