You may well read this and ask yourself why we need a Supporters Trust. After all, we are a football club on a steep upward curve and which has attracted much positive media attention over the course of the last few seasons. Victories over Premiership sides were the highlights of last season that was dominated by a brand of football not seen in this area for many years. This season we have continued to progress under the control of yet another bright young manager, backed by a board of directors who have probably stood shoulder to shoulder with you on the terraces as you have grown up watching the Swans.

 

Indeed, why we need a Supporters Trust is a very good question, and one which I will attempt to answer.

 

Let me share a few facts with you

 

 • Your Supporters Trust owns a shareholding of almost 20% of Swansea City Football Club.

 

 • This equates to an investment of some £200,000 in the club, and sees the Trust as one of the major shareholders

 

 • Our shareholding entitles us to one Executive Director on the board of the football club

 

 • We have a second representative in the form of an Associate Director

 

 • Your Trust was at the forefront of the battle to oust Tony Petty back in 2001

 

None of the above statements actually give you the answer as to why we need a Supporters Trust, but I believe that they inform you why your Supporters Trust is here to stay.  

 

However, I will try and answer the question posed by looking at different aspects that make up the Supporters Trust. These being:

 

 •  Supporter Director

 

 •  Shareholding

 

 •  Trust Activities

 

 •  Membership Benefits

 

 

 

The daily input we have into the activities of the football club should never be underestimated. Our executive director attends every board meeting of the football club and has a major input into the everyday decisions that affect you, me and the progress of the football club.

 

Our director though is elected first and foremost to serve on behalf of all of us as fans. He will raise appropriate issues with the club board that are brought to his attention by our members. He will raise issues that he believes supporters wish to have raised. This can range from the price of tickets through to something that I know is very close to his heart in ensuring that our club utilises every seat within the stadium as effectively as possible. He also attends meetings with the Stadium Management team, all striving to increase your enjoyment of your interaction with the Swans and of course the Liberty Stadium.

 

These inputs I see as invaluable. I started watching the Swans in the late 1970s and through my time as a supporter I have wished that the football club would listen to us more. I was fortunate enough during a period of exile from the South Wales area to become involved with the MAGS (Midlands, Avon and Gloucester Swans) who had an ear in the boardroom, but all too often experienced that feeling of being paid lip service to, or more often than not totally ignored by those in charge of the club at the time.  Maybe this is why I see a voice in the boardroom as so important but it is so much more than a voice – it is an equal vote on decisions that affect the football club.

 

 

 

As our club has progressed through the divisions, there are three common questions that I seem to be asked regarding the Trust, its directorship and its shareholdings. These are -

 

Should our shareholding reduce what happens to our director on the board ?

 

The agreement is in place that those shareholders that currently have directors will always have directors as long as they retain a shareholding. There is an argument that says our shareholding is likely to reduce at some stage as the club potentially needs new investment but this will not (and cannot) be at the expense of our Supporter Director.

 

At some stage if a Roman Abramovich type character appears the Trust will surely have to sell its shareholding?

 

At this moment in time, there is 80% of the club that is not in the hands of the Supporters Trust. Those shareholders could all elect to sell their shares but we wouldn’t have to.  The reason for this is that company law states that only if one shareholder gets above 90% do all shareholders have to sell. So in basic terms we should always aim for a share in excess of 10% which would ensure that your Trust always has an input on your behalf (albeit it would in this situation be a minority one).

 

Will the Trust be given the opportunity to buy shares in the future?

 

Quite simply, yes we will. All shareholders have always been in agreement that we are able to buy more shares and we have even in the past been given more time to raise the money. Indeed, just last August we purchased a further £10,000 of shares. And this is one of the reasons why I feel that membership of the Trust is so important – as further investment is required so it is important that we as a Trust are able to contribute to that investment and thus maintain a minimum shareholding.

  

 

“I really have no idea what the Trust do”

 

And maybe if I were to admit a failing of the Trust this would be it. Many people have said this to me and although it hurts when people say it, it is a fair comment and one that we need to address.

 

There are no excuses for not keeping people informed and we are definitely guilty of not blowing our own trumpet over things that we have done in the past.

 

So what do we do? I have highlighted the role of our director and this is probably one of the main things that we do on a regular basis although much of what comes from the input into the club will always be seen as a football club decision that we have been part of. It would be wrong of us to take full credit for these decisions and unfair on our fellow directors.  However, it is a big part of the Trust role. As our director, Huw Cooze reports back to us on a monthly basis on what is under discussion and we regularly provide him with mandates for things that we feel are important to raise with the club board.

 

In addition to that your Trust is involved in many fund raising activities and social events, including the following:

 

 •  The Annual Awards Dinner which has been held for the past 3 years

 

 •  An annual bowling event which has been held for several years and is hugely popular

 

 •  Fans Forums in many locations where players and management answer the fans questions

 

 •  The farewell weekend to the Vetch where several commemorative events were held

 

 •  The Ivor Allchurch Statue and the Robbie James Bust were both achieved with massive Trust input

 

 •  Two Open Days at the Liberty Stadium – attended by more than 7000 people

 

 •  Quiz Nights, Race Nights and similar social events

 

 •  Six Family days (Kids for a Quid) at home matches over the last three years

 

All of that and more is quite a roll of honour and not necessarily a reason to join the Trust but most definitely a reason to be proud of what the Trust has achieved.

 

 Membership Benefits

 

The most obvious member benefit to me is the ability – as a Trust member – to have a voice in the boardroom and a stake in the football club. The Trust needs members to continue its own progress alongside the football club and membership monies are put towards the future purchase of shares in the club. Of course you can work out for yourself that at £10 per membership there are a lot of those in £200,000 so please do take the time to consider joining the Trust and ensuring that we – as fans – continue to have a major say in the football club.

 

We do however appreciate – especially given the current climate – that tangible benefits are also very much at the forefront of membership schemes.

 

With this in mind we are looking to get discounts for Trust members upon production of a membership card. Presently we have a deal with Pizza Hut at Morfa Park and will be looking to extend the range of deals in the future.If you are involved with a local company and would be prepared to offer discounts to Trust Members get in touch and we would be happy to talk about advertising the deal on our website. I am confident that the range of discounts that we will offerwill enable every member to effectively earn back their £10 membership fee. 

The final benefit is on the ticketing front. The Trust is in the group of priority for tickets behind season ticket holders. This means that for bigger games in the cup and away from home, you can get your hands on the tickets before they go on general sale. Details for individual matches are published by the football club and advertised in all local media.

 

And so back to the original question. Why do we need a Supporters Trust? I believe that this is as simple as ensuring that we have an input into Swansea City Football Club. A Supporters Trust will represent the interests of its members, ensuring that their views/problems/concerns are aired at the highest level with a view to resolving them.

 

I do think that the question can be changed slightly at the moment to be answered as to why you should support the Trust in the good times for the club. We believe that we are experiencing these good times because of the collective body of Swans fans at Board level, of which the Supporters Trust plays a major part. If we ever fall on hard times again then we need to be ready to act and ensure that the club never repeats the mistakes of the past.

 

We can only do that with your support and I urge you to consider joining the Trust and becoming part of one of the biggest Supporters Trusts in the UK. As Chairman of the Trust I promise you that I – and my fellow board members – will do as much as we can to ensure that your views are represented within the four walls of the Liberty Stadium and that everything we do will be with the best interests of the club at heart. Please take the time to support us.

 

If you have got this far I thank you for reading and thank you in advance for your support.

 

Phil Sumbler

 

Chairman, Swansea City Supporters Trust