- What if a shareholding is not an immediate possibility?

Things change quickly in football and a Trust covers all the bases. Chesterfield thought they were going to have a long hard slog to get a small shareholding, and 6 days later they owned the club. Now, whilst not everybody will have the circumstances that they had (and Amen to that!), they were able to act quickly and respond as the situation changed. A Trust means that should the position regarding shares change, you're in place to respond. It also helps build the argument - to force that change - by saying that you are a constructive body, run by serious people who've got something to offer. In effect, a Trust without shares might look a lot
like an ISA - it will be representing fans to the club, asking for changes here and there about bread and butter issues - ticketing, catering, away travel etc - but it can also be much more than that. If the ‘much more’ isn't there yet, then there's still no problem. There's also more than one-way to be involved. You can own property for example, so the Trust could own the land of the club. As it's not for profit and can only do things to benefit the club and its relationship to the community, it can't be sold, unless the
members - the fans - agree to it. Since many clubs repeatedly state that they never want to move away from a ground unless there's a better option for the future of the club that retains the club's link with its community, why not make sure that the decision as to what's in the best interests of the club lie with the people who have it closest to heart - the fans.