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In British
sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...
, a supporters' trust is a formal, democratic and
not-for-profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...
organisation of fans who attempt to strengthen the influence of supporters over the running of the club they support. There are over 140 supporters' trusts across
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
,
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
and
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
and the majority of these are affiliated to
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
clubs, however trusts also exist for
Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
and
Rugby Union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
clubs. With
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
and with cross-party support, Supporters Direct was established to encourage the formation of supporters' trusts to promote democratic supporter ownership. Supporters Direct encourages these bodies to be formed as Industrial and Provident Societies (IPSs) and assists with their formation, legal and start-up costs. Supporters' trusts were commonly founded in response to financial crises which threaten the future of a team, as was the case at Chesterfield, Lincoln City,
York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...
, and
Real Oviedo Real Oviedo ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...
. Their involvement has reportedly ensured the survival of over 20 different clubs entering into administration, particularly during the period of crisis as a result of the collapse of
ITV Digital ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network. Its main shareholders were Carlton Communications plc and Granada plc, owners ...
. Supporters' trusts are now more commonly founded in order to increase influence at clubs through a financial stake in the club. The first trust established was at
Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...
in January 1992. The largest is the Manchester United Supporters Trust, which used to be known as Shareholders United and currently has over 200,000 members. Other large trusts for clubs such as
Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
,
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
, Exeter City,
Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...
,
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
, Spurs and Glasgow Rangers have between 3,000 and 10,000 members.


Methods for influencing clubs

The main objective of a supporters' trust is to provide a vehicle for fans to influence the running of their club. This is achieved by a number of different strategies, including gaining control by fundraising to finance the acquisition of
shares In financial markets, a share (sometimes referred to as stock or equity) is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation. It can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Sha ...
in the club or direct board representation.


Club ownership

The most effective method of influencing the running of a club is club ownership. In the UK, more than 110 supporters' trusts currently hold equity within their football clubs, while supporters' trusts have outright or majority ownership or control at two
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...
clubs.


Board representation

Over 40 football clubs currently have supporter representation within the boards of their football clubs, such as the
Rangers Supporters Trust Club 1872 is a supporters group for fans of the Scottish football club Rangers. The group was formed in May 2016 by the amalgamation of two supporter shareholder projects; Rangers First, and the Rangers Supporters Trust's Buy Rangers scheme. ...
at Rangers F.C.,
Lincoln City Supporters' Trust Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...
at Lincoln City F.C., ArabTRUST at Dundee United F.C., the Oldham Athletic Supporters Trust and th
Swans Trust
at Swansea City A.F.C. The Bluebirds Trust at Barrow AFC have a board representation and are fundraising to purchase shares. However their formation is different from the vast majority of Trusts, they are not born from crisis but success; Barrow AFC were a members owned club but voted to become a privately owned club. Barrow-born Texan businessman Paul Casson of Casson-Mark (C-Mark) Corp. purchased the club in the Summer of 2014. In Real Oviedo's case, when the club was about to go bankrupt, the club started putting shares up for sale to people across the world to help the club. Thousand of people invested, including 2nd richest man
Carlos Slim Carlos Slim Helú (; born 28 January 1940) is a Mexican business oligarch, investor, and philanthropist. From 2010 to 2013, Slim was ranked as the richest person in the world by ''Forbes'' business magazine. He derived his fortune from his e ...
and Youtuber Spencer Owen (aka Spencer F.C). As was the case for Ebbsfleet United. About 100 football trusts currently have shares in their clubs. There are many Rugby League supporters' trusts currently in the UK who run and operate their respective clubs, such as
Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the League 1, the third tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs tha ...
for example, likewise, so do some rugby union clubs, for example Friends of Newport Rugby, representing
Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, Wales. They presently play in the Super Rygbi Cymru. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on the east bank of the River Usk. Ever ...
.


See also

* Supporters Direct


References


External links


Supporters Direct: homepageSupporters Direct: links page - links to supporters trust websites

Fresh Players, New Tactics: Lessons from Northampton Town Supporters Trust
published by The Football Governance Research Centre

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140908021126/http://www.barrowafc.com/fa-confirms-paul-cassons-takeover/ , date=2014-09-08

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