Martin Hall to remain at Rochdale as new board appointed

Rochdale director of rugby Martin Hall is to remain at the club after being appointed to a new board of directors.

Hornets were thrown in to turmoil following their relegation to the Championship, and saw the four remaining directors resign from the fan-owned club at the start of October.

A former coach and player of the club, Hall is committed to the club at least in the short-term and will help coach Matt Calland assemble a team for life back in League 1.

His decision to stay was unanimously backed by each of the other three directors – Denise Dawson, Mark Harris and Gavin Reynolds – who have now stepped down.

Hall said: “Over the past few days and after a number of conversations with Matt Calland, I have given my position at the club a lot of thought, and decided that I will be rescinding my resignation as director of rugby at least temporarily as I feel this will be in the best interests of the club.”

Hall will be joined on the board by five new additions that are elected to the board – Emma Conway, Carl Halstead, David Heaton, Alex Orange and Jim Stringer. There had been due to be a vote on new directors at a meeting of members this Monday, but that was replaced with a Meet the New Board session.

Speaking on behalf of the board newly appointed director Emma Conway stated “We are grateful to those that have served as board members and wish to place on record our thanks and gratitude.

“We are already up to speed with key challenges and opportunities thanks to a hand over from the former board. Although a chair and secretary are yet to be appointed, we are committed to keeping the members informed and will make some decisions in the coming weeks.

“Our priority as a board are to support Martin and Head Coach Matt Calland with the recruitment of a squad ahead of the 2020 season.”