Some key notes from this evenings meeting with Tom Hall and Laura Harrison from Supporters Direct;

There were 27 supporters in attendance at the Drum this evening - a cross section of the Clubs fan base were represented with supporters young and old present.

Tom and Laura outlined what Supporters Direct is about and gave examples of Clubs in Football and Rugby League who have Trust representation or in some cases Trust ownership. Further details can be found on the[url=http://www.supporters-direct.org/index001.asp?cat=engwalSupporters Direct[/url website.

An open discussion followed with Tom and Laura being made aware of the continued existence of the Doncaster Dragons Supporters Society (Trust) and it was concluded that resurrecting this was one way of avoiding much of the work required to set up a Trust. This to be reviewed / investigated by Laura who will be the contact at Supporters Direct for any activities which result.

Stewart Piper addressed the meeting and urged those present to forget the past and look at this as the supporters best route for securing the future of the Club.

A number of people present have put their names forward to serve on a 'steering group' or 'interim committee' to get the ball rolling and these people will meet again in the near future with Laura and (hopefully) members of the Board of the existing Society. It is apparent that there is still much for us to try and understand and that we will need the support and guidance of others.

Following that meeting, further information will be published and at a point yet to be decided, a further open meeting will be called.

Gary Fox.

Just to add that if anyone has any questions we'll try and answer them (although please be aware that it is a steep learning curve for the majority of us).

The steering group/ Interim committee does need support on this. Please make sure someone contacts the Social Enterprise Team at Doncaster CVS, and also Business Link. These have business support available and business link has small pots of funding to pay for specialist support.

Understood.

I am sure that with the help of SD all avenues for assistance will be explored.

I got the impression as well last night that some people, although not against the idea of taking the supporters trust on, were very apprehensive about the whole thing.

My opinion is that we have no choice. There is no fairy godmother out there who is going to leave us a million quid under the stand tonight.
It looks like there are no business people out there coming forward to take the club on either.

If the fans dont act then maybe nobody will and the club could die.We cannot sit back and allow that to happen.In a few years time if the worst comes to the worst we cannot sit and think what if..? We have to do something now. If the trust works then we will have a healthy club running smoothly that we love.It doesnt work then at least we tried and gave it a go. We have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain with this.

Totally Agree at this point in time there's only two options-

1)Supporters Trust.
Or
2)No Club.

It aint going to be easy--but like Karlos has said it's surely worth a go.

Just one other point that came out of the meeting last night--

All Doncaster season tickets will be valid at the home games that have been transferred to Featherstone

As you probably know, and hopefully Laura mentioned, we at bramley run our club, and you are right it's not easy, infact it's damn hard work. Sometimes, its like having another fulltime job on top of my full time employment.

But with out the trust there is no club, simple as that. We had the rug snatched from under us, and we had to start from scratch, it's a long hard road, but we wouldnt do it if we didn't love it.

IF we can offer any advice or assistance. then give myseld or Cliff Spracklen a shout and we'll try and help you out. We're not that far away so even a visit is not out of the question. as long as we can meet in the leopard or railway, as we don't drive.

Good luck.

Thanks - I believe Laura will be in touch reference a meet.

Thanks for the post Gary, i also echo the comments on the forum.

Yes we will all be very careful on what is being sold to us, but it is worth the try, if we survive then alls well if we fail in 12 months then we will have personally lost about 120 quid per year(£10 per month or £2.50 per week) plus our time.

I for one think that it is worth effort, and it will be supporter owned with a elected board and not some individual business man.

So to me its worth the effort.

300 fans at £10 per month = £3000 per month( which i think is in most fans budget)
300 fans at £15 per month = £4500 per month
and so on plus the £100000 from the RFL plus sponsorship plus gate money plus cup money = should equate to a very tidy amount to run a rugby club, which i think in 2 to 3 years other clubs will have to follow this route.

Every fan will buy one share for £1, nobody can buy more so that everyone in the club is a equal, even if you put £20000 you will still have one share. No businessman can then come in and take over the club unless it goes to a vote from the fans(shareholders) and it is agreed to sell.

Another point from last night ...

We effectively set out discussing two possibilities ... (1) Formation of a Supporters Trust and (2) The possibility of a Trust-owned Doncaster RLFC.

What we need to be clear about ... at this stage, there is no evidence to support the fact the any other 'interested' parties are going to put money into the Club. It may happen but we have to consider it may not.

The Trust-owned Club may be the only option if we want a Semi-Professional Club in Doncaster.

Quote ="Wanderer"there is no evidence to support the fact the any other 'interested' parties are going to put money into the Club.'" There was no evidence at last nights meeting-- But-- www.thestar.co.uk/rugbyleague/Ex ... 5373117.jp

Quote ="Wanderer"there is no evidence to support the fact the any other 'interested' parties are going to put money into the Club.'" There was no evidence at last nights meeting-- But-- www.thestar.co.uk/rugbyleague/Ex ... 5373117.jp

"I have been working hard behind the scenes trying to put a consortium together and I've had the support of several local businessmen.

"I came up with a package which would see the club go back to basics and players paid match payments only for the next three to five years.

"We would have targeted a mid-table spot in Championship One next season with the aim of getting back, and being competitive, into the Championship in that period - possibly working in conjunction with a supporters' trust. I have informed the administrator of my interest but will now be withdrawing so as to leave the way open for Martin."

[size=117Interesting.[/size

Quote ="DRAGONFAN"There was no evidence at last nights meeting-- But-- www.thestar.co.uk/rugbyleague/Ex ... 5373117.jp'" beware ex politicians bearing gifts.

Quote ="DRAGONFAN"There was no evidence at last nights meeting-- But-- www.thestar.co.uk/rugbyleague/Ex ... 5373117.jp'" beware ex politicians bearing gifts.

she has indeed.

Indeed.

I don't think it is all plain sailing with him anyway but I'm sure it will come out in the wash.

And ex-players !

I believe it is a bit of a coincindence after our meeting, and recommend taking with a large pinch of salt

Had e-mail from Laura, she felt that meeting went well and is looking forward to moving things forward in the future.

We have a problem in that there are people who ought to be looking to the future of the Club who are unfortunatlely self-interested!

Two things I dont understand.

1 There was no indication of any interest at the meeting the other night so where has this come from.Also why has it taken so much time for possible parties to come forward?

2 If Carl Hall has taken a lot of time and effort in getting businessmen to back him and come on board then why has he just decided to step aside at the drop of a hat because Martin Winter is interested.If Carl thinks he has the people behind him to take the club forward, then why not go for it?

Is it all just paper talk or is there any truth in it? This is another reason for me why we should get our ar$es in gear and get something sorted quickly.The article in the paper is roughly what we heard at the meeting about 4-5 weeks ago and nothings happened in that time since.

Check PM

Everyone who left the meeting on Tuesday did so in the belief that there were no interested parties currently in discussion with the club.

[uWe were told this by Stuart Piper.[/u

As i see it--and others may disagree--

Either Stuart had been kept in the dark on what was happening at the club.
Or
He knew about it and chose not to let the people know for whatever reasons.

I personally find it very hard to believe that Stuart didn't know what was going on behind the scenes.

Cheers Baz. I understand now!!