The future of TUST

This would be a credit to the Daily Mail!

Me, and echo Hectors point.

Is it any wonder?

The constant, sniping, belittling, undermining of an organisation for supporters by supporters, then it’s no surprise. Why on earth should they bother? Supporters have the club they deserve.

As Jon informs us on the Updates thread, the future of TUST will for the foreseeable future be under the leadership of Mike Thomas. I think we should all wish him well from the outset as he takes up his new position as TUST Chairman. Sadly, it will be a long road back to credibility for TUST given the widely publicised debacles they suffered (instigated ?) not too long ago. But hopefully lessons have been learned and they can gradually claw themselves back to some kind of respectability among the greater fan base.

While I did receive an email last night pointing out that Mike was always likely to have an initial advantage of being subliminally popular with the Militant wing of TUST: Michael Thomas
                                 Marxist Theory


I think we can all see how that works,  although I wouldn't put too much store by it, as there were other reasons why Mike garnered 100% of the votes cast...assuming a ballot was held at all. It will be fascinating to see whether TUST now attempt to present themselves in a different light in order to appeal to  to a greater proportion of ordinary fans. Let's hope Mike can bring some fresh thinking to the role, and in so doing help TUST throw off the cloak of Corbynism that to so many currently surrounds it. No easy task with an influential and vocal Militant wing to contend with, but I'm sure he'd have the support of the vast majority of Torquay fans far and wide, should he choose to undertake such a task.

While fans are feeling too depressed by results and our League position to want to talk about the football, for we TUST watchers it's a fascinating time.

As one particular Forum is throwing itself headlong into discussions of what the TUST should be doing right now, by way of contrast I thought a more historical perspective would make a nice alternative here. While at the same time emphasising a point that can't have it's importance stressed too greatly: it's the people who control and pull the strings at national level who you need to investigate and find out about. They wield the power, as is being only to clearly demonstrated at Hartlepool at this very moment. Fans must not allow themselves to think no further than the friendly faces of TUST officialdom at local level. It is the London power brokers of Supporters Direct that take charge the moment the serious stuff starts.

I wonder if I've been the only one this week, struck by the similarities between TUFC owned by the Dave Philips consortium; those final months when discussions with TUST took place, and what we hear and read of what's happening at Hartlepool currently ?

These are my recollections, and TUST members may well have a better informed or more accurate knowledge than myself, but from what I recall, TUST were allowed in and were given access to the books and to examine the accounts. Of course previously, Dave Philips had observed in his programme notes that not a penny, not even a lawnmower, had been forthcoming from TUST.....and how it mirrors the sorry tale of Hartlepool today. In a nutshell didn't TUST's offer of help eventually boil down to saying 'our help will be in taking the club off your hands' ?

The bigger, and eventually insurmountable snag, was that TUST then demanded a period of exclusivity that went right up to the date on which the G.I loans had to be repaid, i.e effectively putting anyone else out of the running. A condition that Philips and Co refused to agree to.

So now let's move North East to Hartlepool. and see what the members of the Hartlepool United Supports Trust have been being told over recent days and weeks. You know the people, those loyal fans paying in monthly so that a safety net would be there. If their club was struggling to survive, as supporters they'd do what they could to come to the rescue.

And that is just what their Trust told them, even right up to the start of this week !  Let's see what was being reported and what the Hartlepool Trust was telling fans and members locally:

The Supporters' Trust is now bidding to ensure the club can prosper in the longer-term, and says it will launch its own campaign in the coming days. A statement released by the trust said: "The trust has a major national fundraising campaign prepared which was sanctioned by our members on December 31, 2017, and we expect to launch this in the next four to five days. Many of you will indeed have helped us with the promotional video for this which we filmed at the ground on January 1, 2018. Our campaign is not designed to supplant or hijack the excellent fundraising effort already going on in response to the club's appeal for £200,000 that they need by January 25. The reality is that those funds will only secure the future of the club this month, and not for the remaining months of the season. The HUST campaign is to raise money for a fighting fund to cover operational costs through to June."

Just what the locals wanted. The Trust for once not playing politics, but actually helping to raise some money to stop the club going to the wall.

Three cheers for Tru.....   hang on...what ?   There's been a call from Head Office ?  Supporters Direct have heard about the plans to launch a fund to help, and they've forbidden it. That's right folks, Big Brother at HQ slaps down local TUST and puts them firmly in their place. Politics is always on the agenda at HQ because it's their only agenda !

And so the shame faced local Trust leaders are forced into an astonishing about-turn. As they meekly comply with Supporters Direct and the overriding agenda.And so what did they have to tell local Hartlepool Trust members yesterday ?


'After speaking to Supporters Direct, we have decided to further postpone our fund-raising launch, which we had initially planned for last week, while we seek further legal advice. While we support all efforts to save the Club, as part of our Constitution we must remain independent of Hartlepool United Football Club until such time that supporters have a representative on the Board of HUFC'.


And don't think that the local Militants hadn't thought of an additional pound of flesh to demand either, as the statement went on:


"In addition, many of our members and prospective donors, have told us that they do not want the Trust to give money directly to the club, particularly without access to the club’s accounts"


While the ordinary fans are reaching into their pockets and raising every penny they can, you don't need me to identify just who is in favour of thinking up new conditions and demands. I think by now we can recognise the words and deeds of a Trust Militant, even if they're operating as far away as Hartlepool !

Oh yeah, and while the fans are trying to raise money for the poor sods who aren't getting paid, Hartlepool Trust make it clear they wouldn't as much as lift a finger to help with the administration


"Much of the money that is currently needed is for salaries, and as a Trust we cannot pay those salaries or administer donations which will go towards them, without attracting the attention of HMRC, or leaving ourselves open to a potential claim for tax and National Insurance.


The importance of getting the message across continues. Do not concern yourselves with who Supporters Direct slap a TUST badge on, and dangle before you at local level. It's the people who control their strings up in London, and even the people behind those people who you need to inform yourselves about.

It's a time when pro TUST views are available by the lorry load, when some Forums are overflowing with the pro TUST message. That means some small alternative to the overwhelming narrative is more important than ever. TUST Watch will continue to provide that as best it can while it's allowed to.

 

Alpine, everyone is allowed to have an opinion on here - Voltaire etc. Without studying the Hartlepoo! scenario in depth the stance of supporters Direct does not appear to be unreasonable as the amounts being mooted are not in the lawnmower category but are more akin to providing significant injections of share capital which generally entitles that party into a say into how that money is spent..