It was about a year ago that we, the committee of the Rushden
and Diamonds Supporters Club (RDSC), posted an open message
to all supporters. At the time we suggested that the RDFC supporters
being split into two organised groups weakened the ability of
supporters to take concerted action to help the football club.
Without wanting to go into all the history again of how we ended
up with two supporters organisations, suffice it to say that
our proposal to fold the existing supporters organisations into
one new body did not result in a positive outcome.
Since that time we have stood by and watched the sorry demise
of our football club – first, the destruction of the team,
second relegation from the old Division 2 and now bobbling around
in the basement of League 2 with just 4 points out of a possible
36. The RDSC Committee feels strongly that enough is enough
and that the time has come to try once again to galvanise the
support of the club through an effective supporter’s body!
From time to time people have mentioned forming a Supporters
Trust. This is not a step to be taken lightly and involves a
lot of hard work and some funding to get it off the ground.
However, for all kinds of reasons now is the time to see if
there is really enough support to make a Trust viable.
What is a Supporters Trust?
The basic definition of a 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. This is quote from Supporters Direct, an independent
government funded organisation that was formed to help supporters
like us get more organised.
Why form a trust?
There are two basic differences, one is the way the Trust is
organised and the other is what it sets out to achieve –
its objectives.
Organisation
An Association or Club is a group of people with similar interests
who get together for a common purpose. In the case of a football
supporters’ club / association the main purpose is usually
to support the football club and to arrange away travel and
social events.
A Supporters’ Trust is usually set up as what is know
as an Industrial and Provident Society (IPS). This is a special
type of business where all the members own the Society, and
each member has one vote regardless of how much time or money
they put in. Building Societies and Co operatives are set up
like this; even the Guardian newspaper is set up as an IPS.
An IPS is a democratic, not-for-profit organisation. This means
that the elected committee are directly responsible to the members
for their decisions, and no one is able to personally take any
“profit” out of the Trust.
One of the main differences between a club / association and
an IPS is that an IPS is in a better position to enter into
agreements, for example loan agreements that could bring significant
new funds into the football club. Objectives
As Supporters Direct puts it "why always be criticising,
when we can be running and participating - we think we can
bring huge benefits to the club, so give us a chance - to
own the club we love".
Under the Supporters Direct model, a football club is a community
asset – it is not just a business. While sound financial
management is the key to long term survival not all decisions
can be made on pure “least cost” grounds. In a
situation like ours where the club is loosing money, the Board
have a legal responsibility to minimise the losses, and where
the losses are underwritten by one business (i.e. the Griggs
Group) a responsibility to protect that business from unplanned
losses as far as possible.
Owners may come and go, success may ebb and flow, but the
fans are there forever! Many football clubs – Chesterfield
and Lincoln, even the Cobblers, have faced difficult times
and been rescued by their fans through their Supporters Trusts.
What RDSC would like to do is to provide the organisation
and finance to do the initial work to set up a Trust. To start
with the Trust could work as part of RDSC but with its own
constitution, committee and bank account. This is a quick,
easy and cheap way of getting going. Once there is enough
support, then either the Trust could split off and run on
its own, or subject to the members of RDSC agreeing, RDSC
would fold itself into the Trust.
The RDSC Committee needs to know how fans feel about setting
up a Trust, whether they would support it and who would be
interested in working with us now to get things going. This
is a very serious undertaking and we need both responsible
people with the drive to set up the Trust and a band of willing
people to help do the day to day fundraising work.
Put at its very simplest, if 1,000 people put in the equivalent
of a pint of beer a week we would raise over £100,000
a year. Not a bad starting target, but we have already identified
a number of other ways that we can encourage people in the
community to take part in activities that raise funds for
the club.
So, here’s the deal. The RDSC Committee is meeting on
Thursday 20 January. If the postings discussing this idea
are mainly positive, then we will arrange an open meeting
to discuss how to go forward. We will try and invite someone
from Supporters Direct or another Supporters Trust to come
and talk to us about their experiences.
We hope that RDFC supporters will come together behind the
Trust and that it can form the focus for developing positive
things we can do to help the football club. Get posting and
let us know what you think!
For more detail contact Graham Smith - t 07850 070524 | e
secretary@rdsc.info
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