The first point to make is that if either a fairer financial distribution model was in place, or a proper football pyramid of three up, three down, between the EFL and National League, we may not have chosen to take part in the competition but concentrate fully on a promotion push for one of the three places.
Unfortunately, the Premier League, EFL and National League have been unable to sort this out between themselves, and it is clubs like ours that are suffering financially because of this. We hope the proposed football regulator can intervene and force a settlement before another club goes out of business, as we so nearly did earlier this year. We are not in a position, as we try to run our club as sustainably as possible, to turn down the welcome income that this competition offers, and we recognise that this is at least some income being distributed further down the pyramid.
The competition was first proposed in the summer and the National League fully consulted with clubs. We raised concerns about the costs of hosting these fixtures, and all these concerns were addressed by the National League and Premier League, and an acceptable financial proposal was agreed.
We believe the introduction of this competition is in no way linked to the scrapping of FA Cup replays. Rochdale AFC has publicly stated, following extensive supporter feedback, that we are opposed to the scrapping of FA Cup replays. We have no say on this and have made our position abundantly clear to both the FA and the National League on this matter.
By entering, we now are in the same number of competitions as when we were an EFL club, with the National League Cup replacing the EFL Trophy, and the FA Trophy replacing the EFL Cup.
We recruited this summer with the knowledge of our participation in this competition, and currently have a squad of 24 players. We see this competition as an excellent platform for players to push for a place in our first team and as an opportunity for some of our talented Academy players.
Whilst there are obvious concerns (including but not limited to potential fixture congestion, potential player fatigue, and potential pitch wear and tear) taking all factors into consideration, the decision was made to participate during 2024/25 and review our position on this competition after one season.
We look forward to welcoming the Manchester United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers, and Stoke City Under-21 teams to the Crown Oil Arena.
