As part of trust week we at Rochdaleafc.com thought that we would bring you a brief history of the Dale Trust. What the trust has achieved in 3 and a half years is only the beginning, the purpose of Trust Week is to promote the trust and look to a successful future for our football team.

The trust was formed by a group of dedicated Dale fans in January 2004, the purpose of the trust was to help safeguard the future of the club and give the fans a say in the way their club was run. Although the trust was unveiled in January 2004, the planning and preparation began months in advance as the original trust board members publiced their new venture and started to build up to the big launch night of the trust.

The launch night was a big success with over a few hundred fans turning up to listen to what the trust had to offer, its aims and what It was all about. Since that night three and a half years ago, the trust has gone from strength to strength. The trust is the voice of the fans, has regular meetings with Club Directors and has a board member on the stadium company board. If you are not happy about something within the club the chances are that the trust will know someone who can make a difference.

Unlike most trusts the Dale trust was not formed because of any crisis, what we aimed to do was be proactive rather than reactive and ensure that should the club hit problems in the future the trust would be available to step in and help the club out.

We are of course lucky at Spotland that we have had a board of directors over the past 15 years who have progressed the club in a way few thought possible. But it’s easy to rest on your laurels and in football things can quickly take a turn for the worse… It was partly with this in mind that the Trust was formed in January 2004.

Since its formation in 2004 the trust has grown and grown and has become part of the fabric of Rochdale football club… in that time the trust has;

• Increased its membership to just under the 500 mark
• Arranged several successful fans forum events and curry nights for trust members
• Purchased shares in the club – thus giving fans a say and also putting money back into the club
• Purchased the Pitch covers that the club had been crying out for, thus saving the club thousands of pounds in postponed matches.
• Introduced the club to a new generation of supporters through the Dale Dragons day
• Continued to promote the good name of the club through its various media outlets including the matchday programme and official trust website.
• Help a very successful centenary exhibition of merchandise in the town
• Has secured a representative on the Stadium company board just ensuring that the fans have a voice on the stadium company board.

There have been many more achievements, far too many to mention………… but although the achievements of the past are many, we must make sure that the achievements of the future are just as notable and that the trust and the football club continue to flourish.

In its 3 and a half year history the trust has continued to evolve, most of the original board members have left the board, new people have come on board and added their talents to the Dale Trust board. The role of the trust will continue to evolve and although we have looked at the brief history of the trust it’s the future that is our main concern……..

UP THE DALE
 

Photo: Action Images via Reuters