Head coach Jimmy McNulty signs new three-year deal with Rochdale AFC

Dale's head coach, Jimmy McNulty has signed a new three-year contract with the club which takes his contract up until at least the summer of 2027.

Kevin Gibbins, head of performance services and McNulty’s second in command, has also signed a new three-year contract.

Speaking to the club’s website, McNulty said: “I’m absolutely delighted. It’s a proud moment for me.

“I feel humbled by it and really grateful, moving into my tenth year at the club, to have the desire and faith in myself, Kev [Kevin Gibbins] and the team moving forward.

“Last year was a really fun and wild experience. We’re in a completely different place now. I feel like everything is stable and gives us a great opportunity, and I’m really grateful for that.

“The new board met the fans and highlighted their blueprint, which had realistic timescales to achieve what they want to achieve.

“The natural succession of that is the head coach or manager role and everything thereafter in terms of technical staff and players. Our conversations in terms of vision all feel perfect and stable.

“It’s an exciting project to be part of. There’s an aligned vision from top to bottom. Everything we want to do here, we now have a chance to do that. I’ll have all the help I need, which is amazing for me personally.

“I’m glad for the team’s sake as well that the new ownership group have provided the stability that gives them a chance to be the best that they can be.

“They chased that last year and we’re going to chase that again. Any signs of stability and vision from a football club are only ever a good thing.”

Co-chairman Simon Gauge said: “We’re delighted to get it secured before the season starts. It’s been ongoing since the investment came into the club.

“We set out our football objectives, which is to get back to the EFL in three years. We’re not doing it in a totally unsustainable way where we throw lots of money at it and distort the league, which other clubs have done in the past. We want to build a solid foundation and build year-on-year to achieve that, with possession-based, attacking football.

“It was a no-brainer for the board, once the investment came in, to speak to Jim. I think everyone outside of the club realises that we’ve got one of the brightest young managers in the country.

“We’ve talked to him about the plans, which we’re all in together, so it was really important that we got Jim tied down to three years and that we can all go on this journey together.

“Ever since the Ogden family have come on board, we’ve been talking about stability with what we’ve got. There’s been a lot of instability at the club for quite a long period, so the most important thing for us is to have a solid foundation that we can build on.”

McNulty joined the club as a player in 2015, going on to make 237 appearances for Dale across eight seasons.

After two interim spells as boss during the 2022/23 campaign, he was named as permanent head coach last summer.

In his first full season in charge, McNulty guided Dale to a top-half National League finish.