The Chairman's New Year message...
As we come to the end of another calendar year at Rochdale Football Club, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy, prosperous and peaceful New Year in 2015.
Looking at the last twelve months at Spotland, I think we can look back on what has been one of our most successful years in our recent history. The year started with an FA Cup victory over Leeds United and a rare passage to the fourth round, before going on to gain promotion back to League One.
Keith Hill has assembled a quality squad and the team goes from strength to strength. It’s a squad of talented experienced players blended with some exciting young prospects and it is a team which is now a pleasure to be a part of.
It has also been a busy time off the field for the Board of Directors and myself. We have made no secret of our ambitions to buy Spotland Stadium and turn it from a drain on our resources to a profitable business, but to date this has been a long and arduous task which still has some way to run and is something that will keep us busy for the foreseeable future. We are also in negotiations to buy the freehold of the Ratcliffe Arms. It is the long term benefit to the club that keeps us motivated in these negotiations in what is rapidly becoming an epic saga.
I would like to thank each and every fan for their continued support of the club – you are a very important part of ‘Team Rochdale’ as we all pull together to buck the trend and produce a competitive footballing side on a low budget. It really means a lot to me personally when supporters understand and ‘buy in’ to what we are trying to achieve at the club.
I would like to thank the manager for all his hard work, his enterprise and his expertise in developing a playing squad of quality skill and value. I would also like to thank all his backroom staff for their continued endeavours in supporting him. Our chief executive Colin Garlick also deserves immense praise for his professionalism and prudence in the day to day running of the club. I would like to thank my fellow directors who work tirelessly, without payment or thanks, many putting in more hours a week for the club than they do at their own businesses, and I know they must sometimes rue the day I ever asked them to join the board! They are a great bunch of dedicated professionals who contribute continuously to developing the club. And finally I’d also like to thank all other members of staff for their hard-work throughout the year.
Looking forward to 2015 I am pleased to say that the club is financially sound and future is looking good both on and off the field and we will continue to maintain the same fiscal policies that have brought us this far, and whilst nothing can be taken for granted these days, I can assure you that we are all working hard to give you a club that you can continue to be proud of supporting.
Up the Dale
Chris Dunphy
Chairman