This is a joint post from Mike Wray, Paul Maynard, Adrian Ball and Mark Maynard having consulted externally and between ourselves.
Firstly, we are greatly appreciative of the efforts taken by our fellow members upon the Trust board over the last fortnight.
We are encouraged that they have taken the decision to avail themselves of the resources and expertise available from Supporters Direct (SD) and hope this relationship will grow as matters concerning the club have been resolved one way or another.
We are not interested in 'yet another power struggle' as the power enjoyed by the Trust is equally shared by each and every (non-junior) member. We are publishing this to stimulate and encourage debate as to the direction the Trust should take.
While the perception that 'things were going well off the pitch' existed amongst the fan base, such debates were not pursued. We believe that the events of the last few weeks will have seen supporters increasingly look towards the Trust for guidance and to reunite and plan the way forward. We are hopeful that the Trust Board will furnish supporters with all of the information necessary for a healthy debate to be pursued as to the future direction of the Trust itself.
In the light of recent events that have seen ATFC (1992) Ltd. placed into administration, we see more than ever the need for supporters to be a part of a strong Shots Trust that is fully committed to the principles of the Trust movement and the mission statement of SD.
Specifically this is :
“To promote sustainable spectator sports clubs based on supporters’ involvement and community ownership.”
At present, there is no commitment or ambition towards trust or community ownership within our own Supporters Trust mission statement. It should be clear to anyone that the stakeholder group that is feeling the most pain is us, the ordinary supporter. Individually we are almost powerless to influence the direction of ATFC. However, together through a strong and independent Supporters Trust fully committed towards increased governance and influence regarding the Clubs affairs, we would be able to have a real say in the future of the football club.
Recent events have called into question the conduct and competence of some people and individually we can read reports and reach our own conclusions.
However, we are not surprised at recent events and (as a group of former Trust directors) would have preferred the Trust board to have scrutinised properly what was happening at the Club years ago. The warning signs were there for all to see. When each of us served on the Trust Board, we all considered that most of the other board members were more focused on maintaining a cordial relationship with the board of ATFC than the reasons that the membership voted to move from being a Supporters Club into a Supporters Trust a few years ago.
We believed that this directly compromised the ability of our own Trust to operate with independence especially within SD's guidelines. We all felt that those Board Members with whom were served that were Club employees were placed in a difficult position when reconciling their obligations to the Trust with their roles within the Club.
Following recent events at the club, we now believe that a majority of the membership will share our view on this issue and see the need for rules to be put in place to ensure an appropriate independence is maintained between the Trust and the Club in the future.
The distance of this independence can vary to the extent that it would be negligible for a Trust "owned" ATFC but greater when control of the Club lies with a third party(s). In the past, the Trust board had opportunities to implement the new SD Trust model rules that would of helped to resolve the issues described above but the opportunity was missed.
We believe that it is now time to fully commit to the values of the Trust Movement and that the Shots Trust must fully investigate the potential for a Community Club model - a club co-owned by its supporters who no longer have to watch helplessly whilst the power struggles continue without having any kind of influence on what happens to the club they support.
To achieve this, the most appropriate next steps for the Trust board would, in our opinion, be to open dialogue and negotiations with Supporters Direct and Rushmoor Borough Council towards achieving community ownership of the football club.
We urge supporters to join the Shots Trust and we also urge Trust members to recognise the value in having a Trust that operates in full accordance with the principles and rules espoused by SD.
We hope that the Shots Trust BOD will now clearly and unequivocally state it's commitment to SD and the Trust movement and embrace all of the principles which could of made such a big difference so long ago.
We as Trust members will be submitting the relevant resolutions to be put before the membership at the next Trust AGM and urge our fellow members and the Trust board of directors to support these resolutions towards SD principles and the future benefits they would bring to members and indeed every Aldershot supporter.
Any comments or further suggestions regarding this statement may be directed to the following email address:
all4oneshots@yahoo.co.uk
Thank you.