Wow. Its great to such a healthy debate on this! Lots of points to comment on too!

Firstly, yes a rugby club is a business and should be run as such. In an ideal world, all clubs would be making a profit and their owners would be taking that profit home or reinvesting it into the club. Unfortunately, in the real world, this is isn't the case. At Super League level we have massive debts being underwritten by wealthy owners which is great while they're around but what happens when they walk away? Outside of SL and I'm sad to say many clubs are not so well run.

The influence of a supporters trust comes from representing the fans - and anyone who tries to say clubs shouldn't be listening to their fans i.e. the customer is quite frankly wrong - and adding value where the club needs it most.

As Adeybull has already said, Bradford and Warrington are currently working towards attracting and developing local talent to the club as despite what many people think, Simon Moran does not feed endless streams of money into the club - he expects it to be run as a business which means certain things the club may like to do, cannot be done as the money isn't around. Same at Bradford (although without Moran obviously).

The model Barry speaks about would be great if it actually worked but in practice the majority of people who buy into rugby league clubs get too tempted to spend all their money on players with very little spent on the clubs infrastructure in the hope that they'll get promoted. When it doesn't happen, they walk away and the club is left in dire straits.

You only have to look at Blackpools current situation to see that this really does happen. However, when it does happen, the fans are left behind and a supporters trust can be an excellent way of resurrecting a club. Rochdale are currently in only their second season as a trust owned club and whilst I won't say its been easy for them, they're doing a fantastic job and showing that this model can work. You can also look at Bramley Buffaloes - probably one of the most successful if not the most successful amateur side in the country.

I'm not going to say a trust is the right option for every club - it isn't and I will never push it if I don't feel the circumstances are right. However, with a decent band of supporters and the right attitude it can definitely make a good contribution.

Totally agree

The board of a supporters trust is elected by its members on an annual basis and every member has the opportunity to stand for the board should they wish and every supporter and in fact every stakeholder in the club has the opportunity to join the trust seeing as one of the main traits is inclusiveness.

You seem to be suggesting Barry, that supporters should just sit back and watch as their club is run into the ground by someone who only wants to make money and isn't prepared to invest in the infrastructure of the club?

Had the supporters of Manchester United sat back and done nothing, I'm sure the Glazer family could quite happily have carried on loading the club with debt as they have been since taking over. Fortunately, the supporters trust did take action, all 150,000 of their members (I'm sure you've seen the Green & Gold campaign in the news which was organised and coordinated by their supporters trust) and whilst they may never be able to raise the money needed to buy the club from the Glazer family, I'd suggest it would be very difficult for them to continue behaving in the manner they have been doing.

It also seems to be worth clarifying (again) that a supporters trust is not always about 'getting the club'. As I've stated previously, the aim of the trust will very much depend on the situation at the club. If the club is being run into the ground then yes there is a case for a trust taking over. However, there are a number of clubs e.g. Bradford and Warrington to name just a couple, that are being run well so the trust uses its influence in other proactive ways.

Would you say Warrington and Bradford are not influencing the future of their clubs by helping to attract and retain young talent to the club? They are not there to decide which players are signed or to pick the team - the club hires people with expertise in that area to do that. They are there to work with the club to develop the future and try (as far as possible) to ensure that the future of the club is secure.

Fortunatley despite London barmen being reasonably well paid it is highley inlikely that you will ever be the person actually making any decisions at a club , as for your understanding of supporters trusts and how they can actually keep clubs alive that nobody else wants to , once again , fortunatley you are unlikely ever to be involved in one , by the way , the guiness needs changing and the ash trays in the beer garden need emptying

lmao - class response !!!!