Supporters' Trust Statement on Court Case

[kerry red]

Does Albania even have a football team?

[PetsWinPrizes]

Yes, though Tony Hawk has never played them at Tennis

Unlike Moldova

[Samdy Gray]

The Trust is not pointless. Far from it, there are clear objectives that the Trust has always looked to achieve. It definitely serves a purpose.

Calling the Trust toothless is perhaps harsh, but also true. But the only way the Trust will make any progress towards achieving those objectives are through the membership, which relies on people like us actually doing something.

[kerry red]

Personally, I've never really seen the point of talking shops.

Nobody in a position of power bothers listening to them - and if they do it's just lip service.

Much like politics in general

[RWB Robin]

Does the Trust have any teeth....that seems to be the nub of the argument. And are the members of the Board a bunch of toothless nobodies?

I don't think anybody on the Board has claimed to be anything other than a passionate supporter of STFC, and everyone is as pissed off with the current situation as anyone on this forum.  But at least one member of the board took the trouble to be present in the High Court on Tuesday and engaged some of those involved in conversation.  At least he took the trouble to get a clear picture of what the issues actually are, got a legal view of the situation, and has briefed others on it.  At least the board took the time to consider whether the views of supporters should be heard within those circles and took action.  If the statement falls on deaf ears, the that in itself is a clear indication of the direction the club is moving in

Does the Trust have any teeth?  No.  And therein lies the rub.  The Trust firmly believes that supporters should be involved in the work of the Board of Directors, and that is one of it's key aims.  It has tried at regular intervals over the past year to speak durectly to those in control.  It has taken a significant initiative to secure an ACV on the County Ground.  It could and would have a much more influential role if some of those on here, who are equally passionate about the club, actually signed up as members rather than sniping from the sidelines

[Reg Smeeton]

Personally, I've never really seen the point of talking shops.

Nobody in a position of power bothers listening to them - and if they do it's just lip service.

Much like politics in general

People in power only listen when there is a strong, unified and organised voice talking to them....which is why they will always look at ways to divide any opposition, through use of media propaganda etc.

I welcome the Trust statement, at least it is a vehicle that proper organisation to the latest Board shenanigans could coalesce around, if as seems increasingly likely, the shit very much hits the fan.

As Enver Hoxha would say "The Albanian people will throw themselves in to the flames for their true friends, and the Jed McCrory is such a friend of the Albanian people."

[Nemo]

RWB: I am a member of the trust, but as far as I can see if you're not on the board there's one annual meeting and not much if any opportunity to get involved outside of that.

The Trust in principle is a good idea, and this statement and the trip to the court were worthwhile. Where I think the trust falls down is that is spends a lot of time telling people to join and very little doing anything with them once they're in.

[PetsWinPrizes]

The Trust in principle is a good idea, and this statement and the trip to the court were worthwhile. Where I think the trust falls down is that is spends a lot of time telling people to join and very little doing anything with them once they're in.

That's a fair critique, and one I think you should email the board. Ideas about how to address this, also, I suspect, welcome.

[Ironside]

The trust has a role, albeit extremely limited at the moment. They really could have done with the fella who bequeathed his estate to the club to have given it to the trust instead. They would have then had a decent foundation to build on financially. As it stands, despite their obvious loyalties, they're about as useful as a skint fucking chancer with a nightclub owning recruitment consultant and an Albanian drug dealer.

[jayohaitchenn]

I have been a member. I was a member when the population of the trust was at it's highest and we still achieved very little.

[PetsWinPrizes]

They produced the only redevelopment plans I've ever seen for the CG, secured a viable business partner and heaped pressure on Diamandis etc.

Ok ultimately they sold up to someone else, but for a supporters group, I wouldn't class that as 'very little'

[iffy]

The only problem with that statement is that any fan group can say "we demand a,b and c" and any owner can turn around and say "or what?"

Look at how Newcastle, with their famously "passionate" fans are turning themselves inside out over how to protest about Ashley. There's no solidarity in football anymore. Not among players, clubs or groups of fans. Money talks. Football fans act like and are treated like customers rather than as a community. So we get rapists up front, double glazing morons in the boardrooms and Alan Pardew as the second-longest serving manager in the Premier League.

[herthab]

The only problem with that statement is that any fan group can say "we demand a,b and c" and any owner can turn around and say "or what?"

Look at how Newcastle, with their famously "passionate" fans are turning themselves inside out over how to protest about Ashley. There's no solidarity in football anymore. Not among players, clubs or groups of fans. Money talks. Football fans act like and are treated like customers rather than as a community. So we get rapists up front, double glazing morons in the boardrooms and Alan Pardew as the second-longest serving manager in the Premier League.

Who was that then?

[Simon Pieman]

Can we have a flag protest about the Trust's lack of clout?

We'll get a couple of flags and a handful of people and do it by the magic roundabout. Talk Talk can bring his camera and document it.

[iffy]

Who was that then?

A topic for another thread perhaps. To be convicted of the crime of rape and to have raped someone are two different things. That's why the phrase 'unreported rape' exists. To take the less emotive example of speeding, just because you didn't get a ticket last time you did 80mph, doesn't mean you weren't speeding. But to answer your question, I wasn't referring to anyone in particular, merely illustrating the absence of moral standards in football.

 See, I can be a fucking pedant too.