Wolves 1877 Trust Launched
Following the success of the Wolves Fans Parliament over more than a decade and a half, the club’s supporters are now being invited to have a greater say on matters at Molineux and nationally through the organisation’s switch to Trust status.
The more democratic and inclusive Wolves 1877 Trust will be launched in July, with greater independence and membership open to all.
Meetings will still be held several times a year, often with guest speakers, but there will be a move towards creating more focus groups, with subjects such as ticketing and stadium development high among the priorities.
“Everyone involved is excited about this change of direction, which was voted for by Parliament members,” said former Parliament chairman Neil Dady. “Many Premier League clubs, including the so-called top six, have Trusts in place and we hope to achieve a higher level of consultation by going down this route.”
Wolves were among the ground-breakers when setting up a Parliament in 2006 at the suggestion of their then commercial director Stuart Cain, now Warwickshire County Cricket Club’s chief executive.
As a good friend of Neil’s, he has offered advice on the establishment of the Trust and reflects: “Nights put on by Radio WM in workingmen’s clubs were about as far as it went with fans’ forums before the Parliament was launched.
“From the start, we were determined to make it as representative as possible, so we had members from different stands and areas of the ground, male and female, young and old.”
The success story included voting on kit choices, offering formalised opinion on ticket prices and sending a delegation to inspect the rail seating at Celtic. Parliament members were also closely consulted on the closure of Waterloo Road on match days and were impressed that the club’s regular delegation at meetings included one or more of Jez Moxey, his successor Laurie Dalrymple, Kevin Thelwell, and Richard Skirrow. Among those to have made occasional appearances on the top table are Jeff Shi, Sir Jack Hayward, Steve Morgan, Mick McCarthy and even Michael Kightly.
“I was always proud that we made so many of the club’s leading personnel accessible to so many supporters at these meetings over many years,” Jez said. “I don’t hear of that happening elsewhere. And I always urged the members to let us know their feelings and ask whatever they wished. The meetings were very open.”
Neil was a prime mover when the Parliament became more independent around three years ago, albeit with meetings still held at Molineux. As one of two Wolves FP representatives on the Football Supporters Association, he said: “The Trust will be open to all supporters (membership cost £5 per year), so there won’t be the accusations we sometimes faced with the Parliament about it being a closed shop.
“Democratic elections for the senior positions will be held every year and there will be the extra credibility of us having a say at national level, as well as a local one. There were 33,000 responses to a recent FSA survey on VAR, for example, and we are sitting on the VAR working group, who will now put a follow up motion to the FSA’s annual meeting.”
Suffolk-based Peter Abbott, the Parliament’s longest-distance member, said of the switch to Trust format: “I support the change. The FP had been struggling for respect among the whole fanbase, so that’s where the Trust comes in. This approach has worked for fans at so many other clubs and has the backing of the FSA.”
Zoom and Teams arrangements will be made if meetings can’t be attended in person and the interim Trust officers are chairman Sam Payne, Secretary Anne Bott, treasurer Mark Bullock, FSA representatives Neil Dady and Ciaran Barker, membership officer Peter Bradburn and media officer Steven Bailey.
The constitution demands that discussions of all meetings be minuted, a full AGM will be held within 12 months of the launch, with all members able to stand for election to the committee
Trust Chairman Sam Payne summed things up ‘’this is a really good time to launch the trust, with the fan led review of football governance now underway. The Fans Parliament had run its course, but we should not forget its many achievements as we take this next step’’
NOTE: This article has been prepared by local journalist David Instone, it is worth noting that David attended every Fans Parliament meeting held at Molineux, over a 15-year period, except for just one meeting. David produced the minutes for each meeting.