Supporters' Trust launch scheme to sponsor five professionals at Macron Stadium

The Bolton Wanderers Supporters’ Trust has sponsored five players for the 2017/18 campaign.

Filipe Morais, Jake Turner, Jeff King, Connor Hall and Alex Perry will all be backed by the group through their new Academy Fund.


Supporters' Trust members Mike Smith, Maggie Tetlow and Daniel Izza with three of the players they are sponsoring this season - Alex Perry, Connor Hall and Jeff King


New chairman Daniel Izza said the venture represented a shift in emphasis for the trust, who are now looking to channel their funding into different areas.

“As a consequence of the improvement of the finances and some success on the field, the Trust believe it is appropriate to broaden its role to include direct financial assistance to specific projects and to address issues relating to improvement of the match experience for the fans,” he said in a statement issued this week.

“Our efforts in investigating the reinstatement of the Fan Zone and the launch of our direct support of young players and the Academy Fund are the beginning of new initiatives for the benefit of the club and fans.

“The Academy Fund will be a focus for raising funds for the Supporters’ trust to provide direct support for the great work undertaken by the academy. We consider giving our young players a helping hand and giving them the best opportunity to make it in the professional game is a good way of building our club in the right way.

“We are all avid fans on the board and have the success of the club at heart. It is for this reason that we will continue to call the club to account for its actions where appropriate and to strive for representation at the highest level of the club. The more we are integrated with the club and our membership, the more our aims will be furthered in the aspiration of a secure and stable club for all the fans, successful both on and off the field.”

The Academy Fund was launched this week in conjunction with Bolton at Home.

Source

Good to see them assisting with the club rather than fighting against them.

BoltonTillIDie wrote:Good to see them assisting with the club rather than fighting against them.

Really?

karlypants wrote:It is for this reason that we will continue to call the club to account for its actions...

Doesn't sound like it to me.

KP wrote:“The Academy Fund will be a focus for raising funds for the Supporters’ trust to provide direct support for the great work undertaken by the academy. We consider giving our young players a helping hand and giving them the best opportunity to make it in the professional game is a good way of building our club in the right way."

Yes contributing financially is helping the club.

BoltonTillIDie wrote:

KP wrote:“The Academy Fund will be a focus for raising funds for the Supporters’ trust to provide direct support for the great work undertaken by the academy. We consider giving our young players a helping hand and giving them the best opportunity to make it in the professional game is a good way of building our club in the right way."

Yes contributing financially is helping the club.

Just to put it into some perspective -

Their total sponsorship comes to what - say £10,000 - that is roughly equivalent to just ONE WEEKS wage for Madine!

For this they want to "hold the club to account" and "representation at the highest level of the club"!

And since when has 31 year old Filipe Morais been a young academy player?

Aren't they contradicting their own aims somewhat here?

I'm sure the club are happy with this financial support. Although insignificant when you compare to a footballer's salary. But to the everyday Joe, its a significant amount - every little helps I say.

BoltonTillIDie wrote:I'm sure the club are happy with this financial support.  Although insignificant when you compare to a footballer's salary.  But to the everyday Joe, its a significant amount - every little helps I say.  

It is not the gesture I have an issue with, it is the unnecessary and ceaseless rhetoric from the ST about 'holding the club to account'.

Why even say that when the story is about sponsoring players?

It was totally uncalled for - yet they said it.

Seems to me they have a fixation about this that underlines everything that is being done at the club.

Izza the ST Chair retweets any negative stuff about the club - why in his capacity is he doing that on his own personal twitter account.  If he has personal issues about the club ownership then he is clearly biased in his views and should not be on the ST board let alone being its Chairman.

The ST is a public representative body and should therefore be seen to be fair and impartial in their working and actions.

Izza (and probably others on the ST board) clearly aren't impartial when it comes to their views on the clubs current owner and simply sponsoring a few academy players is not going to change this and that is why the ST's negativity towards what Anderson is doing will continue to fester much to the ST's own determent as evidenced in the poll on WandersWay where 96% of the 200 people who voted didn't believe the ST was fit for purpose.

http://www.wanderersways.com/forum/topic/87838-the-supporters-trust/

The ST are at least trying to repair some of the damage from the previous regime. As for holding the club to account isn't that what an ST should be doing anyway? 

They should be able to criticize the club or KA where needed as long as it's constructive. If they can't then they are no more use than the BWSA.

Norpig wrote:The ST are at least trying to repair some of the damage from the previous regime. As for holding the club to account isn't that what an ST should be doing anyway? 

They should be able to criticize the club or KA where needed as long as it's constructive. If they can't then they are no more use than the BWSA.

Blackpool has a ST - how well are they doing holding the Oystens to account?

The only purpose of a ST is to be the final backstop to save the club when it has no money or assets left.

When our ST's Board finally grasp that is what they are there for and not to play some sort of God over whoever the clubs owner might be - then we can all move on forwards together.

(I also think you are doing the BWSA a great disservice as their remit is simply a gathering of fans 'officially' supporting the club - no more, no less).

I'm a member of the BWSA and they are all just as passionate about Wanderers as the ST, I can assure you of that.

i'm not doubting the passion RT, i was just using them as an example of an organisation that has no real power or influence (bit like the current ST i hear you say)

Just popped in to see if anything has changed. It Hasn't.

Might look in again at Christmas.

hang around Boncey, BTID is winding up Sluffy over the ST, it will go off big time anytime now