I am not saying that we have all the answers, nor that we would get it right all the time (although I don't think you can win the segregation argument any more), or that Michael will either. We will endeavour to ensure that the club is run in a business like manner and that we don't live off promises once more.

There is a committee and it is likely that they will discuss most of the ongoing issues, but there may be issues that need to be discussed with the wider membership and we will endeavour to report those and seek opinions.

We are not reinventing wheels here. There are ST's galore in football, some that run the club, some that are shareholders with seats on the BoD. We think at this time that we prefer to work with the investors we have to the mutual benefit of all - and they see that too (and despite the assurances from the previous management, we have seen more positive movement in that direction in 3 months than we did in the previous 3 years).

We have rules, both as an individual Trust and within the Supporters Direct and Co-op organisations. These are very protective of the democratic process and of the individual supporter. I personally want to be involved at this time, but I'm quite happy if there are others who wish to step in and take my place who have different views and outlooks. We have stuck our heads up and are there to be shot at, but we do it for nothing at all and we make every decision for the right reasons - I believe - and these are all that anyone can ask of someone else, be it us, Michael or whoever.

This club right now has a chance - a chance to fight for a place in the 12, a chance to be rid of debts, a chance to do business right, a chance to move to a new stadium in rude health. We believe that this is a part we can play in that future and help our club get there. What I don't see are too many other effective ways open to us.

Join us / join club1873 help us achieve this ambition together!

That's why it's democratic. Come and join us - get stuck in!

And yes, we need to push membership also - we will be!

Hi Can someone send me details about ST membership & how to join. Thanks.

Do we really think the ST rep who ends up sitting on the board meetings will be privy sensitive information regarding finances, player movements, player contracts etc? As a poster just mentioned, the bloody accountant was apparently kept in the dark about all the murky goings on under the previous regime and was unwilling or unable to do anything about it until very recently, how is a ST rep going to deal with it?

By definition, board meetings will deal with all matter of issues that simply have to be kept confidential for various reasons, assume the ST was in place over the last 12 months or so when the discussion was had as to whether to enter administration or not - and the ST rep would have been party to that discussion. Clearly this would have been just about as sensitive discussion that could possible have been had - what would the rep's responsibility to the trust be? What would he do with this information? As far as I can see it the options would be (assuming he was included in this discussion):

1 In the interest of confidentiality, keep it to him/herself.
2 Bring the information back to discuss with other members of a ST committee
3 Bring the information back to the whole trust membership

In this hypothetical situation none of these option are acceptable in my opinion. Options 1 and 2 to an extent would suggest the ST would be run as a bit of a boys club in order to massage the main members ego (the kudos of being 'in the know') and option 3 would be a complete non runner due to the obvious damage this information could do if it got into the public domain.

How could the elected rep for the ST represent the collective group if the individuals that make up that group without canvasing opinion of its members, leading to the breech of confidentiality and ultimately damage to the club that it has been set up to help 'look after'.

I think some people may take some convincing that the ST is an organisation that can make a difference to things and would give a voice to the supporters that the owners/directors/custodians of the club will take notice of rather than an organisation were a select group of people can get crumbs from the top table and feed back to the masses what they deem they are worthy of knowing - often with a wink or a smiley or a "don't worry, I can't say too much but....." like used to happen in the past, substituting ST meetings for the forum.

I'm sure that whoever it was would do whatever they considered to be in the best interests of the supporters / the club and do so selflessly and without need for gratification. The key word is 'Trust' and in this venture this is essential.

I think the 'some people' you refer to includes yourself and that you may even be referring to me directly in this post (amongst others). I don't expect to be Mr Popular, but I have given a large amount of my life (and by default my families) to this club (as have others) and if the occasional wink or smiley is a crime, then I am guilty as charged, but I would call that a slim return for the investment of my time for the benefit of this club, but hey ho.

Not everyone will 'like' us or support what we are doing, but it was ever thus. I'd prefer people with strong opinions to be on the inside looking out though - they may even get to be 'in the know' themselves!

Is this any different to a parliamentary election, we vote for a local representative to look after our interests at a high level which ordinarily we wouldn’t have access to.

Individually we would find it hard to have an influence on the club as it’s a private limited company, however, as members of the trust they choose who best represents their thoughts/interest/ideas on how the club should be run who have to opportunity to get a genuine foot in the door.

We saw much the same when the trust was formed in 2011. There was a huge appetite initially when TR was at the helm, but the interest soon waned when we thought things had turned round for the better. Nearly three years later we’re in pretty much a similar position once again and now that waters appeared to have been calmed the same ‘complacency’ appears to be creeping back in.

Does it really matter about the semantics of it all, is it such a bad things that supporters have representation on the board? I can’t see the issue. If it does work fair enough, at least it’s been given a go and maybe a few more hundred on club 1873 is more money into the junior development of the club.

Exactly!

I think the question here is simple. Are we as supporters of this Club in a better or worse position by having a representative on the Board.

We can all have our opinions but I can only see benefits with having a Supporters Trust representative on the Board. Supporters views can be aired in the Board Room and who knows, maybe acted upon to the benefit of the fans. Of course its not going to be a "cake walk", there will be sensitive issues such as players contracts and the like that cannot be made public and the rep will have to observe confidentiality - but at least we will have a seat at the table.

If issues are kept secret from Directors as has been mentioned previously there is not a great deal that anyone can do although not an expert but I'd have thought holding back information from other Directors will be an offence under FCA regulations and could in some circumstances be criminal.

I genuinely believe we as supporters have a great opportunity to be involved in the future of this Club, which is something the Trust has worked for for the last 3 years. As I said last night the Trust is truly democratic, one person, one vote and myself, TRB and the rest of the Board have been elected by Members and can easily be removed.

This is not personal, all I want to see is a strong and well supported Trust with representation at Board level. Quite frankly I don't care who Chair's the Trust or represents the Trust on Spirit of 1873 Ltd. There is nothing I'd love more than to see members wanting to get involved and seek a place on the Board so that we have to hold secret ballots - I for one would then be delighted to stand down and put my feet up for once.

I think we have been given a fantastic opportunity here and I sincerely hope that supporters will see the benefits and back this proposal.

Right, so am I right in saying, to get a ST person on the board, club 1873 will need another 1,000 members, at £2per week? £104 per year? So for one year sat at the table is gonna cost £104,000 per year? Each year ? Seems expensive, I'd have thought £50,000 would get you a place on the board.

If you have £50k outright I guess you would. If you haven't then I guess you have to dance to the pipers tune

Whatever the pros and cons of getting a member of the ST on the club board is something we should all discuss when/if the opportunity arrives. In the meantime I think everyone accepts that the club requires all the members it can get paying into the lottery.

I have signed up with a couple today so lets start getting some more signed up and see how far we can get with this.

2 more hopefully here as well.

I was impressed with MC last night. Couple of points on his view if there are 5k in the ground paying full price he would take that over 8K given the number of freebies the club were giving out so he is intent on tightening this up.

No segregation but reserving the right to introduce it if required.

No doubt he is in charge and I really got the impression he tells it as it is.

I bet the nights fly in your house!

Jinjer, we have always been talking about an investment of £100,000 for a seat on the Board even when we were investigating a share issue so the figure is not a surprise to us.

I believe Michael said last night that there are only 2 directors and they have invested a fair bit more than £100,000.

Increasing membership of Club 1873 seems to me to offer us a better chance of a seat on the Board than the share offer, even if we had managed to get around the legalities.

Essentially, the club are asking the ST to sell 1873 memberships and if they do so successfully, they'll be offered a seat on the BoD; I don't see why that's either a negative or a confusing thing - it makes perfect sense and strikes me as a typically hardnosed accountant's approach to the issue. Good on MC - it's a workaround that benefits all stakeholders.

As for the hand-wringing about representation - join the ST and be involved in the election; if you're not a member, you have no right to argue with the outcome, and if you are a member and you don't like the rep, vote for someone else next time around.

It's neither difficult to understand or especially complicated!

This is a good point.

I understand why the club would want to veto someone they wouldn't want to work with, but the Richardson regime for definite was blighted by yes men/women cozying up to the top table for personal gain and status. That can never be allowed to happen again.

Just to clarify and put it it legal speak, the club has to approve the individual put forward by the Trust but that approval cannot be unreasonably withheld. In essence the Club has to have a valid reason to veto the individual. They just cannot refuse the nomination because they feel the individual will not be a yes man or woman ot they simply don't like them.

Please accept my humble apologies on behalf of mater and pater for not "getting it on"

at a time more to your suiting.

Good. I hope someone is picked who will fight our corner and ask the difficult questions if required and the demand answers. The trust rep has to have their fair say whether that fits with the club or not, especially if we are going to continue with the together we are stronger strapline.

This.

Will the ST representative be a director of the company for the period of their election?

I second your proposal to be elected, that's the spirit.

So we can assume AgentXiii is out of the running then?

Why would you want Jimmy on the trust!!!!