Relaunched Trust Backs Category One Move
Thursday, 2nd May 2013 16:52

Ipswich Town Ist, the Supporters Trust, has announced changes to its committee as part of a relaunch and has backed the academy’s move to Category One. The Trust was formed in the wake of the club’s period in administration in 2003 and was highly critical of Town’s decision to opt for Category Two status at the start of the season.

Secretary Colin Kreidewolf told TWTD: “The Trust invited its members to submit names to join the committee with the intention of relaunching.

“Alasdair Ross has replaced Carl Day as acting chairman, although Carl remains on the Trust committee, as do I, alongside other committee members Jane Summerfield, Graham Steel and Rob Freeman.

“The new members are Grant Bage, Gavin Barber, Susan Gardiner and Joe Fairs, who have recently been involved in the production of the one-off fanzine, By Mutual Consent.

“We hope this injection of new people and new ideas will reinvigorate the Trust and take us forward when there are many pertinent issues facing the future of Ipswich Town.

“Amongst these are the Financial Fair Play rules, the increase in solidarity payments to clubs relegated from the Premier League, creating an unfair competition, safe standing and, maybe of most immediate importance, how the club can sustain the ever-rising debt to the Marcus Evans organisation. We are seeking an active dialogue with the club.”

The Trust has welcomed the announcement that Town will be upgrading the academy to Category One in a statement on its website: “If successful, this will be a great step forward in restoring the club's much-loved tradition for producing homegrown talent.

"In recent years the academy, though greatly strengthened with excellent coaches such as Bryan Klug, has sometimes struggled for funding to extend its students sporting and educational development. The Trust hopes that by pursuing Category One status, this work will be resourced in a more sustainable way.”

The Trust criticised the decision to take on Category Two status and last year presented the club with a 5,000-name petition calling on the Blues to opt for Category One, which they felt was ignored by then-chief executive Simon Clegg: “This week's announcement demonstrates that Clegg's failure to respect supporters’ views was an opportunity missed by Ipswich Town.”

Meanwhile, the Trust has praised manager Mick McCarthy and his staff for seeing Town to safety and restoring faith amongst Blues fans: “We want to express our support for Mick McCarthy and his team in what was a remarkable turnaround in the team’s fortunes which has left us more optimistic on the playing side than for many a year.”

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BackToRussia added 17:09 - May 2 They just don't get it.
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StowTractorBoy added 18:00 - May 2 Funny how Carl Day is still there when he widely told us he would not renew his season ticket last season.
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Vexorg added 18:31 - May 2 They have trousered my £5 every year and I haven't heard a peep from well b4 evans took over "The Trust invited its members to submit names .." Er, b@llocks £5 saved from now on!
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itfcjoe added 19:07 - May 2

@stowtractorboy

I don't think it's a necessity for members of the trust committee to have a season ticket, being a supporter and having will to help are the only requirements as far as I'm aware.

@vexorg

I received the info through my membership and that's why I have now joined. Apologies that you haven't, if you send me a PM I can try and find out why if that helps, but appreciate it may be too little, too late.

StowTractorBoy added 19:42 - May 2

itfcjoe In some ways I agree but Mr Day portrays he is a big supporter of Ipswich Town F.C. yet when interviewed on Radio and TV he criticises the Club and says he will choose his games. He had much to say on Category Two for the Academy when all at the top level of the Club made the decision taking into consideration the finances involved in obtaining category one. In my opinion it was the right decision at the time although obviously 5000 others disagreed. My point is that the then Chairman of the Trust should not publicly lambast the Club which does not help anyone. We already have the EADT at the ready to knock us and I do not like our Club being run down. Marcus Evans does not have a bottomless pit and I can fully understand at the time why we opted for Category two. I now understand that we were close to meeting the criteria for Category One which now means we will almost certainly be ready in 2014.

itfcjoe added 19:56 - May 2

The trusts job isn't to blindly support the club with its decisions. It decided amongst its committee/membership that it felt Cat 1 was its best choice - so followed that through, which involved criticising the club at the end.

I don't agree with how the situation was handled as think they could have got point across better, but I don't think Mr Day can be criticised for speaking in behalf of the trust in a critical matter against the club.

linhdi added 22:45 - May 2

But isn't the whole point that - from everything that has come out in the last week - the club was totally right to go Cat 2 in the first place, get everything in place, and then see what it took to move to Cat 1. Club has been totally transparent about this from the very beginning. Trust has lost yet more credibility over this (if that were possible). There is a big difference between people who have to pick and choose games for personal or financial reasons (we have all been there, I am sure), and those who make a huge show of slagging off the club and flouncing away.

itfc1981 added 22:58 - May 2 They had Cleggy's number though.
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itfcjoe added 23:11 - May 2

@linhdi

I'm not sure how much academy football you watch, but it's been clear for a while this season that we have ballsed up the category football wise. The U21 league has been off a very poor standard and this hasn't been great for developing players.

Also if we went for Cat 1 and the audit put us at Cat 2 then that would have meant we'd have has next season at Cat 2 but have had this one at a higher level which we could then revert back to.

Also, the a lot of Clegg's comments were spurious about it. Worried about too much travelling etc. Well with Norwich and big London clubs going 1, we couldn't just play Colchester every week so travelling at Cat 2 was inevitable too.

I find it strange that something lauded by Clegg as his 'biggest achievement' is seen as not good enough before his names been scratched off the door - clearly means there's a lot of doubt as to whether it was the right decision.

The trust needed re-invigorating and hopefully it will happen. It's especially important as there's no voice of the fans as the OSC are totally in the clubs pocket/up its ar*e

Tractastic added 23:17 - May 2

Based on only reports i have seen in the media i am pleased that The Supporters Trust are pushing for a category 1 status which this great club should hold. Clegg was a PR and footbaling disaster and claimed that getting Ipswich a cat 2 status was a real success...yet Colchester (no disrepsect) have the same and Norwich are cat 1.
Now we have a great manager and Clegg, Keane and Jewell (thankfully) have all gone,hopefully ME will have some faith to know that any financial stimulus will be well spent in the future.

linhdi added 23:32 - May 2

Hey, itfcjoke, how do you think using language like "OSC are totally up the club's ar$e" is going to help the Trust to gain any credibility or give you any chance of getting a proper engagement? ITFC, like many clubs, would benefit hugely from an active, representative and professional Supporters Trust. I don't, though, sadly, have any confidence that you and your colleagues provide that, or are ever likely to.

itfcjoe added 23:56 - May 2

I'm not posting in an attempt to gain credibility, I'm posting a view as to why the club needs a strong trust - because there is currently no group representative of the fans.

My language may not have been to your taste but the point remains valid. I look forward to proving you wrong re the trust going forward, the articles that some members have written in recent fanzines show that some of our members are very much in line with the fan base and this will continue and grow.

linhdi added 00:04 - May 3

I'd really like to be proved wrong about the Trust. Are you planning to hold an AGM and produce accounts for the last x years? At that stage (i.e. post-relaunch, when you've had a chance to get some momentum), are you OK to release how many members you have? And how do you intend to work with ITFC - I just don' t see how slagging the club off is likely to do anything other than win you the odd headline.

itfcjoe added 00:16 - May 3

I can only speak for myself, but I certainly won't be slagging of the club for headlines. I've been critical of the trust in the past, I don't really know where it's been for last few years and know I'm not the only one. We couldn't be starting from a lower position but we will get there.

With regards to other questions, I genuinely don't know. I'd hope the new committee members will help to totally reinvigorate it so it is of benefit to the supporter base and is run correctly - which I assume will cover of all those points.

I'm very interested in the supporters direct movement. Things like Safe Standing, £20 away tickets, etc are laudable campaigns that the club has never been pushed for an opinion on. These are areas where I'd hope the Trust can engage with the club.

All the members are itfc fans, and all want the best for the club - I think people need to remember that when jumping to criticise.

itsonlyme added 11:13 - May 3

itfcjoe - I understand what you are saying and agree that the club needs a strong Trust. I joined the Trust when it first started, but became disillusioned mainly because I felt left out of it, living in Bury St. Edmunds and all meetings were in Ipswich, which due to work commitments was difficult to get to. I sincerely hope it becomes strong again and speaks for the ITFC supporter and not just promote it's sometimes, pointless agenda . The supporters Clubs are a mouthpiece for the Club, as far as I am concerned.

itfcjoe added 11:18 - May 3

@itsonlyme

I can't disagree with anything you've put there. I was a lapsed member due to the problems you mention. I'd almost assumed that it had folded it was so quiet. It is up to the new committee members to work with the old ones to re-invigorate it and make it relevant to the fan base. It's not an easy task, as the starting position isn't great and will take a lot of hard work but hopefully it can be achieved.

I hope one day the Trust is something the supporters see as their voice to represent them - we are miles away from that currently.....