The following TUST programme notes appeared in the programme for the game Vs Crewe Alexandra - 13.03.2010
GOVERNANCE IN THE GAME
In the last TUST programme notes we looked at the details of what a trust is all about and hopefully dismissed the conspiracy theory that trusts are run by power-hungry hordes of supporters, intent on storming the Bastille of football to strike at the heart of the game and install our own form of rule throughout the game.
It's counter-productive that some people still hold this belief and indeed remain wary and suspicious of Supporters Direct and the many trusts which they have worked so hard to establish and continually advise and oversee.
In fact, it's counter-intuitive too, because as supporters, all we want is our club to be successful, to thrive and most important of all to exist. A supporter would never want their club to disappear, so in a sense, if there are supporters then there is always a club.
But if some asset-stripping narcissist manages to gain control of a club to which he or she has no interest, loyalty or affection for, then it could be a short ride into oblivion for some. It may also be the case that someone with initially good intentions for a club gets to take the reins but is soon seriously out of their depth and found to be seriously wanting and the decline can be just as rapid.
It is folly to believe that believe that supporters trusts would seek to wield such power, in fact is it ridiculous to think that any supporter would want their club to find themselves in such a position to require supporters intervention. But as a safety net or insurance, then it makes sense in the absence of any other solution. But it is true to say that in some incidences the supporters in the form of a supporters trust have been there, on hand, prepared and committed enough to catch a falling club, take up the cudgels and run the club, ensuring its very survival.
Notts County, Stockport County and our near-neighbours Exeter City have all benefitted at some point from supporter involvement. In fact Exeter City is held up by many as the leading light in the trust movement.
Notts County and Stockport have gone on to face other problems in trust ownership, but they still exist. AFC Wimbledon also shine as a beacon of what can be achieved and due an incredible amount of hard work, dedication and careful planning over a number of years, coupled with a steel will and a passionate refusal to give in despite the odds being stacked against them. Now, as a phoenix club they currently stand on the brink of re-entering the Football League. It's incredible what can be achieved.
But there are many reasons why clubs fail at the hands of these people who are seemingly only interested in what they can get out of the club. Chester City are a great example of this and if you read just a recent potted history of what has happened at their club, then it's enough to make any football supporter shudder.
As many of you will know, they have recently been expelled from the Blue Square Premier and their records for 2009/2010 have been expunged. And the reasons? Well, we simply don't have enough space to explain it all here, but we would encourage you to do a bit of research and try Googling Stephen Vaughan Sr.
Torquay United could in fact be held up for scrutiny in this area under the CR era. Short though his tenure was, the damage that he wreaked in and around the club took the consortium some two years to repair, whilst still trying to run the everyday affairs of a football club. In fact, they may well say if asked that in some ways we are still making good on his negative legacy.
But some people may claim that CR's intentions, although misguided, were not necessarily driven by a desire for power and money. Some might say that he genuinely believed that he something to give the club and the town. Whatever the truth was or what your personal take on it is, the results speak volumes for a man who was in well over his head.
The basic tenet of the supporters trust movement is to ensure that their is far better governance and more stringent and far-reaching rules regarding the ownership of clubs.
It may well be considered by some unfortunate supporters of some clubs who have stumbled in recent years to be a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, but that is clearly no reason not to act. In fact, it merely enforces the belief held many so many supporters up and down the country that the game's future reputation is under threat if the footballing authorities don't act and soon.
The fact that the rot has been exposed as high up the pyramid as the Premier League is a double-edged sword. It shows that no-one, no matter how high they are is safe from corruption, underhand dealings and financial peril, but of course it is also eminently frustrating and wrong that Portsmouth's fans should be in such a position as to worry about the very survival of their club.
While we wish it happened to any club, the fact is it has and we can only hope that the fact it has happened in such dramatic terms to a club that plies its football in what many consider to be the best and richest league in the world, then the footballing authorities have to be made to sit up and start asking some serious and probing questions. And in turn they must take action in terms of good governance, fitness to operate and place those wishing to take over a football club under a far higher level of scrutiny.
Perhaps the penalties need to be far more relevant and the sanctions meted out need to be reviewed and addressed, but what is absolutely certain is that something has to be done and soon.
The fact that Portsmouth, Southampton, Leeds, Boston, Halifax, Crystal Palace, Chester City, Bournemouth, Luton Town, Exeter City, Stockport County, Notts County etc, etc, etc have found themselves in what many would describe at best as an 'unenviable' position proves to many people that the rules as they are are not working. The legislation surrounding club ownership needs to be scrunitised in much greater detail and significantly tightened up to avoid similar scenarios arising in the future.
There has to be a more reliable and safer template which ensures the long-term security and future of football clubs, and Supporters Direct and the trust movement as a whole merely wants to ensure that all avenues are explored for the good of football and its future. Conspiracy theorists would probably have you believe otherwise.
