Rochdale AFC have this week revealed their “preferred investor” as they look for someone to take over the Greater Manchester club.
Having been relegated from the EFL after 102 years in May 2023 and with their financial struggles worsening in 2024, the National League side has now named local businessman Sir Peter Ogden as the man they hope will complete a full buyout.
It was only last month that club chairman Simon Gauge confirmed The Dale needed a “£2 million cash injection” and now the period of exclusivity with World Soccer Holdings LLC – the Texas-based company that initially saved them from liquidation – they are now hoping the Rochdale-born and bred will swoop in.
Ogden is one of the founders of Computacenter, one of the UK’s largest computer businesses and also founded a trust of the same name along with his wife, Lady Catherine Ogden, with both still playing a key role in the local community, as well as physics and education.
Although World Soccer Holdings have now submitted an official letter of intent of their own as they hope to make their control permanent, the Ogden family have now shared a lengthy statement detailing how they hope to bolster the club should the takeover go ahead.
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“We are a family with strong Rochdale roots… Our charity, the Ogden Trust, which primarily supports the teaching and learning of physics in under-represented groups, has various ongoing initiatives in Rochdale schools.”
“We were made aware of the Club’s difficulties in recent weeks, and we held constructive initial meetings with the Club and the Dale Supporters Trust. We have since been monitoring the situation while the Club has been in exclusive discussions with WSH LLC. We were informed that the exclusivity period has expired and have since stepped up our discussions and diligence efforts.”
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It goes on to describe the team andthe Rochdale AFC Community Trustas“assets of immense value which need to survive”, insisting that they intend to make a full offer once they have carried out their due diligence and “all stakeholders have sufficient chance to review and consider our proposal.”
Acknowledging that time is not on their side, the potential investors have also confirmed that emergency funds have been released to Rochdale to allow them to continue operating over the next month or so as they prepare an official investment offer before the end of the season.
The statement also assures that this period will allow them to formulate long-term plans for both the first team and academy operations, signing off by insisting they will be keeping “the interests of the community at heart.”
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As for WSH, they have previously assured they want to properly invest in the club, reiterating in their letter of intent: “We could not let 100 years of history go to waste, and we believe we can work together to elevate the Dale back to its previous heights and beyond.”
With Gauge having already warned that internal finances are unlikely to last much longer, a decision will have to be made soon.
Bolton fans split opinion with pitch invasion but they were the difference in the play-off semi-final
Danny Jones
The Toughsheet was hit with a huge pitch invasion by Bolton fans after the Wanderers narrowly secured their place in the League One play-off final this week, but the behaviour from those in the stadium has split opinion, to say the least.
Last Friday’s 3-1 win in the away leg gave the Trotters just enough cushion to survive the 3-2 defeat to Barnsley on Tuesday night, scraping through 5-4 on aggregate.
A tense affair was putting it mildly, especially after the home side began to let their two-nil lead from the first half slip and seeing the Tykes get just a goal away from tying things up with over a quarter of an hour still to go.
Bolton boss Ian Evatt put it best by simply saying, “We got the job done”, but as he’s stressed all season long as automatic promotion began to look less and less likely, he didn’t want his players to be premature or complacent come these final weeks. Safe to say the fans didn’t get that memo.
Although many have been defending the supporters for celebrating a massive victory which could see them back in the Championship after five years, not to mention it being the last home game of the season, plenty of others have been labelling the pitch invasion “nothing short of embarrassing”.
There have been countless comments to that effect, with people writing, “Bolton fans are weird. Pitch invasion and they aren’t even promoted yet” and “Pitch invasions for anything nowadays”. One user went so far as to argue, “Even the players must feel embarrassed”.
On the other hand, the defence that many of those are giving is that the Wanderers were close to liquidation just a few short years ago and unable to even pay their players, resorting to roping in academy players and dropping all the way to League Two in the 2020/21 season.
Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that it was a big night for Boltonians and it’s hard to pretend that being part of it would be anything other than up there with your most memorable sporting moments.
As for Evatt, he told BBC Radio Manchester that the crowd was “the best it’s been since I’ve been here”, insisting that “the atmosphere was absolutely incredible” from start to finish.
When you talk of the ‘twelfth man’ in football, it’s these games that come to mind and it’s no exaggeration to say that it was the fans in the stands that helped their team ride out the storm for what must have felt like an eternity.
What do you think, is a pitch invasion before you’ve actually won anything a bit premature or do these lot deserve to soak it all in after how far they’ve come over the past year or so?
Pubs can extend their opening hours if England make it to the Euro 2024 semi-finals
Emily Sergeant
Pubs are to be permitted to extend their opening hours if England make it through to the semi-finals of EURO 2024 this summer.
With the Premier League, and the English and Scottish football leagues, all drawing to a close over the next couple of weeks, our nations are already looking ahead to what is gearing up to be a massive summer of sport – with both the UEFA EURO 2024, and the 2024 Olympics coming up before August is out.
And now, it’s been revealed by Home Secretary James Cleverly that if either England or Scotland’s mens national football teams make it to the semi-final of European football’s flagship tournament, then pubs will be allowed to stay open for longer.
But, there’s a bit of a catch… because isn’t there always?
The Government has said that venues will be allowed to stay open for an extra two hours on match days if either or both teams reach the last four or the final of the competition, but this only applies to pubs that already have a license to open until 11pm anyway.
The move to extend opening hours comes after a consultation at the end of last year, and is hoped to provide a boost to the hospitality industry – which has notably been hit hard during the ongoing cost of living crisis.
The Home Secretaries in England and Wales, under Section 172 of the Licensing Act 2003, can make an order relaxing licensing hours to mark occasions of “exceptional national significance”, but the Scottish and Northern Irish Governments have to set their own rules.
“We have listened to the public through our consultation,” explained Home Secretary James Cleverley, “and we will be extending pub licensing hours should England or Scotland reach the semi-finals or final of Euro 2024.”
The EURO 2024 semi-finals are to be held on Tuesday 9 and Wednesday 10 July / Credit: UEFA
Mr Cleverley said the move will “allow friends, families and communities to come together for longer to watch their nation hopefully bring it home”.
This legislation is set to be laid in Parliament today (Wednesday 8 May) to ensure there is enough time for it to be debated and passed before the tournament begins on Friday 14 June, the Government has confirmed.