CENTENARY FUND: JAGS TRUST BOARD STATEMENT

In light of the club’s announcement yesterday that it is launching a new fundraising scheme, the Centenary Fund, and reference being made to our participation in it, the Jags Trust Board would like to make the following statement. It is rather lengthy, but we feel that this is necessary in order to clear up the confusion this has caused for 1876 Club subscribers and to fully inform our members of the true situation.

INTRODUCTION

The Jags Trust Board was contacted by the club directors approximately three weeks ago, through our board rep Kieron Dempsey, to discuss general financial issues. A short while later, the idea of the club launching a new fundraising scheme was brought up and we agreed to a meeting with the directors at which we would be briefed on this. 

This meeting took place on Friday 21st November under an agreement of strict confidentiality imposed by the club. Eddie Prentice, Tom Hughes and David Beattie attended on behalf of Partick Thistle. Kieron Dempsey, Raymond Rose, Maggie Forsyth, Fiona Harvey and Greig Forbes attended on behalf of the Jags Trust.

A draft proposal for the Centenary Fund was presented to us. The decision had already been taken to close the lottery and the Players Fund and launch this scheme. We were asked if we would now be prepared  to wind up our recently launched 1876 Club and throw the weight of the Jags Trust behind the Centenary Fund, with the aim of a launch date of January 1st 2009. Obviously, it was impossible for us to give an immediate response. What we did was ask as many questions as we could about the thinking and timing behind this move. The performance of previous club-run schemes is a major factor for us to consider here. 

• Two versions of the Players Fund have now been launched and abandoned in 18 months. 
  
• The 800 Club was closed down in favour of the lottery, which is now being closed down in favour of the Centenary Fund. 
  
• We wanted to know what would be different this time, what lessons had been learned from the past and how serious the club’s commitment to this scheme was. 
  
• We were also concerned about the specifics of how the club aim to meet the stated target of 1,000 members. 
  

As the Centenary Fund will be run entirely by the club, we would require firm assurances on all of these issues.

We made it clear to the club directors where we stood on this as a committee: we are elected representatives of the Jags Trust membership. We run the Trust day to day, but fundamental decisions of this type are for the members to make. While we are very sympathetic to the club’s financial plight - which should be obvious -  it is for the full Trust membership to decide the direction the Trust takes. 

However, to allow this proposal to be fully explored, we did agree to consider the scheme that had been presented to us, to come back with our views on its strengths and weaknesses, and to make up a list of requirements that we would need to have guaranteed before we could take this to the Jags Trust members. It was planned for a second meeting to take place this week. The pressure for a quick decision, while inconvenient, was not of our choosing.

BACKGROUND TO THE 1876 CLUB

The 1876 Club has only been in operation since September. It is the first large-scale fundraising scheme introduced by the Jags Trust since it was formed and is the means by which we have planned to increase our shareholding and put regular investment from our members into the club, rather than merely making occasional donations. 

It has taken a lot of effort and planning to get it to the stage it is currently at and this is tied to reaching an agreed programme with the club for future share purchases as revenue flows to them from the scheme. That agreement is expected to be passed at the club’s next AGM and we look forward to that as another milestone achieved. We regard the early months of the 1876 Club to have been a success. It’s not an easy time to launch any fundraiser, but the combination of shares for the fans and investment for the club, along with the monthly prizes, seems to offer something for everyone.

To abandon our scheme at this stage and support one from the club instead is a massive decision with far-reaching consequences for the Jags Trust and cannot be taken in a hurry by a handful of people. 

Closing the scheme immediately, for example, would mean we have lost a huge amount of money as we are already committed to paying £5,000 to the club this season for Thistle Partner status and that money is raised from 1876 Club subscriptions. Financial details like this, along with any legal issues arising, would need to be sorted out before anything can happen and at the moment no detailed discussion has yet taken place. 

Most importantly, if the vehicle for us to purchase shares is removed, there must be another means put in place for us to increase our shareholding, which would probably be tied to the success of the Centenary Fund in some way. Positive noises were made on this, but no numbers were discussed. However, if our progress in increasing our shareholding hinges on a scheme over which we have no control, there are some fairly serious issues to be tackled.

TAKING MATTERS FORWARD

The process for us has been clear from the outset and was made clear to the club directors. If our second meeting with them produces an offer of a package to adequately compensate us for the loss of the 1876 Club, particularly addressing the issue of shares, we will convene a Special General Meeting of the Trust members, present the club’s proposal to them and invite them to vote on whether to continue with the 1876 Club or to suspend its activities and take the deal on offer. It’s your Trust, your 1876 Club and your decision. 

Unfortunately, events have now overtaken this process. 

THE CLUB'S LETTER

Our commitment to taking a constructive approach remains unchanged, but the ground has been shifted. Our strong preference would have been to continue with the confidential discussions until all these issues had been examined and an offer tabled. We expected this to respected on both sides so that we would be the ones to first present this to our own members.

Instead, the club issued a letter yesterday to season ticket holders which announced the scheme in the same terms as were outlined to us as a draft proposal. We have had no input into this. In fact, initial observations we did make about the basic structure of the Centenary Fund and how it might be improved have clearly not been incorporated. Nor were we informed about the letter or its contents indicating that the Jags Trust will be in some way involved with promoting the scheme. 

It’s both disappointing and problematic that the club have broken from the confidentiality which they imposed upon us, and which we honoured, and made premature and potentially misleading statements regarding Jags Trust involvement ahead of any vote which may take place. We would stress again that the Jags Trust Board has entered into no agreement of any kind at this stage and would not feel empowered to do so, and we have not endorsed the Centenary Fund either as individuals or as a board.

 Nor, it is important to make clear, have we ruled anything out while discussions continue. The good of Partick Thistle has always been our priority. Ultimately, our members - and the fans in general - will decide on the success or failure of any scheme. We are open to any well thought-out proposal that will benefit Thistle and, unless instructed otherwise by our members, we remain fully committed to the continued success of the 1876 Club.

As discussions on the Centenary Fund progress, as we hope they do, we will keep our members fully informed of all the facts they need to know in order to make the correct decision for the future of the club and for the Trust. We hope this statement has helped with that process.