Why is the Supporters Trust Silent?

[ex_user1234]

Ed, you talk about the marxist ideology within the Trust & the village fete approach to matters (arguably two opposing positions) but haven't given any examples of the mistakes the Trust has made or identified failures to maximize opportunities, which would help convince posters of your beliefs.
I'll admit to being a big fan of the Trust but ultimately I want what is best for the Club so would love to hear specifics about what the Trust could & should be doing better to improve the business performance & increase revenue, rather than generalisations which are not supported with detail.

It's a fair point. The problem with giving lots of specific examples is we are on a public forum and I don't want to betray confidences or humiliate people. You must understand that. I will give you one specific example where I felt the Trust put their own personal, philosophical views ahead of what was best for the Club. It was a sponsorship deal that the Club's commercial team had put together for a betting company to sponsor a relatively minor part of the Exeter City kit. The commercial team were super chuffed with the deal as it brought in a decent amount of revenue for the Club, and the branding wasn't in-your-face as it was down the side of the shorts if I remember correctly. Hardly noticeable in fact. Anyway, I was at the Trust meeting where the deal was discussed and subsequently shot down. I was the only person who publicly objected to the decision to scrap the deal and got a lot of dirty looks for doing so. What it came down to was the Trust's personal belief system that betting is evil. Even though betting is legal. Even though half of City fans probably bet on football. Even though every other football club in the land works with betting companies in some capacity. Even though we have Skybet plastered all over the ground and website already. I also pointed out in the meeting that there are far more deaths from alcoholism than problem gambling in this country, so why do we allow sponsorship from Thatchers? No answer. I asked why the Trust were imposing their own personal, philosophical beliefs onto the Club and therefore the fans of Exeter. No answer. At one point the Head of Commercial at the Club was mentioned by an influential Trustee. What happened next staggered me. He was referred to as "just a salesman", with the implication being that he couldn't be trusted. This is a guy who works his ass off for the Club, who is in a senior position bringing in much-needed revenue for the Club, and yet he's viewed almost with contempt by some at the Trust. It was at that point I knew something was badly wrong and I decided to run for election to try and reform the Trust.

 

[ex_user1234]

No, not really tbh. I don’t believe that capitalism necessarily involves exploitation. What I said was that ‘people like you’ use it to justify exploitation. And having read all your posts I am pretty certain I am right.

You are very good at twisting other people’s words - see also your latest tantrum at Juan Kerr - and much less good at putting forward any positive ideas of your own. The mark of egotists and fantasists since time immemorial.

Please can you provide evidence that I have exploited anyone.

 

[Alistair20000]

Excellent post. Especially your point about volunteer organisations and their inherent limitations. You're also smart enough to understand that I am deeply frustrated with how City is run as a football club, both by the Trust and the Club, having got to witness it first-hand in pretty much all non-playing departments. It's the all-round amateurishness that I can't abide. And, again, as you astutely observed, a lot of my frustration stems from the people involved not being able to see how village fete everything is. I don't blame the people involved - nearly all of them haven't operated at a high enough level in business to know that anything is wrong. The reason I talk a lot about the ideology of the Trust is because it has a huge impact on everything at City. It's the single most important thing that needs to be changed if our club is ever to be really successful. You can't run a commercially savvy organisation if the culture is not aligned to tha goal. In terms of the Club, I think the main problem is that some of the current personnel simply aren't up to the job. It's all very provincial and parochial, which means there isn't the talent avialable to truly drive Exeter City forward. Half of the time I'm not sure the Club know what they're doing - the furloughing being a good example. All in all, there needs to be a root and branch transformation of the Club and Trust.

Ed with reference to the furloughing are you referring to employees other than players or to players ?

Do you know for certain as a matter of fact when each group was furloughed ?

 

[Alistair20000]

Juan Kerr Great name. Reminds me of one of the posters on the Derby County forum named Juan Kossoff.

We have a Juan Kossof on here Lego. Different spelling and is supposed to hail from Warwick. Does not post much as he is busy on wrist strengthening exercises.

Memories of Peter O'Sullivan calling the horses when Weigh Anchor was running.

 

[Legohead]

We have a Juan Kossof on here Lego. Different spelling and is supposed to hail from Warwick. Does not post much as he is busy on wrist strengthening exercises.

Memories of Peter O'Sullivan calling the horses when Weigh Anchor was running.

I also remember those horses with names like Mary Hinge and Betty Swallocks clearly thought up to try and make the commentator make a slip up during the cut and thrust of a racing commentary.

 

[Alistair20000]

I also remember those horses with names like Mary Hinge and Betty Swallocks clearly thought up to try and make the commentator make a slip up during the cut and thrust of a racing commentary.

Yep I remember Mary Hinge. I recall her being in a TV race and Julian Wilson saying he hoped Peter O'Sullivan would avoid the Spoonerism. Also Shy Talk from the late 70's and Norfolk Enchants in Australia a few years ago.

I once met at Newmarket races the young lady who worked at Weatherbys and was responsible for checking horse naming. She was delightfully naive. She had also let Joe Blob get registered and he was entered up in a race but someone spotted it and forced a change before it ran. A horse name cannot now be changed after it has first raced.

 

[Legohead]

Yep I remember Mary Hinge. I recall her being in a TV race and Julian Wilson saying he hoped Peter O'Sullivan would avoid the Spoonerism. Also Shy Talk from the late 70's and Norfolk Enchants in Australia a few years ago.

I once met at Newmarket races the young lady who worked at Weatherbys and was responsible for checking horse naming. She was delightfully naive. She had also let Joe Blob get registered and he was entered up in a race but someone spotted it and forced a change before it ran. A horse name cannot now be changed after it has first raced.

 

[John William]

A woman down the road from me has a car with the number plate letters BJB. I smile every time I walk past...

 

[ex_user1234]

That is hilarious!!!

 

[ex_user1234]

Ed with reference to the furloughing are you referring to employees other than players or to players ?

Do you know for certain as a matter of fact when each group was furloughed ?

Furloughing of the players. That's where we spend most of our money as a Club, which is why it was important to get on top of the situation as soon as possible. I got the distinct impression that the Club were just following whatever the EFL were doing (which was effectively nothing) and the Trust were borderline clueless about the whole thing.