CCST Membership

Would now be a good time to promote the merits of CCST membership - to regular fans and those overseas? The argument for strong fan representation could not be clearer than it is now.

Would now be a good time to promote the merits of CCST membership - to regular fans and those overseas? The argument for strong fan representation could not be clearer than it is now.

Whilst I'm not having ago at anyone before Corky has a bad day, the membership of 670 is a bit disappointing. Whilst these days its PC to have initives which include the recent one with local minorities, personally I would like to see them put on the backburner with the trust board concentrating more on a recrutiment drive for the next 12 months.

Once the CCST has an influencial membership through numbers, then it can return to specific asperations but until then it should concentrate on the club and its membership.

Would now be a good time to promote the merits of CCST membership - to regular fans and those overseas? The argument for strong fan representation could not be clearer than it is now.

Whilst I'm not having ago at anyone before Corky has a bad day, the membership of 670 is a bit disappointing. Whilst these days its PC to have initives which include the recent one with local minorities, personally I would like to see them put on the backburner with the trust board concentrating more on a recrutiment drive for the next 12 months.

Once the CCST has an influencial membership through numbers, then it can return to specific asperations but until then it should concentrate on the club and its membership.

Wise words. Maximising membership and funds have to come first and that requires a mission that resonates. Now is a good time to make that clear even if it involves repetition.

Would now be a good time to promote the merits of CCST membership - to regular fans and those overseas? The argument for strong fan representation could not be clearer than it is now.

Whilst I'm not having ago at anyone before Corky has a bad day, the membership of 670 is a bit disappointing. Whilst these days its PC to have initives which include the recent one with local minorities, personally I would like to see them put on the backburner with the trust board concentrating more on a recrutiment drive for the next 12 months.

Once the CCST has an influencial membership through numbers, then it can return to specific asperations but until then it should concentrate on the club and its membership.

670 Members including 5 from my house is not good at all.

Supporters Trusts are a waste of time and money

Are there alternative ways to organise the interests of the fans versus club owners? Indeed, some would argue that trusts should work towards ownership positions in clubs. Membership-based ownership works for Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Sporting Lisbon and lesser clubs.

Membership numbers are very dissapointing and we need to work on that. The real problem is that the fans don't realise that the trust is theirs...theirs to run....it has a powerful constitution and all the members are protected to the extent that liabilities are only £1 per member.
Noboby can control a Trust only its members...everyone can join and everyone decides what the Trust does and who they want to run it.
I sometimes wonder if its me, I may have made enemies in the past due to my close association with Sam Hammam, well its its simple just f**k me me off and vote someone else on...people talk about closed shops, inner circles etc etc...well a Trust cannot be like that...it has to be open and accessible to everyone.

The whole point is that the Government got fed up of the fans being taking for mugs at almost every club in the country so they invested millions in the supporters Direct organisation.
http://www.supporters-direct.org/home.asp

In Britain it is unlikely that fans will get to run clubs but Trusts can give fans the power to have an influence it is simply up to you....join and take part or don't join and try to get your points across in other ways.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog ... david-conn

I have not been to good this last few months and the travelling back and fro to Cardiff to meeting after meeting is taking its toll, there is every possibility that I will not stand for election this year but I firmly believe in the Trust movement...unless someone can tell me a better way?

Membership numbers are very dissapointing and we need to work on that. The real problem is that the fans don't realise that the trust is theirs...theirs to run....it has a powerful constitution and all the members are protected to the extent that liabilities are only £1 per member.
Noboby can control a Trust only its members...everyone can join and everyone decides what the Trust does and who they want to run it.
I sometimes wonder if its me, I may have made enemies in the past due to my close association with Sam Hammam, well its its simple just f**k me me off and vote someone else on...people talk about closed shops, inner circles etc etc...well a Trust cannot be like that...it has to be open and accessible to everyone.

The whole point is that the Government got fed up of the fans being taking for mugs at almost every club in the country so they invested millions in the supporters Direct organisation.
http://www.supporters-direct.org/home.asp

In Britain it is unlikely that fans will get to run clubs but Trusts can give fans the power to have an influence it is simply up to you....join and take part or don't join and try to get your points across in other ways.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog ... david-conn

I have not been to good this last few months and the travelling back and fro to Cardiff to meeting after meeting is taking its toll, there is every possibility that I will not stand for election this year but I firmly believe in the Trust movement...unless someone can tell me a better way?

There is no better way for fans to combine their voices and resources. You are to be commended for your efforts. It may seem a thankless task at times, but many are grateful. When it comes to membership, one suspects that there may be something of a "free rider" problem to be addressed. Starting these things is always difficult.

Power goes to people heads and it divides the support. It has happened with many Supporters Trusts over the years.

You only have to look at the issues within Merthyrs Trust for proof of that.

Mirroring all types of Clubs and associations, one suspects that the problem is greater with smaller and less resourced Trusts.

What power do they have

Midfield general...Merthyr Trust is not the same as Cardiff City Trust...They are trying to run a club, we are simply trying to give the fans a voice...a Championship club could never be run by a Trust in my opinion especially in the current climate.

There are more members in Merthyrs Trust than there are in CCST.

It boils down to power mad supporters and that it also happening with CCST.

People who think they can help run a club when they haven't got 2 pennies to rub together

I heard somewhere that this was the no sniping board?

Midfield general...Merthyr Trust is not the same as Cardiff City Trust...They are trying to run a club, we are simply trying to give the fans a voice...a Championship club could never be run by a Trust in my opinion especially in the current climate.

If a membership-ownership structure can run some of the most powerful clubs in Europe, I fail to see why a similar structure could not control a mere Championship outfit. Getting there is the main challenge, but everything is possible in time.

Midfield general...Merthyr Trust is not the same as Cardiff City Trust...They are trying to run a club, we are simply trying to give the fans a voice...a Championship club could never be run by a Trust in my opinion especially in the current climate.

I think you are absolutely right.

However, I don't think your personal involvement (or that of TLG another old inner circler) has any affect on the numbers. One of the reasons which affects membership numbers IMO is the asperations of the Trust to accumalate a 'sigificant shareholding'

Many supporters view this as pointless for the reasons you have just highlighted, a Trust could never run a Championship club. Also they see buying shares as 'feathering the nest' of Ridsdale and his cronies, whether that's true or not.

Whilst a small shareholding is disierable so that the Trust can have representatives at AGM/EGM's that should be the limit of that ambition. I personally would like to see the Trust get more season ticket holders as members and enter into partnerships with the club, espeically the Academy.

Last edited by Tony Blue Williams on Tue Jan 05, 2010 1:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

All opinions are good guys...no problem at all...

Corky, I have a few questions about advertising the Trust a bit more. Please feel free to answer how you like. I am very naive when it comes to the Trust because I am not totally aware of how you guys do things and it is my intention to sort that out on my part by becoming a member and getting more involved.

1. Has the Trust tried putting a member on each of the gates before Cardiff games with application forms to hand out to fans? Maybe the form could also carry a brief explanation of what the Trust do? Just something simple in bullet points on a small A5 piece of paper or something?

2. Have the club shown any willingness to help the Trust out by offering or agreeing to send Trust leaflets to the addresses of Cardiff City fans?

3. Maybe sending Trust application forms in e-mail form over the net to CCMB and AAMB members would be another way to get more members?

Ignore me if all this has been tried before. Like I said, I am relatively new to understanding what progress you guys have made.

Thanks.

There are more members in Merthyrs Trust than there are in CCST.

It boils down to power mad supporters and that it also happening with CCST.

People who think they can help run a club when they haven't got 2 pennies to rub together

I heard somewhere that this was the no sniping board?

Hows sniping at who..?

To be honest if you think that European clubs are debt free then you should think again. Just look at Real Madrid, the Spanish Government still prop them up after the Franco days. Barcelona are in huge debt also. We all know what happened to Lazio, Florentina and Parma.

The bubble in the German league burst in the late 80's and it took them a good ten years to get back to the European limelight.

The indiviuals may have to get voted on to run European clubs but they also have to have huge personal finances to get on the voting slip.

Not all continental European clubs operate on the membership model and you appear to have mixed privately held and membership clubs in your examples.

You may know more, but I understand that the Italian clubs are generally owned by wealthy individuals/families and frequently through their companies. Stadia are generally public facilities. (AC Milan - Berlusconi; Fiorentina - Della Valle; Lazio - listed in Milan, but majority controlled by Lotito; Roma - Sensi family; Parma - previously supported by Tanzi and "his" Parmalat company - Europe's biggest bankruptcy.)

Barcelona and Real Madrid are well supported through special relationships with the Spanish banks and are therefore poor examples when it comes to financial management. I probably should have highlighted this. There are indications, however, that they are being pushed to put their house in order so as to avoid a future crisis.

So have the Germans (and possibly the Portuguese) now got it right?

The importance of stadium ownership may be exaggerated. Do we need to own our own stadium as it's not the case in many countries? Developing the new stadium offered limited financial gains for the Club and most/all of these seem to have gone into the hands of the speculators. These same speculators now have the fate of the club in their hands. The speculators take the benefits and the fans continue to pay the bills - even to the extent that the fans are now being asked to pay in advance as part of a bet.