There can be little doubt that football at a national level has significantly weakened its links with local communities and has become less concerned and  responsive to the paying customer. Sadly, at Premiership level unrealistic wage levels have served to price out the local supporters, and corporate sponsorship and TV schedules have become the masters. Inevitably there have been winners and losers as a result of these processes. The supporter loses out on every occasion.

At the non league level there is still the opportunity to ensure that football supporters are at the centre of their club, are kept fully informed about all events and indeed through representation have the opportunity to share the decision making through elected representatives. In any typical supporters group there are individuals whose professional skills and attributes would be ideally suited to contributing to the day to day running of a club and there has been a groundswell of opinion that supports this.

A number of AFC clubs have emerged, including United (of Manchester), Liverpool, Telford and Wimbledon. This movement has been supported by Supporters Direct. Quite simply, through establishing supporters’ trusts, their aim is to deliver responsible, democratic representation at football clubs to help promote the highest standards of governance, financial accountability and community re-orientation.

In a nutshell should supporters choices be limited to only choosing a player of the year and goal of the year, at the end of the season, sprinkled with fundraising along the way? Or are supporters capable of contributing to decision making on policy and day to day operations, have the right to accurate and timely information through participation at Board Meetings along with transparent breakdowns on the club’s finances. Through share ownership and elected representation there is an entitlement to be at the table rather than to be beneath the table hoping that one or two scraps will fall down.

One of the current aspirations of Hastings United is to move to a Community Stadium and to espouse Community values. Paradoxically, the current ownership, decision making, information flows and behaviours are contrary to those ideals.

The aims and objectives of Supporters Direct in the establishment of Supporters Trusts are to

• Promote the responsible voice of supporters in the running of sports clubs through securing democratic representation.
• Deliver advice and guidance on corporate governance and financial accountability to trusts that have secured board representation, ownership or control of their local club.
• Influence or change ownership structures so that the Club, supporters and local community share the same purpose.
• Promote the use of sports and other facilities of professional sports clubs by their local community and to create community activities in order to cement their position as a focus for civic and community life.
• Raise the standard of training, expertise and service delivery to the volunteer membership base of trusts.
• Deliver an improved level of succession planning for trusts with a substantial share ownership through identifying the necessary expertise, local fundraising and investment opportunities and providing by improved levels of governance.
• Build on the success of Supporters Direct (SD) to provide the opportunity for trusts to help re-orientate clubs into becoming community hubs/delivery partners. This can equally apply to clubs in trust ownership/control or trusts working in partnership with clubs in private ownership.

Supporters Direct are happy to assist Hastings United Supporters to move to a new model of ownership and decision making, and enhance the prospects of a community Stadium, if there is a sincere desire to do  things differently.