Supporters Trust chair Andy Roberts with a personal view on a poignant anniversary…
It is ten years since the passing of my old friend and colleague Brian Lomax, who galvanised the football supporter movement by forming the first Supporters Trust at Northampton Town in 1992.
When Brian died in 2015, his beloved Cobblers found themselves once again - as 23 years previously - at a crossroads.
Today, it is the supporter movement itself - embodied by the democratic Supporters Trusts and other elected fan organisations - that finds itself there.
The office of the Independent Football Regulator is now open for business and the direction it takes on establishing meaningful fan engagement between clubs and fans will quickly give us a good idea of whether the much-vaunted ‘fan-led review’ is worth the paper it is written on.
It is to be hoped that the disappointing failure of the Football Supporters Association to fight tooth and nail for the primacy of Supporters Trusts, and the other groups underpinned by democratic principles, is not a sign of things to come.
Brian believed that supporters had a moral right to ownership of their clubs but that fans could be empowered further by obtaining an equity stake and being granted direct engagement.
The game today of course bears little resemblance to the one he set out to change 33 years ago. 1992 also saw the introduction of the Premier League.
But what has not changed is the fact that football fans continue to invest significantly in their clubs and, as valued stakeholders, have the right to be heard, to be acknowledged and to be involved in shaping a way forward.
Any cop out now on fan engagement, and a nod to tokenism, would completely disrespect Brian's proud legacy.
Wherever football reform takes us in the next months and years, Supporters Trusts would be well advised to join together now in a demonstration of unity, solidarity and common purpose.
Brian's words about what binds football fans together are well worth repeating.
He said: “It's about emotion, about sharing and comradeship, about the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
“These are very deeply rooted human needs and I believe that this is at the root of people's love for football and loyalty to their clubs.”
