Trust concept deserves United support (Newcastle upon Tyne Liberal Democrats)

Newcastle upon Tyne Liberal Democrats <info@newcastle-libdems.org.uk>

Trust concept deserves United support

November 11, 2009 1:00 PM
Originally published by Greg Stone

Lib Dem parliamentary spokesman for Newcastle East Greg Stone has offered support for the establishment of a Supporters Trust for Newcastle United FC.

The scheme being promoted by fans groups would potentially see fans pooling resources to take a stake in the club, and is being advanced by some supporters as a possible long term solution for the club's ownership. The Supporters Trust concept has worked successfully elsewhere and is worthy of consideration at St James Park following frequent controversy in recent years over the club's ownership and direction.

Although supporters trusts are mostly associated with smaller clubs, similar principles govern the running of some major European clubs, including Barcelona.

Greg Stone said "I am a lifetime member of the Supporters Trust which took over York City, my boyhood club, which emerged after a similar saga of crisis and disenchantment with the then owners, and I'm strongly supportive of the principle of the fans having a stake in the running of the club, though I acknowledge that it is not an easy process and the need to continually raise investment is a challenge.

"The overwhelming passion of the city for the football club is self-evident in Newcastle and I think that the club's troubles in recent times might have been at least partially avoided if the fans had formal representation on the club's board.

Trust has been lacking at Newcastle United between fans and the club's board for a long time now, and the Trust concept offers a way of ensuring the fans have a real voice in the running of the club, potentially leading to majority ownership in due course if sufficient funds can be raised. One of the problems in the past was that NUFC supporters groups have had different views about the way forward. If the Trust is to succeed, a genuinely United approach is needed."