- Supporters' trust
In British
sports , a Supporters' Trust is a formal, democratic andnot-for-profit organisation of fans who attempt to strengthen their influence over the running of the club they support. There are over 140 Supporters’ Trusts acrossEngland ,Wales andScotland and the majority of these are affiliated to football clubs, however trusts also exist forRugby league andRugby Union .With
Government and with cross-party support,Supporters Direct was established to encourage the formation of supporters' trusts to promote democratic supporter ownership. Supporters Direct encourages these bodies to be formed as Industrial and Provident Societies (IPSs), and assists with their formation, legal and start-up costs.Supporters' trusts were commonly founded in response to a financial crisis which threatens the future of a team, as was the case at Chesterfield, Lincoln and York. Their involvement has reportedly ensured the survival of over 20 different clubs entering into administration, particularly during the period of crisis as a result of the collapse of
ITV Digital . Supporters' trusts are now more commonly founded in order to increase influence at clubs through a financial stake in the club.The first trust established was at
Northampton Town F.C. in January 1992. The largest is the Manchester United Supporters Trust, which used to be known as Shareholders United, and currently has around 30,000 members. Other large trusts such as Reading, Spurs and Rangers have between 3,000 and 4,500 members.Methods for influencing clubs
The main objective of a Supporters' Trust is to provide a vehicle for fans to influence the running of their club. This is achieved by a number of different strategies, including gaining control by fundraising to finance the acquisition of
shares in the club or direct board representation.Club ownership
The most effective method of influencing the running of a club is club ownership. More than 60 supporters' trusts currently hold equity within their football clubs while Supporters' Trusts have outright or majority ownership or control at four Football League and nine
non-league clubs. These are as follows:"League clubs:"
*Stockport County F.C. -Stockport County Trust
*Brentford F.C. -Bees United
*Exeter City F.C. -Exeter City Supporters Trust
*Notts County F.C. -Notts County Supporters Trust "Non-League clubs:"
*AFC Wimbledon -The Dons Trust
*AFC Telford -Telford United Supporters' Trust
*Cambridge City FC - [http://www.cambridgecitytrust.org.uk/ Cambridge City Supporters Trust]
*Newport (IOW) F.C. -Newport (Isle of Wight) Supporters' Trust
*Enfield Town F.C. -Enfield Supporters' Society Ltd
*FC United of Manchester - (club established as an IPS itself)
*Scarborough Athletic F.C.
*Clydebank F.C. -United Clydebank Supporters
*Runcorn Linnets F.C. Board representation
Over 40 Football clubs currently have supporter representation within the boards of their football clubs, such as the
Lincoln City Supporters' Trust atLincoln City F.C. and the [http://www.swanstrust.com/ Swans Trust] atSwansea City A.F.C. About 100 football clubs currently have shares in their clubs.
Supporters Trusts in other sports
The following are Rugby Union supporters trusts currently in the UK: -
*Bristol Rugby Independent Supporters (BRIS), representingBristol RFC .
*Call To Arms Supporters Trust , representing Cardiff Rugby (Cardiff RFC and theCardiff Blues ).
*Friends of Newport Rugby , representingNewport RFC .
*Scarlets Supporters Trust, representing Llanelli rugby (Llanelli RFC andLlanelli Scarlets ).ee also
*
Supporters Direct External links
* [http://www.supporters-direct.org/ Supporters Direct: homepage]
* [http://www.supporters-direct.org/links/ Supporters Direct: links page - links to supporters trust websites] [http://www.football-research.org/docs/supporters.pdf Fresh Players, New Tactics: Lessons from Northampton Town Supporters Trust] published byThe Football Governance Research Centre
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