Press Release

The second annual general meeting of the Walsall Supporters' Trust will take place on Wednesday 5 December at 7.30pm at the Liberal Club, Birchills. The meeting will be followed by a quiz and raffle, which will be open to everyone and that will be raising money for the former Walsall player Willie Naughton.

The AGM will discuss the progress of the Trust over the past year to its position as a shareholder in the club, and will also focus upon the members' views of what it should be aiming to achieve in the coming year. Phil Sturgess, Secretary of the Trust noted that "the direction and actions that the Trust takes in trying to improve its relationship with the football club depends upon the views and energy of its members." He encouraged as many Trust members to attend as possible in order to maximise this consultation.

One issue that will crop up is the proposed Phoenix League that was discussed at last week's meeting of Nationwide League representatives. The Trust Board agrees with the football club's stance on this issue. Roy Whalley has stated that "we believe that promotion and relegation issues should be decided on merit alone… We do not want the game to become ring fenced". Richard Hall, Chair of the Trust, noted that the Football League and the FA need to take a stronger stance with any clubs that seek to breakaway, as such an approach does not benefit the game. He added "we support the view of Roy Whalley and Walsall FC on this issue. Rewards based upon merit are a key to the success of football. It would be far better to look for a more equitable redistribution of commercial income, and perhaps for caps to be placed upon the relative amounts of money that clubs can spend on wages and transfers."

The Trust Board believe that Walsall FC are right to back a focused and inclusive review of the structure of football in England and Wales, and will support the club in opposing a restructuring that is not based on merit. The Trust Board also believes that fans' organisations should be consulted in this process, and the ways to promote this will be discussed at the AGM. Richard Hall added, "I hope that one of the happier outcomes of this process will be that the strength of a diverse football league can be celebrated. It should be a means by which those clubs and their communities can come together."