Warrington Wolves Supporters Trust

Ah - the "Make Danny a Wolf" campaign - not one of our more successful ventures, but an indication of the parlous state (with due respect to Danny Halliwell) that the club was in when the Trust was formed and when its members committed themselves to making a real difference in assisting to pull the Club out of the mire and the reinstatement of the development policy which had , to all intents and purposes, been discarded by Daryl Van De Velde in order to fund the bringing in of the big names (Alfie Langer, Tawera Nikau, Andrew Gee et al).

Squadbuilder was “sold” to contributors on the basis that it was a long-term fix and, in those early years, members were rewarded for that long-term investment with the legendary monthly Squadbuilder meetings, with content and variety so different from the usual player forums, offering deeper insights into the working of the Club. That culminated in the 2003 “State of the Game Forum” in a packed Touchdown Club at Wilderspool when we became the first and only organisation (including the Beeb and Sky) ever to have both RFL Chief Executive Richard Lewis and GB Head Coach David Waite together publicly in the same room, together with our own Paul Cullen and Karl Kirkpatrick, for an evening of discussion and debate which covered all aspects of the sport.

That achievement (and the fact that BBC Manchester broadcast their weekly RL programme from the night) was a measure of the respect that the Trust and Squadbuilder had gained in a relatively short period of time in pioneering the concept of the supporters’ trust as a supporter group model in rugby league and in lobbying central government for the extension of funding for the set-up of such supporters’ organisations through Supporters’ Direct to our sport, with the result that there are now around 25 supporters’ trusts in existence in the game, a good number of which we provided advice and support in establishing.

As so often, Warrington (in this case, its fans) led the way in this, with the Club benefitting from the kudos that was gained from the initiative.

Latterly, the Trust board have become heavily involved in player testimonials (and we have had more than our fair share of those over the years), and the Club have used them to run functions that one would normally expect the Club to run for themselves (the Club End-of-Season dinner, for example). This has tested the capacity of an already stretched and limited number of volunteers, not only to attend meetings but to get their hands dirty in the putting together of events, as a result of which, it would probably be fair to say that the number of events staged by the Trust and Squadbuilder specifically for its members has been limited. Despite that, the loyalty of Squadbuilder members (some of whom will have been paying £20 per month over the past 13 years) has been unwaivering and, in many ways, unquestioning during a period when the club’s fortunes both on and off the field (massively supported by Simon Moran’s input, it must be said) have improved greatly from the dark days of 2002. Many of them, like myself, have taken great satisfaction in having made a contribution to the achievement of the objective of “keeping local players local” and of increasing the influence of Warrington-born and trained players in the Super League squad.

My major issue in all this is the way in which the Trust has been excluded from the initiatives of the Fans’ Ambassadors and the Wire Fan Club, and the way in which the Wire Fan Club was announced at the Pyramid event a few weeks ago and subsequently on the Club web-site as “THE official fan club endorsed by all at Warrington Wolves”. I was particularly piqued by this exclusion because I attended the summer fans’ forum on membership, specifically because I was concerned as a co-founder of the Trust and Squadbuilder, albeit now as an ordinary member, as to how the membership scheme would fit in with the Trust’s role as the independent voice of the fans in the running of the club. I raised this point at the forum which was attended by both club officers and some of the subsequently-appointed Fans’ Ambassadors and protagonists of the “Wire Fan Club”. So neither the Club or the Fans’ Ambassadors should have been any doubt about the existence of the Trust or its objectives, and the importance of its independence, despite its close partnership with the Club.

My strong belief is that the new activity of the “Wire Fan Club” and the Fans’ Ambassadors could and should be undertaken within the wider remit of the Supporters’ Trust. Their stated objectives could almost have been lifted out of the Trust’s registration documents, so there is clearly no conflict there. I am striving to achieve bringing that conviction together.

I should also say that I have absolutely no problem with new people wanting to get involved – it is what the Trust needs to expand the range of its activities to achieve more and more of its objectives.

I could wax on lyrical for a few more pages about the history of the Trust and Squadbuilder, its achievements (and its shortcomings) and the sequence of events which have brought me to where I stand today (a few of you out there know that I am quite good at avoiding using a few words when a thousand would do!!!), but I am hopeful that the events of the next few days can draw a suitably sensible solution to the issue.

Watch this space!!!