Trust

[waynekerr55]

Good to see Lisa being mansplained with their answers...

Not. Boris would be proud of the doubling down

The reply was quite astonishingly patronising wasn’t it. I should reflect more apparently.

It’s funny because no matter how much I reflect I think they were utterly wrong to accept that deal.

I’m simply not reflecting enough perhaps.

I'm beyond words. Shocking

 

[Darran]

I’ve written a lot of public/press statements in my time. Some of them for the trust itself. The one released today shouldn’t have got past first draft stage for oh so many reasons. A bunker mentality and a public facing organisation that seems to have forgotten that they represent the people who elected them is not a good mix. There are many parallels with other walks of life.

Where’s this statement then?

 

[Darran]

I’ve just seen it. The lot of them make me sick.

 

[Niigata Jack]

It seems Dave Haw=Haw, Terry Shitout and Sian Gobbles have been busy writing bullshit. Irrelevant bunch of self aggrandising sell out morons.

Funnily enough, I doubt it's any of them writing these things.

I'm not sure the whole "we're going to stay off social media" thing is a good idea though. Nobody goes to the Pod unless you used to be a Board member or you're at the stadium 30 mins before kickoff.

Why do they seem and think they're untouchable. they should have resigned after the debacle of that outrageous deal, all about their own self interest, what right have they got to lord it up on the back of the membership, the attitude is similar if not the same to that clown who said the tail is trying to wag the dog, they couldn't care less for the fans they are supposed to represent in my opinion.
No different to the sellouts in fact they are worse, cause they're lording it up on the back of others, without risk.

GET OUT and GET OUT NOW

 

[monmouth]

I’ve just seen it. The lot of them make me sick.

To be fair, it makes no odds now. There will be no accountability. The Trust as we wanted it is done. It is no longer for either the membership that will dwindle to nothing, nor the wider fanbase.

 

[Niigata Jack]

It's very easy to slip into a bunker mentality when the s**t hits the fan. Seen it first-hand at times. Doubly so when most on the board didn't tend to engage online anyway, I guess.

Bravery is going to be needed IMO. They've made a fair point today when saying that some of the stuff said has crossed the line, but hiding away isn't going to solve anything.

Some of the stuff has, I’m sure crossed the line, I’ve seen some pretty nasty stuff on social media. I have to say though that I’m not entirely convinced that saying they will take action against those making derogatory comments and will do so with the ‘full support of the club’ is entirely sensible…

I also think that just refusing to answer questions, or answering them with claims of confidentiality etc is likely to lead to the sorts of frustrations that does cause some then to become abusive. That’s not excusing it, it’s simply pointing out the obvious.

What take action against fans that they are supposed to represent, is that some sort of a joke, do they they think they are beyond reproach.

 

[3swan]

I'll put aside whether it was the best deal possible as that can always be argued and open to debate.

Can't the Trust Board see what imo is not open for debate.

In 2016 the then owners kept secret the fact that they were in discussions until an agreement was reached.

The Trust board, the members and the fans were kept in the dark

Now again secrecy until agreement was reached

The Trust members and the fans were kept in the dark.

If they can't see a problem there, then no wonder they are responding the way they are.

 

[jacabertawe]

Is this all on Twitter, where I am not a member? Can someone clarify what is going on, please? Ta.

 

[Uxy]

As this was posted on the public Facebook page, I am sure there is no issue with reproducing :

------

The Swans Trust is pleased to announce the launch of its new www.swanstrust.co.uk website which will go live by this evening. Further details will follow on our social platforms shortly. We would also like to address our continued response to matters that have arisen from the full and final settlement of the shareholding dispute.

The Swans Trust is fully aware that there are some questions that have been recently posted on our Trust Members Facebook group that have yet to be fully answered. Some involve areas of confidentiality and before we can answer them our legal advisors need to obtain approval from the legal teams representing the current majority shareholders and 2016 sellers of the club. Many responses to the questions that can be answered have been emailed privately to the members concerned and if there are other pressing questions that Trust members would like to put to us then please email us at communications@swanstrust.co.uk

As a Trust Board we understand that some members do not agree with the decision taken to settle the shareholding dispute. This decision was carefully considered, balancing multiple factors, and based on sound professional input and advice. It is difficult to engage meaningfully with members who do not recognise that the settlement agreement was a negotiated outcome based on the circumstances the Trust Board found itself in during the last few months of 2021. It is not a settlement agreement where all terms could be dictated by the Trust.

While working through the detailed terms of the funding and insurance agreements it became apparent that these agreements were significantly less attractive than they appeared in June 2021. The Trust and its legal team did its utmost to negotiate better terms with the funder beyond their final position but this was not possible. The Trust considered seeking an alternative funder and made enquiries in this regard, however, we were advised it was unlikely that a materially improved funding offer would be available in current markets.

Furthermore, for six years previously the Trust and its legal teams were unable to negotiate an agreed settlement or commence legal action. The Trust was therefore moving beyond the recommended timeframe for initiating legal action, beyond which the Trust’s case would probably weaken, as there was potentially relevant activity related to the sale of the club that took place in the autumn of 2015.

The Trust Board hopes that members will reflect on and accept this reality as it will help members to better understand the decision taken by the Trust Board. We firmly believe that we have made a decision that will protect the Supporters' Trust going forward.
It should be remembered the Trust board is made up of volunteers who dedicate considerable time and effort to the Trust and the club to ensure the voice of our supporters can be heard. Every one of the Trust board is committed to upholding our values and ethos while striving to work in the best interests of the Trust and Swansea City Football Club.

We are also aware that a very small number of social media users have directly contacted some Trust Board members following the recent online AGM and fans forum. Some of the content of these messages has been extremely disappointing to witness and will not be tolerated. We have also been advised that some defamatory messages have appeared on other public platforms.

While it is of course perfectly acceptable for members and supporters to express their views it should not be in a manner that is personal, abusive or confrontational as it can impact not just on the account holder but their family and friends. Should we hear of any future instances of this nature will have no alternative but to take further action with the full support of the club.

As a result, some Trust Board members have taken the decision to distance themselves from their personal social media accounts for the time being. The Trust will however continue to be available before each home game at the Pod and also email its members, post relevant articles and links on its main Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages as well as its completely new www.swanstrust.co.uk website.

We are delighted to announce this relaunch in a fresh new format following a complete overhaul of the website, which has been undertaken in the past six months and involved hundreds of hours of preparation from our board members and Trust volunteers.

It should be mentioned too that following the recent settlement announcement many of the Trust Board have been very busy attending a number of meetings within the club, Foundation and internally through our various sub groups and current Trust initiatives.

We have also recently held very positive discussions with the majority of the Swansea City local management team and we will provide more information on our work to members and supporters via our next Supporter Director update in the coming weeks.

We are pleased to report a significant increase in the number of new members who have joined the Trust in the past few weeks. We have also been overwhelmed by the very positive response to the settlement of the shareholding case in private messages and conversations from many members. It is good to see as well the high number of emails we have received on a variety of topics including how to get more involved with the Trust in the future. This has resulted in Ceri Morgan joining us this week as a new co-opted member and we will provide more details over the coming days.

Finally please be assured that wherever possible we will reply to emails and messages from members and supporters as quickly as we can but also please remember that all of the Trust Board are volunteers and the recently increased Trust activity levels has placed extra pressure on how we best utilise our time around all our other family and working commitments.

Swansea City Supporters' Trust
11th March 2022

 

[Uxy]

I'll put aside whether it was the best deal possible as that can always be argued and open to debate.

Can't the Trust Board see what imo is not open for debate.

In 2016 the then owners kept secret the fact that they were in discussions until an agreement was reached.

The Trust board, the members and the fans were kept in the dark

Now again secrecy until agreement was reached

The Trust members and the fans were kept in the dark.

If they can't see a problem there, then no wonder they are responding the way they are.

That's the crux of the matter. Although, in some ways, the continued silence is worse than the initial one.

 

[JackSomething]

I'd put good money on this section of the statement:

We are pleased to report a significant increase in the number of new members who have joined the Trust in the past few weeks. We have also been overwhelmed by the very positive response to the settlement of the shareholding case in private messages and conversations from many members.

being complete bollocks.

The 'significant increase' in new members is likely anything but significant, made up of family and friends of the board members or people at the club itself and is almost surely dwarfed by the numbers who have given up their membership in disgust at their betrayal of the fans they are supposed to represent.

The lovely positive messages and conversations have also more than likely been from the same group I mentioned above and again will have been dwarfed by the negative messages. I imagine there would be plenty of negative conversations as well if they weren't hiding and if the average fan had a clue who they were.

I'm sure some of the communications they've been on the end of have been over the line and difficult to deal with, which is wrong. However, if they really can't understand why they're being criticised, then they should probably resign because that would make them monumentally stupid.

 

[Vetchfielder]

There's a whole bunch of annoying words in that statement but there was something of particular interest in there when they stated "as there was potentially relevant activity related to the sale of the club that took place in the autumn of 2015."

As we have been informed, the Trust was not made aware of the sale until March 2016 although the sellers had initiated discussions with the Americans in 2015. This statement now about the autumn of 2015 is new as far as I am aware, but completely irrelevant unless the Trust was made aware at that time. Merely starting to negotiate the sale in Autumn 2015 would not have started the 6 year legal clock ticking, although that seems to be the suggestion in those words.

 

[Uxy]

There's a whole bunch of annoying words in that statement but there was something of particular interest in there when they stated "as there was potentially relevant activity related to the sale of the club that took place in the autumn of 2015."

As we have been informed, the Trust was not made aware of the sale until March 2016 although the sellers had initiated discussions with the Americans in 2015. This statement now about the autumn of 2015 is new as far as I am aware, but completely irrelevant unless the Trust was made aware at that time. Merely starting to negotiate the sale in Autumn 2015 would not have started the 6 year legal clock ticking, although that seems to be the suggestion in those words.

What I think they meant to say is that there were activities in the back end of 2015 that may have been timed out, for example the signing of the heads of terms in Dec 2015 I think. Whether that would have directly impacted the action is up for debate, although it could be argued that they would need to reobtain QC guidance etc accordingly.

However, this has been somewhat contradicted by Jonny Cole during the forum when he said the 6 year rule is not a hard and fast one. Also, there are ways of kicking off the action without really needing to incur costs/agreements etc.

 

[Nocountryforoldjack]

It was kicked into the long grass from the word go, they never intended it to go to court ever.

 

[Uxy]

It was kicked into the long grass from the word go, they never intended it to go to court ever.

Can't talk for now, but that isn't true for the past. Literally the whole point of the funding.