The following TUST programme notes appeared in the programme for the game Vs Dagenham & Redbridge - 02.03.2010
Up Pompey
We're sure that many, many football fans up and down the country will have been saddened at the news that last Friday, Portsmouth became the first Premier League team to enter into administration.
It is important that TUST, nor indeed your correspondent have any affinity whatsoever with the like of the South Coast club, but of course we do have an affinity with like-minded supporters who love their clubs.
What this matter does do is bring the very grave and concerning issues which currently face football very much to the fore. For far too long charlatans and greed-driven megalomaniacs have hijacked clubs for their own, selfish means. Money is the almost always the over-riding factor, with a yearning for power and acclaim that befits any self-effacing narcissism thrown in for good measure.
It seemed almost an ironic side issue however, that while the media scrum clamoured for news of Portmouth's demise and the details therein, Chester City's dismissal from The Blue Square Conference almost slipped under the radar as an insignificant aside.
We suggest that whilst Chester City perhaps never contested the footballing pyramid in quite the same way as Portsmouth have over the years, the fact what has happened at Chester City is just a significant and as pertinent as what is happening all over football. We may have a lot more in common with the supporters of Chester City than perhaps we do with Portsmouth, but the common denominator is that we are all supporters.
What has happened at Chester City is nothing short of a disgrace and despite the efforts of a minority of their supporter base who could see the writing on the wall, the whole thing has ended in such a devastating way. At best there have been some extremely questionable practices undertaken by the powers that be at the club, and at worst there has been corruption and perhaps worse.
They have now been expelled from the Blue Square Premier, their record in this season's competition has been expunged and there is seemingly no immediate future for them.
And the list of clubs that have historically been in trouble or who currently still face an uncertain future are as numerous as they are recognisable. Bournemouth, Exeter City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Crystal Palace, Southampton, Boston, Brentford, Wrexham, Luton Town, Leeds, Torquay United, Mansfield Town, Wimbledon AFC. That list is just the tip of the iceberg, and no doubt more will emerge.
And as long as the list of clubs that have found themselves embroiled in trouble and in serious need of some fan solidarity, the list of problems which they have faced is almost as diverse.
But what of a couple of those to illustrate the point?
Boston for example now find themselves competing in the Northern Premier League, while Halifax town suffered similar raft of demotions which find their phoenix club AFC Halifax, resident in the Unibond First Division North.
Halifax as they were, ceased to exist in 2008 after they went into administration in February of that year whilst competing in the Blue Square Conference. They managed to avoid relegation despite being docked 10 points for going into administration, yet at the end of the season they were unable to exit administration via a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) because of an historic tax debt. As a result, they were expelled from the Conference and in May 2008 the club ceased to exist.
From the ashes of that club, AFC Halifax was born. Okay so they're competing in the Unibond First Division North, but they are in some form competing and existing in a new form. They may face a very long road back to former glories, but the alternative would be extinction.
And the irony of all of this to us is the seeming indifference of so many supporters and the attitude of "it won't happen to us..."
Well, that may well be the case until of course it does. By then it might all be too late to help or react. But one of the most incredible things of all is that we, as Torquay United supporters should know better than most as we stared this spectre square in the face in the shape of a man - whos name we refuse to print - who lied his way into the position, used someone else's money, cut an already dwindling set of resources at the club, took us to the brink of relegation and ultimately succeeded.
History will show that our 80-year stay in the league came to end, as a direct result of this man's ineptitude, egotism, selfishness and total lack of knowledge and morals. And yet, in many senses, we were one of the lucky ones inasmuch as he was not allowed to continue with his reign. Thankfully for all of we had a set of local supporters who put their heads and resources together to buy the club, and who have since turned this club around - because they were supporters. In a sense, the consortium did exactly what a trust would like to do in safeguarding the future of their club, and they had the means to do so. The parallels are stark.
Someone said to your correspondent the other day when I asked if he was a member of the trust, He responded that he was not, and when asked why, he responded "Because I can't see that it does any good?"
Apart from being shocked and stunned into almost silence, I was taken aback by the fact that the explanation for this was that we couldn't buy into the club in any significant way.
This buys straight into the conspiracy theory that so many people have of the trust movement. And that is that we are driven by a desire to take over our club and wield the power that we all apparently crave. This is of course a conspiracy theory borne out of total ignorance and one which is trotted out at every opportunity by those people who have never bothered to find out what we are about, nor taken up on any of the numerous opportunities available to find out what lies at the centre of the trust movement's ethos.
An oft-repeated refrain from the perspective of TUST is that it is not, has never been and hopefully will never be called upon to be in a position to have to broker, mediate, confer or discuss any possibility of taking over the club. But the fact is that we would and could be there to broker some deal or negotiate in any potential solutions to any problems should they ever arise.
The fact is, as we have said, that the last thing we at TUST would ever want to do is take over the club, and we're pretty sure that this would also be the feeling of all trusts. We are merely a safety net, and let's look at all the incidences of club's and of course their supporters, where they were extremely grateful for the fact that some form of safety net existed in order to save their club when it came to the crunch.
This usually happens after someone who had previously been perceived to be some sort of heroic philanthropist, had decided that he had stripped enough out of the club and has bankrolled his ego to satisfaction. But the truth is often worse than that and if there have been - as there often is - some seriously shady dealings going on, then the damage could be far more long term than that, and it may take any potential saviour, or as in our case, saviours, many years to stem the tide of entrenched and rotten deceit and turn a club round again.
We must stress for the record that we have no such fears of the current consortium that have done such an admirable job in halting the dramatic and potentially very damaging slide that was started by THAT previous owner. We hope that they will continue to diligently and lovingly restore the heart of this club. But of course, no one never knows what the future may hold, so being on your toes is one way of ensuring supporters are ready to react should the need arise.
Strength clearly comes in unity and as we all share a common love of the club, who are better placed than the supporters of the said club?
It is our sincere assertion that no club will ever go out of existence if it was in fan ownership. They may never be able to compete at the same level as they had previously, but the lifeblood that runs thorough the veins of the supporters would ensure a future in some form and of course the hope of better things to come.
The fate that has befallen Boston and Halifax could so so well have befallen us too, and we of all people should know how quick the decline can be when someone with no ideas or thoughts beyond lining their own pockets gets hold of a club.
Put yourselves in the shoes of Boston or Halifax supporters. How would you feel if it happened to us? And, by the way, it so nearly could have.
We have all looked into that particular abyss and that fact in itself is surely enough to send a collective shiver down the spine of the Torquay United supporters.
