Trust round-up July 2006

Never a dull moment in the world of Supporters Trusts; this summer has seen activity from trusts new and old up and down the country.

New to the fold are the now IPS registered Crawley Town. The Devils Trust as they are currently known, have already targeted a role in the running of the club. This is clearly needed given last seasons financial trouble which sees them kick off their 2006/07 Conference National campaign with a 10 point deduction.

Another club with a very troubled recent history are Runcorn, who have gone by three different names in almost as many years. The newly formed Runcorn Linnets FC have now been given the go ahead to start the new season in the same league FC United of Manchester played in last year. Not bad going given the new club was only born on the 2nd May this year!

A Trust with good links to our own is Stockport County Supporters Trust. Their ownership of Stockport County began just a year ago and has been working tirelessly at steadying the ship and plotting a route forward. Key to this has been Norman Beverley, he finally lost the “Acting” part of his Chairman title at the end of June, and his democratic role is to run until the end of the 2007/08 season. Congratulations to Norman and good luck, except for when playing the Pilgrims!

Norman Beverley

Moving up the league ladder the Saints Trust, shockingly enough the Southampton Supporters Trust, have had an exiting close season. Club Chairman Rupert Lowe and four other board members resigned just one day before an EGM which was expected to vote them out, so jumping before pushed springs to mind.

Two new shareholders who now sit on the board have a significant 35% of the shares but more interestingly are members of the Saints Trust! They have offered the position of a Non-Executive Director to a democratically elected member of the Trust to aid them in improving a virtually non-existent relationship between the club and its supporters.

Another Supporters Trust round up will be here next month, so keep checking for updates.