John Stankevitch issues financial warning to Hornets

John Stankevitch has issued a strong warning that Rochdale Hornets may die if they do not bring in money to the club soon.

Stankevitch stepped down as coach of Rochdale Hornets on Thursday in order to spend more time with his family, and take up a sporting director’s role.

The new role will see him manage the team and allow the new coach to simply coach the Hornets in Championship 1 next season. It is a luxury Stankevitch says he has not had this season.

He said: “The focus for me is to be doing all the rugby stuff next year. So that’s all the rugby administration like booking the buses, training venues and liaising with players for contracts. I will also be signing all of the players who the new head coach tells me to sign.

“But also I want to concentrate the majority of my time brining money to the club. I want to bring in hospitality and sponsorship, and looking at ways of raising revenue, and crowds as well as getting kids through the gates. If we don’t move on as a club we’re going to die very quickly.”

Stankevitch says he has been left frustrated at the number of times he has had to step in to perform tasks that he says are not part of the head coach’s role, and is keen to give the new coach the freedom to simply deliver on-field success to the club.

He said: “My role is to make sure the coach who is appointed has everything in place so he doesn’t have to worry about anything but deliver the training session. It’s something I have not had this year, so I was really keen on doing this role because I want to make the coach’s job easier.

“I’ve had to organise training venues, I’ve had to order sizes for the lads’ training kit and match day kit. I’ve had to organise buses to away game and had to direct bus drivers into the grounds. None of this is the job of the head coach, and it’s a massive distraction. 

“But it will be my job and my job alone to bring funds into the club. The first job really is to make contact with every business in Rochdale and get them on board in one way or another. That can be anything from a programme sponsorship to a match day hospitality package or a season ticket. It can be anything at all as long as we get bums on seats and get people watching us.”

Rochdale went into administration in 2009 and were re-formed by an Industrial and Provident Society involving a core group of fans.