Club + Community
Together, greater than the sum of its parts.
1+1=3
Contents
Introduction to the Supporters Trust movement and Supporters Direct
What has been
achieved elsewhere.
Summary - Where we
go from here.
What is a Supporters Trust?
The basic
definition of a Supporters Trust is a democratic, not-for-profit organisation
of supporters, committed to strengthening the voice for supporters in the
decision making process at a club, and strengthening the links between the club
and the community it serves.
What is the difference
between a Supporters Trust and a Supporters Association?
The main differences between a Supporters
Trust and a Supporters Association are organisational and attitudinal.
It is democratic and not-for-profit with a
clear aim of securing representation and strengthening the links between the
club and community. The purpose of a Supporters
Trust is to allow fans to participate offering huge benefits to the club.
Unlike a Supporters
Association, a Supporters Trust has a very deep seated desire to involve the
whole community in the football club and also to involve the football club in
the community – not just those members of the community who are already
‘on-board’ as fans of the football club. Helping the club to grow beyond its’
current bounds.
Supporters Trusts are formed as Industrial and Provident
Societies. By forming as an IPS, the groups assets can be owned 'corporately'
by the group. Members also get the benefit of limited liability (and so do the
elected officers in most cases) - members are only liable for £1 if the
Supporters Trust is sued. People who get involved in a Supporters Trust as
members know that their money is protected - it can only be spent on items
covered in its’ constitution. (For more information on Industrial &
Provident Societies, please see appendix at the end of this package.)
The club represents the very best of the community it
plays in, and can act as a symbol of that community for everyone to support.
Supporters Trusts are about making that really happen. The recent
Football
League supporters' survey recently concluded that “… clubs are an integral part of the communities they serve … 97% (of
fans) believe that clubs have an important role to play in their local
community and 98% indicate that football clubs can make a positive contribution
to the lives of young people.”
By helping to establish greater links between the
club and the community at large, Supporters Trusts can help clubs to grow
beyond the natural bounds governed by success on the pitch. Making the
community feel part of the club can help the football club to be all that it
can be.
We believe
that more than any other local business/organisation, the football club affects
the general mood of the whole community – a healthy, forward thinking, successful
club will be reflected in an improvement in almost every aspect of our
community.
About Supporters Trusts
-
Not for profit, democratic
and community focused.
-
Run by, and representative
of supporters.
-
Actively inclusive and
affordable for all.
-
Since 2000, the number of
Supporters Trusts has grown from 6 to over 140.
Supporters Trusts Strengths
-
Run for community benefit.
-
Fully incorporated,
limited liability.
-
Inclusive not factional.
-
Accountable, transparent,
open and democratic.
-
Flexible – suitable for
all sizes of clubs whether large or small.
Supporters Direct.
Supporters Direct are a government
funded organisation whose aim is to provide support, advice and information to
groups of supporters who wish to play a responsible role in the life of the
clubs they support.
Supporters Direct came into existence
from an intention to follow through recommendations from the government
appointed Football Task Force (FTF) that supporters should be given the
opportunity to be more involved in the running of their clubs.
In 2000 Chris Smith, then the Secretary
of State for Culture, Media and Sport announced that funding of £200,000 a year
would be made available to aid Supporters Direct in their aims.
The criteria for any group to receive
support from Supporters Direct are
a)
The organisation must be fully democratic not only in its Constitution
but in the way it conducts its affairs on a day to day basis.
b)
It must be not for profit and the property of its members. No member should
benefit financially from membership other than through paid employment.
c)
It must be inclusive i.e. open and welcome to all supporters of the club and
other bona fide Supporters organisations associated with the club. In effect it
should be an umbrella for them all and representative of all who chose to join.
d)
It must be affordable to all fans. Supporters Direct now survey trusts
annually and the most common charge is £10 for individual adults, £5 for
concessions £100 for life membership and corporate membership - no one should
be excluded because they cannot afford to join.
Supporters Direct Handbook
Supporters Direct have produced a
handbook, which acts as a guide to groups of fans wishing to establish
Supporters Trusts at their club. It is available in pdf format at the following
address http://www.supporters-direct.org/englandwales/library.htm
The handbook is split into three parts
the first, which examines the issues involved in setting up a Supporters Trust,
Part Two deals with running a Supporters Trust and Part Three with the wider
work of a Supporters Trust.
-
To assist
-
To promote support for the
Club by actively encouraging new supporters, especially young people and
families.
-
To encourage the Club to
take proper account of its supporters and community in its decisions.
-
To promote full,
accountable and constructive involvement of the supporters in the future
direction of the Club.
-
To develop links with
supporters of other clubs to increase the constructive influence of
supporters and further the enjoyment of football for all fans.
-
To actively oppose
violence, racism and all other forms of discrimination both within the
supporters of the Club and in the community at large.
-
To create an independent
body with a formal voting structure to represent the views of supporters.
-
To raise money in order to
support and achieve these objectives.
What has been achieved elsewhere.
- have set up
a club (‘Goal’) for disaffected youngsters using unused areas under a stand at
Sincil Bank.
-
raising awareness and lobbying for an end to practise of Banks withholding
credit card payments for season tickets and paying the club in instalments
throughout the year.
Barnsley
- donated a number of youth team strips to teams in
- involved with
the Barnsley Living Landmark project, with the aim of achieving a section for
the history and archives of Barnsley FC.
- sponsor the
clubs youth development system.
- sponsored a 6-a-side tournament in conjunction with the STFC Football in the Community office - the Trust STFC Community Challenge Cup (which in turn raised over £1400 for the Football in the Community office at the football club!).
- after the club had the local council turn down planning
permission for a new stadium on the site of a local landfill, the Supporters
Trust successfully lobbied the council to work with the club on either
redeveloping the current stadium or working towards finding a suitable site.
QPR
- raising money for
The examples listed are but a few of
many projects that are ongoing across the country. They are not meant to
represent the biggest or indeed best, just a small taster of what is being
achieved by Supporters Trusts which are much smaller than we expect a
Supporters Trust at
“Sport has the power to change the world,
the power to inspire,
the power to unite people in a way that
little else can.
It
speaks to people in a language they understand….
The heroes sport creates are examples of
this power.
They are valiant, not only on the playing
field
but also in the community.”
Nelson Mandela