Last season when we were down at their place there was a great article in the programme about how things have gone for them since the fans takeover of running the club.

By all accounts it was very successful up to then and they had just achieved a milestone,remember talking to a couple of guys about it and they had nothing but praise for how things turned out for them.

Be interesting to know how they did it and how it's going for them now.

Anyone know any Exeter fans for a quick update.

Two cup ties against Man United certainly helped

They were under a transfer embargo at the start of the season and had to borrow money from the PFA. Imagine they're fine now though after selling grimes to Swansea.

Darlo would have gone bust again last year had dan burn not broken into fulhams team

Well yes, except I don't know of any mechanism by which we can get relegated exactly three divisions.

If we had started out debt free and hadnt had a run of about 2 months without a home game then we wouldnt have needed the Dan Burn money. Thats the biggest gripe I have with the FA, they say we are the same club when it comes to the debt but a new club in footballing terms. Set of c**ts.

They have to actually remember to register for them though, which isn't a given.

You are the ones that agreed to buy the debt and not the name, how daft do you have to be.....

A key point is that Darlington FC Limited was dissolved - so it wasn't the 'same'. How they managed to acquire the debt was down to the involvement of a liquidator wasn't it? Also, the shareholder wasn't particularly co-operative. A series of mistakes from which we must learn......

You can't have it both ways - if you cash in on Burns then you should pay your way.

Afternoon chaps, Exeter fan here.

I didn't realise what was going on at your club but one of your lot posted on our forum earlier asking for help. I can't promise to know everything but fire away with any questions.

Is Uri Geller still at Exeter?

Hi Barry

How DID ECFC become fan-owned? I must admit I don't know much of the background leading up to it all? (despite working with James Clarke, a Home and Away Grecian!) Could you give us a brief overview of how it came about? was it bad owners?

http://ecfcst.org.uk/about-the-trust/our-history/ Found it!!!

Just had Bryn Law in the pub for bit of a chat about the said fiasco called pools , and he is on a fans owned board, top bloke with plenty of insight

Sorry for the delay. It seems that being Friday afternoon isn't a good enough reason for me to down tools these days. What's this country coming to?!

The history of the Trust you've linked to is pretty comprehensive although slightly more diplomatic than they way I'd tell it. As it happened, the Trust gaining the controlling share of the club was actually pretty straightforward - the owner, Ivor Doble, wanted out and the people he'd originally brought in on the back of what turned out to be empty promises were last seen leaving the ground with blankets over their heads (that might be a slight exaggeration).

The real challenges came after the takeover when the extent of the debts were uncovered but there was still a football club to run. Yes, we got lucky with the Man Utd game but all that did was buy us some time. It didn't really help anyone understand what they were meant to be doing.

Over the years, and thanks to some pretty short memories, the Trust has come in for a huge amount of criticism, some justified but most of it not in my opinion. Our Trust doesn't run the club, doesn't claim to, and only ever did in the short-term after the takeover when there was nobody else to do it. The main failing has been holding those who do run the club to account but, in the last 12 months or so, they seem to have grown some teeth and there have been some high-profile casualties, none of which anyone shed a tear over.

Have you actually got a Trust set up already? If there's one thing I can almost guarantee it's that there will in-fighting, there will be people who tell you you’re doing it all wrong but won’t actually do anything themselves, there will be people who sneer at you and you’ll be accused of trying to feather your own nest. It, if a takeover is possible, will involve a huge amount of work both before and after for little or no reward but will almost certainly be worth it. I am slightly biased though.

Would be interesting to know how much is donated still each month by trust members.most originally signed up to pay an amount by direct debit ,my next door neighbour pays 25 quid a month on top of his season ticket money.wonder how many people would keep that up to long at pools

There's a minimum of £2 a month so that it remains inclusive but plenty pay more. From memory, the monthly total from all members is around £11k.

I would suggest checking out the Wrexham story at Supporters Trust website.Trust was set up initially as a money raising group called a The Beer A Week Fund. People agreed to donate the price of a pint to an account that would be used to help the club in troubled times. Membership grew and so did the account and ambitions. Just over 10 years ago, the Wrexham Supporters Trust was born. The club ownership was a big worry, owners had a plan to kill the club so they could use the land. Club went into admin and became the first to be deducted 10 points but owners had lost control to administrator which saved us. Then it was sold to more bad owners who had property plans for the stadium site. Now the Trust really upped its efforts, club was slipping back towards admin, was up for sale and was being plagued by dodgy types trying to do deals to buy it. Fans kept exposing them for what they were until Trust was only offer on the table. We had to give up stadium and training ground ownership to complete the deal. Since then we've had 2 play off attempts and 2 trips to Wembley. We've kept our CofE going, without any external funding, and turned a 750k debt into what should be a 75k profit this year. We currently have 4000 members, they pay a minimum of £1 a month. Trust membership is now known as Club membership and bestows a number of benefits. The club board is divided between co-opted directors brought in for their skill-sets and elected trust members. They are answerable to the Trust board but are empowered to make all footballing decisions. Board members regularly meet fans at trust meetings, all our accounts are open to scrutiny. It's a fantastic experience, no more white knights! By the way, the conference is a nightmare league full of small clubs bring bankrolled by sugar daddies.. Don't go there! Good luck.