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Financial lure of Wembley

17/ 5/2008

ROCHDALE AFC chairman Chris Dunphy is confident an appearance at Wembley in the League Two play-off final would set the club up financially for next season.

Be it another season of League Two football or pastures new in League One, cash raised from a showpiece final would allow Keith Hill to strengthen his squad and help his cause in fending off interest in his top stars.

This season, with a series of postponements biting deep into club funds, Dale were unable to resist a £300,000 offer from Brighton and Hove Albion for star striker Glenn Murray.

With an appearance at Wembley reckoned to be worth between £250,000 and £400,000, Dale would be in a far stronger position going into the 2008/09 campaign.

Of course, there is no accurate yardstick on which to gauge the amount of money raised by a run out at Wembley and there are several factors to take into account – will the opposition sell their quota of tickets? Does the game fall on a weekend?

Either way, it’s the kind of cash windfall the Dale board must dream about.

Half the money from the final goes into a pot which is divided among all League Two clubs with the other half split between the finalists. Any money from television coverage goes straight to the Football League.

The play-off semi-finals are probably worth around £60,000 to £70,000 per club.

There is a levy to be paid by home teams in the semi-final clashes to cover such costs as officials’ travel, VAT, floodlighting, police charges and other expenses.

Of the remaining gate money, half is paid into a pool account and divided among all League Two clubs. The other half is divided equally among the four clubs contesting the League Two play-offs – Rochdale, Darlington, Stockport and Wycombe.

Dale are expected to receive around 15 per cent of the total net proceeds from the four semi-final games while money from television coverage goes directly to the Football League and they determine how much the clubs taking part receive.

Victory over Darlington today will ensure a difficult week at the club ends in triumph. Dale officials faced criticism over the number available and distribution of tickets for the second leg.

In both cases, the problems incurred were out of the club’s hands.

"With regards to the tickets, the company who were recommended to us have absolutely let us down horrendously," said Mr Dunphy.

"I think people have been concerned that the tickets were so poor they could be forged easily. They are a basic looking ticket but they do have a magnetic strip on them."

That should guard against forgeries becoming a problem for today’s match, but Mr Dunphy insisted things will be different if Dale reach the play-off final.

"Should we get to Wembley, the tickets will be done differently, I can assure fans of that," he said.

"If we we do get there, tickets for the final will be delivered to the club probably before the end of the Darlington game, so that if we lose the game Darlington can take them back up with them to sell to their supporters."

In response to questions over why the club was not releasing tickets for sale in the Willbutts Lane Stand, the club issued a statement on Thursday afternoon.

"Darlington gave us 4,000 tickets for the first leg – we reciprocated by setting aside the whole of the Westrose Leisure Stand for them which holds 3,500. We sent them an original batch of 2,000 tickets with a plan B of keeping an area in the same stand for home supporters.

"We have maintained that position throughout and the reason tickets had not gone on sale in that area until Thursday afternoon is that we had to give Darlington every opportunity to sell as many tickets as they could. They will sell that original allocation but do not now require any more.

"On Thursday afternoon we still had tickets left in the Main Stand and the WMG Stand but there appears to be a demand for more tickets from Rochdale supporters.

"Logistically we can split the Westrose Leisure Stand and the police are allowing us, once we have sold out the remaining home areas, to sell in the block that is nearest to the WMG Stand with an entrance off Wilbutts Lane through turnstiles 15 to 18.

"There are almost 500 in block T seats therefore added to the numbers available, and they will be limited to two per person at a price of £18 each for adults and £10 for concessions.

"Supporters are reminded that they have to sit in the seats allocated on the ticket.

"The last thing we want to do is start moving people or ejecting them from the ground."

Due to the increased number of tickets, the club was planning – at the time of going to press – to stay open until 7pm on Friday evening.

DALE boss Keith Hill has urged all supporters of Rochdale to get fully behind their team on Saturday as they look to overturn a one goal deficit in the play-off semi-final against Darlington.

Hill’s first wish is that fans take their places in good time and raise the roof for the players from the minute that they emerge for the warm up.

"In terms of our preparation the last thing that we need is a delayed kick off as we had at Bury a few weeks ago. Everything is timed precisely and the players will be primed and ready to go at 12 o’clock. The fans have a truly massive part to play and they can start by making it a cauldron in the ground from the minute the gates open. If we are to achieve our aims it will be a collective effort as it has been all season long."

The manager has also asked that the fans join in as one to a song that has become something of an anthem in the dressing room.

"When Dave Sweetmore plays it we want every single Dale fan in the ground to join in with Wonderwall. I think that most if not all of our fans will know it and to hear the whole of our support banging it out would give the players a massive boost. We are team Rochdale and myself, Dave and every member of the coaching and playing staff are so grateful to the support and belief that we have had this season. On Saturday we need a truly massive effort from everyone connected to this Football Club and together, as one, we can do it."

Today is Hill’s 39th birthday – let’s make it a happy one! All the best Keith from all at the Observer and the football club!

Lyrics to the song can be found on the club’s official website, www.rochdaleafc.com