[Archived] Rovers Trust

[Miller11]

When talking about any future owners, the new financial fair play rules have to be considered.

Obviously the losses we are currently making are unsustainable, and looking at the rules, it simply can't continue.

http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/FLExplainedDetail/0,,10794~2748246,00.html

[Daniel Louis Grabko (Dan)]

Do we really want a situation where we have a consortium buying the club?

Do you really think an incredibly wealthy perspective buyer is going to let a random bunch of supporters vet them?

The Trust needs to be realistic about what they can possibly achieve. They are taking money and it seems to be that they might be selling people on some very unlikely scenarios. It's a supporters group that can be used to speak for the supporters as a whole in the attempt to influence how the club is run. It is unlikely that it will ever have that much influence and I hope that it isn't somehow planning to scrape together enough to buy the club.

This idea that it might one day be heavily involved in finding a new owner and in the day-to-day running of the club is unrealistic and, quite frankly, terrifying. I have no doubt that there are a ton of capable people involved in the Trust, but a big problem with how our club is currently run is that a lot of unqualified people are holding important positions. Caring about the club doesn't mean that you'll make the right decisions and that needs to be clear for everyone involved.

Eddie, the idea isn't that the Trust would run the club, even in the highly unlikely event that it ended up the majority owner after some kind of worst case scenario event. The Trust has always maintained that it would not be involved in the day to day running of the club, but would hire proven professionals within the industry to do that. This board of directors would be held accountable by the Trust as the majority owner.

In the case of a meaningful minority ownership, golden share type clauses would be sought out as conditions for the Trust's investment of the raised £Xm to guarantee that the Trust could not be ignored at boardroom or investor level.

It would not be a bunch of random supporters, either, but an organised and hopefully substantial portion of the fan base that are putting up real millions to invest at a similar level to the individual investors that might be part of a consortium.

What I find terrifying is the fact that you are so adamantly against supporter and community based ownership as a positive part of the ownership structure of any professional football club. It is kind of baffling, really. You are using belittling terms like "scraping up enough money," "a bunch of random supporters," etc. Why?

I too miss the Jack Walker days, and wish I could go back there, but they are gone, and what has happened to the club since his legacy sold the club to Venkys is the only reason I need to be convinced that supporter-based community ownership should be a part of the ownership structures of every professional football club, to ensure clubs aren't brought to their knees like ours and many others have been in the last 20 odd years since the Premier League came into existence.

[Eddie]

Because I want this club to be successful on the pitch and there is no way that a club with our level of support could ever be successful without at least some financial support. That might mean the £3m or so that the Walker Trust was pumping in that allowed the club to compete in the top half of the table, or that mean a Jack Walker style leve of investment that allows us to attain real success, but, as Rev has pointed out, for the time being we should be happy to have people paying the bills, even if they are incompetent and are making the bills larger in the process.

As for the belittling talk, I don't mean it to be so, but, as I said, whilst I do know that there are some intelligent people involved in this, I am worried that not everyone involved is necessarily qualified to be playing any sort of part in the take over of a multi-million pound business and this sort of thing can be taken over by the loudest mouth in the room. It's happened to some of the other groups that have emerged over the past 18 months.

I hope that the Trust is successful, but I hope that it changes its goals and attempts to achieve some more realistic targets.

It scares me to think that it might act as some sort of broker in a deal, because anyone who would really want the Trust to be heavily involved in a takeover isn't the sort of owner that we would want.

[Stuart]

I hope that the Trust is successful, but I hope that it changes its goals and attempts to achieve some more realistic targets.

It scares me to think that it might act as some sort of broker in a deal, because anyone who would really want the Trust to be heavily involved in a takeover isn't the sort of owner that we would want.

Those two statements appear to contradict each other, Eddie.

Part ownership with an outright backer IS a realistic aim yet you wouldn't want an owner who wants to work with the Trust. ( Do you mean 'needs' rather than 'wants'?)

If not I'm not sure what you want.

[darrenrover]

Because I want this club to be successful on the pitch and there is no way that a club with our level of support could ever be successful without at least some financial support. That might mean the £3m or so that the Walker Trust was pumping in that allowed the club to compete in the top half of the table, or that mean a Jack Walker style leve of investment that allows us to attain real success, but, as Rev has pointed out, for the time being we should be happy to have people paying the bills, even if they are incompetent and are making the bills larger in the process.

As for the belittling talk, I don't mean it to be so, but, as I said, whilst I do know that there are some intelligent people involved in this, I am worried that not everyone involved is necessarily qualified to be playing any sort of part in the take over of a multi-million pound business and this sort of thing can be taken over by the loudest mouth in the room. It's happened to some of the other groups that have emerged over the past 18 months.

I hope that the Trust is successful, but I hope that it changes its goals and attempts to achieve some more realistic targets.

It scares me to think that it might act as some sort of broker in a deal, because anyone who would really want the Trust to be heavily involved in a takeover isn't the sort of owner that we would want.

+1

Eddie with all that you and Rev have had to say.

I could always personally ever only see the Trust as a bit part player in the overall scheme of things, which differed from their own earlier aspirations.

However, the prospect of a say in a potential new dawn is worth a tenner in my book. (its only a pint of 1664 in Paris!)

The real test as to whether you believe in the prospects or not is when you are asked to divi up multiples of £1,000 in return for shares.

But one step at a time I guess.

[Ozz]

Dan Clough has done a little piece in the LT today. Link Here.

Had a quick look at the comments after the article just to gauge reaction,and I think this is the best comment I have ever read!

Angry From Accrington

says...

"And another thing, how can we possibly take any organisation seriously
while it is headed by people with names like Ozz and Wayne. This is
Ewood Park, not Grange Hill."

[RevidgeBlue]

My apologies for seeming to attack your personal finances. They are of no consequence but your group is indeed penniless in the context of forcing any potential change of ownership. By all means huddle together in your little club led by Wolfie Wild while the rest of us real supporters pay our money and earn the right to be heard. Appletons sacking, by the way is a positive sign that however inept this regime may be, they are prepared to admit mistakes and bankroll the remedy. What does the Tufty Club have to offer?

One or two on the LT website sceptical of the Trust, that comment beneath the main article made me laugh.

[47er]

Surely its beneath you to sneer at other Rovers fans who are merely trying their best to save the Club we all love. For Topman's benefit my attitude towards the Trust is exactly the same as I've maintained towards BRAG.

Have you anything at all to suggest of your own?

[bob fleming]

My apologies for seeming to attack your personal finances. They are of no consequence but your group is indeed penniless in the context of forcing any potential change of ownership. By all means huddle together in your little club led by Wolfie Wild while the rest of us real supporters pay our money and earn the right to be heard. Appletons sacking, by the way is a positive sign that however inept this regime may be, they are prepared to admit mistakes and bankroll the remedy. What does the Tufty Club have to offer?

One or two on the LT website sceptical of the Trust, that comment beneath the main article made me laugh.

Just on the point underlined above alone, have you gone stark raving mad Rev? On another thread you also question why Seneca can't get the Rao's to listen.

Simple fact of the matter is that they haven't listened to anyone with Blackburn Rovers best interests at heart since they took over, MP's ex managers, the previous Board - favouring instead to take the advice of Agents and Malaysian idiots. Actually that's not true, Battersby and Currie met Desai in Pune didn't they, had a good meeting, both parties agreed to a follow up, this has been met with silence ever since.

As for your assertion that "Seneca" should put a bid in to buy the club - have you ever tried negotiating with a brick wall? Before you buy something you do need to get an idea of it's worth, nobody knows the scale of the debt.

"Pay our money and earn the right to be heard". WTF? By who? Who is listening? No beggar that's who.

As for your disparaging comments about the Trust, you are doing a lot of people down (who want the best for the club) for no good reason.

EDIT - just seen the back page of the LT - "Wall of Silence".

[Stuart]

"Real Rovers fans". Strewth.

Rev, I used to agree that sticking with Venkys provided the most security in the absence of a wealthy alternative but I'm now beyond that point. What did it was the assertion that the £25m injected into the club is mortgaged against the same value in the parachute payments.

In that basis, they are not protecting the club but saddling it with the debt the will kill it.

I want one bit of evidence that Venkys have put any of their OWN money into the club. Hard facts or anecdotal - but transfer activity does not count as I've picked up that we are actually in a nett gain position, purely on transfers.

And whoever it was having a pop at someone because of their name may think they are clever but cannot be taken seriously, scraping the barrel of mud to sling and sneering from the shadows.

[Ozz]

It actually made me laugh though Stu-It was quite funny really.

[Sparky Marky]

Dan Clough has done a little piece in the LT today. Link Here.

Had a quick look at the comments after the article just to gauge reaction,and I think this is the best comment I have ever read!

Angry From Accrington

says...

"And another thing, how can we possibly take any organisation seriously

while it is headed by people with names like Ozz and Wayne. This is

Ewood Park, not Grange Hill."

All we need now is Barry, Bomber, Dennis and Neville and howay the lads....

[Stuart]

It actually made me laugh though Stu-It was quite funny really.

Fair enough. Is Ozz your real name?

[Blackburn Ender]

My apologies for seeming to attack your personal finances. They are of no consequence but your group is indeed penniless in the context of forcing any potential change of ownership. By all means huddle together in your little club led by Wolfie Wild while the rest of us real supporters pay our money and earn the right to be heard. Appletons sacking, by the way is a positive sign that however inept this regime may be, they are prepared to admit mistakes and bankroll the remedy. What does the Tufty Club have to offer?

One or two on the LT website sceptical of the Trust, that comment beneath the main article made me laugh.

So, condescension and 'I'm a better supporter than you' is all you've got left?

Well, despite clearly not being a real supporter since 1970, I'd say the Tufty Club offers a damn sight more than your patronising, intellectually bankrupt, empty pessimism (and some useful road safety tips, too).

[RevidgeBlue]

I wasn't aware that reproducing the post I saw on the LT website would elicit such a hostile and defensive response from Trust members, I thought they were quite amusing as well as being pretty much on the mark. There was another post on there which read something along the lines of "If you want to pay for Wayne Wild to go on the Board because he can't afford to, then good luck to you."

Note to everyone and Blackburn Ender and Bob in particular, these comments were not mine but of other people and are to be found in the comments posted after the article ozzy linked to on the LT site.

I'm going to make one final comment now and then hopefully shut up on the subject of the Trust as I do of course appreciate that the vast majority of people connected with the Trust are working selflessly with the very best of intentions and I have already stated my view like Eddie that the Trust can be an invaluable vehicle as a unified voice for the fans which might be able to influence the decision making of the current or indeed future owners.

By the same token I hope people supportive of the Trust understand and respect the fact that I think the concept of Trust ownership of the Club is near suicidal. Even if they completely disagree with me. So that being my view I feel quite strongly about the subject as well.

I summary I will make the following comment which I hesitate to make because the phraseology is in no way intended to belittle the capabilities or well intentioned motives of the vast majority of people connected with the Trust.

We all wish there was a Jack Walker mk2 riding into town on his trusty white steed ready and willing to save the Club. Unfortunately it doesn't look as though there is anyone of that ilk about. At least not in the imminent future anyway. Therefore:

The growing clamour from all sides to drive the "pesky Injuns" out of town and replace them with party or parties without the means to either purchase the Club or finance it thereafter is a little bit like turkeys voting to bring Christmas Day forward six months to June 25th.

[Parsonblue]

Although I have followed the various debates about the Trust with interest I remain to be convinced that it provides a viable long term solution at the present time. Clearly, if we were to drop down the Leagues I suspect it would be a different matter, although having said that, I look at the struggles of Accrington Stanley who have fan involvement and continue to struggle with low gates and the problems that brings, particularly with financial fair play.

I don't doubt for a moment that those who are working tirelessly for the Trust believe it to be the best way forward for the club. However, at the moment I find the aims of the Trust somewhat vague and difficult to grasp. Who knows how much they will be asked to find to buy into the club? Who knows if another buyer, always supposing Venkys decide to sell, will want fan involvement?? Personally, I believe that when Venkys decide to sell they will sell to another foreign group.

Much is made of the £10 joining fee but from what I can gather that merely goes towards the running costs of the Trust. That seems fair enough as most organisations have an annual subscription fee but it doesn't help solve the problem of raising funds to buy a share of the club. If 40 members give £1,000 each they have probably only managed to contribute one weeks wage for Danny Murphy never mind buying a share in the club. The contracts of players and staff which are in force at the moment will have to be met and surely if the Trust bought into the club the majority owners would expect them to make a contribution to running costs in return for a say in how the club is run.

Much is made of the term 'Community Club' but history has shown that the community of Blackburn is not too keen on supporting a club that is struggling in the lower leagues. Attendances in the sixties started to decline after the 1960 Cup Final debacle and many who left at that point never returned. This at a time when the club was owned by local businessmen and when players lived locally and mixed with the community on a daily basis. I suspect that many who have left during the past two years will never return. We were continually told that if Steve Kean left the fans would return - they haven't.

Success on the pitch is what will get the fans back to Ewood Park rather than noble intentions of giving the club back to the community. Sadly, whilst we might long for the days of a different era, football is not going to change. Modern day football revolves around money and debt. Jack Walker tried to get the club to be self sufficient and found he couldn't. John Williams and Tom Finn battled valiantly to keep the club 'punching above its weight' in the 2000s but much of that infrastructure which they put in place both on and off the pitch has been destroyed and even then they needed help from the Trust. When the Trust stopped providing that help the job became increasingly difficult but the problems that John and Tom faced during their last few seasons at the helm will be as nothing compared to what the Supporters Trust will face. The Premier League money will have gone, the attendances will have fallen significantly and sponsorship opportunities will be few and are between. We will be what were in the late 60s and early 70s - a struggling small town club that has fallen on hard times. It's hardly an attractive proposition for any buyer.

[Wayne Wild]

Afternoon everyone,

I will try and answer some of the previous days comments in as clear a format as I can, ignoring the obvious insulting and tedious ones that bring no help or influence to the debate.

The Rovers Trust was set up following the amalgamation of BRST and BRSIT, 2 supporter bodies that had very similar interests and paths but with a slightly different focus on the ultimate aims. The current 14 members of the steering group work extremely hard giving up lots of free time for no financial gain and do so purely for the interest and lifelong support of Blackburn Rovers FC. Many have faced direct criticism, mainly from keyboard warriors protected by usernames only, who for whatever reason refuse to investigate the full facts prior to making their comments. Everyone is welcome to their opinions and comments, to which we have listened to all and made many amendments to our aims and processes.

We all got involved in this process mainly due to the worrying state the club was heading BEFORE the current owners purchased the club. The shoots of worry began when it was clear the Walker Trust were looking to sell and there were already a number of clubs facing bleak futures due to poor stewardship of their clubs.

We then fast forward to today. We have a Trust that is fully backed by Supporters Direct, a government body set up to encourage supporters to have some form of ownership in their clubs. We have a number of legal structures now in place...

Rovers Trust is the umbrella trading name under which these organisations legally operate

• Blackburn Rovers Supporters Investment Trust Community Benefit Society (BRSIT CBS)
• BRSIT Limited
• BRSIT Community Amateur Sports Club (BRSIT CASC)

Our current aim is to have a say in the running of our club, how that manifests itself only the future will tell. The basic aim is to have some say at the very heart of the club for its future. If it never comes to fruition then at least we tried.

The status of the Trust now means we are on a platform that can help at any level. If that means buying a stake in the club (whatever %) to share in its future and future successes or being in a position to help should the very worst happen then we are positioned and ready.

The £10 per annum membership is to gather official members that allow them a vote in the elections of the committee and a say in the future and direction of the Trust. This gives 1 member 1 vote position and treats all supporters as equals irrelevant of wealth or position. The cost goes towards the administration and running cost. Not 1p goes towards any expenses or financial gain for the steering group.

'Should' we get into a position whereby we are offered a share percentage of the club we would then look to set shares at £1000 each to our members. This would be for a long term investment in an ownership of the club they support. The amount we would look to raise would obviously be dependent on the % share offered and the value of the club at the time.

This has all been detailed many times before so I would like to highlight a little more of the reasons for joining the Trust rather than the financial details.

There are NO personal agendas, just a committed team of lifelong supporters.

As much as some posters want to ridicule the capability of a Trust to help run a football club I will continue to point them towards the success of Swansea City. Whenever they were formed is a little irrelevant. They WERE formed and now own a 20% stake in a football club that are now in a mid table position having won one of the major domestic trophies. All the supporters involved are hugely proud of the success and their involvement in it. I would like to one day feel the pride in our club that they feel.

There is no magic formula or magic wand. We don’t pretend to be the answer to all the clubs problems.

What we do offer is a promise to work very hard to have some sort of influence at the highest level of the decision making process at the club, whoever the owners or management team are. We can only do that if we have backing of the supporters, the louder the voice the more we will be heard.

We have created a platform for supporters to join and be part of what we are trying to achieve. Today we have a management team at the club who are giving no comments or information to the fans. This in itself causes discontent and frustration, if we had a say at the top table we would have some form of influence. The fan base has dramatically reduced by >50% and getting worse by the day.

IF there are any other real alternatives we would all back immediately. If there is a way that Venkys would work with us we would help immediately. We have tried at every level to get them to go into dialogue with us and all failed, for this we apologise as it’s just as frustrating for us too. If they decided to sell then we would hope that any new owners would want us as part of the team.

We have NEVER wanted to run the club. We have ALWAYS stated that we want to be a trustee of the club, employing an experienced senior board to make all the football and management decisions, with the trust in an overseeing role as either minor or major shareholders.

We are not trying to drive anyone out of town, we have requested dialogue and that offer is still open.

If you want to help us then please join our membership, if you dont then we respect all supporters opinions. I would politely request though that personal and negative comments only divide supporters, please give constructive criticism but lets ultimately keep it constructive.

[Ozz]

Fair enough. Is Ozz your real name?

Nope.

http://www.roverstrust.com/bios/

I wasn't aware that reproducing the post I saw on the LT website would elicit such a hostile and defensive response from Trust members, I thought they were quite amusing as well as being pretty much on the mark. There was another post on there which read something along the lines of "If you want to pay for Wayne Wild to go on the Board because he can't afford to, then good luck to you."

Note to everyone and Blackburn Ender and Bob in particular, these comments were not mine but of other people and are to be found in the comments posted after the article ozzy linked to on the LT site.

I'm going to make one final comment now and then hopefully shut up on the subject of the Trust as I do of course appreciate that the vast majority of people connected with the Trust are working selflessly with the very best of intentions and I have already stated my view like Eddie that the Trust can be an invaluable vehicle as a unified voice for the fans which might be able to influence the decision making of the current or indeed future owners.

By the same token I hope people supportive of the Trust understand and respect the fact that I think the concept of Trust ownership of the Club is near suicidal. Even if they completely disagree with me. So that being my view I feel quite strongly about the subject as well.

I summary I will make the following comment which I hesitate to make because the phraseology is in no way intended to belittle the capabilities or well intentioned motives of the vast majority of people connected with the Trust.

We all wish there was a Jack Walker mk2 riding into town on his trusty white steed ready and willing to save the Club. Unfortunately it doesn't look as though there is anyone of that ilk about. At least not in the imminent future anyway. Therefore:

The growing clamour from all sides to drive the "pesky Injuns" out of town and replace them with party or parties without the means to either purchase the Club or finance it thereafter is a little bit like turkeys voting to bring Christmas Day forward six months to June 25th.

Speaking from my own opinion, I know there is something hugely wrong with football, not just Rovers but the whole game in this country. I feel that for as long as this situation persists, I need to do something about it. Right now driving hard at pushing Rovers Trust to be successfull, in 100% of my spare time (I run my own business and have two kids and a pain in the **** Mrs to cope with too!) for free is what I choose to do to try and put this right. I understand that you Rev, Eddie and all the others may not think it is right. But me and all the other people who have contributed to getting Rovers Trust from nothing to where we are now do beleive this is the best way forward, and I will continue to do so until I either physically cannot do it or a better solution to the mess this game is in comes along. I will continue trying to convince the readers of this message board, people at the match, my friends and family and the wider world by using press and TV that they should join the Trust to help us do what we have set out to do.

This is not aimed particularly at you Revidge, just a bit of an explanation.

Join The Trust Here

[bob fleming]

Note to everyone and Blackburn Ender and Bob in particular, these comments were not mine but of other people and are to be found in the comments posted after the article ozzy linked to on the LT site.

Right you are Rev. Sorry about that, although it wasn't very clear. I'll get me coat.

[RevidgeBlue]

Afternoon everyone,

I will try and answer some of the previous days comments in as clear a format as I can, ignoring the obvious insulting and tedious ones that bring no help or influence to the debate.

The Rovers Trust was set up following the amalgamation of BRST and BRSIT, 2 supporter bodies that had very similar interests and paths but with a slightly different focus on the ultimate aims. The current 14 members of the steering group work extremely hard giving up lots of free time for no financial gain and do so purely for the interest and lifelong support of Blackburn Rovers FC. Many have faced direct criticism, mainly from keyboard warriors protected by usernames only, who for whatever reason refuse to investigate the full facts prior to making their comments. Everyone is welcome to their opinions and comments, to which we have listened to all and made many amendments to our aims and processes.

We all got involved in this process mainly due to the worrying state the club was heading BEFORE the current owners purchased the club. The shoots of worry began when it was clear the Walker Trust were looking to sell and there were already a number of clubs facing bleak futures due to poor stewardship of their clubs.

We then fast forward to today. We have a Trust that is fully backed by Supporters Direct, a government body set up to encourage supporters to have some form of ownership in their clubs. We have a number of legal structures now in place...

Rovers Trust is the umbrella trading name under which these organisations legally operate

• Blackburn Rovers Supporters Investment Trust Community Benefit Society (BRSIT CBS)
• BRSIT Limited
• BRSIT Community Amateur Sports Club (BRSIT CASC)

Our current aim is to have a say in the running of our club, how that manifests itself only the future will tell. The basic aim is to have some say at the very heart of the club for its future. If it never comes to fruition then at least we tried.

The status of the Trust now means we are on a platform that can help at any level. If that means buying a stake in the club (whatever %) to share in its future and future successes or being in a position to help should the very worst happen then we are positioned and ready.

The £10 per annum membership is to gather official members that allow them a vote in the elections of the committee and a say in the future and direction of the Trust. This gives 1 member 1 vote position and treats all supporters as equals irrelevant of wealth or position. The cost goes towards the administration and running cost. Not 1p goes towards any expenses or financial gain for the steering group.

'Should' we get into a position whereby we are offered a share percentage of the club we would then look to set shares at £1000 each to our members. This would be for a long term investment in an ownership of the club they support. The amount we would look to raise would obviously be dependent on the % share offered and the value of the club at the time.

This has all been detailed many times before so I would like to highlight a little more of the reasons for joining the Trust rather than the financial details.

There are NO personal agendas, just a committed team of lifelong supporters.

As much as some posters want to ridicule the capability of a Trust to help run a football club I will continue to point them towards the success of Swansea City. Whenever they were formed is a little irrelevant. They WERE formed and now own a 20% stake in a football club that are now in a mid table position having won one of the major domestic trophies. All the supporters involved are hugely proud of the success and their involvement in it. I would like to one day feel the pride in our club that they feel.

There is no magic formula or magic wand. We don’t pretend to be the answer to all the clubs problems.

What we do offer is a promise to work very hard to have some sort of influence at the highest level of the decision making process at the club, whoever the owners or management team are. We can only do that if we have backing of the supporters, the louder the voice the more we will be heard.

We have created a platform for supporters to join and be part of what we are trying to achieve. Today we have a management team at the club who are giving no comments or information to the fans. This in itself causes discontent and frustration, if we had a say at the top table we would have some form of influence. The fan base has dramatically reduced by >50% and getting worse by the day.

IF there are any other real alternatives we would all back immediately. If there is a way that Venkys would work with us we would help immediately. We have tried at every level to get them to go into dialogue with us and all failed, for this we apologise as it’s just as frustrating for us too. If they decided to sell then we would hope that any new owners would want us as part of the team.

We have NEVER wanted to run the club. We have ALWAYS stated that we want to be a trustee of the club, employing an experienced senior board to make all the football and management decisions, with the trust in an overseeing role as either minor or major shareholders.

We are not trying to drive anyone out of town, we have requested dialogue and that offer is still open.

If you want to help us then please join our membership, if you dont then we respect all supporters opinions. I would politely request though that personal and negative comments only divide supporters, please give constructive criticism but lets ultimately keep it constructive.

Hello Wayne, thank you for taking the time to make such a detailed and informative post.

As someone who is not supportive of the concept of Trust ownership I can't disagree with anything you say above.

Two questions though which I hope you won't consider to be insulting:

1) If you're not trying to "drive anyone out of town" why do most of your recent comments seem to slant purely towards giving the Venky's an exit strategy? At least that is my impression.

2) What if potential new owners came in who didn't want the Trust to be part owners of the Club? What would be your position then?

Nope.

http://www.roverstrust.com/bios/

Speaking from my own opinion, I know there is something hugely wrong with football, not just Rovers but the whole game in this country. I feel that for as long as this situation persists, I need to do something about it. Right now driving hard at pushing Rovers Trust to be successfull, in 100% of my spare time (I run my own business and have two kids and a pain in the **** Mrs to cope with too!) for free is what I choose to do to try and put this right. I understand that you Rev, Eddie and all the others may not think it is right. But me and all the other people who have contributed to getting Rovers Trust from nothing to where we are now do beleive this is the best way forward, and I will continue to do so until I either physically cannot do it or a better solution to the mess this game is in comes along. I will continue trying to convince the readers of this message board, people at the match, my friends and family and the wider world by using press and TV that they should join the Trust to help us do what we have set out to do.

This is not aimed particularly at you Revidge, just a bit of an explanation.

Join The Trust Here

Good on you Ozz. Whilst I may not agree entirely with you on what is best for the Club in the long term I admire your spirit and dedication.

Keep up the good work.

[bypass06]

Afternoon everyone,

I will try and answer some of the previous days comments in as clear a format as I can, ignoring the obvious insulting and tedious ones that bring no help or influence to the debate.

The Rovers Trust was set up following the amalgamation of BRST and BRSIT, 2 supporter bodies that had very similar interests and paths but with a slightly different focus on the ultimate aims. The current 14 members of the steering group work extremely hard giving up lots of free time for no financial gain and do so purely for the interest and lifelong support of Blackburn Rovers FC. Many have faced direct criticism, mainly from keyboard warriors protected by usernames only, who for whatever reason refuse to investigate the full facts prior to making their comments. Everyone is welcome to their opinions and comments, to which we have listened to all and made many amendments to our aims and processes.

We all got involved in this process mainly due to the worrying state the club was heading BEFORE the current owners purchased the club. The shoots of worry began when it was clear the Walker Trust were looking to sell and there were already a number of clubs facing bleak futures due to poor stewardship of their clubs.

We then fast forward to today. We have a Trust that is fully backed by Supporters Direct, a government body set up to encourage supporters to have some form of ownership in their clubs. We have a number of legal structures now in place...

Rovers Trust is the umbrella trading name under which these organisations legally operate

• Blackburn Rovers Supporters Investment Trust Community Benefit Society (BRSIT CBS)
• BRSIT Limited
• BRSIT Community Amateur Sports Club (BRSIT CASC)

Our current aim is to have a say in the running of our club, how that manifests itself only the future will tell. The basic aim is to have some say at the very heart of the club for its future. If it never comes to fruition then at least we tried.

The status of the Trust now means we are on a platform that can help at any level. If that means buying a stake in the club (whatever %) to share in its future and future successes or being in a position to help should the very worst happen then we are positioned and ready.

The £10 per annum membership is to gather official members that allow them a vote in the elections of the committee and a say in the future and direction of the Trust. This gives 1 member 1 vote position and treats all supporters as equals irrelevant of wealth or position. The cost goes towards the administration and running cost. Not 1p goes towards any expenses or financial gain for the steering group.

'Should' we get into a position whereby we are offered a share percentage of the club we would then look to set shares at £1000 each to our members. This would be for a long term investment in an ownership of the club they support. The amount we would look to raise would obviously be dependent on the % share offered and the value of the club at the time.

This has all been detailed many times before so I would like to highlight a little more of the reasons for joining the Trust rather than the financial details.

There are NO personal agendas, just a committed team of lifelong supporters.

As much as some posters want to ridicule the capability of a Trust to help run a football club I will continue to point them towards the success of Swansea City. Whenever they were formed is a little irrelevant. They WERE formed and now own a 20% stake in a football club that are now in a mid table position having won one of the major domestic trophies. All the supporters involved are hugely proud of the success and their involvement in it. I would like to one day feel the pride in our club that they feel.

There is no magic formula or magic wand. We don’t pretend to be the answer to all the clubs problems.

What we do offer is a promise to work very hard to have some sort of influence at the highest level of the decision making process at the club, whoever the owners or management team are. We can only do that if we have backing of the supporters, the louder the voice the more we will be heard.

We have created a platform for supporters to join and be part of what we are trying to achieve. Today we have a management team at the club who are giving no comments or information to the fans. This in itself causes discontent and frustration, if we had a say at the top table we would have some form of influence. The fan base has dramatically reduced by >50% and getting worse by the day.

IF there are any other real alternatives we would all back immediately. If there is a way that Venkys would work with us we would help immediately. We have tried at every level to get them to go into dialogue with us and all failed, for this we apologise as it’s just as frustrating for us too. If they decided to sell then we would hope that any new owners would want us as part of the team.

We have NEVER wanted to run the club. We have ALWAYS stated that we want to be a trustee of the club, employing an experienced senior board to make all the football and management decisions, with the trust in an overseeing role as either minor or major shareholders.

We are not trying to drive anyone out of town, we have requested dialogue and that offer is still open.

If you want to help us then please join our membership, if you dont then we respect all supporters opinions. I would politely request though that personal and negative comments only divide supporters, please give constructive criticism but lets ultimately keep it constructive.

What did the Swansea fans have to do to get a share.

From what i've read, Someone bought the club for £1,

Cleared the debts of around 1million, And offered a share to all season ticket holders.

If this is true, Then there is no way we could be anywhere near where Swansea are.

Apologies if i'm wrong.

[Wayne Wild]

Response to RevidgeBlue....

Hello Wayne, thank you for taking the time to make such a detailed and informative post.

As someone who is not supportive of the concept of Trust ownership I can't disagree with anything you say above.

Two questions though which I hope you won't consider to be insulting:

1) If you're not trying to "drive anyone out of town" why do most of your recent comments seem to slant purely towards giving the Venky's an exit strategy? At least that is my impression.

I have the same worry as most supporters as to the state the club will be left in if Venkys just left without thought for the consequences. We have always sought a dialogue with them, either here in Blackburn or if necessary in India. It gets very frustrating for all when you dont even get a reply to the many attempts we have made to help. You therefore try to envisage many senarios from a lack of correspondance, one being if they wanted to exit. If that is the case then we merely state that we would be willing to work with any owners in whatever capacity that would be for the benefit of the club.

2) What if potential new owners came in who didn't want the Trust to be part owners of the Club? What would be your position then?

We do not have a given right to be part of the ownership but as a Trust it would be our duty to review their position and performance at all levels. We would then analyse and offer comment and support. Our preference of course would be our ultimate aim, to own a percentage, but if that wasnt offered we would continue as a supporters Trust. As in everything in life, nothing is forever, so we would continue with our ultimate aim for the long term.

[RevidgeBlue]

Fair enough, thank you for those answers Wayne.

[bypass06]

[Stuart]

Good post parsonblue.

But...

For me, the aim has to be part ownership a la Swansea. It's still a big ask but we need to try to find a way to avoid the next owners being as unaccountable as Venkys.

Maybe it will be difficult but at least if the opportunity does arise there WILL be a Trust around to step in.

It's seems now that we have two factions with the ownership debate. Some people seem to be advocate a 'do nothing and hope for the best policy' (much like the protests) whereas others believe in fighting for the club - even if it feels like fighting in vain - because there is a chance if something better. It's not pie in the sky - Swansea did it. Ok they are a city club be we do have 20,000 plus 'potential' supporters - that's significantly more than most League One clubs and all League Two and below.

When Venkys leave, the club will become extinct ONLY if fans let it.

I can understand a lot of apathy from the majority of people in Blackburn - hell, half of them have already turned their backs - but I can't understand the 'can't do won't do' mentality of fans who are interested enough in the club to post on messageboards - let alone read them. The Eddies, Revs, Parsons, etc, should be the ones rallying round telling everyone they come into contact with that our football club is better than the current owners have made it.

It's a £10 gamble. It might just work. We don't know where it will take us but for the sake of £10, become a member, even if only for one year, swell the numbers, make people fit up and take note of just how many Trust members there are and, above all, even if you've given up on Venkys (I have), don't give up on the club...