- Why do some trusts aim to influence the board whilst others seek to own shares or get fan directors?

Each Trust has to look at what the situation is at their club and act in the way most likely to produce results. At some clubs, the owner might not be up for selling shares, so the Trust might look to get hold of the share register and try and find other sources. At other places, the value of the club is so much that fans are unlikely to ever have the wherewithal to get 10s of millions together, so they look to be the bridge between the club and community and get credit for that.

As you don't have to own any shareholding to be on the Board, it's not necessary to own a stake in the club (though it usually helps). All of them are united in a desire to make the mechanisms for dialogue between club and fans as solid as possible, and as entrenched as possible, so it can't be undone should ownership or personnel change and a different group of people come in who want to end that dialogue. And, although every club's situation is different, we can help advise in the light of what might have worked at other clubs in similar situations.