2005 NEWS archive - november

Press Release, 21/11/05

The following release is in response to comments made by PUFC chairman Steve Holt at the recent PUFC AGM.

At the Peterborough United AGM on the 11th November the new Chairman Steve Holt referred to the figure of £10m that Supporters Direct ( the national umbrella organisation behind supporters trust) says has been given by trusts to their clubs. "We have received no such support or help from the Posh Supporters' Trust" he went on to say. This figure may well have come from our own publications as we have highlighted the success trusts have had in rescuing their clubs.

Football supporters trusts are not set up as cash donor organisations for clubs as the Chairman and the club know full well, however we raised £2000 for the floodlight improvements in exchange for shares, and have given over 100 man-days of labour free in the club shop. Most of the £10m that he mentions was used to help re-finance football clubs that had been mis-managed into some form of administration or failure. They had to be rescued with substantial sums of money, a lot of it raised by their Trusts.  The Posh Supporters Trust is no different. It is striving to raise money and get backing in case that situation were to arise again at our club. It is also  working towards creating a new style of community club in the long term, with greater fans influence and ultimately ownership, with greater consideration given to the needs of fans, who are the lifeblood of the club. We continue to receive, and campaign for, support from people who believe that this type of club is needed in order to successfully develop the long term future of our club in a way that has been achieved at other Football League clubs. Surely the fans are the last people who should be blamed for the difficult situation in which the club finds itself.

Yours sincerely
Peter Lloyd
Chairman The Posh Supporters Trust