Darlo fans find their voice
TED BLAIR outlines what happened at September's launch meeting of the Darlington Supporters' Trust - its future aims and how anyone who is interested can help in the future.
Please read this and let us know what you think - the Trust is being set up
for all fans of Darlington FC and we need to hear your views.
INTRODUCTION
============
Doug Embleton opened the meeting and thanked everyone for attending
(about
70 attended) - a sure sign that fans cared about their club.
Doug introduced the guest speaker, Brian Lomax, as well as other members of the group who had been working towards the development of the Trust - Hannah Taylor, Pete Ashmore, Sue & Peter Thorns, Maureen & Tony Taylor
and Ted Blair - as well as a number of others who were unable to attend:
Steve Duffy, Neil Johnson, Danny King, Richard Ellison, Dave Sowerby, John
Hopps and Colin Fletcher.
A brief history on the Trust to date was given - the meeting was organised by a group of concerned Darlo fans - including representatives from the
Supporters Club, VQs, DAFTS, WTMG and Mission Impossible - who feel that
despite the major changes going on at the club, the relationship between
the club and the fans is not what it should be, especially as we move
into this new highly significant stage in our history.
A brief outline of what the Trust IS NOT was also outlined - it is not the Supporters' Club, it is not DAFTS, it is not a fanzine group, it is not
a small collection of "Lone Warriors" or anti-GR agitators.
It is a representative grouping of the whole broad church of supporters
of Darlington Football Club. It seeks not to replace any of the above
organisations but to give ALL OF US A COLLECTIVE VOICE safe under the
banner of a national initiative.
Messages of support for the Trust have come from Prime Minister Tony Blair, William Hague, Alan Milburn, Frank Cook, Derek Foster and Darlington
Borough Council.
Tony Blair wrote: "These are exciting times for Darlington, as its new stadium nears completion. The Trust will ensure that supporters are fully
involved in the development of the club in years to come. It has my full support
and my best wishes for success. I know that Supporters Direct has worked hard
with the club's supporters towards the launch meeting".
It had been hoped that Mark Prudhoe and Kevan Smith would be joining us
but unfortunately they both had to postpone at the last minute. Kevan
is
well aware of the work of supporters' trusts since the Hull trust was heavily involved in keeping things going at Hull last season. Both
Mark and "Smudger" hope to make an appearance at a future Trust meeting.
SUPPORTERS DIRECT & SUPPORTERS' TRUSTS
======================================
Brian Lomax was the guest speaker from Supporters' Direct and he outlined the work of the organisation:
* SD is one of the few initiatives that came out from the work of the
Football Task Force and is backed by all political parties and football
authorities. Brian was brought in to head up Supporters' Direct following
his work in the early 1990s with Northampton's Supporters Trust which
essentially saved the club from going out of business.
* The main aim of SD is to provide help so that fans get back a say in the running of their club and the game of football. There are a great deal
of excellent skills within the fanbase of each club and they can be utilised to benefit the fans and the club.
* Over 40 Trusts have been set up at Premier League clubs (recently Spurs have welcomed a trust being formed in north London) through to Third Division clubs and some non-league clubs. SD are in contact with over
100 clubs in all.
* Trusts work at many different levels - where there is a crisis, some
Trusts have saved and run clubs (Chesterfield, Northampton, Lincoln)
and
others have a representative on the board (Luton).
However at the vast majority of clubs there is no obvious crisis - fans
simply have felt more alienated over the passing seasons and want to
take a
more active part in supporting their club. It is recognised that
anything
which enhances communication between a Club and its supporters can only
be
a good thing and clubs would be mad to ignore the help offered by their
fans.
Trusts are independent, democratically elected organisations, not run
for
profit and have members (not shareholders). They are generally run as
industrial and provident societies (like a co-operative society) which
means that there is transparency in the finances and members interests
are
protected at all times.
Officers are elected at an AGM - these officers become trustees who sit
on
a committee which also includes representatives from all Supporters'
groups.
The aim to is for the membership to have broad a base as possible from
amongst the Darlington-supporting public and local community.
DARLINGTON SUPPORTERS' TRUST
============================
The aims of the Darlington Supporters' Trust were then outlined:
* to create an independent forum to promote positive communications
between
DFC supporters and the Club
* to create a mutually advantageous dialogue between all those
concerned
with the future of the Club as it moves into a new era with the
development
of the new stadium
* to promote DFC in the community in which it serves
* to represent a significant number of DFC supporters and to seek their
views and opinions with a view to sharing these with the Club
* to raise money to be spent in such a way as to benefit supporters of
DFC
* to oppose violence, racism and other forms of discrimination.
With these in mind, the Year One targets for the Trust are to:
* establish a constitution, legal and financial framework to facilitate
the
objectives of the Trust
* establish a link with the management of the Club with a schedule of
regular, consultative meetings
* establish a membership of 400 supporters
* arrange a number of public trust meetings, including an AGM
* produce a regular newsletter for Trust members.
Q & A
=====
Following this there was a Q & A session so that the audience could
find
out more about SD and DST. Most of the issues raised are covered in
the
FAQ section of the Darlo Trust site (www.darlotrust.co.uk) so I won't
repeat them here.
One question concerned the position of the DFC Supporters' Club - would
it
not clash with the Trust?
This point was answered by Peter Thorns (Chairman of DFCSC). He said
that
whilst DFCSC has a good relationship with the Club, it is long
established
and does not have the necessary structure or clout to do the things
that
the Trust aims to do.
Peter added that he could see the Supporters Club merging with the Trust at some point in the future to the benefit of both organisations AND the club. He would certainly encourage people to join the Trust.
THE FUTURE
==========
The meeting was attended by a representative of the Carlisle
Supporters'
Trust who said that they have had to rush into the creation of a Trust
given the recent problems there. He suggested that it is no use
waiting
until you have a crisis before forming a Trust - you never know what is
around the corner.
The meeting was then asked for a vote of confidence in order that the
Darlington Supporters' Club can move onto the next stage.
This was passed unanimously.
After the meeting was formally closed, a number of people signed up as
members of the Trust.
MEETING AT NEWTON AYCLIFFE
==========================
As a follow on to the launch meeting, three representatives of the
Trust
Steering Group spoke to the Aycliffe Branch of the Supporters Club at
their
recent meeting.
Doug Embleton again outlined the aims of the concept and the national
objectives of Supporters Direct.
Peter Thorns then stressed that in due course he saw the merging of a
Supporters' trust and the existing Supporters' Club as a very positive
move since this would inject new impetus and energy and would be a
valuable
cornerstone of communications with the club.
Pete Ashmore joined Doug and Peter in a very lively and wholly positive
Q&A
session from which it became clear that there is a strong bedrock of
support for the concept.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
================
If you are interested in joining the Trust, please print and fill out
a membership form - see www.darlotrust.co.uk
We are also looking for people to become involved with the running of the
Trust. If you are interested in this, please get in touch with me, either via an email: Ted_Blair@msn.com or if you see me at a game.
And if anyone needs any further information on the Trust, please get in touch. Exiles should find a number of us available for a natter at
away games (see the recommended pub list on www.dafts.co.uk). |
