Aston Villa Supporters Trust

Villa fans have been critical of the new home kit (e.g. checks) and the extraordinary delay in getting the replica kits out for sale missing vital commercial revenue at the start of the season. However, this is yet another kit change when the Villa originally had in its fans’ charter a 2 yr cycle; however, this was changed without consultation with fans, as the Trust pointed out years ago.

The BBC have now highlighted this issue across all PL clubs when the PL’s original charter had 2 year cycles and was recommended by the Football Task Force. Click here to read article.

Supporter Liaison Officers at clubs already exist in a limited number of European countries and primarily help improve the dialogue between the fans and the clubs they support. Most importantly, SLOs must be credible with fans, and therefore should have experience with and contacts to the networks in the fanbase at the club.

The introduction of a new UEFA licensing requirement from season 2012/13 for all clubs to have an operating Supporter Liaison Officer (SLO) marks an important new chapter in club to supporter relations and emphasizes how important this relationship is considered.

For further information, please click here to access SD website.

Dave Boyle, CEO of Supporters Direct, will be on the Politics Show in London talking about the Government’s commitment to support co-operative ownership structures. The programme starts at 12:00, and Dave Boyle will be on after 12:30. The show will available on iPlayer afterwards.

Dave Boyle will also be on Panorama on Tuesday 8th June (“Man Utd – Into the Red” 10.35pm BBC1) talking about football finances and the problems within football.

Congratulations to Emile Heskey, James Milner and Stephen Warnock for making the final World Cup squad.

As Villa supporters, we wish you all the best on the pitch – now bring that World Cup, lads!

A national conference is to be held (12-13 June 2010) to allow football fans from across the country to offer their views on the Government’s commitment to giving supporters a greater say in the running of their clubs.

The conference is being organised on the back of a growing political consensus about the potential for football fans to buy out their clubs by setting up co-operatives, similar to those that already own and run clubs like FC Barcelona and Hamburg SV. The new Coalition Government has pledged to support the creation of mutually-owned clubs in its “Programme for government”.

Hosted by Supporters Direct, which represents more than 160 supporters’ trusts in the UK, Saturday is themed A Better Vision for Football and will give football fans the chance find out more about the proposals under consideration. It will also allow fans to speak directly with politicians, club chairmen, bloggers and writers, as well as representatives of football clubs already owned by supporters’ trusts.

In addition, the keynote speaker on Saturday will be made by the award winning film director Ken Loach, responsible for the modern cult classic Looking for Eric, also responsible for a recent documentary about the response of football fans to their sense of alienation from the game. Co-operatives UK chief executive Ed Mayo will be addressing delegates on Sunday.

Dave Boyle, chief executive of Supporters Direct, said: “We know all about the problems faced by fans and clubs, but now its time for a big push to bring some solutions. This conference is a rally for change in football – change in the way fans influence their clubs and change in the way the game is regulated. ”

He added: “In the last season, the efforts of a fans at Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle built on the work done up and down the country by supporters trusts, and as a result politicians of all parties said they were concerned about the issues of fan involvement. The process of turning that concern into action starts now, and this conference is the first step.”

Oliver Houston, deputy chief executive of MUST, who will be speaking at the conference, said: “Regardless of the level of football, clubs are in financial turmoil and fans are being bypassed in decisions that have a life-or-death effect on their clubs. The Manchester United Supporters’ Trust, like all supporters trusts, offers us all a way of making sure that we can be heard, and ultimately determine the future of our clubs.”

Starting on the day of England’s opening World Cup match against the USA (12 June 2010, K.O. 8.30pm), the match will be shown live on a big screen.

Following the recent Red Knights moves at Man Utd, Liverpool fans wanting to buy the Club, as well as the Portsmouth administration issues, football fan ownership has been in the spotlight. This has been further added to by the announcement by Labour to transfer 25% ownership to supporters via Supporters’ Trusts. This has been welcomed by UEFA President Platini.

As David Conn adds in his article, good news but a little too late after all the good work in the early years of the Football Task Force and setting up Supporters Direct.

Guardian article re Platini – Manifesto pledge: “a great idea”

SD reacts to political football

The following News Release has been received today from Supporters Direct, following Labour’s manifesto pledge on fan ownership in football clubs.

Reports in The Guardian today (more detail from Owen Gibson and commentary from David Conn) suggests that the Government are looking at radical proposals to give fans a right-to-buy their clubs and enabling them to take a 25% stake in the club. They also say that the government wants to see the powers of the football authorities beefed up to give them more power to veto takeovers of clubs which are not in the club’s interests nor that of the supporters nor the wider game.

Meanwhile The Guardian and Daily Mail both quote Conservative Shadow Sports Minister Hugh Robertson saying that there are other ways in which supporters can be guaranteed representation without needing ownership stakes, whilst Don Foster for the Liberal Democrats dismisses the idea of supporter-ownership as a ‘pipedream’ (I wonder if he’s bothered to note the Co-operatives UK/You Gov opinion poll saying exactly the opposite) – but does agree with us that ownership is not a panacea, making the point that football “urgently need(s) a radical overhaul of the FA to better represent supporters and act in the interests of the game.”

Supporters Direct Chief Executive Dave Boyle said:

“The two parties – one of which will form the basis of the next government – both agree fans should have a stake in the clubs they support and are pledged to work to make it happen. That’s great news for the trust movement and long-overdue recognition that clubs aren’t businesses like any other.

“We look forward to the next government – whoever it is – putting fans at the heart of the game and we will work with them to make it happen”

Now football’s genuinely on the political agenda, maybe you would consider writing or emailing your Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (PPC’s) standing in your constituency, to see if they agree with either Labour, the Conservative or the Liberal Democrats – or if you’re in Wales, Plaid Cymru – and their policies on football.

We’ve included the links to their candidates below:

Conservative Party
Labour Party
Liberal Democrats

And Michel Platini, UEFA’s President, has now weighed in supporting the proposals, ‘saying that supporters were the only people who had a genuine “identity” with clubs.’ (Link above)

North of the Border, the Rangers Supporters Trust are reportedly discussing the possibility of a buyout of the debt ridden Scottish club in partnership with other, wealthy fans. Interesting days indeed.

The Birmingham Post have written an article (by Lisa Smith) on the Statue. Please click link here.  The macquette of the statue is shown off well.

We also have on BBC an excellent piece by Sitala Peek here.

 More updates here as we identify coverage.

The Supporters Trust has for sale on Ebay an item where the proceeds will be put towards the statue of William McGregor which is due to unveiled at Villa Park this Saturday. To access EBay page, click here.

This was the flag carried by Allan Evans, as Villa’s representative at Preston Cathedral in 1988 with representatives of the other 11 founder members of the Football League. It has been donated by the Football League and there is a letter to this effect which is included in the auction. There’s also a photcopied page with photos of the other 11 flags and the Villa one is blocked out, but you will see that this is of the same style.

The flag is in very good condition and can come with the flagpole which has some signs of wear on the gilt.

Your support is appreciated;  please pass onto fellow Villa fans or this message can be used for publication on other websites.

Lord Mawhinney, Chairman of the Football League, is to unveil the William McGregor statue at Villa Park this forthcoming Saturday prior to the home game against Spurs.  The ceremony is due to commence at 4pm outside the Directors entrance, Trinity Road stand. 

William McGregor was a Director of Aston Villa Football Club and moreover is credited with being the brainchild behind the formation of The Football League. The Club and Supporters’ Trust have been committed to honouring his massive contribution to English and World Football by placing a permanent commemoration for all to see at Villa Park.

The Supporters’ Trust has been working with the Club on this project over a number of years, and appointed the sculptor Sam Holland to design and build the statue. The funding has come from supporter donations and financial support from the Club. A time capsule has been placed in the base of the Statue.

The Supporters’ Trust would like to thank the Directors, the Club & its managers, Sam Holland, Lord Mawhinney, and the Aston Villa supporters for their donations in making this day happen.

For article on AVFC.co.uk,  click here

For further information, please visit the  following websites.

Sam Holland: www.samholland.co.uk

Football League: www.football-league.co.uk

Supporters Direct, the organisation representing over 150 supporters’ trusts in the UK, welcomed a series of recommendations (on 21st April) from the Parliamentary All Party Football Group (APFG) calling for greater and more formal supporter representation at football clubs, using the already successful model of supporters’ trusts – a model already seen widely in the top four divisions.

The report calls for the introduction of supporter representatives on the board of every club, and that this representative will be elected and sit on a Supporters’ Trust. You can read the report in full by clicking here – refer to Chapter 5.

This recommendation follows on from a similar call by then-Culture Secretary James Purnell in 2007.

The report, published today, also recommends that supporters are given more representation within the game’s governing bodies – including the FA Board.

Welcoming the recommendations, Chief Executive Dave Boyle said, “We’re very pleased that the group have recognised the importance of supporters’ involvement and taken account of the good work done across the game by supporters’ trusts.

Commenting further on some of the other recommendations, he added:

“There are some other important recommendations within the report. We are particularly pleased at their support for consolidating and extending the Fit and Proper Persons Test, having seen so many cases where owners of clubs were in no way suitable to own a community asset like a football club.

“As important as stopping the wrong person taking over clubs is stopping clubs doing the wrong things, and we endorse the recommendations on financial stability and on introducing a licensing system for clubs.

“We also share the concerns of the committee as to the wider financial health of the game and worry that an industry which saw over half of its clubs enter administration in favourable times will have severe problems in the middle of the worst recession for a generation.”