Trust Take Over! - Stockport County FC

The statement given by the trust:

The Stockport County Supporters Trust and Cheshire Sport have today agreed Heads of Terms on a deal which will see the ownership of Stockport County Football Club handed to the Supporters' Trust from 1st July 2005

Confirmation of the agreement for a change of ownership comes after some three months of detailed discussions between the parties.

Cheshire Sport invited the Trust to consider taking over in a move, seen by both sides, as being in the best long term interests of the club.

Reflecting on the agreement, Chairman of the Supporters Trust Norman Beverley said,

This is a very important day in the history of Stockport County Football Club.

It marks the beginning of the process that will mean that from next season, the club will be run by the fans for the fans, and by the community for the people of Stockport.

The Trust Board would like to take this opportunity to thank Brian Kennedy and his team at Cheshire Sport for enabling this deal to happen, it certainly wasn't the easy option for him.

Since he took over Stockport County two seasons ago we understand that he has personally put in nearly £4 Million pounds.

Although results have not gone our way on the field, behind the scenes the club has moved forward, and is now in a position to operate as a breakeven business going forward, without which this deal could never have happened, and the club would undoubtedly now have been facing a very uncertain future.

Mr Kennedy has offered the Trust a fair deal which confirms and guarantees that the shareholding will be freely gifted to the Trust, along with a 25 year rent free lease to play at Edgeley Park.

He has also accepted that the Trust should have the right to buy back the freehold of Edgeley Park in the future. To this effect Mr Kennedy has agreed to give the Trust a ten year period in which to raise the funds to do so.

The terms of this historic agreement demonstrate that Mr Kennedy is as determined as we are to secure the future of Stockport County Football Club, playing at Edgeley Park.

The Trust could not, and would not, have considered taking ownership of the club unless the business was able to live within its means.
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The Trust has worked extremely closely with Cheshire Sport and considered every aspect of the business to ensure our financial security.

Critically, Cheshire Sport have guaranteed that the Trust will retain profits from the Edgeley Park Conference and Banqueting Facility.

This means Cheshire Sport will be contributing a sum in the region of £250,000 to the Trust budgets each year.

In addition to this guaranteed income, the question of season ticket revenue has been resolved and the Trust can confirm that Cheshire Sport have agreed to allow ALL season ticket revenues, including those received prior to July 1st, to go, in full, to the Trust.

We are confident that the fans and businesses of the town will back the new club to levels beyond those envisaged by Cheshire Sport and we would appeal to everyone with the interest of Stockport County at heart to continue and increase their financial commitment to the club.

Explaining his decision to invite the Trust to take over the Club, Brian Kennedy said,

The decision has been taken purely and simply in the interests of what is best for Stockport County. I had the option to sell the club to outside investors and to recoup some of my losses in so doing, but felt that local fan-based ownership would be the better option for the club and provided they could convince me of their ability to raise the necessary operating funds to run the business and to take it forward, which they have.

The next few weeks will be vital for the Trust as they still need to prove their financial and managerial credibility before the deal can be finalised, but I have every confidence that, with the support of the Town, that they will do so.

This is because I believe that football clubs at this level should be owned by their fans and their community - a view I have held from the outset when I took control of County and made the pledge that within three years the club would be self funding within its community.

The reason I have agreed to pass on the ownership of the shares at this time is that I believe the club will perform better financially as a stand alone business run by the community and the fans. Stockport County being part of Cheshire Sport made good financial sense to the football club, and the cost savings to the club through stadium sharing with Sale Sharks will continue to benefit County in the future. However, I recognise that some local people and businesses were becoming alienated from their football team because of misconceptions about the relationship with Cheshire Sport. There was a risk of an atmosphere developing that would leads to diminishing crowds and business involvement and this would have been fatal for the club and it needs that support to stay solvent.

Now that the ownership of the team is set to pass to a new Board on behalf of the town and supporters, we must all hope that local passions will now be directed positively in support for the team, with sponsors and fans alike committing to the future financial stability of the club through sponsorship deals and the purchase of season tickets.

The Town of Stockport now has a wonderful opportunity to support its club, and I believe it will do so in force to provide the Trust owners with the funds not simply to survive but to prosper and to ensure the town has a football club of which it can be proud.