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Exeter City Supporters' Trust
50°43′51″N 3°31′15″W / 50.7307°N 3.5208°W
The Exeter City AFC Supporters' Society, known commonly as the Exeter City Supporters' Trust and abbreviated as ECFCST, or simply The Trust; is a supporters' trust consisting of fans of Exeter City, an English professional football club based in Exeter. It is the majority shareholder of Exeter City, controlling 53.6% of the voting shares in the club. Since taking control, the Trust has handed over more than £1.75 million to the club.
The Exeter City Supporters' Trust was formed on 6 May 2000, following the club's 2–1 home defeat to Shrewsbury Town, after hearing of the work of the Northampton Town Supporters' Trust. However, it soon became obvious that the directors of the club only saw the Trust as a "cash cow" and had no intention of giving up any real power or allowing any insight into how the club was being run. This led to a change of the Trust's constitution in February 2003 from supporting the club to owning it. The Trust had originally been set up to raise enough money to sign forward Gary Alexander, who had previously been at the club on loan. At the time of the change, the Trust had 211 members and around £11,000.
On 14 May 2003, shortly after Exeter City's relegation to the Conference, John Russell and Mike Lewis (the chairman and vice-chairman at the time) were arrested over allegations of financial irregularities at the club. It later emerged that Uri Geller (who was co-chairman of the club at the time) was one of the people who had contacted the police. After Russell and Lewis' arrest, then Trust chairman Ian Huxham, chief executive Terry Pavey and Julian Tagg, all of which were prominent members of the Supporters' Trust at the time, were appointed as directors of the club. At this point, it seemed likely that then owner Ivor Doble would be asked to hand over his shareholding to the Trust. Shortly after, Doble asked the Trust to take over the day-to-day running of the club.
In September 2003, Dr David Treharne (who would later become the chairman of the Trust), his solicitor Simon Armitage, Ed Probert and Martin Ellicott, on behalf of the Supporters' Trust, went to Doble's jewellers in Exeter in their lunch break and handed over a cheque for £20,000 to purchase the club, which was "pretty much everything the Trust had". The Trust's purchase of the club was announced on 5 September. In October 2003, the club entered a Company Voluntary Arrangement, which was accepted by 88% of the creditors, in order to reduce the £4.5 million debt Russell and Lewis had left behind. In April 2007, Russell and Lewis pleaded guilty to various criminal offences related to their time in charge of the club. Russell was sentenced to 21 months in prison, whilst Lewis was ordered to complete 200 hours of community service. In February 2008, both Russell and Lewis were permanently suspended from football by the FA.
On 8 January 2005, Exeter City drew 0–0 against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. City eventually fell to a 2–0 defeat in the televised replay at St James Park 11 days later, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney scoring the goals. The income from these two games, just under £1 million, led to the club's debts being virtually cleared.
In June 2008, the Trust's membership surpassed the 2,500 mark following the club's return to the Football League. In 2012, the Trust membership reached its peak at over 4,000 members, but it has since dropped to just over 3,000.
In May 2012, the Trust was criticised for changing its funding of the club from a loan to a donation. This was done due to rule changes in League Two which stated that clubs could not spend more than 55% of turnover on player wages. Loans were considered as turnover, whereas donations were not. As a result, former chairman Treharne called for the Trust to be more transparent in the way it makes decisions.
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Exeter City Supporters' Trust
50°43′51″N 3°31′15″W / 50.7307°N 3.5208°W
The Exeter City AFC Supporters' Society, known commonly as the Exeter City Supporters' Trust and abbreviated as ECFCST, or simply The Trust; is a supporters' trust consisting of fans of Exeter City, an English professional football club based in Exeter. It is the majority shareholder of Exeter City, controlling 53.6% of the voting shares in the club. Since taking control, the Trust has handed over more than £1.75 million to the club.
The Exeter City Supporters' Trust was formed on 6 May 2000, following the club's 2–1 home defeat to Shrewsbury Town, after hearing of the work of the Northampton Town Supporters' Trust. However, it soon became obvious that the directors of the club only saw the Trust as a "cash cow" and had no intention of giving up any real power or allowing any insight into how the club was being run. This led to a change of the Trust's constitution in February 2003 from supporting the club to owning it. The Trust had originally been set up to raise enough money to sign forward Gary Alexander, who had previously been at the club on loan. At the time of the change, the Trust had 211 members and around £11,000.
On 14 May 2003, shortly after Exeter City's relegation to the Conference, John Russell and Mike Lewis (the chairman and vice-chairman at the time) were arrested over allegations of financial irregularities at the club. It later emerged that Uri Geller (who was co-chairman of the club at the time) was one of the people who had contacted the police. After Russell and Lewis' arrest, then Trust chairman Ian Huxham, chief executive Terry Pavey and Julian Tagg, all of which were prominent members of the Supporters' Trust at the time, were appointed as directors of the club. At this point, it seemed likely that then owner Ivor Doble would be asked to hand over his shareholding to the Trust. Shortly after, Doble asked the Trust to take over the day-to-day running of the club.
In September 2003, Dr David Treharne (who would later become the chairman of the Trust), his solicitor Simon Armitage, Ed Probert and Martin Ellicott, on behalf of the Supporters' Trust, went to Doble's jewellers in Exeter in their lunch break and handed over a cheque for £20,000 to purchase the club, which was "pretty much everything the Trust had". The Trust's purchase of the club was announced on 5 September. In October 2003, the club entered a Company Voluntary Arrangement, which was accepted by 88% of the creditors, in order to reduce the £4.5 million debt Russell and Lewis had left behind. In April 2007, Russell and Lewis pleaded guilty to various criminal offences related to their time in charge of the club. Russell was sentenced to 21 months in prison, whilst Lewis was ordered to complete 200 hours of community service. In February 2008, both Russell and Lewis were permanently suspended from football by the FA.
On 8 January 2005, Exeter City drew 0–0 against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. City eventually fell to a 2–0 defeat in the televised replay at St James Park 11 days later, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney scoring the goals. The income from these two games, just under £1 million, led to the club's debts being virtually cleared.
In June 2008, the Trust's membership surpassed the 2,500 mark following the club's return to the Football League. In 2012, the Trust membership reached its peak at over 4,000 members, but it has since dropped to just over 3,000.
In May 2012, the Trust was criticised for changing its funding of the club from a loan to a donation. This was done due to rule changes in League Two which stated that clubs could not spend more than 55% of turnover on player wages. Loans were considered as turnover, whereas donations were not. As a result, former chairman Treharne called for the Trust to be more transparent in the way it makes decisions.