Supporters Trusts, at their crux, are groups of supporters who have the best interests of their club at heart.  There is not one standard, fixed model of what a trust is or how it is organised, and many have different origins due to their own football club’s development & circumstances but they generally have similar aims which can include:  

Influence – the formation and running of representative bodies of supporters  

Ownership – the acquisition of shares in the football club to pool the voting power of individual supporters to further the aims and objectives of the supporters trust  

Representation – securing the democratic election of supporters’ representatives to the boards of directors of individual football clubs  

Community – Strengthen the bonds between club and the community, and to represent the interests of the supporters and the community in the running of the club.

There are however, many differences between some supports clubs and not all share all of the aforementioned objectives, preferring to concentrate on some at the expense of others.  Some supporters trusts do not seek to gain actual representation at boardroom level via share purchases but instead concentrate in being in as open and democratic as is possible, asking only an administrative fee for membership.  In effect, such an association is run as a pressure group with the fans bonding together to provide a strong, official voice that the club finds far harder to ignore.

As opposed to this, other trusts have been so successful in obtaining shares as to actually get a representative on their club’s board, through collective share ownership and some trusts, have even been able to secure majority ownership of the club itself.  Indeed in the case of the reformed Clydebank FC, the Supporters Trust secured majority ownership of the club from the outset of the club’s formation.

All trusts though wish to improve the lot for their team and supporters and while not all supporters may believe that trusts form a necessary part of the football world, preferring to see their club run without any fan involvement, there can be no doubt that all fans want their team to be successful, however it is achieved.

With the current trend towards multi-millionaire and even multi-billionaire owners bankrolling football teams and their success either as personal playthings or with an eye to an investment, the interests of the common or garden fan can be easily brushed aside or forgotten about compared to the interests of other forces such as television companies and league sponsors.  Worse yet, fans can find their club taken over by an unscrupulous asset-stripper who promises the fans the earth, only to deliver shattered dreams and a trail of neglect and devastation that shakes the club to its very core, undoing in some cases more than a hundred years of hard work and tradition for the sake of avarice & greed.

It must be remembered at all times that without the fans, there would be no game for these people to want to be part of in the first place – it is the deeply held love that fans have for their team no matter how big or small it may be that makes it such an appealing proposition for businesses and media companies to get involved in.

Supporters Trusts, therefore aim to take a leading role in ensuring that supporter’s interests are looked after & considered and not just swept under the carpet, acting as a safeguard so that supporters, and indeed their clubs, can never be ignored, marginalised or sidelined in any way.