Relief for Rochdale who a release much welcomed statement on the club’s future which at one point saw them on the very brink.
The Ogden family successfully finalised their acquisition of the National League side for a sum of £2million.
Their bid was presented following the conclusion of the exclusive period held by American company World Soccer Holdings.
Cameron Ogden, in partnership with his siblings Edward and Tiffany, has acquired an equal share and will serve as co-chairman on the board of directors, alongside current chairman Simon Gauge.
The newly formed board has outlined three main objectives: to secure a return to the EFL within three years, achieve self-sustainability for the club within five years, and enhance the social impact on the local community significantly.
Furthermore, the board has expressed its backing for head coach Jimmy McNulty following the team’s 11th place finish in the National League this season.
We are delighted to announce that the Ogden Family have purchased a majority share in Rochdale Football Club.
Read the full Club Statement below ⤵️#RAFC
— Rochdale AFC (@officiallydale) May 9, 2024
Type a news to put a smile on your face even when your on chemo 🤣🫶🏾⚽️🙏🏾@officiallydale https://t.co/pg8wjOmKcW
— Joe Thompson (@IAmJoeThompson) May 9, 2024
CLUB STATEMENT:
Rochdale AFC is pleased to announce that the following individuals have purchased Ordinary Class A shares at a subscription price of £0.29p per share.
| Name | Ordinary A Shares Purchased | Nominal Value | Total Subscription Price | % Of Club Owned |
| Cameron Ogden | 2,284,420 | £0.22 | £666,666.80 | 23 |
| Edward Ogden | 2,284,419 | £0.22 | £666,666.60 | 23 |
| Tiffany Chawner | 2,284,419 | £0.22 | £666,666.60 | 23 |
| Simon Gauge | 1,991,697 | £0.22 | £581,000.00 | 21 |
| Richard Knight | 152,205 | £0.22 | £44,400.00 | 2 |
Cameron Ogden will join the Board of Directors as Co-Chairman, alongside current Chairman Simon Gauge, with Jamie Willoughby and Adam Saul also joining the Board as Directors. Jamie and Adam both work for the Ogden Family business. The FA Licensing and Sanctions department has permitted all of the above to act as an Officer of the Club in accordance with 3.1.2 of the ODT (Owners and Directors Test) Regulations.
Jan Wormald has stepped down from the Board. We would like to place on record our thanks to Jan for his contribution to the Club.
about:blank
Cameron, Edward and Tiffany are the children of Sir Peter and Lady Ogden and have jointly committed that if any profit is ever made from the shares, such profit would be held for the sole benefit of the Rochdale AFC Community Trust.
As indicated in their offer to the Club, the Ogden Family intend to introduce a Golden Share which will be held by the Dale Trust. The introduction of this share will require changes to the Club’s Articles of Association and these changes will be presented to shareholders for approval in due course.
Cameron Ogden stated: “I am delighted to join the Board of Directors as Co-Chairman of this great Club.
“Our family has a deep connection to Rochdale, and we envisage the Club becoming an integral part of the local community.
“We do not underestimate the challenges that lie ahead, and we will work tirelessly towards achieving our ambitions.”
The new Board has already met and established its key aspirations, which are:
- To make the club sustainable within five years, with or without sporting success.
- To achieve promotion to the EFL within three years.
- To significantly increase the social value we bring to the local community, via the Club and Community Trust.
The hard work in relation to these aspirations has already begun. Although there are some hard decisions to be made to further cut costs, we see the route to sustainability primarily being through revenue generation. We have conducted the recruitment process for the newly created Director of Commercial Operations position. The successful candidate will start at the beginning of June and will be responsible for driving this.
In the meantime, we urge existing Season Card holders to renew, and those supporters who are not currently Season Card holders to consider purchasing this summer. We have reluctantly increased prices this year after several seasons of price freezes but are confident they will still be amongst the most competitive in the league. Season Cards will go on sale on Monday 20th May and more details will be released in the coming days.
On the footballing side, we very much believe in stability and building on the foundations of last season. We have indicated to Jimmy McNulty that we see him at the centre of our ambition to return to the EFL in the coming years, and we are working closely with him to put a footballing plan together to achieve this.
There are many aspirations on the community front, but our immediate focus is to support and work closely with the Community Trust, to help achieve our mutual goals. Our main focus is on developing a Community Sports Hub and a business plan that can offer social mobility through education, alongside the sporting opportunity which the Club can offer.
An opportunity for the fanbase to meet the new Board will be arranged in the coming weeks, where we look forward to explaining more to supporters about the Club’s plans moving forward.
There is plenty of relief for Rochdale who release the much welcomed statement on the club’s future…
@HarryConstabl13: Congratulations from Southend 🍾
@Jesevi01: Be careful of those EFL has-beens looking for one last pay day. Congrats
@jackcharlsonJC: Great news but not a ‘silver bullet’ to the core problem which is to increase revenue generation to ensure the club is competitive on the pitch whilst being self sustainable off it. I can’t attend games regularly but I’ll be buying 2 season cards as my contribution to the cause
@joembeebam: Unbelievable scenes
@MEBaines: FINALLY, THANK THE GOOD LORD
@Chris4RAFC: Best news I have had this year 💙💙💙💙
@keiron72762964: UP THE BILLIONAIRE DALE
@urrrzzzz: Congrats
@JoshRAFC:
🎶 Dale are owned by billionaires 🎶
Promotion soon to come
@kirky1990: Fantastic news 👍
@chrisjbaines22: GET INNNNNN
@IanBuck25987752: Great news!
@jon_38dale: Tremendous news!
@AdamG_RAFC: Uppa dale 🇪🇪💙
@JohnBar28691234: God bless the Ogden family. Hope we keep the character of the club, and that the money they’re putting in is used to secure the long term future of the club, particularly the youth set up. #UptheDale
@RochdaleFan: Lets Go!!!! Takeover Complete! ✅ Can’t put into words how I’m feeling right now. 😊 All the fears of possibly not having a club can now turn into optimism as we embark on an exciting new journey for our football club. Up The Billionaire Dale! 🔵⚫️💰 #RAFC
@BigJosher27: MOONNNEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYY
@jbO1O4: 💵💵💵💵💵
@DylanRAFC: 🤑🤑
@ChaffRAFC: A few weeks ago, it was looking likely we wouldn’t see the season out and that we’d be liquidated. We had run out of money. This announcement is massive and it may not even be appreciated to the scale it deserves to be but let me tell you, it’s fucking massive. Up the Dale!
@JacobAWright96: Amazing news – such a huge relief! That said, feet have to be firmly on the ground. This won’t be a quick turnaround in fortunes on and off the pitch. I just can’t wait for us to start planning towards success rather than treading water and planning for survival. #RAFC 🔵🌑
@dinghugo6: Fair play to em, their exclusivity was announced 1 day before ours was. We know you want to… @ReadingFC 👀
@MessyRAFC: Up the billionaire blues 🔵🔵🔵
@George26011: The day we honestly announce our new owners. Is going to be some feeling.
@jakhazza: Wonderful. Truly wonderful.
@SimplyShrimpers: In a tale of contrasting fortunes, Rochdale FC sees new hope with a family taking majority ownership, injecting fresh energy into the club. However, Blues’ future remains in limbo as uncertainty looms over our pending deal, leaving fans on edge with uncertainty. It’s always us 🙁
@RyLockett97: It’s going to be so nice to just be a football fan again and not have the outside noise and worry that the club might go under. Hope expectation doesn’t end up being too daft, but this is a big moment. Up the Dale 💙
@CharxRafc: YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! SO SO SO HAPPY 💙💙💙💙💙
@garybrierley: Relief. Hope. Excitement. Thanks. And a thousand other words that couldn’t even begin to describe how much of a good news story this is for Dale and its fans.
@oggypart3: Deal Done at last! Dont mind the season ticket price going up as we are still relatively cheap to watch compared to local rivals. Lots of optimism now for next season.
@RemiChatburn: 🥳 can’t start with how I feel about this , been absent from dale since the new year for one reason or another can’t wait to renew our season tickets and get behind big Jim! Up the dale
@capaled: Brilliant news just hope the future looks bright for them now
@NathanAsh66: SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW! 💙💙💙💙
@AllDaleArentWe: Fresh Start, all the worries of the past are gone! UP THE DALE AND THE NEW HORIZON 🔵⚽️🔵
You must be logged in to post a comment Login