My local side are Dumbarton FC and I'm often amazed by the loyalty that Dumbarton's supporters show. Loyalty may be a strange word to use for a group that can muster less than a thousand souls on a Saturday afternoon but the Sons enjoy a support who travel from as far afield as Essex to watch their heroes. Anybody with time to spare could do worse than take in a game in the shadow of Dumbarton castle and see just how well the Sons Trust have integrated with the club's board of directors.
The Dumbarton Supporters Trust were formed in 2003 and, in the 6 years that they've been running, have made a significant contribution to their club. They hold over 50,000 shares in the club and were invited to join the Dumbarton FC board of directors by means of a £25,000 investment. The trust were the driving force behind a social policy that includes match day hospitality at the stadium's own on-site bar where a trust representative is available before and after games to discuss any aspect of the club. The youth sides were maintained through the financial support of the Dumbarton Supporters Trust and remain a great hope for the club. The Sons Trust also provide match highlights on the club website by means of an agreement with the Scottish Football League and they're 100% responsible for the Dumbarton programme – editorial content, advertising, publishing and sales: they have complete control over the match day magazine. The trust have brought so much to the Dumbarton FC board that they feel in a position to push for a 2nd seat on the club board and it would appear that they face little resistance.
I'm not suggesting for one minute that the RST should take a leaf out of their lower league counterparts. Some of the achievements heralded on the Sons Trust website show just what kind of level they operate. The Sons Trust are proud to announce that they donated 25 banqueting tables to the club's bar and that they donated £600 worth of equipment to the club, including tracksuits for the ballboys. The Sons Trust has around 70 members, not including their board: The RST have a few thousand. Strathclyde Homes Stadium has a single stand and the club bar has ample room to accommodate the majority of the home support should they wish to talk to the trust rep but this would be impossible to arrange at Ibrox. The Sons Trust exist to raise funds for the club: RST fund-raising events are aimed primarily at raising money to be spent on more shares in the club.
That's not to say that there aren't things that the Dumbarton fans do well that the RST shouldn't consider. The RST appeared to have secured a concession from David Murray on the issue of fan representation at board level but the board position failed to materialise. Some RST members aim for total fan ownership along a continental model such as that of Barcelona or Real Madrid but surely board representation would be a healthy first step?
It's easy for the Sons Trust to be visible and accessible on match days but with the RST still lacking their own web forum, the Gers trust aren't exactly easy to interact with. A greater emphasis must surely be placed on getting trust members talking, with each other as much as with the RST board, and an effective forum is something that would make the Rangers Supporters Trust more open to its membership. Its often easy to confuse Follow Follow.com and its forums as just another arm of the Rangers Supporters Trust given the involvement of Grandmaster Suck in both institutions and yet RST threads generally degenerate to basic accusations and misinformation and this can't be to the benefit of the RST. They need a single public voice - a place for members to feel comfortable - and a place to do their business that's away from prying eyes.
The Rangers Supporters Trust has achieved a great deal over the course of their existence. They operate at a level above and beyond that of a modest 2nd division supporters group and yet its easy to feel that the Sons Trust have punched well above their weight. Their commercial activities are something that the RST must surely be envious of and whilst David Edgar is always an articulate and engaging voice when contacted by the media, you can't help but be frustrated that it's the press that the RST are talking to instead of the club. The RST's meetings with Murray were sabotaged by a support who are still suspicious of a supporters movement that seeks to put its head above the trench and whose impatience and distaste for confidentiality certainly led to a fracturing of opinion.
The RST website relaunch is perhaps the ideal opportunity to refresh the trust itself. Rangers have a new chairman and the current financial constraints should strengthen the bond between supporter and club. The ill-feeling towards the 4th estate is swelling and yet Gers fans still routinely fail to unite against a press who attack the club with glee. It would seem that the notion of collective action is as far from the minds of the Rangers' faithful as ever. The RST certainly can't adopt the methods of the Sons Trust because even scaling up their achievements would come nowhere near making the kind of impact that's needed at our level. But perhaps the RST can adopt some of the values of their small time counterparts.
If the support are finally beginning to realise that Rangers need a new, progressive board then perhaps it's time for the Rangers Supporters Trust to adopt new, progressive ways. In an era when the gulf between supporter and prestige club has never been greater, perhaps the supporters trust movement in general could do with looking at the successes of its lesser lights in order to secure a brighter future for clubs at every level of the game.