WATR (The Rovers Trust)

[Miller11]

36 minutes ago, OldEwoodBlue said:

The ACV listing for Ewood runs out in September, circa 4 months. Are The Trust pursuing a renewal ?

Yes. Renewal process is underway. Should be reasonably straightforward.

[rigger]

53 minutes ago, Miller11 said:

Yes. Renewal process is underway. Should be reasonably straightforward.

Please don't let the Rovers admin get involved in any, way, shape or form.

[Herbie6590]

https://www.brfcs.com/magazine/articles/rovers-trust-announces-agm/410

[We Are The Rovers]

June 2023 is an important month in the lifetime of Rovers Trust. Above is our new name. Very soon you will see publicity about the Trust signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Club and on Thursday June 22nd we hold our 2023 AGM this time in the Red Rose Suite, Ronnie Clayton end at Ewood Park.

 

The Blackburn Rovers Supporters Trust was founded on the belief that supporters are the one constant at any club. Without fans, football serves no purpose and as such our interests should be at the forefront of any club’s decision making and supporters should hold influence at the highest level. The recent Fan Led Review on Football Governance, to which The Blackburn Rovers Supporters Trust contributed significantly, represents an opportunity for supporters to finally have their voice heard and recognised by our club.

 

Having operated under the Rovers Trust banner for over a decade, we believe now is the ideal time to move forward with a new identity:
WE ARE THE ROVERS.

 

We believe that all fans are equal and deserve their say in how our club is run. Players, managers, CEOs and owners come and go but supporters remain the one constant. It’s our club, and WE ARE the Rovers.

 

We are immensely proud of our club’s rich history and heritage. The first and original Rovers, our team have been at the forefront of the game for almost 150 years. We are the most successful town team in world football. We are the only team to have won major honours in three centuries. We are THE ROVERS.

 

We are not a supporter group, and remain a Trust in practical terms. We are still registered as BRSIT CBS LIMITED and remain regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are open to all regardless of location or background.Any person aged 18 or over can join and will receive the same voting power and say in the direction we take as any other Member.

 

As a member of WE ARE THE ROVERS, you also become a minority Shareholder in Blackburn Rovers Football Club! And an opportunity to serve on any future ‘Shadow’ Board.

 

MOST IMPORTANTLY the AGM is a key event of the Year. 4 Board Members have shown their keenness to serve another term: John Murray (Chair); Duncan Miller (Communications); Peter Bolton (Fans Forum and Finance); and Andy Young (National Issues inc White Paper). Mike Graham (currently co-opted) and Linda Chelton have indicated their wish to become Board Directors – this allows us to co-opt up to 6 more Board Members. The AGM will explain what in practical terms the MoU and the White Paper will lead to. We will also explain the ‘reasons’ to re-brand and the Membership drive.

 

The more members we have, the more likely we will be to succeed in our collective aims. Recent positive discussions with the club, coupled with upcoming legislative change, mean we want to increase not only our core membership but our board and working parties too. We are moving   into an exciting new phase – and we’d love you to be part of it.

 

AGM: Thursday 22nd June @ Ewood......starts 7pm with Celebrity Mastermind featuring our Guest, Tim Farron MP.

 

WE ARE THE ROVERS

[JohnD]

Rovers Trust conveys a meaning.

We Are the Rovers could be anything.

[We Are The Rovers]

12 minutes ago, JohnD said:

Rovers Trust conveys a meaning.

We Are the Rovers could be anything.

It conveys different things to different people though. To some Rovers Trust is a protest group. To others it’s an entity trying to buy BRFC. Rovers Trust also leads to a lot of confusion with the Community Trust

We want it to convey that the Supporters Trust if open to absolutely all of our fans, and that supporters are the lifeblood of the club.

[JohnD]

Fair enough but, for me, it does the opposite, could be an age thing.

[Mike E]

5 minutes ago, JohnD said:

Fair enough but, for me, it does the opposite, could be an age thing.

‘Spirit of Shankly’ doesn’t exactly convey notions of a Supporters Trust as part of a Shadow Board either but it’s what they are.

[Upside Down]

I like the message behind We Are The Rovers.

These clubs should be considered as our community heritage. They should not be something that the ultra rich can do with as they please.

Without fans football is nothing.

[JohnD]

19 minutes ago, Mike E said:

‘Spirit of Shankly’ doesn’t exactly convey notions of a Supporters Trust as part of a Shadow Board either but it’s what they are.

It's far less juvenile

[Mike E]

1 minute ago, JohnD said:

It's far less juvenile

It’s far MORE juvenile. We Are The Rovers looks like a simple statement of fandom. It’s one of our chants ffs.

Spirit of Shankly (as good as they are) has always sounded like a knockoff whisky to me.

[Mattyblue]

So this is what darrenrover has been getting up to since he was banned from here…

[JohnD]

5 minutes ago, Mike E said:

It’s far MORE juvenile. We Are The Rovers looks like a simple statement of fandom. It’s one of our chants ffs.

Spirit of Shankly (as good as they are) has always sounded like a knockoff whisky to me.

Like I said, fair enough, it's a turn off for me.

[Miller11]

4 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

So this is what darrenrover has been getting up to since he was banned from here…

His tirades were a sticking point for a while on the rebrand. We decided to go ahead in the end, he’s not in any way affiliated.

[J*B]

5 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

So this is what darrenrover has been getting up to since he was banned from here…

Certainly around here the phrase “We ARE the Rovers!!!” has in my opinion negative connotations with a poster insistent on condemning other fans and creating a “with us or against us” culture. I really hope there’s no cross over. 

[glen9mullan]

Surprised at the re-branding guys, especially with the traction you've gained.

I dont recall this being put to the members?

Wasnt this the name used to put the Ewood Blues, Trust, Action Group etc under one banner? It got a lot of bad press at the time, which the trust then distanced itself from.

The Rovers Trust brand, sounds professional, not my cup of tea this new one; but good luck with it

 

[glen9mullan]

1 hour ago, Rovers Trust said:

It conveys different things to different people though. To some Rovers Trust is a protest group. To others it’s an entity trying to buy BRFC. Rovers Trust also leads to a lot of confusion with the Community Trust

We want it to convey that the Supporters Trust if open to absolutely all of our fans, and that supporters are the lifeblood of the club.

WAR in the Raos eyes will be remembered for chucking golf/tennis balls from outside the ground onto the pitch against Blackpool.

Can't help thinking this takes you further away than closer to your goals.

The other point to note RE shadow board,

Waggott has categorically stated that any shadow board will be made up of various supporter groups/supporters and never be exclusive to a single entity.

With the FF the starting block .

As you know i fully support you guys (especially as ex secretary) which you still aint put on your website.

Also the white paper is very dear to me, given i presented it to Parliament for the reform to be signed off all those years ago, with the sports minister as it was an action group 'brain child".

You have a chance, so please think things through in terms of impact.

The Raos are the people you need on board, to date the club still aint facilitating direct contact

 

 

Edited June 5, 2023 by glen9mullan

[Miller11]

28 minutes ago, J*B said:

Certainly around here the phrase “We ARE the Rovers!!!” has in my opinion negative connotations with a poster insistent on condemning other fans and creating a “with us or against us” culture. I really hope there’s no cross over. 

 

21 minutes ago, glen9mullan said:

Surprised at the re-branding guys, especially with the traction you've gained.

I dont recall this being put to the members?

Wasnt this the name used to put the Ewood Blues, Trust, Action Group etc under one banner? It got a lot of bad press at the time, which the trust then distanced itself from.

The Rovers Trust brand, sounds professional, not my cup of tea this new one; but good luck with it

 

Yes, completely agree Josh. I raised the issue loudly. I can assure you there is no crossover at all. Hopefully the phrase can be reclaimed and stand for something better.

We felt there was a need for a change due to the often incorrect assumptions of what the trust do, and the confusion with the community Trust had started to become problematic. For all the traction we’ve gained over the last decade plus, there’s also a lot of opposition.

We looked back on the outcome of the public meeting at King Georges hall a few years ago as a missed opportunity. The new Trust led initiative of “We Are Rovers” was a great idea in theory but it wasn’t capitalised on at all. We didn’t want to go down the exact same route - (we aren’t at WAR, we see ourselves as a critical friend to the club), and we decided to include the word THE very deliberately.

WE are - that’s every single supporter, whether you went to QEGS in the 60’s or not. We want to be far more inclusive and attract people of all different ages and backgrounds. Currently our board is pretty indicative of the bulk of our membership - middle aged white males. We have to improve this.

THE Rovers is part of our commitment to celebrate our heritage. No club in the world beats us in that department and we want the club to celebrate it more.

In terms of the renaming, we remain registered as BRSIT CBS Ltd, we’ve had to move towards using “The Blackburn Rovers Supporters Trust” in our Comms of late anyway, and will probably continue to do so.

We have also had something of a breakthrough in terms of our communications with the club, and HOPEFULLY we can start to see supporter influence growing. Our next step is pushing hard for the club to form a Shadow Board made up of supporters. A new name seemed fitting as we enter a new period in the Trust’s history.

Edited June 5, 2023 by Miller11

[Herbie6590]

9 hours ago, Miller11 said:

His tirades were a sticking point for a while on the rebrand. We decided to go ahead in the end, he’s not in any way affiliated.

Any regular user of this forum will associate the two. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing depends upon your perspective I guess. 

[J*B]

1 hour ago, Herbie6590 said:

Any regular user of this forum will associate the two. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing depends upon your perspective I guess. 

It’s only a small amount of people to be fair — and it’s been clarified. The majority of fans / members won’t have any idea about it. 

[Mattyblue]

I get the change, the Community Trust has a fairly large profile and it could confuse folk… but it is a bit of a cumbersome replacement.

[Miller11]

1 hour ago, Herbie6590 said:

Any regular user of this forum will associate the two. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing depends upon your perspective I guess. 

It’s definitely a concern, and certainly a bad thing. Hopefully given time the association will fade.

12 minutes ago, J*B said:

It’s only a small amount of people to be fair — and it’s been clarified. The majority of fans / members won’t have any idea about it. 

Part of the rationale was that the regular users on here will be at the very least familiar with the Supporters Trust, and there’s be an opportunity to quickly and directly engage with anyone who was concerned.

Here’s a few of the recent reasons we’ve had for people not joking:

”No point yet. I’m glad you’re there for if we go into administration, if we do I’ll join straight away”

”(Insert name of any of several previous board members) doesn’t represent me!”

”Its not the right time to protest”

”Not until you start putting coaches on for kids of all backgrounds”

“I can’t because I’m already a member of a different group”

Too much of our collective time has been put into preaching to the converted, maybe converted isn’t even the right word, as a lot of the time we are interacting with people who are pretty aware of what the Supporters Trust is, but for whatever reason still aren’t members. To be successful we need to grow the membership base pretty dramatically.

We’ve got some things in the pipeline to start offering existing an new members some real tangible benefits, hopefully we can kick off a period of renewed interest.

[pk1875]

I have a lot of time a respect for the Rovers Trust Guys and Gals...

We are the Rovers? Not a good move for me. Rovers Trust made them sound professional and everyone knew what they are about. 

We are the Rovers sounds like a Facebook group..

Good Luck, but not a great move imo

Edited June 6, 2023 by pk1875

[Miller11]

2 hours ago, pk1875 said:

I have a lot of time a respect for the Rovers Trust Guys and Gals...

We are the Rovers? Not a good move for me. Rovers Trust made them sound professional and everyone knew what they are about. 

We are the Rovers sounds like a Facebook group..

Good Luck, but not a great move imo

Hi Paul, firstly good to see you on here and hope you are keeping well mate!

It’s been a big problem of late that a lot of people aren’t really sure what we’re about, there’s a hell of a lot of misapprehension out there.

I’d say the Supporters Trust has gone through several different phases since its inception, in very simple terms it’s looked something like this:

Year 1 - Get a mandate from the supporter base that a trust was required and launch

Year 2-5 - Focus on gaining an ownership share

 Year 5-7 - Openly opposing the ownership

Year 8-now - Building a working relationship with the club and acting as a critical friend

Onward - Push for supporter representation through a shadow board

So it’s not completely surprising that there is some confusion if people aren’t always aware, and our comms need to be better. 

Ultimately the aim has to be to increase supporter influence, our approach has historically changed to reflect the current reality.

The Supporters Trust has its fair share of critics (just like BRFCS, the action group, Rovers SAS, or any other collective) but there’s also a great deal of apathy. Plenty of people tell us they are glad we are here, they support the idea, but not enough to pay a tenner a year. We could have carried on with a steadily dwindling membership base, but this rebrand is part of trying to become more accessible and inclusive to all supporters, so I’m not entirely unhappy with the Facebook group comparison of the name. We’ll be more visible and provide more to our members which will hopefully see our numbers grow and more people become involved. The ideal would be to be able to tell the club we are thousands of members strong rather than hundreds.

[J*B]

Here is the MOU for anyone interested: https://mcusercontent.com/f646174da39488e19ed1200d3/files/59d9f2c7-e9a3-1c28-afc4-cc20fef81840/Rovers_Trust_Memorandum_of_Understanding.pdf