Redevelopment Closer Than Ever?

[Terryfenwickatemyhamster]

I will say nothing further until if and when that elusive truth like oil comes to the surface.  TFAMH like Rip Van Winkle can sleep well, perhaps like Rip for a long time before I return. BFN.

I can sleep well, because unlike you I haven't entered into inference and conjecture. The mere fact that you keep saying the "truth" will come out, suggests that you believe you are in receipt of some knowledge that others aren't. I am always cautious of those that speak and preach of the truth, but refuse to, or cannot share it. Until I see anything from you, The Trust, or indeed KT, I will reside where I do. In neither camp. As I have always said. If the Trust, or you have something that you believe will work in the favour of those of us, who just want a resolution, then.."publish and be damned". At the moment, you are doing no more than adding to the speculation and mess, and making noise.

None of us will have "red faces" as you put it. Because we are not under pressure to prove any suggestion of impropriety, because we haven't entered into that. You need to come up with the goods, not us. Sooner or later, somebody is going to have to step past selling tickets for the show, and actually perform.

Along with my challenge to you, to show me where I have backed KT, I also issue a challenge to the Trust AND KT. No more using message boards and the media for proxy war. Tell us what you got. Or just shut until you can.
 

[Battery Man]

I can sleep well, because unlike you I haven't entered into inference and conjecture. The mere fact that you keep saying the "truth" will come out, suggests that you believe you are in receipt of some knowledge that others aren't. I am always cautious of those that speak and preach of the truth, but refuse to, or cannot share it. Until I see anything from you, The Trust, or indeed KT, I will reside where I do. In neither camp. As I have always said. If the Trust, or you have something that you believe will work in the favour of those of us, who just want a resolution, then.."publish and be damned". At the moment, you are doing no more than adding to the speculation and mess, and making noise.

None of us will have "red faces" as you put it. Because we are not under pressure to prove any suggestion of impropriety, because we haven't entered into that. You need to come up with the goods, not us. Sooner or later, somebody is going to have to step past selling tickets for the show, and actually perform.

Along with my challenge to you, to show me where I have backed KT, I also issue a challenge to the Trust AND KT. No more using message boards and the media for proxy war. Tell us what you got. Or just shut until you can.
 

Fully agree with this statement

[claretparrot]

I can sleep well, because unlike you I haven't entered into inference and conjecture. The mere fact that you keep saying the "truth" will come out, suggests that you believe you are in receipt of some knowledge that others aren't. I am always cautious of those that speak and preach of the truth, but refuse to, or cannot share it. Until I see anything from you, The Trust, or indeed KT, I will reside where I do. In neither camp. As I have always said. If the Trust, or you have something that you believe will work in the favour of those of us, who just want a resolution, then.."publish and be damned". At the moment, you are doing no more than adding to the speculation and mess, and making noise.

None of us will have "red faces" as you put it. Because we are not under pressure to prove any suggestion of impropriety, because we haven't entered into that. You need to come up with the goods, not us. Sooner or later, somebody is going to have to step past selling tickets for the show, and actually perform.

Whilst I don't want in on any personal arguments, I fully support this sentiment in general terms. The continual innuendo from certain posters (some concurrently demanding total transparency from 'the other side') is not constructive at all.

I have no loyalty to either side. As TFAMH puts it, I am one of those who 'just want a resolution' and I will judge that resolution on its merits once all is out in the open. Until then, the scaremongering without any meaningful facts to back it up is unhelpful in the extreme.

[guest3086]

What would it matter.
The trust gave up board representation and as such have no more relevance than you or I
The trusts opinion is of zero importance on this issue in reality as they have no power to enforce or change anything.
The day they gave up their place on the board was the day they should have disbanded as any influence they had on club matters was over.

I think the main issue the trust has is that they fail to accept this despite previously agreeing to be marginalised and cannot grasp the concept that they can bark all they like but the owners are under no obligation whatsoever to listen to them.

That is the reality and again it is one of the trusts own making.
They made decisions off their own back on behalf of supporters with no communication to members at the time and are now reaping what they’ve sown.

I said at the time that it was handled badly and would come back to bite them and so it has come to pass...

Well considering how irrelevant you perceive them to be, KT has certainly been riled!

[Shoemaker]

Well considering how irrelevant you perceive them to be, KT has certainly been riled!

Maybe the trust have information regards the situation that they wish to keep to themselves rather than share with their membership.
That’s their usual stance !!

[Terryfenwickatemyhamster]

Maybe the trust have information regards the situation that they wish to keep to themselves rather than share with their membership.
That’s their usual stance !!

I actually have no issue with the Trust board looking in to what they see fit. And I want to emphasise Trust board, as this particular stance has not been endorsed by the membership. I do have an issue with individuals self promoting and peddling rumours on here, unless they have the spine to come out and raise their concerns.

Like all supporters, who are not engaged in this squabble, I want to see resolution. Once this is achieved, and armed with the facts, I will come to a conclusion. I really hope that we are not in for another unpleasant surprise.

[Shoemaker]

I actually have no issue with the Trust board looking in to what they see fit. And I want to emphasise Trust board, as it is not with the blessing of the membership. I do have an issue with individuals self promoting and peddling rumours on here, unless they have the spine to come out and raise their concerns.

My concerns were raised earlier as regards the trusts handling (or lack of) the last crisis and the fact that they make decisions without first consulting the paid membership , the other being that they have now been rendered obsolete by giving up a place on the board but refuse to accept the fact and still act as if they are a link between supporters and club which is plainly not the case.
I don’t actually know what their purpose is anymore as they seem more like a secret society rather than an organisation set up to represent fans by having a seat on the board.
They have no more influence than a group of fans sat at a table at the sixfields tavern pre match and yet they still purport to represent the fanbase when it is abundantly clear that the club is fed up with them and they are no longer privy to the goings on within the club.
I think it’s fair to say a group of friends sat in the sixfields tavern could set up their own supporters group and would have more chance of a meeting with the clubs owners than the trust currently have so unfortunately for all the statements and press releases it actually counts for zero.

[GrangeParkCobbler]

I think the mere fact that Northampton Town had the first supporters trust goes a long way towards the coverage that they still get. They will put out a statement and the local media will latch onto it, not necessarily because of who they are now, but more who they were.

Of course the fact that the media latch onto the Trust press releases then irks our Chairman, who holds a shareholding in the club so large that it doesn't really matter what anyone else says and anyone with a 2.5% shareholding doesn't necessarily "deserve" to be heard anyway.

We are where we are, the club sometimes go out of their way to promote other bodies (Sixfields Travel over Trust Travel for example) and the relationship between Trust and Club is obviously very strained.

[singcobb]

I think the mere fact that Northampton Town had the first supporters trust goes a long way towards the coverage that they still get. They will put out a statement and the local media will latch onto it, not necessarily because of who they are now, but more who they were.

Of course the fact that the media latch onto the Trust press releases then irks our Chairman, who holds a shareholding in the club so large that it doesn't really matter what anyone else says and anyone with a 2.5% shareholding doesn't necessarily "deserve" to be heard anyway.

We are where we are, the club sometimes go out of their way to promote other bodies (Sixfields Travel over Trust Travel for example) and the relationship between Trust and Club is obviously very strained.

I would say non-existant.

[Terryfenwickatemyhamster]

My concerns were raised earlier as regards the trusts handling (or lack of) the last crisis and the fact that they make decisions without first consulting the paid membership , the other being that they have now been rendered obsolete by giving up a place on the board but refuse to accept the fact and still act as if they are a link between supporters and club which is plainly not the case.
I don’t actually know what their purpose is anymore as they seem more like a secret society rather than an organisation set up to represent fans by having a seat on the board.
They have no more influence than a group of fans sat at a table at the sixfields tavern pre match and yet they still purport to represent the fanbase when it is abundantly clear that the club is fed up with them and they are no longer privy to the goings on within the club.
I think it’s fair to say a group of friends sat in the sixfields tavern could set up their own supporters group and would have more chance of a meeting with the clubs owners than the trust currently have so unfortunately for all the statements and press releases it actually counts for zero.

Hell hath no fury like a Trust board scorned. 

[GrangeParkCobbler]

The Football Club Chairman has written an open letter to the Trust Chairman....

https://www.ntfc.co.uk/news/20202/august/trust_open_letter/

[Shoemaker]

Well this is good news
KT is holding out an olive branch to the trust and bringing them in from the cold.
I’d like the trust to push for board representation and ask KT why he deemed it important that the trust was cold shouldered.

It’s surely in the best interests of the club to have a healthy and operational supporters trust that is all pulling in the same direction

Club> supporters trust > fans

That’s the chain that needs restoring.

I stand by the fact that while the trust has no communication with the club it is obsolete.
This is a chance to restart communication and hopefully have a trust worthy of the name

It may be contentious but it still doesn’t sit well with me that ntfc was the first supporters trust and had lost its board representation.
It was started and set up as an example to other clubs only to have all it had worked for took away in one fell swoop.
If there was communication between club and trust and more importantly board representation I would rejoin the trust but I still feel errors have been made and a trust that has lost its board representation is not a proper trust.
It is however a step in the right direction rather than club and trust pulling in different directions.
I hope the talks take place and go well.

[GrangeParkCobbler]

If someone could share a site map i'd be obliged!

Its a bit confusing what with the NTFC land, the CDNL land, the CDNL controlled by NTFC land, the land which is subject to the ACV....i've no idea whats what any more!!

As for the letter itself....

Q1: The club does not have the funds to complete the stand but the owners would provide those funds? What does that mean? That the owners put in the £3m but then stick it onto the £6m of debt the club owes to its owners already?

Q2: About completing the stand without further delay......rumours abound that no work would take place for three or four years anyway?

Q3: The land issue.....as above...i'm lost!

Q4: Land and leases....again see above. I've never understood the whole NTFC/NTFC Ventures/CDNL/Belle de Jour thing...why so many different "companies" with common owners involved?

Q5: A bit lost again? Perhaps harking back to the days when the Stadium was built and the whole area was a "Community Stadium"?

I'm glad that there is some dialogue, and I do believe that both parties can work towards a common goal, a stable sustainable football club who are financially solvent and can kick on to the next level.

[everbrite]

The open letter seems good to me. What the Trust will do next will be interesting to say the least. Even Shoemakers message above has some merit and seems to (with cautious caveats ) mostly endorses the Chairman's  message. Progress at last?

[EB Claret]

The open letter hopefully answers at least some of the Trust's questions. More discussions may be needed but at least there is the offer to discuss these points. A positive move, surely.

[tcobb]

Well done the Club and KT, waiting to see the response now.

[BackOfTheNet]

It's good the club have reached out (even though they really don't have to) but I don't think the Trust will accept it without having a pop back.

[guest3086]

I would imagine NBC are not comfortable with the Trust / NTFC board relationship and are putting pressure.

[Melbourne Cobbler]

Its a bit confusing what with the NTFC land, the CDNL land, the CDNL controlled by NTFC land, the land which is subject to the ACV....i've no idea whats what any more!!

I must say GPC I am most impressed. This statement infers that at some point you did possibly understand it all? I haven’t had a clue what it was all about from day one? Anybody fancy providing an idiots guide to, with the emphasis on the word idiot?

[Melbourne Cobbler]

Well done the Club and KT, waiting to see the response now.

Fascinating and unexpected turn of events? It’s gone from the implication that the Trust isn’t really supported by its own members and therefore a bit of an irrelevance to this? What do you suppose the motivation is to have a bit of a change of heart? Perhaps the Trust is more relevant in the eyes of the club than previously suggested, or maybe that stick it’s been prodding with has got rather tiresome? Olive branch, spotlight, minefield, or any 2 or all 3?