A note from Chief Executive David Bottomley, who reflects on a busy week at the Crown Oil Arena...
It’s a team game!
I have found out yet again this week that football is very much a team game, both on and off the pitch. This is not a Team Rochdale speech, this is just a week in the life of the Club.
My working week has involved dealing with everybody from the police to local council officials, highways and byways and all that, as well as disgruntled supporters and happy supporters (not just Dale fans), football people and legal teams at other Clubs, as well as lawyers, doctors and media teams. It has been very much butchers, bakers and candlestick makers!
In all, it has been a week when if we did not have the team that we have off the field here at Dale then nothing would get done. It has been a whirlwind, culminating in bringing to the two new, excellent footballers to the Club.
It has been a busy January window so far for lots of Clubs including Rochdale, and it has been a process like no other you can imagine in business. There are so many people and official bodies all involved so great team work is required, and we have seen that at Dale this week. Literally the entire Club is involved in some capacity when you bring a player in.
It has been nice to welcome Paul Swarbrick back to the Club as Stadium Manager recently, which leads me nicely to a new commitment which has been made by the Board of Directors. A commitment has been made this week to use the services of, wherever possible, tradespeople that we need from time to time, like electricians and plumbers and other key service providers, from the local Rochdale Borough. It would be even better if they are Dale fans!
We will soon be advertising an email address to write to, so if you are in the category described, we would love to hear from you, in order to allow us to compile a list of first-class trades people that Paul can call upon when we need that extra expert help, as we are investing in a number of areas around the stadium.
This week has seen me continue to address the situation that occurred at the Bradford game at the end of last year. I have been in contact with a number of supporters from Bradford regarding complaints raised following our match on December 29th, and have been delighted that one fan is so happy with how we have reacted to the complaint that he has actually written to the EFL to compliment the Club. For me, this once again shows that supporters of whatever team it may be really do care. Yes, passions in this game run high, but at the end of the day we all realise it’s a team game and we all need each other’s support.
Finally, I’m delighted to say that our young fan James Dean Cooney, who has recently been in hospital with Meningitis and sepsis, is now safely back at home and progressing better each day. We continue to send our best wishes to James and his family, and are really pleased to hear this news.
Wishing all Dale fans travelling to the Posh tomorrow a safe journey, and all Dale fans a good weekend.
Up the Dale
David Bottomley, CEO