Terras' fans to merge
By Derek Bish

Wednesday 17th February 2010

WEYMOUTH fans expect to launch a merged group of the Terras Trust and Weymouth FC Supporters’ Club (WSC) in early April.

Talks have been going on between the two organisations for a number of weeks and the process of joining the Football club’s two main supporting bodies is gathering pace.

The new organisation will be named Weymouth FC Supporters’ Society and will combine the basic core principles from both existing groups.

A Press statement from the Trust and the supporters’ club said: “Members are now working on the finer points of aspects such as membership, structure, finance, WFC shareholding strategy, direct support to WFC and affiliation to national supporters bodies.

“A timetable has been set working towards formal proposals being offered to the membership of both groups around mid-March, leading on to the public launch of WFC Supporters’ Society in early April.”

Meanwhile, members of both the Terras Trust and WSC have been meeting with chairman George Rolls to discuss the club’s current situation and the development of strong supporter representation within the club.

Talks have been ongoing regarding what measures can be taken to implement that, but it is expected that there will be no supporter representation on the board.

“Mr Rolls initially offered us the opportunity of directors’ positions within the club board,” said the statement from the Terras Trust and WSC.

“The collective feeling among members however is that, while previous supporters’ directors have worked tirelessly to represent us, the directorship itself hasn’t achieved the benefit anticipated and so we are keen to explore different channels.”

However, the supporters’ organisations would like to form a management committee within the club and fill an active role in all aspects of the running of the club, including influence on key decision making by attending club board meetings.

The statement added: “To show his commitment to supporters, George Rolls has stated his intention to offer a ‘Golden Share’ to be held ultimately by WFC Supporters’ Society.

“This will immediately give us the power of a major shareholder within Weymouth Football Club and will be added to the written constitution of the club to ensure that it remains within the terms and conditions of any future takeover/change of ownership.

“Adding to this, Mr Rolls has stated his wish to eventually pass control of Weymouth Football Club directly over to supporters, although this will clearly be a longer term issue.

“Members of WFC Supporters’ Club and the Terras Trust believe that this is a major step forward towards fans having a controlling interest in the club’s well-being and a safeguard to its future.

“Over the coming months we will be actively encouraging existing and new members to step forward, adding to our skill-base, to allow us to be as strong as possible within the new structure of both Weymouth Football Club and WFC Supporters’ Society.

“During our recent meetings with Mr Rolls we have found him to be open and direct about his plans.

“He has shown us evidence of the club’s current financial state and his achievements so far in reducing that burden.