We are delighted to announce that we have come to an agreement with the Football Club for the Trust to have a Supporters’ Director on the Club’s Board of Directors.
Talks have taken place between the Trust and the Club in recent weeks, but this proposal was given a real impetus when the executors of David Clough’s estate agreed to use £25,000 from the estate to enable a Trust representative to join the board by purchasing shares in the name of the Trust. There seems to be no better way to mark the anniversary of David’s passing than by establishing this new arrangement.
A further announcement will be made in the next few days once we have full EFL clearance, but because of this agreement:
- A Trust representative will have equal voting rights with all other directors
- A Trust representative will sign a confidentiality agreement with the club and therefore will be unable to feedback on certain items. Our research shows this is the practice elsewhere.
- A Trust representative will stand for a two-season fixed period before a vote takes place to elect a replacement
- No Trust representative can serve more than two terms
- All shares purchased from the estate of David Clough will be purchased in the name of the Dale Trust
For a number of years, the Trust has resisted pushing for Trust representation on the board of RAFC. We believed that we were better placed to hold the club to account if we remained independent. However recent changes in the Boardroom have led to a rethink and the idea has gathered support on the Trust board, and we believe that this will ensure that a Supporters’ voice will be at the heart of the decision-making process at the Club, and lead to a significant improvement in both transparency and communication.
We have carried out research with a number of other EFL Trusts who have had representation on their Club’s Board of Directors, and we will continue to work with them over the next few weeks. We wish to take advantage of their knowledge and experience to make this work. Obviously, there will still be a need for many things to remain confidential to the confines of the Boardroom, but it is our intention to take the best practice from other clubs and make it work for us.
In the recent survey we carried out there was overwhelming support for the Trust to purchase additional shares and to explore options for installing a Trust director on the RAFC board. We have taken this as an endorsement of our actions, but we will seek feedback from our members in the next few days.
However, should we feel that it is not working out and detrimental to the best interest of our members and / or the Club, we will ask our members for permission to revert back to how things currently operate.
These are early, exciting days and the hard work continues as we seek to establish new ways of working to help safeguard the future of RAFC.