is it now time for the supporters trust to be pushing to gain a seat on the board of the football club?
No - Until such time as the Trust itself is truly representative of the fans then I do not think it is the right move.
should they now be approaching minor shareholders for their proxy?
I think the Trust should always be looking to strengthen it's voice, but I believe their are far more important things it should be doing at present than chasing fans for their proxy.
surely gathering all the smaller shareholdings (and hopefully some of the larger ones) together in order to have more of a say and facilitate gaining a board seat cannot be a bad thing?
As well intentioned as the Trusts motives may be for having more of a say, until such time as they can unquestionably say they are speaking for the majority of fans in a democratic non-exclusive environment then it runs the danger of being accused of obtaining that voice to serve a small minority. Not a healthy proposition at present.
the Trust already have the voting right previously held by the Members cluib.
Not an ideal situation IMO, but far better than the previous setup and any alternatives.
surely if the trust did this they could be well on the way to being able to influence decision-making within the club?
As I have said above, I think this would be a positive. However, the time is not now, the Trust is not big enough or representative enough of the fans as a whole to acting as their "voice" - certainly not on any club Board.
At this moment in time the Trust hold a 12% Voting right but it's membership can't boast the same level of fan membership (compared to Season Ticket Holders). I'm all for increasing the "power" of the Supporters Trust, but I think it would be wiser to concentrate just as much, if not more so, on increasing it's membership to become more representative.