Rob Donaldson, Trust Membership Secretary tells us the Trust is more than just "Well Meaning Amateurs"!

A criticism often levelled at the Stockport County Trust is that we are a bunch of well meaning amateurs who show great commitment but don’t have the experience and knowledge necessary to run a football club efficiently and successfully.

Our detractors seek to return to the “good old days” when the club was owned and run by “professionals” with experience of running a successful business and with the financial clout necessary to buy success.

Let’s examine their argument a bit closer though by taking the previous two owners of Stockport County as examples.

First, Brendan Elwood, a successful property developer from Sheffield, who “invested” a fair whack of money into the club and was at the helm during County’s most successful period ever, but at what price! His money was not really an investment, it was a loan, and one we have spent the past number of years repaying. So naturally, when Mr Elwood wanted back what he felt was due to him, when the flow of money went into reverse, it was inevitable that the club’s fortunes would also do the same.

It was at this point that Brian Kennedy came along. Another successful businessman whose hobby happened to be the owning and running a top flight rugby union club based in Sale. His rugby club needed a larger capacity stadium and Edgeley Park fitted the bill perfectly. Mr Elwood struck a deal with him and, in one fell swoop, the club’s new owner also became its landlord. Stockport County no longer owned Edgeley Park!

It would be churlish to say that Mr Kennedy did not try to reverse County’s fortunes but what money he did “invest” was wasted on a number of underperforming players. To be fair, Mr Kennedy did not ask for his money back when he eventually gave it all up as a bad job. He deferred any repayment until such time that the Trust was in a position where it could make a bid to buy back the ground. This allowed us to start with a fairly clean slate.

I’m biased but I honestly believe that the Trust’s performance over the last two years compare very favourably with those of the previous two “professional” owners. In that time the club has:

• effectively broken even twice, after years of making a trading loss of over £1m per annum
• Achieved record season ticket sales two years in a row
• Achieved one of the highest average attendance levels in the division (higher than one or two clubs in the division above)
• Brought in a manager who the supporters adore, who guided the club to safety after it was all but relegated out of the league, and who has now got us all looking towards making progress back up the league.
• Improved the morale of the club's employees, both on and off the
  field of play
• Started various schemes in partnership with the local community and the council.

This and much more has been achieved despite the fact that we won’t spend money that we haven’t got and we refuse to gamble with the future of the club in an attempt to buy success.

Not bad for a bunch of well meaning amateurs eh!