No seat on the Board for an investment of £50,000, can't imagine many would be prepared to stump up such a sum without a say in the running of the Club but you never know there may be wealthy individuals out there who would consider it a donation.

Fair point, but 50k in HSBC shares is a drop in the ocean, at WTW it would be a far far higher % of ownership.

Do you know how much Messrs Vickers and Co have contributed financially for their seats on the board? It'd be interesting to know what you have to do/how much you have to spend to be part of the new set up.

Thanks for your efforts on our behalf, SC. I find this pretty depressing, but at least we know where we stand. The board must be confident they have the means to sort out the problems, and if that's their attitude, then so be it. Their look out from now on.

How high a percentage do we reckon??

Don't know how much they have invested and I would expect that to remain confidential. I would not expect the Trust or anyone to receive any favourable treatment but be treated in the same way.

We will pursue the aim of share ownership/supporters representation with the Club but if we are unsuccessful in achieving this I see no alternative but to liquidate the Trust (or mothball it) but others may have a different view.

Fair enough, but at the same time, fair treatment would suggest you have to have some idea of how much you need to pay in to be invited to the party?

All the details are still to be discussed but a sum of £50,000 has been indicated. We don't know what we get for that in terms of what %age share of the Club that gets us and whether that includes a seat on the Board.

As I said earlier we will pursue this and see what we can achieve.

I would note that if anything is to go forward it would only be after substantial discussion - both with the club and the supporters - current Trust members and non-members.

As for the Crazies - the club would have the power of veto over any proposed Trust rep on the BoD - we can't force an individual who cannot work with the club in a reasonable manner.

Equally the club would have to respect the STs position on the board.
Personally I'm not a huge fan of supporters being on the board, obviously we have a common goal, but often it is approached from diametrically opposed view points.
You only have to read the forum to see supporters views vary wildly, somebody has got to balance that and the requirements of the club.
I can see more cons than pros.

So I take it that you would not be supportive of the Trust seeking to acquire a stake in the Club and board representation.

Don't have a problem with you having that view but we need to gauge the opinion of Supporters. It's no good us attempting to move this forward unless we have sufficient support so that we can raise the investment. If fans are not behind this then so be it, we can liquidate the Trust and move on.

It's not that im not not supportive, i just think that unless the club really value the ST (i mean really) that whoever was elected to the board would have a difficult time.
Most of the regulars on here have nothing but the best at heart for the club but that manifests itself in numerous ways, trying to tie that down to one common supporters mandate to take to the boardroom would be difficult then trying to get those suggestions acted upon by people whos core is not that of a supporter and who have to act within tight budgets would be very problematic.
As you know i am a supporter of the ST as it stands, and i clearly understand that the aim of the ST originally was to seek representation on the board, i just think it would be "frustrating".
The people running the club have the reality of knowing the ins and outs and are employed to do that job, they should be doing it well or AG should be moving them on, how a ST representation would work within that structure i'm not sure, or wether it would even be required.
As an example, the recent events regarding the cash flow and ccj's and hmrc...eric france and the leeds match being postboned: what would the ST condribution to this mess be as far as the boardroom goes when we have people actually employed to take care of these matters?
Are we just seeking more info? would that be disclosed for ST members? or are we just after seeking high office in the club?

Thanks for the feedback.

I take you point it would be difficult and frustrating. A ST rep on the Board is not going to impact on the day to day running of the Club from a financial viewpoint but what it wants to achieve is the supporters views being listened to. Those views may well not be acted upon for various reasons but at least we would know they have been heard and considered.

Seeking high office in the Club. Can't speak for anyone but me but I'm certainly not. Once this matter has been resolved one way or another I will be standing down from the Trust and continue my own life as a sponsor and supporter of the Club.

Hi Sandal Cat

I'd be interested to know what the objective of the ST would be.
What will an ST rep on the board offer the fans, and the club (as two separarte things) that we don't get now.

For £50k that isn't much.

The main aims of the Trust is to encourage the Club to take proper account of the interests of its supporters and to encourage and promote the principle of supporter representation on the Club's Board.

The Club would receive a substantial investment from the supporters and have a supporter on the Board who is able to express the views of supporters, because he or she is a supporter themselves and has been elected by supporters to represent them.

Not sure where you're coming from but as I have said before and I'll say it again if Supporters do not want to pursue a supporters rep on the Board, and that's the impression I'm getting, then the Trust will be liquidated if that's what members desire.

The Trust Board is only pursing its aims laid down in it rules, none of the Board are on a "power trip". The members of the Trust will decide and I'm trying to gauge the feeling of fans before taking this forward. If members don't want us to pursue it we will drop it .

To be honest Sandal Cat I think you are flogging a dead horse on this one. We are talking about Wakey fans now there are some who will do their utmost to help in any way they can, then there are plenty others who say they want this and want that for the club but the first time you ask for any dosh they are off like rats up a drain pipe. I can't see this taking off unfortunately but I would just like to say thanks to you and others for at least trying to help in setting up a ST.

Cheers Dinsey, but I have to say I'm starting to feel the same way but as they say "You don't know what youv'e got until its gone".

I've no motive for the question, apart from understanding what the trust is aiming to do.
Half of me says it is a good idea and I'd like to be involved, both selfishly so that I am closer to the club and know whats's going on, and also non selfishly so that there is a valid voice on the board that will add value

The other half of me says small boards with narrow aims work faster and are more effecient in gertting decisions through. Too much opinion can be a bad thing if speed of change is important.

I'm also wary of implying that I was not happy with current board by backing a new member.
The point of asking about the aims is to see whether we would be improving what was already there or adding another version of the same, which would imply I was not happy with existing setup.
Ultimately, the size of the Trust will make the difference. If there were 3,000 members who all wanted a voice, the club would snatch your hands off because they could ask questions like "how much would you pay for season tickets" and target customers in a much more efficient way.

I am mindful not to trivialise what you are doing Sandal Cat. I think the Trust is potentially a massive asset to the club and your involvement is not lost on me, but as you already point out it needs to be done right and accepted on both sides.

I'm happy to support the trust in its aims to be listened to, but the last thing any business needs is to be run on emotion. Listened to, kept informed - yes, actively involved in the business - no.

As one of the 17 who put their hands (deep) in their pockets when Ted asked I'd obviously want to know the fine detail of purpose, delivery & expectations for the future.

I don't have time to post like I used to, promotion has it's sacrifices, but would gladly PM a leading ST member my mobile number.

Bottom line for me:
1. How much monetary investment per person?
&
2. How much of a time commitment are you looking for from each individual? (Meetings, briefings etc)

To try and pick up a few points.

The Trust is not dissatisfied with the current Board, quite the opposite, its fully supportive of the Board and wants to have a supporter be part of that Board to assist with the running of the Club.

I agree that small Board work more efficiently, a supporters rep will hardly impact on the running of the Club and delay decisions, hopefully it will help in those decisions being right - such as extending the ST deadline.

I'm in - probs. How much?

Don't know yet. All depends on the final details and of course how many members will support.

I haven't the time for a full answer, but the principal behind a ST is to protect the club from potential 'rogue' management - e.g. Glover sells to Jonathan France and the club is wide open to going down with him.

It's principals are to help protect and develop the club, taking account of the fans point of view and to ensure that they are not considered last when the important stuff is being decided.

There are increasing numbers of football clubs going down the ST model.

This isn't just a Supporters Club - it's way more important and significant than that - potentially.

I wish I had more time, which I don't just at the moment, but we are not selling this for what it can be and I would love to inject more energy into the issue as I fear many on here (and that doesn't include the apathetic majority) are making judgements without having the full picture presented and sold to them.

Our influence has got us to the verge of a multi-million pound new stadium being built - let's not be shy about the power / influence that we possess - in the right numbers!

I appreciate all you guys are trying to do with the ST, but the apathetic Trinity fans don't like to get involved, the first meeting quite a few years since regarding the new ground which eventually spawned SWAG was held with around a half dozen people attending.