FAQs

What is a Supporters Trust?

Supporters Trusts are legally established as Community Benefit Societies. The Football Supporters Association provide a Trust with a set of Model Rules that are used by the Trust to secure registration with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) who are the regulators of Community Benefit Societies. Sheffield Wednesday Supporters’ Trust (legal title 1867 Supporters’ Society Limited) is formally registered with FCA having adopted the Model Rules of that organisation. The people who signed the FCA registration document are Directors of the Trust until elections take place. New directors can be appointed who will serve on the interim board until the aforementioned election takes place. Before the Trust was established Sheffield Wednesday was one of the few clubs in the Championship not to have a Supporters Trust.

What power does the Supporters Trust have?

The Supporters Trust adopted the model rules supplied by the Financial Conduct Authority in their entirety on the advice of the Football Supporters Association. The model rules are clear that the Trust is governed by its members who determine policy at meetings and elect directors to the board. The board then operate the Trust on a day-to-day basis. Daily operational decisions made by the board include communication to the club the concerns, ideas and suggestions of its members through constructive dialogue in meetings and public statements. The board are also responsible to ensure the Trust is efficiently and effectively administered and abides by all legal and regulatory requirements.

Who is currently running the Supporters Trust?

The Supporters Trust is currently operated by an interim board. You can see more details on the board page here.

Can I help the Trust in other ways than serving on the interim board?

Certainly. Please contact us on enquiries@swfctrust.co.uk to register your interest.

When will the first election to the board of the Supporters Trust take place?

The Supporters Trust adopted the model rules supplied by the Financial Conduct Authority in their entirety on the advice of the Football Supporters Association. The rules state that the first Annual General Meeting of the Trust must be called in the period between the end of the financial year and no longer than 6 months later. Our first financial year ends on 31 March 2021. The interim board is aiming to hold an AGM in May or June 2021 when we can present the Trust’s accounts to members. The AGM will also elect an independent elections group that will oversee the Trust election process to ensuring its runs smoothly and to appropriate democratic standards.

Notwithstanding any delays in this process the interim board is aiming to hold the first election in July 2021.

Who are the Football Supporters Association and why have a relationship with them?

The Football Supporters Association (FSA) was born from a merger between Supporters Direct (SD), a government established organisation to supervise and support the establishment of Supporters’ Trusts, and the Football Supporters Federation. You can find more about the FSA on their website.

A relationship with the FSA is useful for several reasons. First, they have an ongoing relationship with the English Football League, an issue that is especially important given our club’s recent troubles. Second, the FSA organise national campaigns around issues of importance to all football fans that the Trust will be able to engage with.

Where does the Supporters Trust get its mandate and legitimacy?

The Trust operates under a twin mandate that gives it legitimacy to operate.

1) The FSA require that any group of fans proposing to set up a Trust must state their intention publicly in an open meeting of supporters to ensure they have wider support among the fanbase. We held our open meeting in March, which was due to be a ‘live’ event until lockdown was announced two hours before it was due to begin meaning the event was moved ‘online’. That meeting was attended by two officers from the Football Supporters Association, several people who have now gone onto become interim board members, a few members of the public who didn’t get the message to stay away, and the meeting was streamed online receiving 4000 views. The Football Supporters Association officers present (Deborah Dilworth & Ashley Brown) at the meeting were satisfied that, after we held an extensive question and answer session with viewers online, we had the support to set up the Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust. This act by the FSA officers conferred on the interim board the mandate not only to set the Trust up, but also to start operating as any other board would by taking strategic decisions.

2) A Trust can only recruit members when it is registered with FCA, it has established a series of policies (this has been done and those policies are available in an FAQ below) and when a bank account is in place. Those requirements were all met on 10 July 2020 and we began to recruit members on the 18th July. We are a members-based organisation, so our mandate is now derived primarily from our membership.

What policies do the interim board adhere to?

The interim board operate according to a number of policies listed below in alphabetical order:

Board Membership and Conduct Policy

Data Retention Policy

Disciplinary Policy

Election Policy

Equality Charter

GDPR/Privacy Policy

Social Media Policy

Standing Orders for General Meetings

Standing Orders for Society Board Meetings

Will the Supporters Trust seek to own the club or buy shares?

This is not the strategy of the interim board who believe that the modern Championship makes fan ownership a very difficult proposition given the scale of financial issues involved. Our objective is to engage and attempt to influence the club so that action is taken to mitigate the concerns of our members and act upon their ideas and suggestions where the governance and commercial performance of the club could be improved. All our ideas and energies are focused on this and we have never had a discussion (beyond how to write this FAQ!) about trying to own or buy shares in the club. It is worth pointing out that in the interests of transparency that the Trust is a members-based organisation and if members were to elect a board who thought fan ownership of Sheffield Wednesday was a good idea then the strategy of the Trust would inevitably change from the position articulated above.

In whose interests is the Supporters Trust operated?

The Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust is a members-based organisation operated on the principle of one-person one-vote. The Trust can only ever represent its members, although the Trust will always seek to communicate with the wider fanbase in an effort to understand concerns among supporters and their ideas and suggestions for where the club could improve its governance and commercial performance.

To whom is the Supporters Trust accountable and how can they exercise their power?

The Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust is accountable to its members.

The Supporters Trust adopted the model rules supplied by the Financial Conduct Authority in their entirety on the advice of the Football Supporters Association. The model rules are clear that the Trust is governed by its members who determine the Trusts policy at meetings and elect Directors to serve on the board. The Directors then run the Trust on a day to day basis.

Members can exercise their power through meetings and in elections of individuals to the board. Supporters Trust will establish a series of consultative meetings with members for the purposes of seeking their views on Trust strategy and policies in the run up to the first annual general meeting in May/June 2021. We will notify members of the date and time of these meetings and how they can be accessed by email. The board always welcome dialogue outside of meetings through email (enquiries@swfctrust.co.uk .

How is the Supporters Trust funded and are the accounts audited?

The Trust is funded by the £10 annual members fee. This may be supplemented in the future by fund-raising efforts as appropriate and approved by the board. At the end of each financial year the Trust’s accounts will be audited and sent for regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority. Once approved they will then by presented by the board at an annual general meeting of members.

What is the current strategy of the Trust?

The interim board feel that Sheffield Wednesday fans will speak with a stronger voice, and gain more influence and better connections with the club, by joining together in a Supporters Trust. The main objective of the Trust is to communicate the views of its members to Sheffield Wednesday through effective dialogue. The strategy of the interim board has four main aspects.

Providing a voice for members.

Being a sound organisation.

Influence SWFC club strategy.

Deliver a community trust.

More information on this strategy can be found here.

Who regulates the Trust?

The Trust is regulated as a Community Benefit Society by the Financial Conduct Authority under the name 1867 Supporters Society Limited.