The Supporters Trust....

[maimie]

following on from latviaman's post...

is it now time for the supporters trust to be pushing to gain a seat on the board of the football club?

should they now be approaching minor shareholders 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?

proxying your shares does not mean you give up ownership of them.  it does not mean you cannot attend AGMs or EGMs - you can and you can also ask for your proxy to be returned to you at any time.

ICT have loads of 250 shareholders out there who do not attend meetings and who just bought the shares to own a wee bit of their club.  some shareholders may have passed away and their relatives may not even know that they have these shares.

the Trust already have the voting right previously held by the Members cluib.

surely if the trust did this they could be well on the way to being able to influence decision-making within the club?

EDITED TO FORGET THE POLL AND MAYBE FOLK WILL JUST ANSWER THE QUESTIONS..... :001:

[alimci]

Maimie, you just have to click on "Post New Poll", next to "New Topic" on the main menu.

First three bits, same as normal:

Subject:    Brewster Poll

Description:    Enemy at the Gate?

Message icon: 

Next bits:

Put in your question

Question:    Should Brewster return?

Fill in as many options as you have answers

Option 1: No

Option 2: No way

Option 3: I'll burn in **** first

Then tick the other bits as you see fit.

Hope this helps!

[L_G]

What poll do you want?

Which hat are your wearing today?  Is this post from Maimie ICT supporters club Chair, Maimie Trust Board member or just Maimie ICT supporter.  :003:

[maimie]

What poll do you want?

Which hat are your wearing today?  Is this post from Maimie ICT supporters club Chair, Maimie Trust Board member or just Maimie ICT supporter.  :003:

loads of hats today - but which ever is in the best interests of the club which is always first......

[CaleyD]

No

No

No

Yes - if you tell me what question you want asked.  Don't know of a way to include all 3 in one poll on the forums.

[maimie]

took the bit about the poll out CD and L-G as the more i thought the more complicated the questions became though i'm not sure why!!

the things i was sort of thinking about were really as i said - should the trust push for a seat on the board, should they approach shareholders for their proxy given that many are silent non active shareholders anyway.

and if not why not.....

anyway maybe we'll get some thoughts now....

[CaleyD]

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.

[Scotty]

is it now time for the supporters trust to be pushing to gain a seat on the board of the football club?

Considering that Mr Sutherland was on the board with a very small personal shareholding (at the time) then I dont see why not. I dont necessarily think the 'trust' should have a guaranteed seat on the board but perhaps they could throw their weight behind a candidate and endorse and vote for him/her should there be a vote required. I would even go as far as to name a particular candidate right here and now as I believe this person has shown themselves to be not only intelligent and articulate but also a man of integrity as a fan, a supporters' trust member, and also a moderator of this forum. I am of course talking of the other David Sutherland or DJS as he is known to others.

should they now be approaching minor shareholders for their proxy?

They should have been doing this from the start. Not only approaching shareholders but also putting a link/form on their website so that supporters can approach them. I have previously offered my shares for proxy but no-one ever followed this up.

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 I said above - dont think anyone should be guaranteed a seat on the board - think it should be earned. If the trust endorse the right candidate then their vote and many small shareholder votes would probably ensure the person was elected.

surely if the trust did this they could be well on the way to being able to influence decision-making within the club?

The only way to guarantee any decision is to have a 51% share. I think many things influence the club already and one of them is the trust. I dont see that adding a few hundred or even a few thousand shares would have greater influence.

[maimie]

thanks CD.

it depends entirely on what you class as being 'truly representative'.  the Trust should have the interests of the football club at its very core and should not be seen as representing just a small minority.

i think that you'll find that in most trusts their membership is far less than those who have season tickets or who attend games but this should not stand in the way of fans having a say.  if we were to sit about waiting for all the season ticket holders to join before trying to influence decision-making at the club we'd be waiting a long long time.

once the trust are in this position surely people would realise that by joining they too would have a voice and be able to influence decision making both within the trust and the club

[Scotty]

the Trust should have the interests of the football club at its very core

Surely the Supporters' Trust should have the interests of the football club's Supporters at its very core ? and it is those supporters who are working in what they see as the best interests of the club ......

[CaleyD]

IMO, there's absolutely no reason why every Season Ticket holder should not be a member of the Supporters Trust.  The mere purchase of said Season Ticket should be sufficient, but by no means the exclusive method of joining.

Only when the Supporters Trust removes all barriers from joining, and by that I mean the membership fee, will they approach being anything like fully representative.  Anyone who does not wish to join at that stage can make no argument and can't expect to have a voice.

Until that time I do not think that any Trust Representative sitting on the BoD can do so with hand on heart and say they are representing "The Fans".

[maimie]

the Trust should have the interests of the football club at its very core

Surely the Supporters' Trust should have the interests of the football club's Supporters at its very core ? and it is those supporters who are working in what they see as the best interests of the club ......

my apologies scotty - yes the interests of the supporters but to me that means ultimately the club as without that there would be no supporters....  and by that i mean the club itself and not the board.

[Scotty]

the Trust should have the interests of the football club at its very core

Surely the Supporters' Trust should have the interests of the football club's Supporters at its very core ? and it is those supporters who are working in what they see as the best interests of the club ......

my apologies scotty - yes the interests of the supporters but to me that means ultimately the club as without that there would be no supporters....  and by that i mean the club itself and not the board.

I know I am splitting hairs here maimie but the logic seems backwards. You said "to me that means ultimately the club as without that there would be no supporters...."

I say that without supporters, there would be no club !!!

As much as CD has his reservations about the Supporters Trust, I am in the opposite camp and embrace it but seeing postings like that where not once, but twice, comments are made that put club first and supporters second rather than the other way round makes me wonder .....

In my opinion, the supporters trust should always look after the interests of the supporters first and the club second. Normally this will not be in conflict with anyone as the supporters want whats best for the club and hopefully so do the club. But if there is an issue that puts supporters and club on opposite sides then the mentality of club first / supporters second would inevitably lead to huge problems.

As for membership, i tend to disagree with CD. Unlike the now defunct members' club, everyone has the opportunity to join the trust and can do so quite easily. If they choose not to do so then that is their choice, you cant force them. I do however think that there is an opportunity here to drive up membership with something that Don said. Why not approach the club and ask them to include a supporters trust leaflet with next season's ticket renewal forms and on the actual form itself have a box for them to indicate join the ST yes/no and the associated cost which would be added to their bill ?

[Guest eliza]

What do I do to join the Supporters Trust?  What's the benefit to Club, Trust and Supporter? What's the cost?  What does the Trust do with the monies? 

I still don't understand the difference between the Trust and the Supporters Club except that the Trust seems to be a bit "higher up the scale"? and, dare I say it, gives the impression of being more important (or that's the way I think they see themselves).    I apologise if I am stepping on toes here, but that's just my feeling.  I await being corrected and chastised by Trust members!

[maimie]

no need for chastisement eliza!

to join all you need to do is fill out a form.

the cost is a mear ?10 a year which is not even ?1 a month

the monies raised so far have gone to various projects.  some to the football club, some to the youth developement part of the club, some to assist the inverness select when they recently took part in an international tournament.  there are also a few more ideas in the pipeline

and no - i certainly don't thing they're higher up the scale or think they're more important.

there are some differences between the supporters club and the trust but may be too many to discuss here but give me a call on 07720 433660 and we can have a coffee and a chat if you're interested....