Last year I was personally delighted when I heard the news that the Wolves 1877 Trust had been set up. I understood that many other clubs had official Supporter’s Trusts, but this was something that Wolves didn’t have but desperately needed. Wolves’ fans needed an independent voice to raise supporters’ concerns and opinions. Owners, club management and players come and go but the fans are constant.

Many of the concerns and issues faced by Wolves fans are issues for Football fans in general so its important that our views are represented with the Football Supporters Association which the trust is affiliated too and is a great vehicle to raise issues at a national level.

I was impressed with the setup of the Trust when I attended the first members meeting at the Emerald Club last summer and felt that this is an organisation, that I wanted to be part of and get involved. I was delighted to be appointed interim Vice Chair back in September and now I’m acting as Interim Chair. I feel it would be a great honour to be elected to the Trusts board and continue to represent the views of the trust’s members with the club.

So, a little bit about me: I'm Wolverhampton born and bred and have lived in the city my entire life. I've been a Wolves fan for 19 years, since seeing us get promoted to the Premier League back in 2003 (hooked from that day in Cardiff). I've followed the club ever since being a season ticket holder on two occasions during the McCarthy era and due to work commitments became a member from 2013 to 2017, when I became a season ticket holder again in 2017. I've been a season ticket holder in the Billy Wright and Sir Jack Hayward Stands (current). I also contributed to David Harrisons book Nuno Had a Dream in 2018.

In my personal life I was elected Wolverhampton's Youngest Local Councillor in 2014 and served Bushbury North ward from 2014 to 2018. I currently work for Community Trade Union who cover the Steel, Justice and Custodial, Teaching and Light Manufacturing sectors as a Professional Officer.

Since joining the Trusts board back in September, I have held a number of meetings with the club to discuss the matchday experience, ticket and membership prices and to raise issues with the club that our members have raised. I’m now a member of the clubs ticketing engagement group and will be actively campaigning for a ticket price freeze for next season.

I have started to build a relationship with key members of the clubs management and I take pride in taking a constructive approach with the club, I’m prepared to tell them when they get things wrong but at the same time I’m happy to praise when they do things right.

Proposer: Steven Bailey

Seconder: Joe Rowley

I would like to be considered for a position on the Wolves 1877 Trust Board.

My name is Anne Bott and the first Wolves game I attended was in 1975, so I have seen good and bad times whilst following the club: the League Cup Final in 1980 and relegation to the old Fourth Division, as well as a lot in between.

I have never been a Season Ticket Holder but have been a Member for several years. I try to attend as many games as possible every season. Unfortunately, it is difficult to watch away games now if you are not an Away Season Ticket holder. I used to enjoy the Saturday afternoon expeditions probably more than home games in the days when we had an almost derelict stadium.

I have recently carried out the role of Secretary for the Interim Wolves 1877 Trust Board and prior to that was Secretary for the Fans’ Parliament in its later years.

I have been a member of Yorkshire Wolves for almost twenty years, which stems from working in Stock Management for Grattan Mail Order in Bradford. Everyone who met me knew that I was a proud Wulfrunian and Wolves supporter. This was also the case when I was a student in Leeds, achieving a degree in Business Studies.

I returned to the Midlands 14 years ago and have been able to watch Wolves more easily without the four hour plus round trip. Hats off to supporters who live a distance away from their team, it takes real dedication and deep pockets especially with all of the changes that the tv companies make. I think this is something that all Supporters’ Trusts should be very vocal about; as nowadays many “Home” fans do not live in the local area, so they are affected as much as Away fans. The Newcastle game being moved is a prime example.

I believe that now, more than ever, football fans need to have a voice and welcome the Fan-Led Review and the role of Supporters’ Trusts. I remember the days of the Bhatti brothers and the campaigns to save Wolves; seeing what has happened to Bury and is currently happening at Derby, not much seems to have changed since the 80s. Football, no matter what level, has, I believe, an important part to play within communities.

Apart from Wolves, my other passions are attending live music gigs and festivals (mostly of the Rock variety) and during lockdown I reignited my interest in Genealogy. I have discovered a distant relative who played for Wolves in the 1949 Cup Final and I’m the third generation in my family to support Wolves.

I am currently working as a volunteer for my local library and am helping to run a weekly Family Tree course.

Proposer: Ian Smith

Seconder: Irene White

As a lifelong supporter of Wolverhampton Wanderers (home and away season ticket holder) I have seen the journey of our club from a European Final and League Cup wins to the despair of consecutive relegations and receivership. Wolves are currently established in the Premier League, but under Chinese ownership. Promotions, relegations, receivership, and changes in ownership have all helped form my strong support for the aims and objects of Wolves 1877 Trust.

In recent years I have had an active involvement, at club level, with ‘Wolves Fans Parliament’ holding the position of Chairman 2017-2020. During 2021 I have been a member of the steering committee, and board, that has transitioned the Fans Parliament model of supporter consultation into the newly formed Wolves 1877 Trust, established as a community benefit society. 

The experience of being chairman of a supporter organisation and then in forming a community benefit society (trust) has strengthened my belief that football supporters need independent representation at both club and national level.

I am now an elected member of the Football Supporters Association national council (3-year term). At the FSA 2021 AGM I was pleased to bring forward a resolution regarding sustainability and carbon emissions. I am particularly focused in this area as it aligns with my wider work activity and experience. I look forward to working on this key area at club level.

I would like to continue in my role as a board member of Wolves 1877 Trust and believe that I have contributed, in a positive way, to establishing strong links with the club whilst bringing forward issues that affect the game at club and national level.

I have a strong interest in sustainability and would like to establish a group within the Trust to focus on this area, whilst developing initiatives with the club that would lead to supporter engagement regarding the zero carbon agenda.

Through my role at the FSA I have been active in promoting the findings of the Governments Fan Led Review of Governance within football and am committed to ensuring all supporters have representation at all levels of the game.

Away from football I am Managing Director, and principal shareholder, of a Technical Asset Management consultancy, focusing on net zero carbon pathways in commercial offices (REITS). I am also a Chartered Director and Fellow of the Institute of Directors.

Now living in Shropshire, I am married to Julie (also a Wolves season ticket holder). 

Proposer : Ciaran Barker

Seconder : Peter Bradburn

My true passion for WWFC started at a young age having grown up in a household of Wolves fans and played for a period for the Wolves academy.  I am a lifelong supporter and have attended both home and away games with my family for many years. I have been to many events at the Molineux in support of the team and surrounding area. I have gained personal relationships with past & current players which hopefully may prove beneficial to the Trust in the long run. 

For the past 2 years I have looked after the social media and website side of the Wolves trust. In this time I have amassed a following of 2,700 subscribers across Facebook & Instagram with these numbers climbing daily. My degree in Computing MultiMedia  has given me the opportunity to set up both the email inbox and the website for the Wolves Trust. I worked alongside a web designer to create the website using my own ideas. I also edit and upload all images and posts to both the website and social media platforms. Over the past 2 years I managed to independently source a sponsor to fund the creating and continued running of the website. In the last year the website has been active, we have seen over 13k visitors to the site, proving that the Wolves Trust is a much needed platform for supporters to access the information we provide. I have played a key role in the set up of The Wolves Trust alongside the other board members when we transitioned away from The Fans Parliament.   

I would like to continue in my role within The Wolves Trust as I believe it is a much needed platform and bridge between the club and its fans. I have enjoyed the work I have put in so far and wish to continue this as I have plans to increase visitor numbers on the website and gain a wider following on all social media platforms. My relationship with our financial sponsor remains strong and I believe they are willing to work with us on a long term basis. 

My aim for the Trust going forward is to grow member numbers via the social media outlets and information on our website, social media outlets such as Instagram and facebook are now seen in the advertising industry as the predominant way to reach consumers. I plan on putting out weekly posts on both platforms that followers can interact with in the hope that it reaches a wider audience. Interactions on social media can drive visitors to our website and can result in new members signing up.

Proposer : Daniel Warren

Seconder : Joe Rowley

As a lifelong and dedicated Wolves fan, I have always taken an interest in supporter engagement, a crucial aspect of club and supporter relationships in modern football. Having become frustrated with the Fans Parliament towards the end of its reign, I contacted them and asked to get involved. I felt being proactive and aiming to make a difference would be far more beneficial than moaning about it on social media. Having had initial discussions with Fans Parliament members, many people both inside and outside of Fans Parliament felt it was time for a change. I became a member of the Wolves 1877 Trust steering committee and was involved in the set up and launch of the trust from the very start. Now, approaching the first anniversary of the Trust, I would love the chance to continue my work on the board as we continue to grow and expand our membership. My current role on the board is the Trust’s Football Supporters Association (FSA) representative. This involves being in regular contact with FSA colleagues and supporter representatives from all other Premier League clubs, discussing various matters and asking the important questions where needed. Most notably I have attended a meeting with PGMOL chief Mike Riley, as well as giving evidence to Tracey Crouch MP who conducted the Fan Led Review of football. When contributing to the fan led review, I spoke of the importance of cultural heritage, and the need for this to be protected going forward. I am pleased to see that Tracey included measures to protect this in way of a ‘Golden Share’ and I look forward to being part of the continued process as we push for the findings and recommendations of the review to be implemented. Away from football I will soon complete a English BA degree at the University of Birmingham, and progress onto teacher training before starting my career in education. I live local in Wolverhampton and enjoy meeting Wolves fans around the city and talking about our club as we enjoy these great times together. However, it is important to remember that however great things may be on the pitch, there is always the potential for things to go wrong off it. It is for that reason I truly believe in the importance of an open, democratic supporters Trust and would love to continue my role on the board of Wolves 1877 Trust.

Proposer : Peter Bradburn

Seconder : Neil Dady

I am 68 years old Retired after 40 years at Jaguar Landover as a Production Supervisor, married with one son, and have two granddaughters. I live in Wednesfield, Wolverhampton.

I was a member of the old Fans Parliament for 4 years, and when the trust was formed took on the position as Membership Secretary, I have been carrying out this role and have helped in the setting up of membership records and administering the membership database. In my role as a board member, I try to attend all the trust meetings and have been active in helping to run the trust.

I started playing competitive football from the age of fifteen working my way through different levels reaching a high standard including playing for Bridgnorth Town. I have been a Wolves supporter for as long as I can remember, with memories of going to matches in the old North bank kid’s corner. I have been a season ticket holder for over twenty years. My ‘claim to fame’ is doing the ‘cross bar’ challenge on the pitch at Molineux, supporters that were there, on a dull March night against Crewe in 2000, might remember me hitting the bar twice. Up until then people had only hit once, so for the rest of the season to see if anyone else bettered my attempt. Eventually I had to wait until last home game in May (against Bradford) to see if I was the seasons winner. As it turned out no one else hit the bar more thane than once so I was the winner of a brand-new Ford fiesta.

I am keen to continue to be a board member of the Trust and would hope to remain as membership secretary after the AGM and elections. In my role of Membership secretary, I have been involved in setting things up and feel that it is important to keep this consistency as the trust grows its membership.

I am also aware of the issues that concern match going supporters, such as ticket prices, safe standing, ground redevelopment and match day experience. I hope I can represent trust members in bringing these issues to the attention of the club. I am also keen that the trust continues to be well connected with the FSA, addressing issues that affect the game at a national level.

I am retired from work so have some time available for trust business, one of the things I miss from going to work is the Banter on a Monday morning working with supporters of Villa, Albion, Blues and Coventry.

On a personal note, I now go to the Village hotel gym 6 days a week, hopefully keeping fit!

Peter Bradburn

Proposer : Ciaran Barker

Seconder: Neil Dady

I have supported Wolves for over 25 years and whilst as a child it would have been easier for me growing up in Rochdale to support Manchester United, I chose my hometown club. My first game was Bolton away in the FA Cup in 1999 (2-1 Robbie Keane with both the goals…) and as such the FA Cup will always hold a special place for me.

Even with moving around the country and spending time outside the UK I have always followed Wolves and as a Member I try to attend as many games be that Home or Away as possible be that for the Men’s or Women’s first teams or the U23’s/Women’s Reserve’s. I regularly bring my children (a Boy and a Girl) with me (who both play football) to games and whilst being born in Cambridgeshire they are both Wolves fans. In addition, as a fan of Wolves Women, I am the host of the Wolves Women Podcast.

I was already a member of the of the FSA and I had learnt in Rochdale and the Co-Operative movement about the importance of working together to achieve change for the benefit of all. Therefore, when the opportunity to join the Trust came up, I joined. If I was successful on joining the board, I would look to bring those principles to the board to help represent all Wolves fans.

I have many reasons for why I want to join the Board of the Supporters Trust, but the overriding reason is that I want my children to be able to attend Wolves matches when they are adults and later with their children. I have a particular interest in:

Sustainability: Financial and environmental to ensure that we have a club to watch on a planet. Including the use of sustainable construction with any redevelopment of Molineux. Professionally my background is in infrastructure sustainability and project management an area that I hope I can offer to the Trust when we engage with the Club on any construction activities that the club look to develop.

Wolves Women: After the FA’s banning of Women’s football for 50 years I feel it’s important that we support the growth of Wolves Women both on and off the pitch so that they can be as competitive as the Men’s teams. I want to see Wolves Women challenging for the Women’s Super League and the FA Cup etc.

Fan Led Review: During the pandemic it was clear that football was nothing without the fans, to ensure that football stays in touch with fans we need the Government to fully implement the Fan-led Review. Football belongs to the fans – owners are just guardians.

Thank you for reading this and I hope that you feel that you can support me for the Board of our Trust.

Proposer : Neil Dady

Seconder : Ciaran Barker

I have been a Wolverhampton Wanderers fan my whole life. Currently in my early twenties, my earliest memories of being a loves fan was the team that went up in the early 2000s, but it wasn’t until the Mick McCarthy era that Wolves fans my age truly knew what it meant to support the Old Gold back where we should be - in the Premier League. Because of this, I think I offer something different; youth, energy, passion, and above all else, a (relatively) recent experience of wolves compared to most hardcore fans of the last 40 years.

Being an ethnic minority, I think I also offer a different perspective on how Wolves could potentially be more outreaching to different groups of people. There is a lot of work we can do to get those on the fringes of our membership more involved again, and I think being young and BAME gives many different contacts to reach out to. I have not served on the board before, but I believe my new experiences as a young, BAME person who has grown up in a different era to many in our supporter base, may provide a new and refreshing perspective.

I currently attend Molineux frequently and am aware of the variety of issues that fans have highlighted, both recently and over the last few seasons. I think we can do more work, but the main problem I believe stems from the communication with the Club. I think some work has been done to reach out to the fans, take the Ask Wolves series as an example, however, it is hard to dispute that fan engagement has not been as good since the departure of Laurie Dalrymple. In my opinion, one of the main focuses needs to be rebuilding that relationship with the Club that was so transparent with Laurie Dalrymple - this could be by ensuring there is a Board member that is responsible for frequent communication with the Club and reports back to the trust regularly. Having a dedicated officer to this will go a long way, I believe.

In summary, I’d like to give my service to the trust as a life long Wolves fan who loves the club, wants to see fan engagement be restored to its previous endeavours , and (as a BAME person) wants to see us reach out to more diverse groups of fans to get them involved in our club and trust.

Proposer : Daniel Warren

Seconder: Joe Rowley

Applicant’s Name: Mark Bullock

Hi all, I have lived in Wolverhampton all my life and been a supporter of Wolves since my first game in 1981, which I think was a 3-1 win against Norwich!! I am a current season ticket holder and have been for the previous 23 years. I also attend away games whenever I can obtain tickets. I am travel to away games with Hatherton Wolves supporters coaches run by the excellent Russ Evers. I have previously been a member of the Fans’ Parliament, which has now “moved “into a supporter’s trust is the best way forward in my opinion. I have served on the interim board of the trust as treasurer. I have run and operated four business in the Wolverhampton area for many years. The largest being ABC Taxis Ltd which has served Wolverhampton for 25 years. I have set up the bank account for the trust (eventually, don’t ask !!!) and handled and banked all sponsorship money and members payments as well as ordering badges and advertising materials etc. I strongly believe that the trust should be kept on a firm financial footing. All invoices settled promptly, and any balance invested either into trust activities for members or directly into the football club at youth or foundation level.

Why you would like to join Wolves 1877 Trust Board: I would like to join the trust board as I have enjoyed setting up the trust and would like to help it move on further. I am keen to engage the club about issues such as ticketing and development. Another belief I have is that a certain number of shares in the football club should be available for supporters to buy and even the trust should be able to purchase should ever the chance arise. This is a personal opinion but one I firmly believe should be available. As we have learned recently football is nothing without supporters.

I have been treasurer of the trust since its inception and would like to be considered to continue that role. As my background is in Wolverhampton based businesses, I am very happy to continue the Trust’s improvement both financially and its importance to the supporters. I would like to outline what I think the treasurer should bring to the trust.


THE ROLE OF THE TREASURER

The Treasurer should maintain a record of all income and expenditure. This can be done in a simple accounts book or using a computer-based package. The Treasurer is responsible for handling the money raised at events, making approved payments, and deciding for counting of money at events,

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

maintain accurate and detailed financial records

present a financial report at each meeting

liaise with the bank

make approved payments

consults with the bank or building society regarding the availability of higher rate interest accounts

count and bank monies

prepare sign cheques as required

provide and account for cash floats at events

pay agreed expenses

prepare annual accounts and liaise with the independent examiner of accounts

ensure the committee has agreed appropriate procedures for the handling of financial matters

ACCOUNTING SYSTEM

With the Trust’s bank account being with Lloyds Bank, the Trust account qualifies for a reduced rate in an account software package. This has been added to the Trust’s account and is free for three months then costs only £5 per month ongoing. It is a very useful piece of software which tracks all payments and expenses and can work out a lot cheaper than having to have an accountant on board.

Proposer : Stephen Plant

Seconder: Neil Dady