Trust welcomes stakeholders' forum

Darlington Supporters' Trust has welcomed the season ticket price structure announced by the club as "a very attractive package".

Trust chairman Tony Taylor said: "Darlington FC has already been making efforts to attract younger fans to matches, especially involving local schools, and it's pleasing to see this continuing. In addition to the offers which add value and reward loyalty, the Trust is also delighted to see the club providing an instalment payment plan.

"This is offered at other clubs, but often with credit or administration charges - which are not the case here. We certainly hope it will make football at Darlington more affordable and attract more supporters, more regularly." Meanwhile, the Trust - while remaining an independent voice for fans - is joining a new forum set up by the club.

"The Trust was invited, along with other supporters' groups, to a meeting with owner Stewart Davies last week, when he put forward the draft ticket proposals for discussion. He also announced his intention of setting up a regular forum with supporters' groups. The Trust was more than happy to take part and found it a very useful and business-like first meeting. "We have already welcomed many of the positive initiatives the club has introduced off the field and we're encouraged that the club is listening to fans. It can only be of benefit to the good of the club. We welcome the opportunity for the Trust to present ideas and engage in useful dialogue with the club and other fans' groups".

Trust AGM 2004-2005

The Trust held its annual general meeting on the morning of Saturday May 7th 2005 - the day of the last match of the season, at The Dolphin Centre.

Treasurer Peter Ashmore ran through the audited accounts for 2004-2005, including fund-raising and other income, the crisis fund's operations and running costs.

The Trust board was formally elected for 2005-2006. Peter Ashmore, Ian Carter Doug Embleton, Paul Hodgson, Ted Blair, Steve Duffy, Tony Taylor and Nick Blake are elected unopposed, with up to seven co-opted members possible as required.

Members also voted to approve some minor constitutional amendments, which bring us in line with many other trusts.

Future plans, including a lottery to support Football In the Community and youth development, helping to establish powerchair football for the disabled and setting up a disabled travel group, were all discussed. Doug Embleton brought us up to date with a review of the year and there was a question on answer session. Tony Taylor has been re-elected to serve as chairman, Paul Hodgson as vice chairman, Peter Ashmore as treasurer and Nick Blake as secretary.

Steve wins first prize

The first "Come On Darlo" prediction league has been won by Steve Ellis - and it took a penalty shoot-out to decide it. Congratulations on your fantastic winning score of 166 points, which brings a first prize of £100. In second place ­ Margaret Scott with 163 points wins £50. And there is £25 for third place runner-up ­ John Suddes with 162 points.

Just outside the top three were:
(4) S. F. Long with 161 points
(5) Sheila Wade, 154
(6) Mally Riley, 153
(7) C. M. Long, 152
(8) Ted Blair 149
(9) Caroline Long 149
(10) Neil at Harborne 147

Well outside the top three were:-
(90) Andrew Robson with 88 points
(91) Peter Ashmore 88
(92) Michael Ewing 87
(93) Ryan Devogel 86
(94) Peter Thompson 86
(95) Luke Hardwick 84 points
(96) Toby Corum 39 ­ and worthy winner of the wooden spoon!

It's been a fantastic prediction competition with the result in doubt right up to the Cup Final. There have been quite a few leaders throughout the season, but Steve timed his run-in when it mattered most. Hard luck to all those who missed out on a top three place - keep trying next year.

Many thanks to all those who entered this year's inaugural competition ­

All power to wheelchair football plan


Players from Darlington FC joined the Supporters' Trust to help kick off plans for "powerchair" football in the town.


The Quakers came up against a team from Percy Hedley Foundation who are based in Forest Hall, Newcastle in a demonstration of the sport for disabled people. The aim of the session was to raise awareness of the sport and also assist with the setting up of a team in Darlington, which will carry the club's name. Media, including the BBC's Look North programme, were there.

Darlington's Football in the Community scheme, together with Darlington Supporters' Trust will help run the Darlington-based team. The next stage is to find more wheelchair players who want to become involved.

Malcolm McDonald, the former Newcastle and England star, is one of the project's biggest supporters and is hoping there will be enough interest to set up a North East Powerchair League in readiness for the season after next. Community representatives from other football clubs in the area are among those invited to the demonstration.

Malcolm said: "This game is going to be huge globally and I can see it becoming a Paralympic sport. The children love football and to be able to play it like this is truly wonderful. This is not a tame sport - they really give it their all when they go in for the tackle. If we back these youngsters, by afraction of the support given to other sports, we will have even more world class players in our region".

Darlo midfielder Matty Appleby and new signing Akpo Sodje joined the demonstration.

Paul Hodgson, vice chair of the Supporters' Trust, said: "This is a venture the Trust is delighted to support. We're very grateful too for the encouragement already from the club for this project and for the players today who gave up their time."

Kevin Stonehouse, the former Darlo striker, who is now in charge of Football in the Community said: "It's great for Darlington Football Club to be involved in such a venture and if all goes well we could be the first club to have a powerchair football team".

ANY INDIVIDUAL OR ANY GROUP OF DISABLED PEOPLE INTERESTED, PLEASE CONTACT THE TRUST!


Trust annual review 2004-2005

New owners at the football club in the latter part of the year brought much-needed stability on and off the pitch.


Darlington Supporters' Trust started the year with 1,400 new members and a three-month period of crisis fund-raising, which reached around £50,000 by March, and discussions with a local consortium looking to rescue the club. As the situation unfolded, the Sterling group took over the football club. This has heralded improvements in facilities and on the pitch, which the Trust and many supporters have welcomed.

The Trust was offered in May - on a 'no-strings attached' basis - a position of supporter-director at the club, in recognition of the size of the membership and the new owners' wish to involve fans in a new era for the club. The Trust began preparations for an elected board member to serve for two years, based on similar models at other trusts with supporter-directors. Despite initial positive discussions with the club, this has not materialised and there has been a disappointing lack of engagement and communication at times from the club with the Trust. Certainly, the Trust despite its positive intentions has been kept at "arm's length."

This has not presented a problem, as the Trust has chosen to carry on its work as normal, remaining committed to its principles of being an independent, but supportive group in working for the good of the club, its supporters and wider community.

A questionnaire in August was sent to all our members, on issues ranging from the way the Trust was run, market research on the club - its prices, facilities and stadium experience - and the future of the Trust crisis fund. Around 10% of the membership responded. A total of 88% thought the Trust kept members well informed and a similar number thought it took on board the views of its members. 95% thought the Trust had clear aims and objectives and 84% clear, strategic plans. 91% thought the Trust was heading in the right direction.

A total of 56% of respondents felt all the Trust crisis fund should be kept intact, for a time when the money may be required in the future. Another 21% of members wanted us to retain 75% of the fund.

Ian Carter, Doug Embleton, Tony Waters and Neil Johnson were co-opted to the Trust board, while Geoff Thompson, who was re-elected, resigned in July for personal reasons. The Board wishes to thank him for his efforts, especially his time as vice chairman, along with the other outgoing board members.

We would like to thank all our members, far and wide, for their hard work and support, especially in the crucial and uncertain months of early 2004.

We believe that the last 12 months have underlined how Supporters' Trusts can play an important and positive role in good times, as well as bad, at football clubs. We would hope to continue to develop our work amongst the fan-base and wider community in the next 12 months.

We have been involved in a number of activities:
The Trust, which has been a regular supporter of Darlington's associated Football In The Community programme for a time, is sponsoring its minibus this season. The Trust has financed the leasing and running costs of its minibus, paid for by new fund-raising and some interest from the Trust Crisis Fund.

A charity dinner, which raised money for Football In The Community and the Percy Hedley Foundation for sport and education for people with cerebral palsy, led to the Trust discussing involvement in helping set up a powerchair football team for disabled people in Darlington.

The Trust, with the Supporters' Club, co-organised the TASK fund, which was wound up in mid 2004 after successfully paying towards the costs of loan player Danny Graham and other associated costs, at a time of financial problems at the club.

We have attended meetings of the Darlington Partnership, as part of our commitment to play a greater community role.

Submitted as our annual report, with accounts for audit, January 2005

Survey positive

Thanks to all of you who returned copies of the Trust questionnaire, which was sent to our 1,400 members in the Summer of 2004. The aim was to find out your opinion on various issues involving the Trust and also the club.

It will also help us improve the Trust and the work we do, so we can present useful feedback to the club, and also it allowed us to consult on the Trust Crisis Fund.

The good news for the club, in its early days, was that 87% of fans thought Darlington FC was moving in the right direction; 77% also thought it lived up to its title of "the friendly club." However, 40% still didn't think the club took on board the views of fans. A very high 80% thought the club provided 'value for money.'

There was, however, a big thumbs down for the club's official website and QuakerWorld service, although this was before the former was taken over by supporter Kevin Luff. Opinion was divided on the match programme, although there have again been improvements since the start of this season.

The stadium experience saw high ratings for the view, average marks for atmosphere and catering, but a massive 93% rated facilities as between good and excellent. There was a generally positive support for ticket prices, and although 35% were unhappy with ticketing arrangements on the whole, 51% rated them positively.

Fans were also asked for their opinions on how the Trust was operating and also for views on options for dealing with the £51,000 raised for the Trust Crisis Fund between January and March 2004. Trust members were asked, what percentage of the Crisis Fund should be kept for its original purposes (future crises/possibly buying a stake in the club):
100% - 56% of replies
75% - 21% of replies
50% - 18%
25% - 4%
and 0-1%.
Those believing less than 100% of the Crisis Fund should be retained, were asked to prioritise options; in order of preference the following were voted for:
1 Invest in the club's Centre of Excellence/youth development; 2 Sponsor community projects 3 Fund facilities at Darlington FC 4 Hand money over to Darlington FC to use as club sees fit

More than two thirds of members said they joined the Trust to give money to help save Darlington FC during the 'crisis," and believe that supporters need representation to express their views to the club. Another 60% said they joined because they saw the efforts being made by the Trust in trying to save the club and wanted to be a part of it.

OTHER FINDINGS: A total of 88% thought the Trust kept members well informed and a similar number thought it took on board the views of its members. 95% thought the Trust had clear aims and objectives and 84% clear, strategic plans. 91% thought the Trust was heading in the right direction.

Most fans find their news about the Trust from websites, including the Trust's, more than a third from the programme, alhough a fifth find it hard finding news about the Trust. Around 74% gave a positive rating to the Trust's website. A total of 143 members responded to the survey, around 10% of our membership.

All members were sent copies of the questionnaire in our mailshot in August. The results were given first to members in our newsletter, which was distributed in December 2004. We hope to compile a follow-up questionnaire to measure progress in the future.

AGM 2003-2204

Darlington Supporters' Trust held its 2004 Annual General Meeting on Saturday May 1, the morning of the last home match of the season - against Swansea City.

At the deadline for nominations from members for election to the Trust board on Saturday April 10, 2004, there were 10 nomination papers received for the eight places available on the Trust board. However, two of those nomination papers requested that should there be sufficient numbers to fill elected places, then their's should be withdrawn.

Bearing this in mind, the following were elected unopposed to the Trust Board starting May 1 2004, which were ratified at the AGM:

Peter Ashmore, Ted Blair, Nick Blake, Steve Duffy, Paul Hodgson, Peter Plant, Tony Taylor and Geoff Thompson.

Capacity crowd at crisis rally


A capacity crowd of well over 400 fans attended a rally at the Central Hall in Darlington on January 20th 2004, as the Supporters' Trust launched its crisis appeal.

Speakers from York and Notts County Supporters' Trusts - both who have been involved in major fund-raising - gave the benefit of their experience.

And there was loud applause when they announced they would be holding collections in aid of the Trust Crisis Fund, York in their match on Sunday and Notts County the following Saturday at home to Barnsley.

Darlo Trust board member Tony Taylor outlined how within a few short weeks of George Reynolds saying the club was debt-free and didn't want anything to do with the Trust after it raised questions over the accounts, he was trying to sell the club to the Trust as it hit the rocks.

There was a rallying call by Quakers legend Kevan "Smudger" Smith for all supporters to back the Trust, as it aims to raise £250,000. Around 170 new members joined on the night, adding to the big surge in numbers over the last week as we aim for 1,000 members. Among items sold, an auction of four of Nick Blake's Feethams Finale framed photos raised £300, with the crisis fund swelling by another £2,100 on the night. Thanks to all who turned up for a night that kick-started our campaign. And a special word of gratitude for our guests from York, Nottingham and Sean Hamil from Supporters' Direct.

New Darlington manager David Hodgson outlined the severe financial difficultues he was working under, at a fans' forum jointly organised by the Supporters' Trust and Darlington Supporters' Club at the Reynolds Arena on 27th November.

"Finances are extremely difficult," he told more than 200 fans gathered in Bar 66 at the Reynolds Arena. He said the club was depending on more fans coming to matches and bringing in gate money, with a break even figure of 6,500. There was even a possibility that players wouldn't be paid at the end of the week, although the PFA had not been involved in paying wages yet.

Mr Hodgson, who isn't working under any contract, said he would walk away if there was any interference. Working under a budget of £600,000 -compared to £820,000 plus when he was here in previous seasons - he said he would only take loan players if he was able to afford them. Carlton Palmer, training with Darlo, had "offered to play for nothing."

He had five players lined up - if the money was there. Mr Hodgson said there were parties who had been interested in buying the club and he believes there still would be, if the time was right.

He also stated that the Supporters Trust were now very welcome at the club - after we were told by George Reyolds two months ago he wanted nothing more to do with the Trust. He said that Darlington FC had stopped being a football club because of all the off-the-field issues, while the BBC's George Reynolds TV documentary was the last straw in the relationship between club and fans, and it was now time to move on.

Other main points:

No scout has been employed for two years. The youth system was moved to Darlington Technical College as a means of saving money.
Half price tickets and "Kids for a Quid" were mentioned as a way of attracting more fans. Mr Hodgson said he would go for it only if it guaranteed and retained a huge increase in support.
He would be grateful for offers of accommodation for players coming in from further afield. The "big three" North East clubs are also more willing to loan players.
Darlington FC owes Hull City for gate receipts for the LDV Trophy tie, but these will be paid.
Mr Hodgson is in charge of all footballing matters and has asked Mr Reynolds to stay away on Saturdays, so everyone can focus on the match without distractions.
Mr Hodgson is in the late stages of buying the East Stand at Feethams, but our future is at the Reynolds Arena
Craig Liddle postponed an operation on his knee at beginning of December to help out the team - Mr Hodgson thinks he can recover quickly after surgery. Andy Collett is four-five weeks away from a return..
Trust board member Nick Blake donated an aerial photo of Feethams, which raised £360 at auction. Paul Hodgson very kindly gave the money raised to the Trust, which has been put to the TASK fund.



Trust and Smudger issue rallying call



Darlington Supporters' Trust has called for fans to rally around and get actively involved, at a meeting at Darlington Cricket Club on November 6. Former Quakers hero Kevan Smith also made a passionate plea for more supporters to become members.

Around 60 people attended the meeting, with some encouraging offers of help - although more is still needed. It's been an interesting last few weeks for the two year-old Trust, whichhas recently crossed swords with club chairman George Reynolds. It has complained about the bans against some supporters and a threat to "confront" critics at home, as well as questioning the financial position of the club. The club has now lifted the bans - a move welcomed by the Trust as a positive step - but there's still uncertainty about what lies ahead.

The meeting at Darlington Cricket Club included a passionate appeal from Darlo's legendary defender Kevan Smith for fans to get involved to have a say in their club.. "Smudger" said that 200 members wasn't enough and that we had to fight hard to achieve things in order for the club to overcome its present problems. "It really is the right time for the fans, the town and the community to rally round and show a united front," he said. "I can't think of any better banner than the Supporters' Trust. It might have been behind the scenes up to now, but these guys have achieved a lot already and truly deserve your support. I know I'm giving them mine".

The Trust also welcomed representatives from York Supporters' Trust, who were key to saving their threatened club last season and now chair the club's board.

We'd like to thank Kirsten Gillies, Ian Hey and Steve (the mascot), for again taking the time out to assist. They explained their problems when they were going out of existence and how they battled from day one to save the club. They pointed to the similarities between many of the experiences of our two respective clubs. York confirmed the need to grow into a body which could effectively involve a network including council, business people, fans and local media. They stressed the need to have a large active group, each with their own specialities to concentrate on. York talked of the different fund-raising ideas they'd had and how best they could be utilised in an emergency.

Darlington Trust board member Doug Embleton, who chaired the meeting, opened with a review at what the Trust had already achieved, its aims and spoke of the real need for Darlington fans to rally round the Trust banner, not only as members but as active helpers.




FRIENDS AND RIVALS: Pictured above - members of Darlington Supporters' Trust group, left to right, Colin Fletcher and Ted Blair, with Lincoln City chairman Rob Bradley, DST member Pete Ashmore, and Lincoln Supporters' Trust's Rick KeRacher.


Trust looks to engage with club

New Darlington Supporters' Trust chair Margaret Tinkler says they hope to develop a better working relationship with the club chairman George Reynolds.

Speaking at the second Trust AGM in April 2003, Margaret said they hoped to increase liasion with the board and present the views of supporters, with the move to the new stadium seemingly imminent.

The meeting at the Arts Centre also reviewed the last 12 months of the Trust's work, which has also seen membership increase by nearly 50%.

AGM BUSINESS:

Elections of the Board:
The following were elected to the Board unopposed, while the following posts were confirmed for 2003-2004:

Margaret Tinkler - Chair

Hannah Taylor - Secretary

Geoff Thompson - vice chairman and fund-raising coordinator

Colin Tinkler - treasurer

Pete Ashmore - assistant treasurer

Ted Blair - membership secretary and Supporters' Direct liaison

Steve Caisley - board member

Doug Embleton - board member

Appointment of Auditors

Colin Tinkler informed the membership that the previous Trust board had received a quote of £250 from the current auditors Sochall Smith. The membership agreed that this was acceptable and the Trust would use Sochall Smith next year.

Financial Report

Colin Tinkler informed the members that the Trust had made a profit of £1,163 in the year to the end of January. He briefly went through the Trust accounts which had been given to members who were present at the AGM. The membership agreed to accept the accounts presented.


Performance Review

Pete Ashmore thanked the previous board for all their hard work over the past year, especially Hannah Taylor who had kept the board focused and moving forward over the last year.
He also outlined what the Darlington Supporters’ Trust had done over the past year:

This included "Farewell to Feethams", which has been at three venues and is now residing at Stockton and will be moving again to Bishop Auckland in June.

The calendar that was produced by the Trust from the exhibition pictures which made a profit and added to Trust funds.

The sponsoring of a youth team members kit for this season.

Community funding, £1000 for a tournament for underprivileged children, and a lottery grant for £2500 for a girls football tournament.

Fans forums – following a disagreement between the Trust and the Football club these have been suspended. However the Trust hopes to open negotiations about these events with the Club next season.

The return of the 1966 squad to Feethams. A big thank you was received from all the players for a wonderful day.

Feethams Finale day and Feethams Farewell ale - the Trust has produced with CAMRA a real ale beer and eight pence per pint will be donated to the Trust. The Trust is also involved in the final game at Feethams celebrations

Race Night – made over £700 for Trust funds and an enjoyable night was had by all.

"Sponsor A Goal" – this was started by Trust members, Tony Waters, Peter Stockill and Lesley Waters. So far over £1,000 has been pledged, the money will be split equally between Youth Development and the Trust.


The membership has steadily grown over the year and the Trust now has 216 Members (186 Adult members and 30 Junior Members).



Chairman’s Round Up

Margaret Tinkler thanked the membership for electing her as the new chairman. Margaret Tinkler told the membership that she hopes to increase the liaison with the club and put the views of the supporters forward.

The Trust would also like to co-opt seven people onto the board and would hope that members would come forward if they felt they would like to be co-opted onto the Trust board.

A brief Question and Answer session followed for members to ask the New Trust board questions.



EARLIER MEETINGS

The first AGM in June 2002 at the Darlington RA club was another landmark for the Trust, which is aiming at establishing a positive dialogue with the club - and strengthen community links. "It's a year since the idea for setting up a Trust was first discussed and now we've laid the foundations," said chairman Peter Ashmore.

"We are set to see the move to the new stadium and it's in everyone's interests that it's a big success."

The Trust has set up a working group, to look at practical ideas to take up with the club and community, it's also interested in a possible involvement in youth football development in the future.

"Our new committee includes people in business, financial services and management and we've other skills to call on," said Mr Ashmore.

"We're always looking for others to come on board. We're all from a variety of backgrounds, but we've one thing in common - we're fans and we want the best for the club."




Darlington Supporters' Trust held its second public meeting on Saturday March 23, attracting more than 50 people. More members were signed up and more volunteers came forward.

As TED BLAIR explains, it was an encouraging number, although it would appear that some fans preferred to show their concern about the club by going to the pub to the lunchtime Sky match.

The meeting was opened by acting chairman Doug Embleton who briefly outlined the reasons why the Trust idea had been pursued at Darlington - a lack of communication between club and fans, as well as a feeling that fans were no longer involved.

It now seems more relevant than ever given the machinations within the club and the national profile that we have now attracted - for all the wrong reasons. It's time for fans to have their say and reclaim some dignity but this could only be done if everyone pulls together, joins the Trust and gets involved.

A technical hitch (ironically sorted once the meeting was over) meant that some of the speakers were unable to use their carefully crafted presentations but nevertheless were still able to bring the audience up to date with the latest situation within the Trust.

All legal and above board...

Ted Blair - fresh from a flight over Feethams and the new ground earlier that morning as part of the Trust's Farewell to Feethams project - explained some of the legal details regarding the Trust structure and how being an Industrial and Provident Society forces the Trust to be open and democratic in all that it does.

Ted also outlined the objectives of the Trust - now enshrined in the 21-page constitution which was formally registered earlier that week - which are the key drivers of the Trust and will determine the way forward in all future policy. The next steps will involve the first AGM where Trust board members can be elected and other people co-opted to the board to help out. He emphasised that all Trust members were eligible for election and he encouraged them to get involved now - we need more people to come forward to help us progress.

Doug read out a message of support from Supporters Direct - we are now the 52nd registered trust in England and Wales - if only this was our league position! "Darlington Trust can take great credit and pride in overcoming the obstacles that you have confronted," said the message.

Where we are, where we're going

Pete Ashmore, acting secretary, gave a few details on the current status of the Trust. Prior to the meeting we had approx. 90 members but over the past week and with some people joining at the meeting we now had 109 members. Some money was due from Supporters' Direct since they fund a percentage of our start-up costs. A portion of this money would be used to cover administration costs but the majority would be used at some stage to help out in meeting the Trust objectives once these were a bit clearer - this will be the case once we have an elected board.

Pete also appealed for help - the Trust can use a variety of skills (e.g.: An auditor, fundraisers, PR etc) but also needs people who are willing to give use of their time.

Trust's in the frame
Hannah Taylor then gave an update on the Farewell to Feethams exhibition:

"'Farewell to Feethams' sounded honestly like a good title last October. We've thought of renaming it "Farewell to Feethams?" or "the Long
Goodbye". But it's still what we intended it to be. A celebration of our stadium and of our club's history.


It looked to us like nothing would happen otherwise, that we'd move across town to the new ground, the gates would be locked and that would be it. No special events were planned for the "goodbye." Before we knew
it, it would just be memories after 120 years with
little fanfare. So if we didn't do it, no-one else
would. We've got one chance.


As a Trust we thought photographs were a good starting point. New photos to remember the old ground by. We've teamed up with a dozen photographers from Darlington
Camera Club....a mix of amateurs and professionals...who since the New Year have been taking black and white photos of supporters on match day, behind the scenes and some of the views of the ground we all perhaps take a little for granted.

Quite a few of these guys had never even been to a football match before. So Torquay at home must have been a real eye opener! There's not been a lot of "Smile please" it has to be said. Jim Lycett, the chairman of the Camera Club, has been playing a Tommy Taylor role. Discipline when needed, a few of them got rather too interested in what was going on on the pitch at one point! And every good team needs a system and a game-plan. But it's certainly proving worthwhile
and now we have an historical record of hundreds of photographs. The best 40 photos will go on display before next season here at the Arts Centre.

Eventually, they're destined for a home at the new
stadium - as a permanent reminder and a link with our past. We're also kindly being helped by the Northern Echo , who're allowing for their photo archive to go on
display...and any fan who's got some interesting old photo in an album somewhere or some memorabilia, then let us know. We're also hoping to bring together some written memories, as well as some new recordings from some older supporters who remember the old days...

We all have opinions about the worst striker seen at Feethams, the best Darlington game...but I think most of us, who've been around a bit and seen some others, have something we all agree on - that our ground is a bit special..

A small group within the Supporters' Trust has been organising "Farewell to Feethams", and wherever we happen to be playing in August or December, it's something we've done for ourselves. We've had a lot of
encouragement from others in the community and here at the Arts Centre. And an important part of the Trust's work is to forge links within Darlington. It shows in a small way that it's still OUR club and we're also doing something that brings us as football fans into contact with people in the town for something
positive.

Shortly, we'll be giving you a chance to join in -
whether helping with the show, with a photo of your own, a memory, or even (if you're able) a little sponsorship. But please if nothing else, come along in July and August and take a look. And it's free."

Swans way for Darlo fans

Then Doug Embleton introduced our guest speaker, Richard Lillicrap, from the Swansea Supporters Trust who have been very active over the past few months and who should be able to advise us on what we can expect and what lessons we can learn.

Richard gave a brief history of the recent events at Swansea and how the club had been eventually sold for a pound to Tony Petty - someone who had no connection with the club and whose only interest was to make money out of the club even if it destroyed the club in doing so. Early attempts at setting up a Trust had come to little but this was the season when Swansea were Div 3 champions and there was no perceivable crisis to most fans. If a Trust had been in place earlier, it is possible the Trust could have taken action earlier. People came forward when the crisis became apparent and the Trust structure was able to allow people to fund raise safe in the knowledge the monies raised would be looked after carefully.

In essence, the lessons that the Swans learnt were as follows:
Be ready - they weren't
Be assured - the Trust constitution means the Trust cannot be hijacked
Trust formal structure means it can be a rallying point in times of crisis and is easily understood by other bodies (club, players, council etc)
Supporters elected to Trust board - will not always be there but the Trust will be.

The club needs its supporters and a trust is the ideal body for the club to deal with
The fans' voice through the Trust is hard for the club to ignore.

Fans, club and community have common aims
With enough members (Swans now have 1,446 members), the Trust can now work on bringing the club and community together.

The Swans Trust will soon have a more active role in the future of the club but the amount of work is not to be underestimated. Richard emphasised the need for fans to get involved - don't leave it to others.

Richard was given a rapturous round of applause by the meeting - well deserved - and Doug then opened the meeting to questions and comments from the floor.

Questions from the floor:

When will we have the AGM? It was agreed we really need this sooner rather than later but timing could be awkward with the end of the season rapidly approaching.

What was been the club's reaction to us so far?
We have been well received by many people within the club and we have had meaningful discussions with some directors, including Sue Reynolds and Luke Raine. Our contact with George has been minimal and measured. But we need to work towards more formalised contacts.

Where do we stand in relation to the Supporters Club - are we replacing or threatening them?
Peter Thorns, chairman of DFCSC and also steering committee member of the Trust gave his thoughts on this situation.

He believes that the Supporters Club is long-standing and often associated as being part of the club - it is more set-up for the social side of supporting the Quakers - arranging buses etc - whereas the Trust is more geared towards specific aims in terms of representing the fans to the club.

As such, Peter would suggest fans should join the Trust in preference to the Supporters Club - though ideally fans should join both - unless all that fan is interested in is coach travel to games.

Neil Johnson (DAFTS) stated he was producing 500 Farewell to Feethams badges which will be sold amongst the DAFTS community (and anyone else who is interested). Of the £2 charged, half will go to the Trust. The Trust steering committee is very grateful for this initiative (and we'll let you know when they go on sale).

Neil also mentioned that some fans are interested but will not join until they see what we've done (as is the case of some in his local pub) - the "chicken and egg" situation. In this respect the Trust are having to ask for a degree of trust from the fans - most of the first year or so has been dedicated to establishing the Trust - but perhaps if these people came along to meetings we could explain as we do to other fans who make the effort.

Were we going to do some more leafleting as the York Trust had done outside their ground the previous weekend?
Yes, this is something we will consider though we did actively leaflet at games earlier in the season. Again, we would like some other members to help out in such tasks - it is important that it is just not the same old faces giving out leaflets.

Doug then closed the meeting, reiterating the request for more people to come forward and offer their time and skills - all will be welcome.





Trust launch meeting


TED BLAIR outlines what happened at September 2001's launch meeting of the Darlington Supporters' Trust - its future aims and how anyone who is interested can help in the future.

Please read this and let us know what you think - the Trust is being set up for all fans of Darlington FC and we need to hear your views.


INTRODUCTION



Doug Embleton opened the meeting and thanked everyone for attending (about 70 attended) - a sure sign that fans cared about their club.

Doug introduced the guest speaker, Brian Lomax, as well as other members of the group who had been working towards the development of the Trust - Hannah Taylor, Pete Ashmore, Sue & Peter Thorns, Maureen & Tony Taylor and Ted Blair - as well as a number of others who were unable to attend: Steve Duffy, Neil Johnson, Danny King, Richard Ellison, Dave Sowerby, John
Hopps and Colin Fletcher.

A brief history on the Trust to date was given - the meeting was organised by a group of concerned Darlo fans - including representatives from the
Supporters Club, VQs, DAFTS, WTMG and Mission Impossible - who feel that despite the major changes going on at the club, the relationship
between the club and the fans is not what it should be, especially as we move into this new highly significant stage in our history.

A brief outline of what the Trust is not was also outlined - it is not
the Supporters' Club, it is not DAFTS, it is not a fanzine group, it is not a small collection of "Lone Warriors" or anti-GR agitators.

It is a representative grouping of the whole broad church of supporters of Darlington Football Club. It seeks not to replace any of the above
organisations but to give all of us a collective voice safe under the
banner of a national initiative.

Messages of support for the Trust have come from Prime Minister Tony Blair, William Hague and fellow MPs Alan Milburn, Frank Cook, Derek Foster and Darlington Borough Council.

Tony Blair wrote: "These are exciting times for Darlington, as its new stadium nears completion. The Trust will ensure that supporters are fully involved in the development of the club in years to come. It has my full support and my best wishes for success. I know that Supporters Direct has worked hard with the club's supporters towards the launch meeting".

It had been hoped that Mark Prudhoe and Kevan Smith would be joining us but unfortunately they both had to postpone at the last minute. Kevan
is well aware of the work of supporters' trusts since the Hull trust was heavily involved in keeping things going at Hull last season. Both
Mark and "Smudger" hope to make an appearance at a future Trust meeting.


SUPPORTERS' DIRECT AND SUPPORTERS' TRUSTS


Brian Lomax was the guest speaker from Supporters' Direct and he outlined the work of the organisation:

* SD is one of the few initiatives that came out from the work of the Football Task Force and is backed by all political parties and football
authorities. Brian was brought in to head up Supporters' Direct following his work in the early 1990s with Northampton's Supporters Trust which essentially saved the club from going out of business.

* The main aim of SD is to provide help so that fans get back a say in the running of their club and the game of football. There are a great deal
of excellent skills within the fanbase of each club and they can be utilised to benefit the fans and the club.

* Over 40 Trusts have been set up at Premier League clubs (recently Spurs have welcomed a trust being formed in north London) through to Third Division clubs and some non-league clubs. SD are in contact with over 100 clubs in all.

* Trusts work at many different levels - where there is a crisis, some Trusts have saved and run clubs (Chesterfield, Northampton, Lincoln) and others have a representative on the board (Luton).

However at the vast majority of clubs there is no obvious crisis - fans simply have felt more alienated over the passing seasons and want to
take a more active part in supporting their club. It is recognised that anything which enhances communication between a Club and its supporters can only be a good thing and clubs would be mad to ignore the help offered by their
fans.

Trusts are independent, democratically elected organisations, not run for profit and have members (not shareholders). They are generally run as industrial and provident societies (like a co-operative society) which means that there is transparency in the finances and members interests are protected at all times.

Officers are elected at an AGM - these officers become trustees who sit on a committee which also includes representatives from all Supporters'
groups.

The aim to is for the membership to have broad a base as possible from amongst the Darlington-supporting public and local community.


DARLINGTON SUPPORTERS' TRUST


The aims of the Darlington Supporters' Trust were then outlined:

* to create an independent forum to promote positive communications between DFC supporters and the club

* to create a mutually advantageous dialogue between all those concerned with the future of the club as it moves into a new era with the
development of the new stadium

* to promote DFC in the community in which it serves

* to represent a significant number of DFC supporters and to seek their views and opinions with a view to sharing these with the club

* to raise money to be spent in such a way as to benefit supporters of DFC

* to oppose violence, racism and other forms of discrimination.

With these in mind, the Year One targets for the Trust are to:

* establish a constitution, legal and financial framework to facilitate the objectives of the Trust.

* establish a link with the management of the club with a schedule of regular, consultative meetings

* establish a membership of 400 supporters

* arrange a number of public trust meetings, including an AGM

* produce a regular newsletter for Trust members.


QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Following this there was a Q & A session so that the audience could find out more about SD and DST. Most of the issues raised are covered in
the FAQ section of the Darlo Trust site (www.darlotrust.co.uk) so I won't
repeat them here.

One question concerned the position of the DFC Supporters' Club - would it not clash with the Trust?

This point was answered by Peter Thorns (Chairman of DFCSC). He said that whilst DFCSC has a good relationship with the club, it is long
established and does not have the necessary structure or clout to do the things that the Trust aims to do.

Peter added that he could see the Supporters Club merging with the Trust at some point in the future to the benefit of both organisations and the club. He would certainly encourage people to join the Trust.


THE FUTURE

The meeting was attended by a representative of the Carlisle Supporters' Trust who said that they have had to rush into the creation of a Trust
given the recent problems there. He suggested that it is no use waiting until you have a crisis before forming a Trust - you never know what is around the corner.

The meeting was then asked for a vote of confidence in order that the Darlington Supporters' Club can move onto the next stage.

This was passed unanimously.

After the meeting was formally closed, a number of people signed up as members of the Trust.

MEETING AT NEWTON AYCLIFFE

As a follow on to the launch meeting, three representatives of the Trust Steering Group spoke to the Aycliffe Branch of the Supporters Club at their recent meeting.

Doug Embleton again outlined the aims of the concept and the national objectives of Supporters Direct.

Peter Thorns then stressed that in due course he saw the merging of a Supporters' trust and the existing Supporters' Club as a very positive
move since this would inject new impetus and energy and would be a valuable cornerstone of communications with the club.

Pete Ashmore joined Doug and Peter in a very lively and wholly positive Q&A session from which it became clear that there is a strong bedrock of support for the concept.


WHAT CAN YOU D0?

If you are interested in joining the Trust, please print and fill out a membership form - see www.darlotrust.co.uk to download one or contact the Trust by e-mail from this site.

We are also looking for people to become involved with the running of the Trust. If