Day off  , came across this link from UK for supporter organisations.
http://www.supporters-direct.org/page.asp?p=2074#1
http://www.supporters-direct.org/page.asp?p=2457
Not sure if the trust structure itself has any advantages over our current FC structure (which is public company limited by guarantee).
But the strong community aspect is very interesting – in particular, “influence or change Ownership structures so that the Club, supporters and local community share the same purposeâ€Â.
In our case it appears to me that there are 2 fundamental inconsistencies in our set-up (and that is not even counting the clash of Delmege vs Penns)
First  â€“ Sea Eagles is a company which holds the NRL franchise and runs the multi-million dollar business associated with that. The FC’s main object (along with overseeing junior leagues) is acquiring and “holding†shares in Sea Eagles, (as though that is some passive role). Yet the FC is not empowered authorised or constitutionally equipped to run that multi-million dollar business itself (so far as I can see) – and that is quite apart from its lack of financial capacity to do so.
Second – the FC must try to acquire shares in Sea Eagles, but in order to raise funds for this it is in direct competition with Sea eagles who are trying to raise money themselves to subsidise the football operation.
It is as though the FC’s objects are a fiction. Add to that the role of the Leagues Club. I am not a member of the Leagues Club and am unaware of its constitution but historically the leagues clubs were a genuine link between the team and the community, and apart from helping fund the football operations they also contributed to other causes in the local area.
I don’t know the exact reasons for the historical separation of leagues clubs from football operations – but is it time to combine the leagues and football clubs under some totally new structure? Maybe like the trust referred to in that link? That structure might be not-for profit, yet empowered to run businesses (the footy teams, licenced premises, etc) on the basis that any profits go back into the costs of the football operation and also into the local community. It seems a lot of the Eurpoean football clubs are 51% owned by their supporters ensuring that there is local accountability and stability of ownership, but giving investors the opportunity to contribute…
Just raising these as questions… as matters that FC members might have an impact on and input into. Matabele has rightly pointed out that the first obstacle is whether or not the joint owners can resolve their problems, but that  beyond that there is a need to research new models of ownership. That seems true to me.
http://www.supporters-direct.org/page.asp?p=2074#1
http://www.supporters-direct.org/page.asp?p=2457
Not sure if the trust structure itself has any advantages over our current FC structure (which is public company limited by guarantee).
But the strong community aspect is very interesting – in particular, “influence or change Ownership structures so that the Club, supporters and local community share the same purposeâ€Â.
In our case it appears to me that there are 2 fundamental inconsistencies in our set-up (and that is not even counting the clash of Delmege vs Penns)
First  â€“ Sea Eagles is a company which holds the NRL franchise and runs the multi-million dollar business associated with that. The FC’s main object (along with overseeing junior leagues) is acquiring and “holding†shares in Sea Eagles, (as though that is some passive role). Yet the FC is not empowered authorised or constitutionally equipped to run that multi-million dollar business itself (so far as I can see) – and that is quite apart from its lack of financial capacity to do so.
Second – the FC must try to acquire shares in Sea Eagles, but in order to raise funds for this it is in direct competition with Sea eagles who are trying to raise money themselves to subsidise the football operation.
It is as though the FC’s objects are a fiction. Add to that the role of the Leagues Club. I am not a member of the Leagues Club and am unaware of its constitution but historically the leagues clubs were a genuine link between the team and the community, and apart from helping fund the football operations they also contributed to other causes in the local area.
I don’t know the exact reasons for the historical separation of leagues clubs from football operations – but is it time to combine the leagues and football clubs under some totally new structure? Maybe like the trust referred to in that link? That structure might be not-for profit, yet empowered to run businesses (the footy teams, licenced premises, etc) on the basis that any profits go back into the costs of the football operation and also into the local community. It seems a lot of the Eurpoean football clubs are 51% owned by their supporters ensuring that there is local accountability and stability of ownership, but giving investors the opportunity to contribute…
Just raising these as questions… as matters that FC members might have an impact on and input into. Matabele has rightly pointed out that the first obstacle is whether or not the joint owners can resolve their problems, but that  beyond that there is a need to research new models of ownership. That seems true to me.