The latest statement from the Saints Trust.
Policies Not Personalities
The Saints Trust has stood back in amazement during its short existence at the on going situation at Southampton Football Club, in those two short years it has seen control of the Club veer between five different factions and it is about to go into a sixth, this situation is intolerable.
It is time for all those involved to start to work for the good of the Club and Nothing Else.
With this in mind The Saints Trust is imploring all fans to look at the situation and consider that it should be about Policies Not Personalities, Two years ago Rupert Lowe was ousted, not because anyone considered that there was a better option, but simply becuase the fans wanted him out and didnt care what followed.
The fact was though that Michael Wilde's plan was doomed to failure, not because there was anything wrong with the blueprint, but because Wilde had to call upon the backing of several major shareholders to back him, causing there to be no dominant force or leader in the boardroom and the subsequent infighting that marred the club from virtually the moment that Lowe had left.
Whilst the Trust takes no sides on the situation, the fact is that it did happen and it was completely to the detriment of Southampton Football Club.
Supporters are fed up with those that they entrust with the running of their football club behaving in this manner, they are sick to death of what should be confidential information from the boardroom being leaked by those entrusted with it, and they are heartily sick of the mess that the Club now finds itself in.
It is now time for the right people to be running this Club, those with the knowledge and experience to run both a football club and a PLC, and we are not particularly referring to any particular major shareholder here, what is best for the Club should be paramount and if that means appointing from inside the club or outside, then so be it.
Qualification should be paramount, whether the person is born in Southampton and is a lifetime fan is not, a glance at the best run clubs show the day to day running is charged to the Chief Executive, he is rarely a life long fan of the club, or a major shareholder, in any PLC the main role of the non executive directors is to represent the shareholders and counsel and advise the Executive Directors.
The Saints Trust calls on the Board of the Club to appoint a representative from the Trust to the board of the club, as the largest Saints supporters group and backed by Supporters Direct, it has the constitution and the infastructure to undertake what is no little task.
This act would show supporters that the major shareholders do care about the club and are determined to be transparent and show the fans that they have the best interests of the Club at heart, and from the fans point of view, that there are no hidden agendas. The road back to prosperity will be hard and long, if those in the boardroom, whoever they may be after the EGM want the support of the fans, then surely it is not wrong of the fans to demand representation in the boardroom.
The Trust also calls on all supporters to join the Trust and strengthen its position, the current situation has arisen because the supporters have not been in a position to do anything about it, as has been proved at other Clubs, Supporters Trusts can play vital roles at football clubs in a positive way, but they can only do so if they have the support of the fans, there have been fine words spoken by thousands of supporters about the decline of Southampton Football Club, in the media and on the internet, but words are not enough, action is needed and the time for that action is now, if every Saints supporter who gave such great backing against Bristol City joined the Trust, it could demand that the fans be represented in the boardroom merely on the strength of the shares purchased from those subscriptions.
The Trust also calls on all supporters, local business's and the media to get behind the club in its darkest hour and help it where it can, a succesful football club is vital to the economy of the City.
Finally, the first task on the road to recovery is to avoid relegation, as was proved on Saturday, events in the boardroom and indeed Chairmen and directors do not influence the team when it is out there on the pitch, however managers and supporters do ! All involved, be they shareholders, directors or supporters would do well to bear this in mind.
Further Info at www.saintstrust.co.uk