Donald Johnstone (CaleyD) provides his views on the Supporters Trust in the run up to the first AGM on the 17th November 2005.

I have been a fan of ICT since its formation and (in case it wasn't obvious from my username) a fan of Caley pre-merger. For the majority of my time as a fan of the club I have been in the situation where I felt that being a member of the supporters club was of little or no benefit to me. This was/is no criticism of the Supporters Club or what they do, it was just that my personal circumstances were such that I rarely required transport to games or was able to attend social gatherings, and if I had an issue with our club I was happy to raise it with them directly myself etc. Rightly or wrongly I saw the Supporters Club as providing a service I did not require and therefore found it difficult for me to buy-in to the idea.

I lived away from Inverness for a few years and during that time I would travel up the road almost religiously every weekend when ICT were playing at home. My personal circumstances changed, preventing me from having the finances to follow our club in the same fashion, I no longer had the luxury of coming and going as I pleased and I found myself relying on the generosity of friends for transport to and from games etc. I still wanted to do my part for our club, but was no longer in the financial position to do this in the same manner as I had always done. The one thing I did have plenty of now was time, so I approached our club and offered them my time and experience in whatever areas they needed assistance. I spent a lot of time assisting with various things and investigating ideas which may never have been looked at due to the huge burden placed on our club resources with having to ground-share in Aberdeen, however, many things failed to materialise due to the lack of a final OK from our club. Things which would have given added value for fans and generated additional income for our club. This could get very frustrating at times, being the kind of person I am, it just irks me to see so much wasted opportunity. I did enjoy a good working relationship with a few people at our club, however, upon the recent change of setup I begun to come up against a brick wall whenever I offered any assistance.

Now, you're probably all wondering what I am prattling on about, and what this has to do with the Trust. Well, it's pretty straight forward. With the setup of the Supporters Trust it gives me and others of a similar mind a backdoor into assisting our club and more importantly, delivering benefits for the fans. The way I view it, the Supporters Trust will raise funds for 3 things;

- Firstly, to run and support projects/events for the benefit of our club, it's supporters and the community.

- Secondly, to build a shareholding in our club giving the fans a more powerful voice when it comes to decision making.

- Lastly, donate money to our club for a specific purpose

A small grey area exists between the purchase of shares to inject money into our club and the donation of money. Buying shares obviously increases the Trust shareholding, but it allows them no say in how the funds are used by our club. As things are with our club we have the luxury of a good relationship with those who own/run it. I would therefore have no reason to think the money would not be used properly and that our club would be open to discussion on the spending of money obtained through purchase of shares by the Trust. By making a financial contribution by way of a donation the Trust could specify exactly how it is to be spent, and occasion may arise in the future whereby the Trust and Club disagree on how a financial contribution should be spent and the benefits of specifying how it is spent outweigh the benefit of an increased Trust shareholding.

If our club are unable to put the fans ideas into place then the Supporters Trust is the ideal alternative. In effect it creates a win/win situation. It provides a platform where fans can, if they are willing to put in the work and support it, get what they want. This can be done without the need for our club to take resource away from the day to day running, and everyone benefits because the Trust then invest any money raised into improving club/fan/community relations or they inject money in to our club by way of purchasing shares or making a donation.

I like to view the Supporters Trust as a co-operative where everyone works together for mutual benefit. What fans get from the Trust is only limited by the imagination and what they are willing to put in. Take a moment to think of something you would have liked to have seen from our club over the last few years, if our club can't deliver it, can our Trust? You need to start thinking outside the box, speculate to accumulate if you will. I'm not talking about the Trust operating against our club to deliver these things, but working with them, sharing the tools to make sure the job gets done.

How the Supporters Club and Members Club fit into the equation will be for the members of those Clubs to decide. Personally I'd like to see these clubs continue for a year or so working in parallel with the Supporters Trust. I do not see the need, given the numbers involved, for all 3 to continue indefinitely, many of the functions of both could be incorporated into the Trust, reducing duplication of effort and overheads and allowing more of the resource to be used where it is needed.

Not everything will be available immediately as the Trust will take some time to build funds to allow them to do what the members want. It is understandable that some people will be a little cynical about the Trusts ability to deliver, but the longer they sit on the sidelines looking to pick holes the longer it will take to get going. Last Season our club asked the fans to take a chance on the ground-share and many people threw hundreds of pounds at supporting it and making sure it worked. In comparison a £10 member's fee for the Trust is peanuts.

Nobody is asking people to accept the Trust blindly, in fact, that's probably the worst people could do. Differing viewpoints are needed to put the Trust on track and keep it there, but your point of view counts for nothing if it doesn't carry the weight of a vote. Some have disagreed with the running of the Members Clubs and Supporters Clubs in the past and found it very difficult to have a case heard for change. NOW is the time for you to have your say in the set-up and direction of the Supporters Trust. Why should you pay £10 to be a member of something which is going places you don't want it to go? You shouldn't, you should pay your £10 to get your say in trying to ensure it doesn't start heading there in the first place.

If you haven't yet joined the Trust and it is your intention to do so then an application form can be found here.

With the first AGM of the Trust fast approaching (17th November 2005) it is important to act now in order to secure your vote and have your say as it starts to move forward.

Donald W. Johnstone