Attending a packed conference of representatives from trusts across the country on Saturday, Henry McLeish spoke to delegates about his role as chairman of the recently announced SFA Review into Scottish football.

Joking that “compared with Gordon Brown’s problems, I’ve got a tougher job I think!” the former Scottish First Minister stated that he would hold talks with all stakeholders in the game including fans, and fielded questions from the floor as well as offering to review any suggestions sent in by fans via the SFA website or indeed sent directly via Supporters Direct.

Dee4Life secretary Fraser MacDonald and board member Bill Brewster got the chance to meet Mr McLeish (pictured) as well as William Gaillard, who is advisor to UEFA president Michel Platini. M. Gaillard spoke of UEFA’s formal recognition of supporters as stakeholders in football, and their ongoing funding of a European supporters’ trust movement. “We are committed to the idea that supporters should be owners and stakeholders in their clubs,” said M. Gaillard. “You can count on our support.”

A full day’s discussions on four major topics identified the following as key areas to be progressed by the Trust movement in the coming year:

Ownership

• Representation by right, not by invitation
• Models of ownership (eg outright, majority, licensed, partnership etc.)
• Partnership and collaboration (openness, degrees of trust)
• Governance, supervision and scrutiny (including continuity planning)

Community

• Ensure equitable funding for community projects
• Identify who has responsibility for community best practice
• Football needs a clear vision on community involvement in Scotland
• Authorities to take lead role in sharing expertise and knowledge among clubs and promoting partnership with government, local authorities and other clubs

Regulation

• Fans’ representation on boards of clubs
• Rethink of ownership structures
• Raise awareness of trusts among fans
• Organise events between club directors and trusts

Structure

• Desire for a supporters place on the SFA council
• Reform of SFA to be more representative of clubs
• Clear desire for a pyramid structure (in some form)
• Better marketing of football

The day also proved extremely useful in building contacts with other Trusts, and Fraser and Bill have taken actions to progress on a number of topics with help from trusts representing Ayr United, Hearts, Falkirk and our neighbours at ArabTrust.