Quote ="johnny freeman fan club"All fair points but speaking to numereous fans over the past few years who have become dissatisfied with the way the game is going they are not at odds with their own particular boards. My own club for instance where the Directors are first and foremost fans ,doing their best trying to keep up with the ever moving goalposts .Most fans find the bigest threat to their club to come from the body who you would think was their to support them .The made up franchise system rules, promotion and religation (or lack of it) uneven share out of monies and if your anything lower than Super League the RFL are not interested are these things going to be addressed at the meeting?'"
There are obviously a number of issues in the game that affect all clubs, regardless of the league they play in and these are definitely issues we would like to look at down the line. We encourage all supporters trusts to develop as big a membership as possible in order to strengthen their voice and as the umbrella organisation, it is the same for us. We need to develop a larger network of trusts in order to strengthen our voice as only by representing a good proportion of supporters will we realistically be able to tackle the bigger issues in the game.
We also need to ensure that rather than simply being unhappy and complaining about things not working, we put forward sensible, workable ideas that can be implemented throughout the game.
So, in short, the conference won't be focussing solely on the issues you have mentioned above but they are certainly something on our radar for the future. This first conference is about showcasing what Supporters Direct is about and showing the variety of things supporters trusts can do.
It's also worth noting that at the end of this year there is going to be a consultation period focussed on the Championships, similar to the one recently held around the community game. As part of the consultation, SD will be submitting proposals to the RFL and everyone attending the conference will have the opportunity to put their ideas forward. I plan to include as many of these as possible in our proposal.
, can you get Nigel down this year ?
