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Trust Statement - Thursday 19 January

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Parent Category: 1874 Trust

Written by NVST

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As we indicated in yesterday evenings statement, we’d try and make a further comment tonight to try and keep all fans abreast of the latest situation and what the ST is doing to try and preserve the future of our great club.

First to report is that both myself and Trust Chairman Paul Stockton did meet with Jim this evening. As you will probably imagine, our meeting was somewhat spasmodic as, quite understandably, Jim was dealing with a number of phone calls and e-mails with various parties regarding the action he was taking in relation to the rights that the football club (i.e. NVFC 2007 as opposed to NV Developments) have to occupy the ground.

As most fans will have read, Jim has issued a statement through his solicitors which indicates that he is considering seeking an injunction to defer or even halt the current proceedings. Whist the Trust has and will play no part in this process, it goes without saying that we hope that the end result of this action is that the club and supporters are granted more time to find at least a short-term – if not longer-term - solution to the current problem.

We did ask Jim a number of questions, including the three that we set out in last night’s statement. However, as we warned in that post, Jim wasn’t able to provide answers to these as either they were subject to ongoing legal action or might prejudice the position of the club. However, he did advise us that the first time he became aware of a counter bid was towards the end of last week and he only knew that the prospective purchasers were Thor at the same time as everyone else – i.e. yesterday. Paul and I did raise a number of other points with Jim to which he did supply information, albeit in confidence. We hope that fans will understand that we cannot divulge any of this information at this stage. But we also need to thank Jim for being candid enough to reveal this to us as it is useful in setting the wider matter in some context.

In relation to THOR, we understand that a couple of fans did make contact with them today and were permitted to enter their premises and discussed the current situation with representatives of the company. Whilst we fully understand and support this action, the Trust wishes to make clear that this initiative was undertaken by a couple of individual Vics fans and as such any views they may have expressed were not those of the Trust or its Members.
Having said this, we want to assure all fans that we are still actively seeking constructive dialogue with THOR as such the Trust welcomes the statement that they;
“..will be more than happy to sit down and meet with the appropriate people”.

However, we are equally concerned with their earlier comment that;

“..we will not be in a position to allow the club to continue to operate from the stadium..”

Our intention is to try and make contact with THOR tomorrow either in person - through Paul – or via e-mail with a view to setting up a meeting with them early next week.

Many fans have made contact with us regarding when we might be in a position to stage an open meeting of all supporters to discuss the current crisis. We can confirm that this is still one of our main priorities and as such it is currently our intention to hold such an event next Wednesday evening. Hopefully this will be at the VS, but if this is not available we are have another suitable location in reserve. Full details of this event will be posted on the Trust web-site when they have been finalised.

As indicated in yesterday’s statement, we have made contact with Supporters Direct and they have assured us that we can rely on their support and guidance in the next few weeks. They are a key ally and resource and have huge experience of similar battle that other clubs have faced, so we’ll be using their knowledge and expertise to help us find a successful outcome to our current problems.

We’ve also received numerous offers of support and assistance from Vics fans old and new. This is quite humbling and shows what passion and regard the club is held in both locally, nationally and internationally. The Trust Board is limited in numbers, expertise, availability and knowledge so I can assure you that we will be seeking to follow-up all such offers in the near future. But please bear with us in the interim period – just because you don’t receive an immediate response doesn’t mean that we don’t want to take advantage of what you might have to offer!

On the flip side, it may be that we need to obtain short term or immediate expert advice in one or two particular areas but we either haven’t got this ourselves or can’t afford to buy it in. Hence, what we may well be looking for is for fans to advise us of what skills, knowledge and abilities they have so that we can tap into and use this resource when the need arises. More about how we might want to organise this will follow in future statements.

A recurring theme today has been between those who wish to see the current club continue and those who would prefer a ‘new’ wholly fans based club to be created, at whatever level. As stated yesterday, the Board’s view is that until we have a greater understanding of the various facts, then it would be both premature and inappropriate to take a view one way or the other. However, supporters need to be aware that unless significant, additional support is provided from the fan-base, it would be highly unlikely that the current ST Board would be able to run an alternative club, even at the lowest levels of the pyramid.

Furthermore, as one of the Trust Board members so eloquently put it tonight “Whilst the patient is in a critical condition, they are still alive!”

Two other points:

We’d obviously urge all VIcs fans to become Trust Members as not only will this add to the funds we have available to try and save the club, it will also give you an opportunity to have a say in the direction of the Trust (and maybe the club!)

The Trust is also aware that many fans may be contacting their MPs or local councillors regarding the current situation. Whilst we fully encourage and support this action, we would ask that any campaign initially concentrates on why THOR need to take possession of the site with almost no notice and the impact that this has on the club rather than the principal of them purchasing the site.

It goes without saying that we’ll try and publish another statement as soon as we can and as soon as we think that we’ve got anything new or constructive to tell you. In the meantime, if you wish to discuss anything with us, don’t hesitate to contact us via e-mail, phone or a PM on this site.

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