Supporters' Trust very much alive and kicking - 23/10/05

It is sincerely to be hoped that the Boston Standard will have the courtesy to publish a full correction in its next issue to make it clear to its readers that preliminary work on the formation of a Boston United Supporters Trust began during the summer and is still ongoing.

If the general consensus is that "the formation of a Supporters Trust, in accordance with the protocol of Supporters Direct, would be of a long term benefit", we completely fail to see why none of the BUSA committee are willing to dedicate any time themselves to the formation of a Trust, although - paradoxically - they evidently are prepared to take the time to "closely monitor any progress on the possible creation of a Supporters Trust by others".

If they themselves do not wish to play any part in the setting up of a Trust, surely they should now step aside and let others get on with the task freely. In other words, having exercised their legitimate right to opt out, BUSA should now allow other supporters, who are prepared to dedicate the time and effort to getting a Trust up and running, to do so - without any "close monitoring" taking place behind the scenes.

There is a role for BUSA to continue what it does best in arranging travel and fundraising, but there is also a role for a Supporters' Trust as a separate legally recognized organization to endeavour to safeguard the financial stability and good reputation of the football club, potentially be ready to step in should the club go into administration, and ultimately to own the football club on behalf of its fans.

Jon Sotnick has already stated publicly that he welcomed the inception of supporters' trust and that in due course he would look to hand the club over to the Trust. We, the working group, look forward to discussing the way forward with Jon and his Board, and to better understand how the Trust can work with the club to our mutual benefit.

A Supporters' Trust website (http://www.bufcst.co.uk/) has been established and provides further information on how a Trust would operate, and some of the work already done by the working group. The Group's current membership is 20 individuals and we would look to be able to open this up to the wider fanbase at the planned Open Meeting which we hope to arrange before Christmas.

A Supporters' Trust would not concern itself with the relocation question which it sees as a "red herring". Any decisions made about the club's future and where or not it might play need to made on the basis of robust and prudent financial assumptions to ensure its long term survival, to assert democratic accountability and transparency at the club and respect for all of the fans irrespective of what opinions they may hold, and to maintain the good name of Boston United Football Club.