As we experienced in last season’s competition, particularly against Manchester United, the National League Cup provides an excellent opportunity to attract new supporters who may have never seen a Dale game before.
With us drawn against Premier League clubs such as Manchester United, Everton and Burnley, free admission encourages new fans to experience a matchday at the Crown Oil Arena and see our first team in action, perhaps for the first time.
We are also exploring the option of daytime kick-off times when matches are scheduled during the school holidays. This would allow a greater number of families and younger fans to attend as a free holiday activity, rather than the traditional evening kick-off.
There are other reasons we have decided to participate again this season. As a Club, we have continuously lobbied for a fairer distribution of money throughout football. With the income received from the National League, it is practically impossible to compete as a sustainable Club at this level. We are hopeful that the new Independent Football Regulator will facilitate a fairer distribution model to include improved funding at National League level and insist on a three up, three down model. Having made our position on the above very clear, we feel it is important that we support a competition that redistributes £1 million from the Premier League to the National League.
Finally, one of our long-term objectives is to run a sustainable Football Club. This is the most lucrative competition, after the FA Cup, and last season we earned the equivalent of another 250 Season Card sales through our participation. On the drive to sustainability, this is not income that we can turn down.
For full details on our fixtures, click HERE.
