Fax4Life wrote:
I am happy to hear the Town are in the black as having seen them struggle over 40 years especially in the late seventies and eighties but come on you saying that the Town Board don't fund them at all, even this season?
While you are on here Gavin tell me how many does the Halifax Town Supporters Trust represent now and how is it constituted, when are its meetings and what is its purpose?
I agree. Maybe thats why FCHT supporters are a bit more wary about the stadium falling into the hands of a private owner because we are more aware and maybe even more paranoid about future problems given our past. But why would the Town directors need to fund them this season? There was almost £200k in the bank on the previous financial return. If they are having to fund the club the I would be concerned, but there is no proof that they are or even need to.
Not sure on our membership numbers. They are certainly not as high as we would like but we have been pretty dormant over the last few years. I read on here that I had supposedly walked away from the Trust. That never happened!
Councillor Roger Taylor is the chair of our board which has 6 members. We are members of Supporters Direct, who have been a great help this past month or so - aren't Fax Trust still members of SD? In fact I have been invited to speak at a rugby league Supporters Direct event in January about the ACV - will Fax Trust be in attendance?
We have over £10k in the bank, hold an annual meeting and submit our annual financial returns to the FCA. We didnt get off to the best of starts with the club owners but there is dialogue now.
I know my name is mud on here so I want to try justify why we have done what we have. From our point of view it was never a football vs rugby issue. Of course there would have been FCHT supporters who would have been delighted had it been David Bosomworth trying to buy the Shay. But I would like to think that the majority who have been against any sale, have been because of the future risks to both clubs.
When it became apparent, or at least according to Tony Abbot, that a sale of the Shay was weeks away I think everyone would agree that it hadn't been done the right way. We are not talking about a plot of land for building a little garage. We are talking about a sport stadia which has huge emotion attached to it and home to the towns two main sporting clubs.
There had been absolutely no transparency and the only way to at least ensure if any sale was to be made it would be done to the benefit of the Calderdale taxpayer was to apply for the ACV. The Trust, as a Industrial & Provident Society, was the perfect vehicle to put in the application. There are other ways and other groups that could have done it but it made sense for the Trust to take the lead.
I dont know Tony Abbott personally but know people who do and there isnt a bad word said about him. However, managed better, with a bit more thought than bravado, he could have taken everyone along with his ideas. But by trying to do it behind the back of the football club was always only going to end in tears.
You mentioned that it was the protest march which led to the council deciding to complete the East Stand. I am not sure if you really believe that or not but the protest march was organised when the council talked about selling the Shay to a private owner - about 4 years prior to work on the East Stand beginning. Ian Griffiths was the main organiser, I was involved as were others from both clubs because we understood the risks that came with the Shay falling into the hands of an individual or organisation other than the Council.
My interest in the future of the Shay stretches back before this. I was part of the joint working party of HTST and Fax Trust which put together the document which started the discussion leading to the Shay Stadium Trust. The others were Peter Lassey, Joanne Cardwell and from Fax Trust Adrian Vaughan, Andrew Hamer and Robin Smith.
http://theshay.org/wp/?p=55I wanted to point this out to show than my ideology of community ownership/management is long running and not just because it was Tony Abbott - major shareholder of HRLFC.
The football supporters view has remained pretty consistent over the ownership of the Shay but there has been a huge degree of hypocrisy on here.
In 2005 you were against private ownership. In 2009 you were all for the council spending almost £6m on completing the East Stand. But all of a sudden you are desperate for the council to sell the Shay because of the drain on the resources of the tax payer. Where was the uproar when CMBC announced that they were going to take out prudential borrowing to complete the East Stand? Where was the uproar a year ago when CMBC were continuing to subsidise the Shay? Lets face facts, you have only begun to kick up a stink when you became misty eyed at the possibility of the man who HRLFC's future depends on announced he wanted to buy the Shay.
When taking a look at the legal aspect of the council selling the stadium it became apparent that there could be no undervalued sale of the Shay. The council officers either didn't understand the legislation or they were hoping that nobody else did. As the concerned tax payers that you are, surely you would want the council to sell off the Shay - with the same constraints they were saying would be attached to any sale to TA - to the highest bidder, getting the best return in?
I dont think any of us would want the council selling the Shay to any old random. OK TA may not be any old random, but who says he wont sell it on to any old random at some point in the future? This is just one of the many risks a sale to him would have had.
In the communications I have had with various Councillors I got the feeling that there was no appetite for selling the stadium. The annual running costs when compared to other Council owned property are not ridiciulous. I dont think it is specifically this which is the major concern. The problem is meeting the future investment needs of the stadium, for example the redevelopment of the Skircoat Stand which will be necessary at some point in the future.
Thats why it is important that the council find a suitable way forward where they retain ownership, maximise the potential and make sure the stadium works for the benefit of the Calderdale taxpayer and equally the two clubs. And I think everyone has a part to play in finding this workable solution.
Believe it or not, the saddest thing about this whole episode is the damage of the relations between both sets of supporters and possibly the two clubs. I have said some stupid things over the years but I would like nothing more than two successful clubs playing in a quality stadium and enjoying a bit of harmony.
