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Questions for the new Owls Trust

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FAQ

Who are we?

This meeting has been organised by a group of long-standing Wednesday fans who believe that increased and more structured engagement between the club and fans will benefit the club as a whole. None of us are employed by, or have any current or recent connection with the club.

What is the background of those currently involved?

We are a group of fans who have connected through long standing friendships, work connections, social media or other links.

Why are we trying to set up a Supporters’ Trust?

We all feel Wednesday fans should speak with a stronger voice and have better connections and influence with the club. We want the Trust to represent the views of Trust members and the wider fanbase providing effective dialogue between fans and the club

Who will control and direct the Trust?

The Trust’s membership will decide how the Trust will be run in future, who will form the board, and whether we as individuals have a role in that. Our job for now is to ensure that the Trust is established.

Why choose a Supporters' Trust?

It is clearly possible for fans to set up a supporters’ organisation without any formal structure at all. However, we thought it best to have a properly established legal structure that is accountable to its members. Supporters' Trusts are established as Community Benefit Societies regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. They are democratic organisations based on the one member one vote principle.

Supporters' Trusts are also formally recognised by the Football Supporters' Association (FSA). The FSA was formed out of the merger of the Football Supporters' Federation and Supporters Direct. Sheffield Wednesday is one of the few clubs in the Championship not to have its own Supporters' Trust.

Why have a relationship with the FSA?

The FSA has connections with the English Football League (EFL). This is particularly relevant if a football club gets into a very difficult situation (eg Bolton). Consequently, the Supporters' Trust can offer fans influence on what happens to a club. Furthermore, all Supporters' Trusts have common interests in how football is run and therefore there is a supportive community already established which we can utilise.

What issues might the Supporters' Trust take up?

There is concern among many Wednesday fans on a number of matters including:
The future sustainability and financial position of the football club.The future strategy for the club.Strengthening engagement between fans and the club, improving attendances and the match-day atmosphere at HillsboroughEnsuring the supporter opinions are gathered and are effectively represented to the clubHaving strong connections between club, community and the city.
How will the Supporters' Trust address the concerns of the fanbase?

An effective Supporters' Trust will help fans channel their views on these matters and more to the football club. The aim is to engage the football club in constructive dialogue where our concerns and ideas are heard and the football club takes proactive steps to address them.
What engagement does the Trust want with the club?
Current engagement between the club and supporters is almost exclusively through fans forums. Fans forums can be useful, but they do not deliver what we think is needed, which is deep understanding, engagement and sharing between the club and its supporters. For example, the forums only take place twice per year, and none have been held since December 2018. The Trust wants to establish a much deeper and sustained relationship with the club that enables proper consultation, exchange of ideas, and constructive dialogue on how it is being run. This will require much smaller meetings where the Trust can engage positively with the football club on matters that are of interest to fans.

What if the club does not acknowledge the Supporters Trust?

The Trust will take a positive approach and we hope and believe this will not be the case, but in those circumstances then it will be down to members of the Supporters Trust to decide on how to respond.

Who will run the Trust?

The Trust will be owned and controlled by Trust members who will each have one share in the Trust and will have one vote. The Trust members will elect a Board to run the Trust on a regular basis, the Board will be accountable back to the members of the Trust. The Trust will appoint Officers from among the Board members who will have defined roles that have been agreed. Those officers will then be accountable to the Board. The Trust will have to produce properly audited accounts and the Trust will be independently regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Will there be competition and division between fans organisations?

There can only be one recognised Supporters' Trust at a club so there will be no competition in that respect. The Trust will recognise that fans’ organisations such as Wednesdayite and SODA play an effective and positive role in doing the things they do – there is no reason for the Trust to impinge on their activities or seek to compete with them.

The Trust will work positively with community organisations including the Community Association at the club.

The Trust will work in partnership with other fans' organisations to agree that the work of the Trust will not have a negative impact on them, and that they can play a role in the work of the Trust, if they wish to.

What Happens Next?

If this open meeting is supportive of a Trust being established a Working Group will be set up. The Working Group will need to:
Agree model rules (based on an FSA template)Develop Rules to be submitted toFCA by the FSA with FSA covering the cost
Appoint interim Directors until elections can take placeEstablish Board Roles – how the - Board will operate and who will do what etcAgree the structure of the TrustSet up a Bank accountSet up a Website and Social media etcProduce a business planEstablish side policies, eg conduct of members and board etcOrganise Trust launchRecruit Trust members
After this, elections will establish the full Board of the Trust and the first Annual General Meeting will be set up.

Will a Supporters’ Trust seek to own the club or buy shares in the club?

One of the objectives of the Supporters Trust movement is fan ownership of clubs. We recognise that in the modern Championship that is a very difficult thing for fans to be able to achieve given the scale of the financial issues involved. Our objective in seeking to build a Supporters Trust is to further fan engagement and influence with the club. All our ideas and energies are focused on this and we have never discussed trying to own the club or purchasing shares in it.

Will this just be like WISA?

Wednesday Independent Supporters Association (WISA) was established in 2000 as a politically campaigning body that used the media and leafletting to criticise the running of the club. WISA never once asked for a meeting with the club, and the only meeting that took place was initiated by the club. Influencing the club through engagement was not a massive part of the plan for WISA. WISA was not a Supporters’ Trust. We are trying to establish a Supporters Trust that is connected with FSA and is regulated by the FCA. We want to establish the Trust to try to build a positive relationship with the club and to improve fan influence and engagement.

How will the Supporter’s Trust be Funded?

The Trust will be funded by a small membership fee payable each year by every member of the Supporters’ Trust and also through fund-raising as approved by the Trust itself

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@owlstalk Grand Master

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On 02/03/2020 at 15:25, pahowl said:

Following MM's takeover and us relinquishing our 10%+ of shares we decided to become non political,-  supporters trusts by their definition and rules are political in nature and should under the FSA rules seek share ownership and representation on the club board, we know from past experience that hare ownership causes more issues and division than it solves.

Wednesdayite became very much a supporters group, arranging away coach travel to every game (and being the largest carrier of passengers - regularly taking more than the clubs ICO), running the car park on Penistone Road until the developer needed the land back, sorting a deal to have match day car parking at the college. From our income we make regular donations to SWLFC, SWFCCP(£5,000 per annum for last 4 years), as well as supporting the club via player sponsorship. We also continue to run and fund our Primary schools coaching scheme in association with Tricky wingers , which give free sports coaching in curriculum time to Primary schools near to the ground. 

 

Up until Dec 18 we had a good relationship with the club and Mr Chansiri being part of the fans forum and also being invited to other  meetings on ideas etc. Despite our request for fans forum meetings on 3-4 times since all we get is "a meeting will be arranged soon"

We also have representation on the South Yorkshire Police independent advisory group , who are trying to help change football policing 

Wednesdayite are members of the FSA , but aren't a supporters trust.

 

Whilst we wish the new trust luck in their ventures , we will not be getting involved for several reasons 

  1. Some of the people involved (ex WISA, WOTM ) 
  2.  We don't believe  they can or should replace the wider fans forums the club should be operating , which has representation from all sorts of fans , from all groups , from stands etc.
  3.  Share ownership and board representation , which is a primary aim of all trusts. https://thefsa.org.uk/our-work/supporter-ownership/ is not always an answer and we don't believe its and answer for SWFC,
  4. The remaining board - 3 members - do not have the time that you need to dedicate to being involved in a trust (minimum of 10 hours per week on average

 

 





Above is what Wednesdayite have to say about the new Owls Trust being formed

 


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@owlstalk Grand Master

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1 minute ago, Burnsie said:

How long until the bitching, moaning and infighting starts?

 

 

  

  On 02/03/2020 at 15:25, pahowl said:

Following MM's takeover and us relinquishing our 10%+ of shares we decided to become non political,-  supporters trusts by their definition and rules are political in nature and should under the FSA rules seek share ownership and representation on the club board, we know from past experience that hare ownership causes more issues and division than it solves.

Wednesdayite became very much a supporters group, arranging away coach travel to every game (and being the largest carrier of passengers - regularly taking more than the clubs ICO), running the car park on Penistone Road until the developer needed the land back, sorting a deal to have match day car parking at the college. From our income we make regular donations to SWLFC, SWFCCP(£5,000 per annum for last 4 years), as well as supporting the club via player sponsorship. We also continue to run and fund our Primary schools coaching scheme in association with Tricky wingers , which give free sports coaching in curriculum time to Primary schools near to the ground. 

 

Up until Dec 18 we had a good relationship with the club and Mr Chansiri being part of the fans forum and also being invited to other  meetings on ideas etc. Despite our request for fans forum meetings on 3-4 times since all we get is "a meeting will be arranged soon"

We also have representation on the South Yorkshire Police independent advisory group , who are trying to help change football policing 

Wednesdayite are members of the FSA , but aren't a supporters trust.

 

Whilst we wish the new trust luck in their ventures , we will not be getting involved for several reasons 

  1. Some of the people involved (ex WISA, WOTM ) 
  2.  We don't believe  they can or should replace the wider fans forums the club should be operating , which has representation from all sorts of fans , from all groups , from stands etc.
  3.  Share ownership and board representation , which is a primary aim of all trusts. https://thefsa.org.uk/our-work/supporter-ownership/ is not always an answer and we don't believe its and answer for SWFC,
  4. The remaining board - 3 members - do not have the time that you need to dedicate to being involved in a trust (minimum of 10 hours per week on average

 

 

 

 


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Animis Grand Master

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This is a difficult one. In one sense, a supporters group is a good idea, but it's scope has to be defined.

 

You could conclude that this group is being set up, at this point, because of the chaos at the club. If so, what is it the group wish to do, as it's success will only be gained by DC's cooperation.

 

If it's a vehicle to collate requests/questions form the club how do they see this being managed - how do they think the 'club', who seem to consist of Monk; Bullen and Redgate engage with the Group.

 

If the group is a lobby group then you have to question whether the club will see this as some form of insurgency, and simply ignore it.

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6 minutes ago, Animis said:

This is a difficult one. In one sense, a supporters group is a good idea, but it's scope has to be defined.

 

You could conclude that this group is being set up, at this point, because of the chaos at the club. If so, what is it the group wish to do, as it's success will only be gained by DC's cooperation.

 

If it's a vehicle to collate requests/questions form the club how do they see this being managed - how do they think the 'club', who seem to consist of Monk; Bullen and Redgate engage with the Group.

 

If the group is a lobby group then you have to question whether the club will see this as some form of insurgency, and simply ignore it.

 

 

How will this group communicate to the fanbase?

Would it not be more effective for the club to communicate with the fanbase instead? (e.g. start communicating via regular articles on the official site) That would reach more people

 


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Animis Grand Master

Animis

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9 minutes ago, @owlstalk said:

 

 

How will this group communicate to the fanbase?

Would it not be more effective for the club to communicate with the fanbase instead? (e.g. start communicating via regular articles on the official site) That would reach more people

 

I think they'll find that the owner isn't a very receptive individual for the fans to communicate with. I suspect his culture, whilst being polite, isn't used to challenging questions, which I suspect is the reason for this new group.

 

As I said, there's no one else at the club to even engage with so how will this even work?

 

I suspect he'll simply ignore them, or thank them for their interest and hope they continue to support the club (and buy a ST before the next deadline).

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