Many Trust members will be aware that the minutes of the Advisory Board held on 21st August 2025 have been released this afternoon after a substantial delay.
Whenever required, the Trust will challenge the Club if it feels that something isn’t right and work hard at finding resolution privately – public spats are in no one’s interests.
The minutes from the Advisory Board have become the Club’s preferred route to communicate with supporters regarding off-field matters. It’s important that minutes are accurate and reflect the conversations which take place so supporters can trust what they read.
Unfortunately, despite several weeks of discussions and dialogue, we have no choice but to report to our members that the Advisory Board minutes released today (19th September 2025) have not been agreed by all parties who were present.
A number of statements were made by the Club at the Advisory Board regarding the Joint Venture. In the opinion of the Trust, these statements were factually incorrect and misled those present. Aside from the Club’s representatives, there were no other JV directors at the meeting to correct what had been said.
When the draft minutes were first issued to attendees on 28th August, many (but not all) of the statements were repeated. Since that point, there have been exchanges of emails and a meeting held earlier this week to try and work through the points of disagreement.
The minutes issued today do not include all of the points of clarification, nor the feedback provided by the Trust representative who attended the meeting. In particular, we highlight the following points:
“In May 2025, the Business Plan for the 2025/26 financial year was agreed between the Football Club and TrustSTFC. While this agreement was reached earlier in the year, its final approval remains subject to a vote by the TrustSTFC board. The Club notes that, as confirmed at the Advisory Board meeting by the TrustSTFC representative, no such vote has yet taken place.”
This is not correct. The Club first suggested items to include in the new Business Plan on 24th May 2025 for discussion at the Board Meeting due to be held three days later, which was subsequently cancelled. Feedback and suggestions on how to proceed were emailed to the Club in June without reply. In July, the Club asked that activities recently requested by the Safety Advisory Group be included in the Business Plan. It was agreed and minuted that the list be reviewed to assess which items would fall under the terms of the Joint Venture Agreement. Following this review, a draft plan was emailed to the Club on 29th August 2025 to which no reply was received. The draft plan was discussed and approved at a JV Board meeting earlier this week with the final “glossy” version currently with the Club awaiting approval ahead of a Trust members vote.
“During the meeting, the Club sought clarification on why TrustSTFC had issued a statement to local media regarding the list of works requested by the Safety Advisory Group. In that statement, a TrustSTFC spokesperson noted they had been “made aware” of the works but “not been told” which specific works were required ahead of the opening home fixture. The Club understands, however, that both the Trust and the Joint Venture were briefed on the necessary works to be carried out at the Nigel Eady County Ground over the summer in preparation for the season’s opening game against Cambridge during our Joint Venture meeting on 10 July 2025. An additional update was provided to TrustSTFC and the Joint Venture on 19 August 2025.”
Within the meeting we stood by our statement and we continue to stand by our original statement, made on 6th August 2025 via the Swindon Advertiser.
The Trust and Eady Trust directors were briefed by the Club at the JV Board meeting on 10th July 2025. A significant list of actions was shared which had been issued by the Safety Advisory Group, these are visible within section 1.2 of the minutes issued by the club.
At the same meeting we were told that negotiations continued with SBC to try and delay some of the items until after the first game of the season.
The next update we received (aside from the Club website statement) was on 19th August 2025.
“The club raised a question at the Advisory Board about the Joint Venture, including the process for issuing formal meeting minutes. The Club highlighted the value of making minutes publicly available to supporters to promote transparency and help them stay informed about discussions within the Joint Venture meetings.”
The Trust have no objections to JV Board minutes being released directly to supporters, so long as they are full and unredacted. However, the Club did not raise the matter at this week’s JV Board meeting where it requires approval.
Over recent months, the Trust Board have been regularly asked why we continue to attend the Advisory Board. Although not perfect, the Advisory Board remains one of the only regular formal channels of communication with the Club. It remains an opportunity for the Trust, OSC, DSA and Business Group to discuss, feedback and when necessary, challenge the leadership of our Club. To walk away would be self-defeating and weaken supporter representation.
When we look back at the minutes produced from the original Advisory Board meetings in 2021, the focus was more inward, looking at the issues the Club faced and using feedback from supporter groups to shape Club strategy. Today, the minutes are a communication channel, written by the Club to share its message (and the activities of the supporter groups) with the wider supporter base.
The incoming Independent Football Regulator has already highlighted an interest in club advisory boards and has signalled a range of future changes. If they see this through, this will include a requirement that feedback from advisory boards is formally considered/recorded at club board meetings and will also require the publication of an annual governance statement showing how fan engagement has influenced decision making.
In the meantime, the Trust remains committed to participating at the Advisory Board and acting professionally on behalf of its members and wider supporters. We know our silence often frustrates some members, but rest assured there will always be a reason for it, and it will always be in the long-term interests of supporters.
It is so frustrating that we have had to write this at a time when the on-field progress has led to us sitting on top of the league. We remain fully behind Ian Holloway and the players in all things on-pitch related but will continue to challenge off-field activity where it’s needed.
Safe travels to everyone heading north tomorrow and fingers crossed for another good performance and three points come the final whistle!
COYR
The Board of TrustSTFC