[Archived] Blackburn Rovers Supporters Trust

[Rover_Shaun]

WEC are not above the Data act

[Ste B]

Any issue is purely at rovers end IF it can be shown that the details came from there. It's more than just emails its full names. You can see that on the unsubscribe page.

[stuwilky]

Nice work BRSIT. A personal email to a work email address? Cheers for that.

Where the hell did that come from? I have also asked Rovers to remove it ages ago after spamming me with that Marketing Daily Deal crap for months.

[American Rover12]

Wow sounds like a massive mess up for BRSIT and a big no no from the club if it turns out thats how they got the info. Was skeptical of this venture already and this is not helping their cause.

[Mike Graham]

Nice work BRSIT. A personal email to a work email address? Cheers for that.

Where the hell did that come from? I have also asked Rovers to remove it ages ago after spamming me with that Marketing Daily Deal crap for months.

Similar Stuart, I asked to remove my details months ago as I did not want any more Rovers sh!t emails about manky shirt or crap ticket deals and then I get this email from BRSIT.

A very foolish own goal that will be difficult to defend.

[winstonsmith]

I don't know for sure but it seems like the Rovers mail list seeing as every ST holder I know got the spam

I don't know for sure but it seems like the Rovers mail list seeing as every ST holder I know got the spam

I have not received this email although I was a ST holder in 2011/12. Could that be because I have already pledged to BRIST or because I did not renew my ST for 2012/13 ?

[Parsonblue]

I must admit that have not pledged any money to BRSIT and having now received an e-mail which I regard as little more than spam I will definitely not be putting any money into this venture. I thought BRSIT was supposed to be a professionally run outfit, clearly I was mistaken. Perhaps someone from that body might like to explain where they got the e-mail addresses from and why they deemed it necessary to take this approach. Clearly, if they are so carefree with regard to privacy they are not a body I would want to entrust my money with. There seems to be more than a touch of desperate about this latest appeal for cash.

[riggers77]

This whole conversation regarding e-mails must be someone's idea of a joke. Every person with an email account who have used it on web sites or filled out forms will get several e-mails a day they have not asked for. Spam is the word.

Have you really got time in your lives to be angry about getting rovers related email.

If u don't want it just press delete.

[gumboots]

This whole conversation regarding e-mails must be someone's idea of a joke. Every person with an email account who have used it on web sites or filled out forms will get several e-mails a day they have not asked for. Spam is the word.

Have you really got time in your lives to be angry about getting rovers related email.

If u don't want it just press delete.

I did. I also unsubscribed from their list and blocked them as senders. that still doesn't answer the question as to how they came to have my email in the first place because even if i allowed Rovers to pass it on to related companies, which i very much doubt i did because i always click the box that says i don't want them to, Brsit is not a partner company of BRFC and that's the only people who should have my details.

[jannerman]

To be fair a reportable breach of the Data Protection act occurs when 1) sensitive personal details (name, address, medical history, religious denomination etc) are released or 2) some information is released that may assist with ID theft (so emails, address, etc) - but the act is (deliberately imo) vague about the numbers but as a rule of thumb with the former something in the region of 200+ records and 2000 for the latter would be enough.

That said, if you give your email address during a course of purchasing a good or service that company is able to pass your details along to other suppliers that supply a similar good or service who are able to then contact you with marketing crap - BUT that is a one-time deal....ALL companies now have an obligation to remove your details and it must be clear how it's done from all marketing material.

Sounds like there have been one or two contraventions here but nothing that's going to send in the rozzers/DPO

Although if I'd have asked for my details to have been removed from a list and then started getting marketing from similar companies I'd be ###### but like riggers77 says I'd just delete it.

Just another example of lack of awareness of rule, regulations, etc, but nothing to be hung for

[mark1875]

Fair points. If venkys ever sell the club to a decent investor which is not local. Groups such as wayne wilds BRSIT die, as there would be no need for it to continue. If we have decent owners and a decent manager, no need for the action group either. So it is worth exploring what BRST have in mind, see how it all pans out. Like all groups there will be teething problems - over to them to sort those things out.

The BRFC Action Group will not disappear just because Venkys do, it is now a very well known group globally which has over the last 10 months given a voice to the'voiceless' and it will continue to stand in representation of its members to ensure the supporters are never without a voice again and best of all? it won't cost the supporters £10 per season for this voice.

Away from the Rovers Trust, I understand how confusing all of this can me. People I have taked to have stigmatised each - BRAG are the protest lot (not my words, I understand they want to come away from that stigma), BRSIT want to take it over, so the umbrella was needed and I'm glad Sir Bill went ahead and put us all in a room together. We all have one goal, and I'm confident NONE of us have a hidden agenda.

The BRFC Action Group are the protest lot? no, the BRFC Action Group is the only democratically elected supporters group of Blackburn Rovers. The BRFC Action Group did not get in front of the F.A, Hugh Robertson, Richard Scudamore or in a few weeks the football league by being the "protest lot", the BRFC Action Group has transparent aims and has actively gone out to achieve them as oppose to pondering.

The full sitting council of Blackburn with Darwen, Wayne Hemingway MBE, Maureen Bateson MBE, Lord Patel of Blackburn and Sir Bill Taylor, together with the deputy Mayor, Salim Mulla and the Mayor of the borough, Zamir Khan and many more prominent people have publicly endorsed the BRFC Action Group, this has not happened because they are a "protest lot".

[Tom]

He did say those weren't his words and until recently id say it's fair to say that was the general view of the masses rightly or wrongly

However the group has stepped up its approach and credentials in pre season with the meetings and the like and that will have gone a long way to enhancing credibility

[glen9mullan]

Having attended the Sir Bill Taylor meeting, which was attended by representatives from BRSIT, BRST, BRFC Action Group, Fans Forum, BRFCS and Vital Blackburn I concluded the following.

BRSIT and BRST have a few issues which need ironing out regarding supporters direct. Supporters direct can only put their weight behind one Trust entity, that currently is BRST who have over the last couple of years been in dialogue to become a legal supporters trust with aims to own a stake in the club and have a member on the board. The administration has changed a number of times in BRST which has not been ideal, with many different people attempting to get this entity off the drawing board and to make it a reality. I have asked a number of questions especially over the last 12 months, and the direction of the BRST has changed a number of times in this period, meaning no straight answers or conflicting answers have been given.

I was originally told that BRST was a group being put together to have Venkys removed with the intention of owning a stake in the club, this now appears to have changed (I think).

Three members of BRST attended last night and all three spoke openly and calmly when questions were asked about the groups direction. Ozz in particular who has been involved a couple of months appeared to be focused on what he would expect from an entity like BRST. He wants to protect the long term interest of supporters to pass through generations of his family and families of supporters like his eternally. He was passionate about his love for the club, and his thoughts of the need to protect supporters interest in general, in what is becoming a money driven sport. He admitted that the group has not evolved as quick as it perhaps should of, but this is certainly no slight on his efforts due to him only recently becoming involved. The long term plan now appears to be for a member to be on the board, which is slightly different to the 20% claim which was made earlier in the year of the stake they wanted in the club, this was prior to Ozz's involvement

Only2Garners was also present and also spoke as openly as he could, there appeared to be a lot of confusion surrounding their launch which had caused cross wires with BRSIT, Which ultimately has confused others especially. It was BRSIT'S Understanding that BRST would hold off any launch for at least 12 months to allow BRSIT Which has gathered momentum to have the full support of Supporters direct. A written agreement was in place, but it now appears that the contents of that agreement are either void, or not understood completely by either party and both parties will now go away and discuss this between themselves.

We asked what the £10 or other subscription charges were for, the answer was , "You are paying for a right to have a say in the BRST". I did say last night to those present that I did not understand what the aim of the BRST was due to the conflicting stories or lack of answers which have been coming from those involved. I'm still not real clear, Ozz said they wanted to be a supporters voice, but this is exactly what the BRFC Action Group as an FSF affiliated group have been aiming for, and have been actively doing for the last 10 months (Will add here they represent those who which to be represented by the BRFC Action Group)

So to summarise,

BRSIT are a group who are looking to either gain a stake in the club or buy it outright, they have a massive portfolio of public backing from major figure heads, ex players ,business's , goverment and supporter groups. They want supporters to pledge £1000 to help purchase this stake which will allow each member equal voting rights surrounding the voting of trustee's who will in turn vote a board of directors, who will in turn run the club if its owned outright.

BRST- Want a member on the board and to arrange away travel, Some of their members claim they want a stake in the club, whilst some dont really seem to know and some say otherwise, although supporters direct want ALL trust at some point to own a stake. They currently hold the golden ticket in terms of supporters direct due to applying for it a couple of years back. BRSIT Need this golden ticket if they are to recieve the full backing of Supporters direct and this is holding back BRSIT in terms of them becoming a Trust under goverment guidelines.

BRFC Action Group. Is now an FSF Affiliated supporters group and is recognised as the only official independent supporters group Blackburn Rovers have (Official meaning the only group the club has no choice but to meet with in terms of the guidelines set out by the FA). The criteria for groups becoming FSF is vast, and the group has passed all the criteria. The group is backed by ALL the MP's of the town and surrounding area's. The full Blackburn Council, Mayor and deputy Mayor, plus the major figure heads from the ethnic community . Has honoury patron backing from Sir Bill Taylor, Lord Patel, Maureen Bateson MBE and Wayne Hemingway MBE. The group is in full dialogue with the clubs new adminstran and met with Shebby Singh yesterday on invitation, which has lead to another meeting being penciled in a couple of weeks. The group has a clear 5 phase plan, which was to meet with the Prem, FA, Football league and sports minister and if no joy to move on to UEFA. Three of these meetings have taken place, the Football league meeting has now had a date agreed by both parties (More news on this in coming days).

The group is also Global with 10 groups offically launched in Australia, Brazil, Finland ,Norway, Ireland,Indonesia, Singapore, Sweden , USA, Zimbadwe. Whilst another 13 groups in other countries are going through their final stages before being offically launched also.

The group is democractically elected committee lead and will continue to be so.

The group is involved in charity work, and has also launched its official away travel with the first game at Ipswich. The tickets for this have been getting booked very quickly so the number of coaches may have to rise.

The group also have quite a few community projects penciled in, and has a football team for both men and women.

The group is free to join and is open to all including Children, a new membership scheme is about o be launched which will have many benefits/discounts/incentives etc as part of the package.

The Action Group is not a pressure or protest group, its a supporters group which will undertake all steps possible to ensure that supporters have a permanent voice and will always actively speak to all parties to seek clarification on rovers, which in turn will be shared back to the supporters.

Ste B came representing BRFCS, and said that they will continue to promote an online community, whilst trying to look at more community projects were people can gather in person. This has already seen a succesful sportsmans dinner, and with the Rovers funeral also being planned they will continue to look to involve supporters in things which can bring people together. He said the podcast have been a great success and this is something which will continue as they try to bring supporters news of developements at rovers.

FansForum- The fans forum are not too sure, what the future is for them and are undecided on their next steps. They will continue to try and have dialogue with the club, although following so many departures, its a little unknown who their contact will be with or indeed if still wanted. They do not want to close the door on any new appointments and are as keen as ever to continue as a forum as they have in previous years.

Finally to conclude, this was a good meeting, and a great opportunity for all the groups to learn about one another and have some meaningful dialogue. Other groups were invited but did not turn up, which was a pity. There is a few issues as listed above which need clarification and ironing out regarding the two trust set up, Especially surrounding the £10 Launch scheme. The new people on the BRST appear a lot more focused than the previous, which is a good sign for that particular group. BRSIT Are moving along nicely for their aims, BRFCS are also happy with their future plans. The FF are unsure of their long term future, whilst the Action Group are more than happy with where they are at and will continue to fight on all fronts.

[ABBEY]

Too many groups = too fractured.

[T.J.Newton]

Is BRAG just BRSIT's Lapdog, created to do the dirty work.

Personally, I trust none of these groups(BRSIT&BRAG in-particular), brsit is run by a back street business man WW that has the ego to see himself as the next JW but without the money or business talent, brag funnily enough is run by people with strong personal connections to brsit's leaders .

I have virtually no faith in the current owners and Steve Kean(and his agent chums) is just a horrid menace to society that represents all that is wrong with modern football in the top leagues, But that doesn't mean I'm going to get behind any of these groups as they don't have the personal finances to do any better and are just as manipulative and they seem to just want to the prestige of running the club but using other peoples money.

this is just my little opinion and I'm sure Ive got a few details wrong but overall i think I'm mostly right in essence.

[Mattyblue]

Too many litte Empire builders.

Absoutely no need for all these competing groups.

[AllRoverAsia]

All this infighting is doing is giving the Owners and their lackeys a good belly laugh.

[Ste B]

Too many litte Empire builders.

Absoutely no need for all these competing groups.

TBF its one of the reasons why the meeting between everybody has been called. Its apparent that there are a number of common goals, its just each should have their own individual approach, and that was pretty much all agreed on.

I'm not going to say much more on the meeting itself, as GlenMullan has pretty much covered it.

[T.J.Newton]

Nobody's fighting, just giving our personal opinion and view on things which is i thought the fundamental reason for having forums like these,

When it comes to The current owners and the so-called manager i think where all unanimously against them and i think its pretty obvious by now they(Kean&his cronies inparticular) really couldnt give a toss what fans think either way but this doesn't mean we automatically have to support and believe everything these other groups tell us.

[he6rt6gr6m]

Is BRAG just BRSIT's Lapdog, created to do the dirty work.

How is that even possible when BRAG came well before BRSIT?

Personally, I trust none of these groups(BRSIT&BRAG in-particular), brsit is run by a back street business man WW that has the ego to see himself as the next JW but without the money or business talent, brag funnily enough is run by people with strong personal connections to brsit's leaders .[/Quote]

This came up yesterday at the meeting. As I understand it as an outsider of these two in particular, BRAG support the BRSIT initiative and would do so regardless of these "personal connections". Also, having met Wayne twice now, I have nothing but respect for the guy for what he's done in the community, his attempted contact with the owners, as well as bringing Dan Grabko's idea of BRSIT to the masses. He's a Rovers fan. Not a man with a hidden agenda.

I have virtually no faith in the current owners and Steve Kean(and his agent chums) is just a horrid menace to society that represents all that is wrong with modern football in the top leagues, But that doesn't mean I'm going to get behind any of these groups as they don't have the personal finances to do any better and are just as manipulative and they seem to just want to the prestige of running the club but using other peoples money.

The people involved in memberships in BRST will pay out of their own pocket for a membership. I presume most, if not ALL of the main faces behind BRSIT have also pledged to the £1,000 cause. So no, it isn't just using "other peoples money". It's also using our OWN money.

this is just my little opinion and I'm sure Ive got a few details wrong but overall i think I'm mostly right in essence.

At the end of the day, if you don't ask, you don't get. You've asked, so hopefully, you'll have answers soon enough. We are all the same people at the end of the day - blue and white.

Too many litte Empire builders.

Absoutely no need for all these competing groups.

Something else that came up yesterday. I think it was SteB who said yesterday that each supporter has their own belief and idea. Supporter groups offer that one fan the opportunity to join like-minded fans in discussing and acting. Just like not everyone agreed with BRAG last season, but some did. That's how the country works. They are all like-minded people with one common goal!

You don't have to be a member of any group. Nobody is forcing you. And currently, the only one asking for your money for membership is BRSIT, who are attempting to buy the club from Venky's. The Rovers Trust, who are a Supporters Trust officially recognised by Supporters Direct and have to mandatorially charge a fee for a share in the company, will, once launched, will also ask for money for membership, but all the details on that haven't yet been released.

Having separate supporters groups HAS worked for BRFC, in my opinion. It has also worked at other clubs for many, many years. But we're all working towards protecting BRFC. I certainly don't feel like we're competing against one another.

[Glenn]

BRFCS?

3.5 We may use your data or allow third parties to use the data, in order to give you information about unrelated goods or services you may find of interest. We may contact you about these services or goods if you consented to the contact

We have that in our T&Cs? I know I like to choose boilerplated forms that give us the most possible protection, but we've never sold (or intended to) details for marketing purposes! Time for me to revisit them I guess

[glen9mullan]

How is that even possible when BRAG came well before BRSIT?

This came up yesterday at the meeting. As I understand it as an outsider of these two in particular, BRAG support the BRSIT initiative and would do so regardless of these "personal connections". Also, having met Wayne twice now, I have nothing but respect for the guy for what he's done in the community, his attempted contact with the owners, as well as bringing Dan Grabko's idea of BRSIT to the masses. He's a Rovers fan. Not a man with a hidden agenda.

The people involved in memberships in BRST will pay out of their own pocket for a membership. I presume most, if not ALL of the main faces behind BRSIT have also pledged to the £1,000 cause. So no, it isn't just using "other peoples money". It's also using our OWN money.

At the end of the day, if you don't ask, you don't get. You've asked, so hopefully, you'll have answers soon enough. We are all the same people at the end of the day - blue and white.

Something else that came up yesterday. I think it was SteB who said yesterday that each supporter has their own belief and idea. Supporter groups offer that one fan the opportunity to join like-minded fans in discussing and acting. Just like not everyone agreed with BRAG last season, but some did. That's how the country works. They are all like-minded people with one common goal!

You don't have to be a member of any group. Nobody is forcing you. And currently, the only one asking for your money for membership is BRSIT, who are attempting to buy the club from Venky's. The Rovers Trust, who are a Supporters Trust officially recognised by Supporters Direct and have to mandatorially charge a fee for a share in the company, will, once launched, will also ask for money for membership, but all the details on that haven't yet been released.

Having separate supporters groups HAS worked for BRFC, in my opinion. It has also worked at other clubs for many, many years. But we're all working towards protecting BRFC. I certainly don't feel like we're competing against one another.

Totally agree with all this post,

[T.J.Newton]

How is that even possible when BRAG came well before BRSIT?

this was a bit of a daft provacative start to my post, But i think you get my meaning, BRAG & BRSIT might have been officially formed at seperate times but the key members of both groups where working together and could have IN THEORY drawn up their entire plan of action long before they became official groups.

and your other explantions didnt really give satisfactory explanations either but ive said my piece you have said yours, we all want rovers to find its soul again and come good.

[he6rt6gr6m]

this was a bit of a daft provacative start to my post,

It was never meant to be provocative, I promise you. It was an obvious statement, though.

But i think you get my meaning, BRAG & BRSIT might have been officially formed at seperate times but the key members of both groups where working together and could have IN THEORY drawn up their entire plan of action long before they became official groups.

I'm sorry, but I just don't buy that conspiracy at all.

[Stuart]

If only one trust organisation can be aligned to the Supporters' Trust, there can be only one winner and one loser.

At a guess I'd say both BRST and BRSIT have a nucleus of strong willed people with the time to give and some people who struggle to remain involved. Wouldn't it make more sense to somehow merge the two trust organisations and pool that resource together for the betterment of (the future of) the club?

I appreciate this wouldn't happen overnight but are there even any signs that this might be an aim?

It's all well and good saying there are subtly different objectives (or even fundemental ones) but surely sorting those out and moving forward as one Trust has to be the objective? If BRST already have the ear or the Supporters Trust, I'd say the onus is on them to let BRSIT help. But as soon as they do, it needs BRSIT to be willing to adapt their aims as much as possible to support and help shape a single organisation.

A seat on the board would be the best place to start, under normal circumstances and for other clubs, but even in these trying times - where more desperate measures may be suggested - it might still be that a more reasonable approach may still be better.

I'd vote for Sir Bill Taylor or Jack Straw to make it onto the board, with the "best" brains of both BRST and BRSIT to back them up.