Jonny.

Couple of things for you.

Firstly this is a 'forum'. You may or may not know this but the word 'Forum' originated from the latin word 'foris' meaning 'outside' as many many years ago, even before Stanley Gene was born discussions took place outdoors in a public square or marketplace in Roman cities.

As was the case back then people used these events to discuss things... and as nowadays not everyone had the same opinion as the next person.

Forums have been around on the good old interweb for many years now... a sort of modern way to discuss ideas and thoughts... just like back in Roman times.

Forums don't really work if everyone agrees with what everyone else thinks.

Just because Barry McKenzie may have an opinion that is different to yours it doesnt mean it's wrong. Its just my opinion. I'm entitled to my opinion just as you are to yours.

The is no need for you (or anyone else) to spit your dummy out or hurl your teddy out the pram over anything anyone else types.

The same as there is no need to refer to me as an 'idiot' or whatever else you come out with. Barry McKenzie doesnt travel the highway of personal insults and hopefully you will take the same route.


I believe in the points I make as I'm sure you believe in yours. I like my footy. So do you.

Barry, perhaps your obsession with referring to yourself in the third person is actually behind many people's opinions on the posts you make.
This style of witing does rather make you sound pompous and arrogant, which may not be your intention but is unfortunately the result.
There really is no need to adopt this writing style when you are actually writing in the first person, how about changing this element of your posts and compare the reactions you get?

Any chance Barry you could just wind your neck in for a few minutes and let this forum get back on topic?

MY club is in the sh*t, due to the excessive short term policies of a cluless egomaniac and we, the long suffering supporters are looking for possible ways to sure up a sinking ship.

Sorry if that's too insignificant an issue for your own rampant self-publicist agenda, but I happen to be rather more concerned about making sure my club has a future.

That is, if you don't mind of course?

Or would you prefer it if the "little" clubs just quietly slid away and disappeared without trace?

I agree this forum topic was about the fans trust, for as you say us smaller clubs that are on the brink of extinction if reports are lead to be believed. As the originator of the subject i was meerly wanting other clubs opinions on the matter and not a personal agenda. I was hoping for a little assistance as to be honest, we are all rugby league fans and im sure no ones who ever they support want a team to disapear from existance.

This man is class

Barry McKenzie does not mind at all.

The only club I would like to see slip away and disappear without a trace are St Merge Illawarra.


I must be honest I have never heard of the Blackpool Seagulls. How long have you owned the club? Do you own it outright yourself or are you part of a co operative?

Anyway …


supporters trusts…

Blackpool Seagulls were an ice hockey club who lost their arena and folded.

Anyway, back on topic. Just to make it clear the RL club in question is the Blackpool Panthers, can we move on now please?

Sorry I thought you said they were a 'sinking' ship rather than a 'sunk' one.

So you own the Blackpool Panthers??

Can't you just sack this bloke who you think is a 'Clueless Egomaniac'???

Or is he a joint owner as well?

FFS, stop being pedantic. I said it's my club as I am a fan, therefore it is my club, the club I support. I didn't say I owned it - jeeziz, if I did, Bobby Hope wouldn't have got through the front gates based on his previous.

The egomaniac has gone (allegedly on health grounds) but we now face unpaid bills, unpaid players, players being released from contracts etc etc as he was the one funding the unrealisticly high aspirations that many of us had warned him were completely unrealistic, but he simply wouldn't listen.

What we, as fans don't want, is the club wrecked because of one mans' ego trip.

The club was in a reasonably good position at the end of last season, no longer the whipping boys, made the play offs and competitive on the field as well as making progress into local schools etc off it.

All this has now been put at risk.

Anyway, back on topic. Kev was simply asking questions about RL clubs experiences of being run or assisted by Supporters Trusts.

Right... so it's not technically 'your' club then is it.

Barry McKenzie only refers to something as 'mine' if I do have complete ownership of it... like these rather nice Dim Sims I'm enjoying right now as we speak that I bought from Jumbucks in Shepherds Bush yesterday.


Anyway.......


So a supporters trust may have some benefits for Blackpool in as much as you can spread the word amongst the local kids or raise much needed funds.... but the OP clearly stated they want these supporters trusts to have more influence in how the club is run... and if I personally owned a club the last thing I would want is some supporters telling ME how to run MY club.

Then perhaps your business would suffer from not listening to your customers i.e. the fans and not embracing the skills that many customers/supporters undoubtedly have.

If you look at any sports club across the world, there will be supporters who are lawyers, doctors, marketers etc - all valuable skills that clubs should be embracing rather than relying on to simply pump money in to a black hole of unsustainable player wages.

Hey I would be delighted to listen to what supporters would have to say. And if I felt that any ideas they came up with were good ones I would implement them.


My problem is having a 'supporters trust' that suddenly thinks it can run the club.... or indeed has a say in how its run. As I have said on previous posts if I bought a club I would employ people to assist me to run it.. people with a proven track record.

If a 'supporters trust' is set up no worries... as long as they stick to things like deciding what pies to sell in the kiosk or how soft the toilet paper in the dunny should be

And as I have said previously, your idea is definitely a good one, and a good model of how [iclubs[/i should be run. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen and the fans have no alternative but to step up and use their influence as a body of fans (as opposed to one or two individuals) to show those running clubs into the ground that it is simply not acceptable. I'm sure the vast majority of supporters would choose a mid-table side over a non-existent one every day of the week. I know I certainly would.

Sounds a bit 'Munich Beer Hall Putsch' to me.

Your trust decides it doesnt like the way the club is run.

So as an unelected body you rise up as one and try and 'use your influence' to get the club (owned by someone else) to do as YOU want.



Thanks for confirming my fears on Supporters trusts.

Totally agree

The board of a supporters trust is elected by its members on an annual basis and every member has the opportunity to stand for the board should they wish and every supporter and in fact every stakeholder in the club has the opportunity to join the trust seeing as one of the main traits is inclusiveness.

You seem to be suggesting Barry, that supporters should just sit back and watch as their club is run into the ground by someone who only wants to make money and isn't prepared to invest in the infrastructure of the club?

Had the supporters of Manchester United sat back and done nothing, I'm sure the Glazer family could quite happily have carried on loading the club with debt as they have been since taking over. Fortunately, the supporters trust did take action, all 150,000 of their members (I'm sure you've seen the Green & Gold campaign in the news which was organised and coordinated by their supporters trust) and whilst they may never be able to raise the money needed to buy the club from the Glazer family, I'd suggest it would be very difficult for them to continue behaving in the manner they have been doing.

It also seems to be worth clarifying (again) that a supporters trust is not always about 'getting the club'. As I've stated previously, the aim of the trust will very much depend on the situation at the club. If the club is being run into the ground then yes there is a case for a trust taking over. However, there are a number of clubs e.g. Bradford and Warrington to name just a couple, that are being run well so the trust uses its influence in other proactive ways.

Would you say Warrington and Bradford are not influencing the future of their clubs by helping to attract and retain young talent to the club? They are not there to decide which players are signed or to pick the team - the club hires people with expertise in that area to do that. They are there to work with the club to develop the future and try (as far as possible) to ensure that the future of the club is secure.

Fortunatley despite London barmen being reasonably well paid it is highley inlikely that you will ever be the person actually making any decisions at a club , as for your understanding of supporters trusts and how they can actually keep clubs alive that nobody else wants to , once again , fortunatley you are unlikely ever to be involved in one , by the way , the guiness needs changing and the ash trays in the beer garden need emptying

lmao - class response !!!!