A new start in the New Year: Leicester City fans’ chance to build a more effective Foxes Trust
Monday 13th January 2025. We now know the date that Foxes Trust members will have their say on who represents them at board level of the Trust.
The Early AGM that has been called will be the pivotal moment in a journey which started in March 2024 when a group of writers from The Fosse Way decided to join the Trust in the hope of making it more effective.
Over the past couple of years, we have seen our football club take a series of poor decisions which harm either the fan-club relationship or the sporting success of the football team.
Charging a £25 ‘loyalty tax’ for a physical season ticket card
Not putting tickets on general sale (marginalising those who cannot afford a season ticket or membership)
Hiking prices for those who do have the means to buy matchday tickets
Selling front-of-shirt sponsorship to a gambling company
Refusing to allow Union FS to leaflet mental health support services
Charging to watch pre-season friendlies online (with no home pre-season fixture in the schedule)
Refusing to expand the Union FS singing section (even on a one-off basis for a Carabao Cup game)
Alleged PSR rule breaches
Lagging behind the rest of the league with progress on, or even just a clear position on, safe-standing
Stringent ID checks at away games
Heavy-handed stadium bans for minor indiscretions
It’s become quite a lengthy rap sheet in a short space of time.
Leicester City was previously held up as an example to follow in terms of the relationship between a club and its supporters. But with every poor decision taken, this has eroded to the point where there’s a palpable sense of disillusionment across large parts of the fanbase.
Does it really need to be this way?
Of those of us that joined the Foxes Trust, many believe that it does not. But the only way that we see back towards our football club doing the right things is having a sizeable Supporters Trust that is able to represent as many Leicester City fans as possible and which has the will and resolve to hold the football club to account when it could be making better decisions.
What has happened so far?
You may have heard about our ‘Foxes Trust Reform’ campaign over the last 8 months. We set out a position on what we would like to see the Trust become and asked if fellow Leicester City fans would support it.
We met with the Foxes Trust board to share our vision and offer our input at board level.
And we campaigned to encourage other Leicester City fans to join the Trust.
The result was almost a doubling in membership size (from 340 Foxes Trust members when we started, to now circa 700 members), but our offers of support at board level were rejected. Despite the Trust having the ability to co-opt fresh support onto the board, and having undertaken a skills audit of current board members, nothing changed.
The journey up until now has been frustrating at times. As a campaign group we have poured hours into lobbying for change, encouraging those who are supportive to come with us and trying to show the existing board that we ultimately want the same thing that they should do: a more effective Foxes Trust.
But we have also seen encouraging signs that show progress is possible.
The membership numbers have risen. The tone the Trust takes with the club has got a little stronger. The Trust is actioning some of the things we highlighted for improvement (such as how they handle their finances and minor progress on the insufficient Fan Advisory Board structure).
And - for the first time in over 20 years - the Chair of the Trust has changed from Ian Bason to Lynn Wyeth and Steve Moulds as Co-Chairs (both of whom have engaged positively and constructively with our campaign).
What does the Fan Advisory Board mean for the Foxes Trust?
One example of the imperative need for a strong Foxes Trust is the Fan Advisory Board (FAB). All Premier League clubs, as part of the Fan Engagement Standard set by the Premier League, are asked to have an FAB to ensure long-term and meaningful engagement with supporters.
Whereas other clubs (such as Everton) have really effective FABs, with strong fan representation and autonomy, Leicester City have sought to tightly control ours.
In the Terms of Reference relating to the FAB they are enacting control over who sits on it (even having the right to veto who represents the Foxes Trust in their FAB representative role). Meanwhile, many of the positions are filled by members of the Fans Consultative Committee (FCC) that has been in place for a number of years and is club-controlled in terms of members (therefore allowing the club to recruit to the FAB from a pool of club-selected individuals).
It is also worth noting that all FAB members are bound by a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) which prevents them being able to speak publicly about club matters. This means that the Foxes Trust has an even more important role in being able to call the club out when it fails to meet the expectations of supporters.
As a Reform campaign, we have concerns about the structure of the FAB and have shared these with the Foxes Trust. We encouraged more fan representation on the FAB, and the Trust did re-visit this with the club, but there’s still room for improvement. Failing any near-term change to how the FAB operates, there becomes an even greater role for the Trust to play in holding the club to account as a fan representative organisation not bound by an NDA.
What happens at the Early AGM?
The Early AGM on Monday 13th January that we were able to get the Trust to agree to now presents an opportunity to accelerate progress. We will be fielding at least three candidates to stand for board positions currently: Becky Taylor, Harry Gregory and Jamie Barnard.
We will also be tabling a resolution to change the rules of the Trust so that board members can be removed from their positions when the membership has lost confidence in their ability to fulfil the role. As things stand, board members can only be removed at the end of their 3-year term or through a disciplinary procedure which we believe has led to complacency and staleness in the existing board.
Throughout the course of our campaign, we’ve heard a range of opinions about the Trust. Some believe it will never be able to challenge the club effectively. Others have optimism that, as the official Supporters Trust, and with potential change afoot through the proposed Football Regulator, the Trust will become increasingly influential.
Our belief has always been that the Trust can only be as effective as the weight of numbers it can leverage. If the Trust, in canvassing the opinion of its members, can cover a broad cross-section of the fanbase and a significant number of the club’s fans, it becomes hard to ignore.
Ultimately, we are at a fork in the road. If, like us, you believe that our football club can be doing better in the decision it takes, and you believe that the Foxes Trust can be doing more to hold them to account, please join the Trust and secure your vote at the upcoming Early AGM and show your support for change.
The opportunity is now there. We just have to take it.
