IT WAS a sad end and a new beginning for Rochdale Hornets Football Club at an extraordinary general meeting at Spotland on Monday.

The club’s shareholders, faced with a winding up order for £55,000 from the Inland Revenue and due to be heard in the high court today, voted overwhelmingly to put the club into administration.

The decision, made on the recommendation of the board, wipes out any existing debts and allows the formation of a new club which will, if everything goes according to plan, start the 2009 season in National League Two.

The decision was made after much soul-searching but as chief executive Ken Oldham pointed out it was the best of the three options available. It was a case of do nothing, be wound up in the high court or go into administration. There was, he added, no other way forward.

Leeds insolvency experts O’Hara’s will now take the reins. They have been appointed on the recommendation of The Rugby Football League, having guided several other clubs through the administration process in the past.

Former Hornets chairman David Vining, who together with Mr Oldham has been working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure the club’s survival, feels they are the best people for the job, providing excellent support and allowing Hornets to put a team on the field next season.

O’Hara’s will take total control of Hornets – formed in 1871 – early next week and begin the business of setting up a new company, renegotiating players’ contracts and talking to interested parties, including The RFL and Rochdale Football Club.

Mr Oldham, though, was keen to stress that while the football club will be involved, there was no question of them running Hornets. He has received assurances from Dale that they want Hornets to continue as a separate entity.

There was a mixture of sadness and relief after the meeting, sentiments echoed by Mr Oldham who said: "I am quite satisfied the shareholders have completely understood the position the club are in. We explained all the options open to them and I am quite convinced they have taken the right option – we are going in the right direction and we will have a club playing rugby league in 2009 as Rochdale Hornets.

"My understanding is the administrators will be in place early next week and the court order will be averted. Five working days’ notice have to be given and I would expect O’Hara’s will be appointed next Monday.  It’s absolutely the case that Hornets will form a separate company – a new company will be formed. It may have some involvement from the Dale but they will not be running Hornets, no more than we would wish to run them.  If everything goes according to plan, as we expect it will, it will be wonderful to see some rugby league instead of all the politics that’s been going on.  It’s been a nightmare and if we can just get back to playing rugby, balancing the books and having a pint after the match, all the better.  The players’ contracts will need to be renegotiated but, as I have said before, our coach Darren Shaw and the lads have stood up to this wonderfully well and I hope they will continue to do so and that we will go on from here."