Thursday night saw the inaugural meeting of the Ipswich Town Supporters Trust which immediately followed David Sheepshanks passionate plea for fans to back him. The Trust meeting was attended by around 500 supporters.

On stage introducing the concept of a Trust were Alasdair Ross, former editor of Dribble! fanzine, Phil Ham of TWTD, Brian Attmore from the Cambridge United Trust and Simon Binns from Supporters Direct along with Nigel De'Ath a Town supporting insolvency practitioner, there to answer questions regarding the club's administration.

Simon Binns started proceedings with a fifteen minute run down of the history of Supporters Trusts. He said they are a product of the Football Taskforce aimed at getting greater fan representation with many ideas based on an early Trust formed at Northampton Town.

Supporters Direct, the body which advises fans on the formation of Trusts, is Government-funded and has already helped fans of 80 clubs form Trusts. These range from AFC Wimbledon and Kettering Town up to Manchester United, Leeds United and Newcastle United.

A Trust is a mutual organisation, a member organisation where each member is as powerful as any other, one member is entitled to one vote irrespective of the amount of money the individual has invested in the Trust. Everyone is balloted and everyone's opinion matters.

Of the 80 Trusts 38 have a substantial shareholding in their clubs. As well as the Trust owning shares it can have the power of proxy over any shares owned by its members, ie an individual's vote can be given to the Trust giving the Trust (and therefore fans) a stronger voice.

The power of a Trust can be utilised to any ends. AFC Wimbledon's Trust has recently bought Kingstonian's ground for example. While players, managers and administrators come and go it is the fans who remain a constant at any club.

A number of clubs now have Trust members on the board of their club. These are elected by fans and can be removed by fans. Binns said that these are not “the great unwashed” as fans have often been tarred, an example being Chris Gavin the fan-appointed board member at Aberdeen. He was recently late for a meeting, one of his first as a board member. The reason? Because he had only just flown in from Dubai where he had been negotiating a multi-billion pound merger between two of the world's larger oil companies.

Brian Attmore from Cambridge Fans United outlined the experiences they have had as a Trust since its formation two years ago. He felt they were initially “too grandiose” in their outlook and have since taken a more pragmatic view of their Trust's development.

He illustrated some of the pitfalls of supporters' organisations providing clubs with cash without receiving anything in return. At Cambridge supporters provided money for a gym which the manager of the time felt was very much required. However, his successor took a different view of things and the equipment was sold off with the supporters, those who had raised the cash, receiving nothing.

Cambridge Fans United are now the third largest shareholder at their club and have picked up shares gradually over the years of their existence. At one point the club was unable to meet a wage bill of £50,000 and approached the Trust for help. This was provided but on the proviso that they were given shares in return.

Their Trust has raised money in a variety of ways including 50/50 fundraisers with charities which have helped gain them coverage in the local press. They have also held fund-raising youth football tournaments.

He also outlined other fund-raising ideas at other clubs. Exeter City's Trust produced Grecian Ale, a beer from which their Trust gained 5p from every pint sold. This also illustrated a fundamental aspect of Trusts; utilising the skills of the membership. They happened to have a brewer in their membership and made the most of his skills.

After Brian Attmore's speech questions were taken from the floor, the first to Nigel De'Ath on the subject of Town's administration and proposed change in the laws relating to administration. De'Ath said that the club's administration is under the 1986 Administration Act (of which he had a copy with him) and the changes in the law, part of the Enterprise Bill, would not come into force until June.

Regarding another question De'Ath felt that David Sheepshanks had been ill advised to refer to ‘temporary administration' when the club went into administration. He felt that the reason for terming Town's as ‘temporary administration' (not a term in law) was to differentiate it from Leicester's sale of the assets of the old company and the formation of a new company.

De'Ath felt that David Sheepshanks was right in the way he described what has been referred to as the club's debt as the club's contingent liabilities. The figures of around £50 million which have been bandied about of late refer more to potential rather than actual overdraft type debt (ie a player's contract may be worth £1 million over the next two years but should he be sold that potential liability would no longer be there).

Simon Binns was asked how he viewed the chairman's proposed solutions to club's financial problems. He felt that the ideas were the same plans and solutions which clubs have used for years. He pointed out the danger of long-term season ticket schemes, referring to Huddersfield fans who bought four-year season tickets a year ago only to find themselves in administration this season, the money having been spent and with it appearing that they will have to buy their season tickets once more.

A supporter made a point regarding David Sheepshanks who, he said, had made a lot of money from the club over the last two years despite working for five years for free. He said he felt that the chairman's own business had been helped by the high profile he enjoyed when things were going well for the club. In addition he and the board enjoyed the trips to Europe at the expense of the club staying in “five-star hotels.”

One fan asked why Leicester have come out of their administration apparently so strong. Simon Binns, who is development officer for the Foxes Trust, felt this was effectively because they “screwed a lot of creditors”.

The new board at Leicester left a lot of the debt in the old Leicester City PLC which the new company are not responsible for. The creditors who did get something were the secured creditors like the Crown while the smaller unsecured creditors like the St John's Ambulance, the club's caterers etc lost out, receiving virtually nothing of what they were owed.

Nigel De'Ath was asked how Leicester's administration was viewed by the insolvency industry. He said that it was standard practice to act in the way they did.

Binns said that not all clubs have come out of administration looking as healthy as Leicester, Swindon Town are currently five months into their second administration while Notts County could well be thrown out of the league altogether in May.

He continued and outlined how membership of Trusts works. In a typical Trust a member pays £10 to join which includes £1 for a share in the company. Members have a limited liability which means that in the unlikely event that a financial calamity should befall the Trust they won't get bailiffs knocking at the door.

The question of players contracts and what would happen if they aren't paid was broached. Simon Binns said that Bradford City tried to sack 18 players last summer but couldn't do so due to the watertight nature of the contracts. Benito Carbone's lawyers effectively threatened to win the company up. Nigel De'Ath pointed out that under Football League rules all football debts have to be met in full.

Binns said that at Huddersfield it was the players who took the club into administration after the club failed to pay them.

A fan asked where the rest of the board were, none of them, other than David Sheepshanks and Derek Bowden having been present at either meeting [no member of the board was at the Supporters Trust meeting, Derek Bowden apologised prior to its start for not attending as he felt that his presence might cause the meeting to focus on issues which were more the business of the previous meeting - PH]. Alasdair Ross had attended the earlier shareholders meeting at Portman Road where Lord Ryder was present but none of the rest of the board.

A questioner asked what a Trust's reasonable objectives would be. Simon Binns felt that aims might be to acquire shares with 10% a figure to achieve, as that would allow a Trust to call an EGM. He suggested that with Town's share issue coming at the end of the summer a share-save scheme might be instituted once the Trust is up and running.

Phil Ham proposed a vote to form a Trust at Ipswich which was seconded by Alasdair Ross. The proposal was carried unanimously.

Simon Binns was asked where we go from here. He said that the establishment of a working party was an initial step. Then the adoption of a constitution (Supporters Direct provide a model constitution, aspects of which a Trust chooses to adopt). A website, a formal name for the Trust, designing logos etc are all other immediate steps as is networking with other Trusts. Supporters Direct can help with the opening of a bank account.

Alasdair Ross felt that we should mobilise as quickly as possible to get the Trust going. A show of hands showed many of those present were keen to be involved in the working party aiming to take the Trust forward.

Simon Binns said that he felt Nick Dargan, Town's Deloitte and Touche administrators, would be willing to talk to a Trust once it is formally instituted. This is something which previously happened at Leicester City.

Phil Ham was asked how the David Sheepshanks meeting became part of the Supporters Trust gathering. He explained that the club had suggested the idea as the chairman wanted to hold a meeting which would interest the same people as the Supporters Trust. After discussion with Supporters Direct it was felt that the chairman's meeting would bring in more people and ultimately help the Trust get started with greater numbers.

With that the meeting closed and the vast majority added their names to lists asking for regular members of the Trust and volunteers for the working party. These are to be collated in a database over the next week or so with contact being made after next Wednesday's London meeting (April 9th, Ye Olde Swiss Cottage pub, above Swiss Cottage tube station, prompt 7.30pm start).

Anyone interested in joining the Trust or being involved in the working party email philip.ham@twtd.co.uk with your name, address, email address, phone number and occupation. More details of how Supporters Trusts work can be found at http://www.supporters-direct.org/englandwales/faq.htm

Ipswich Town Polls