Rochdale AFC currently sit at the bottom of the English Football League.
On 30th December 2022, Simon Gauge issued a statement that the Club urgently required investment, only a few months on from a  successful national campaign to keep the club ‘Fan Owned’ and run. 

The Current Board, led by Simon Gauge, have overseen the decline of the Club to its lowest ever position in history in real danger of losing its league status for the first time in over 100 years.

In November 2021, Simon Gauge lied publicly to the Manchester Evening News stating that “The Club was not Skint”; however, he has since admitted in a recent interview that players had to be sold in order to provide necessary cash to the business.

Should Rochdale AFC be relegated to the National League, this will continue the downward spiral recently seen at the likes of Scunthorpe United, Southend United and Bury, affecting not only the Club and its fans, but the wider Rochdale community in which the Club is the heart of.

In order to give the Club the best possible chance of survival, not just in the Football League, but for the survival of the Club, Simon Gauge must resign as Chairman of the Club and somebody/some people with knowledge and experience of running a Football Club must be allowed to come in, provide the required funding for the Club to operate for the foreseeable future, bring in players to strengthen the team and rebuild the relationships with the council, the rugby club and the wider community.