So it's another Supporters Trust?
That's right. There are now Supporters Trusts established at over 120 league and non-league clubs throughout Britain, and it won't be long before there is one at practically every football club. LOFT was one of the very first Trusts to be established back in 2001, and more have been launching ever since. Even West Ham's fans have launched a Trust, though we did give them some advice...

But what is a Trust?
A Supporters Trust, like LOFT, is an independent, democratically-organised supporters' organisation that seeks to represent the views of the fans to the Club and help promote communication from the club to the fans. All Trusts are formally- constituted legal bodies. LOFT, like many others, is registered as an Industrial and Provident Society.

What Does That Mean?
It means that there are rules that we have to follow and principles that we have to uphold (our rules are available on the Downloads page). We have to abide by the legal requirements that are established for an IPS: we have to have a constitution and a properly constituted structure. As an IPS, we are compelled to be a not-for-profit organisation, and to have an Annual General Meeting. An Independent Examination of our accounts is carried out by a qualified Auditor. The Trust is owned by its members and run by a democratically-elected committee, and holds regular public meetings.

And who makes sure that you do those things?
Well the most important people that make sure that the Trust does as it is supposed to are the members themselves. They make and approve policy, they elect a committee and if they don't like them they'll kick them out and elect a new one. Then there is the independent Registrar of Friendly Societies, who exists to ensure that all registered Trusts and Friendly Societies - from the mammoth Co-Operative Society down to the smallest Football Trust - act in accordance with the rules and requirements that they've signed up to. LOFT has also appointed a number of Co- Opted members, like Leyton MP Harry Cohen, local Councillor (and Council Leader) Clyde Loakes, and Orientear editor Rory Macqueen, who act as Trustees and overseers, to ensure that LOFT's work is proper and appropriate. And, of course, there is Supporters Direct, who ensure that all the Football Trusts are working properly and legally.

Supporters Direct? Who are they?
Supporters Direct is the government-established and funded (but independent) organisation charged with turning the Football Task Force's commitment to fan involvement in their clubs into a reality. They're responsible for making sure that fans have the resources and information required to establish Trusts. They negotiate with the clubs, lobby the authorities and generally support the Trust movement. They've been hugely successful. Since Supporters Direct was established, supporters trusts have brought a financial injection of over £10 million to the game, leading to 14 clubs up and down Britain being owned or controlled by their trusts (of which four currently play in the Football League), with nearly 40 now having board representation and almost 60 with shareholdings at their clubs.

You can look at their website at www.supporters-direct.org.

OK, so LOFT is a properly-established and regulated body, but why establish one at Leyton Orient?
We've created LOFT because a number of fans believed that there was a need for an independent supporters' organisation that could articulate the views of Orient supporters, lobby the club and provide the basis for some element of fan ownership of the football club. Events of the past few years - the Brisbane Road redevelopment saga, questions about Orient possibly using an Olympic Stadium post-2012 - prove that there is a role for Orient supporters to play in the future well-being of the club.

Barry Hearn is the owner of Leyton Orient, and has made clear his objectives and commitment to the club. We're not trying to replace him at all - indeed, he's been a guest at two of our meetings - but we do want to be there for the day when he decides that he's had enough and is selling up. So we've no worries about the stability of the club under the current owner, but the number of clubs in trouble - and the many cases where self-serving and unscrupulous people have bought and run clubs for their own benefit - serve as a constant reminder that we need to think as much about the next owner as we do the current one. The stronger the involvement of the fans in the life and ownership of their clubs, the stronger their voice, their powers of scrutiny and their ability to ensure that their clubs are run properly.

Chesterfield stands as a perfect warning of how badly it can go wrong, and after all their trauma its no surprise that it was the fans there who ended up running the club through their own Trust. The same can also be said of the other clubs (such as Stockport County and Brentford) who are now owned or are being run by their respective Trusts. And we’re sure we don’t have to tell you about the circumstances surrounding the most famous Trust-owned club of all, AFC Wimbledon...

Oh, so you want to take over the Football Club?
Not at all - that's simply not realistic or necessary in the current situation - but we do want to see the fans have a stake in the club and the best way to achieve that is through share ownership and a representative, democratic Trust that speaks with a loud voice. To that end, LOFT has bought a total of over 4,600 shares in the past two share issues.

But that's a pretty small number. What's the point of that?
It means, that at the very least, there is a small part of Leyton Orient that is owned collectively by the fans, with the shares held - in Trust - in their name. They can never be sold for profit and we'll always be looking to increase that stake and to further cement the role of fans in the life of the club. Most importantly, however, it means that we've put money into the club in exchange for a tangible share in the ownership of the club.

But why? Such a small shareholding means that you can't do anything.
It means that the fans - collectively - have a stake in the club, and as shareholders the fans have the right to be represented at AGM's and other General Meetings, have a right to the accounts, to question the Directors and be treated with the respect that businesses generally accrue to their shareholders. We become active participants not moaners and critics on the sidelines. If you become a LOFT member then you automatically 'part-own' a bit of your football club. As our stake increases over the years so our influence will increase proportionately. But because the shares are held collectively rather than individually, it means that the fans can begin to punch their weight together, rather than just be individual voices that too often get ignored.

But I'm already a shareholder.
Good for you. You've made a real financial contribution to the life of your club, and no doubt you've no expectation or desire to take money out of the club in dividends or profit. You can hang onto your share, but if you want to help strengthen the Trust you've got a couple of options. You could transfer some or all of your shareholding into the Trust's name, or you could sign over a proxy that allows us to represent you at an AGM. Contact treasurer@leytonorientfanstrust.com (remove the I-HATE-SPAM) if you want to talk about this some more.

What about the Supporters Club then? Are you trying to replace it?
Absolutely not. Many LOFT members are also members of the Supporters Club, and everyone recognises what an excellent job the Supporters Club does. LOFT's aims and objectives are different from anything the Supporters Club does, however, and we firmly believe that there is a role for the two organisations at Leyton Orient, each working in different spheres. We can't do what the Supporters Club does, and there's no need for us to try when they do it so well, but similarly we can do things that they simply can't do at the moment.

Please explain.
Well, we explicitly invite people to join LOFT to get involved in the issues that concern the fans and to act as a voice for their interests. That often means talking to the club, lobbying the club's officials, campaigning amongst the fans, actively promoting the club in the community, representing the supporters' views to local politicians and media and working with other national and local football groups on supporter issues generally. The Supporters Club doesn't do those things and, quite rightly, doesn't try, because that's not what it is there for, and that's not why people join it. It doesn't have a mandate from the people who've joined it - many of whom are quite legitimately only interested in the social aspects of the Supporters Club - nor does it have the properly constituted legal structure of a Trust that allows it to do it properly. The Trust is a completely independent organisation, and doesn't depend on the club for premises or facilities, which means that we can speak our mind, on occasion, without jeopardising our very existence.

But isn't it confusing having two organisations? Wouldn't it be better to work within the Supporters Club?
Only if you believe that 'hostile' takeovers are the right way to operate and if you're prepared to ignore the fact that there's no mandate from the members for the Supporters Club to take on the sorts of issues that the Trust is concerned with. We've got too much respect for them and their work to do that, and we don't think it necessary when the two organisations have such distinct roles and objectives. We've a friendly and cooperative relationship with the Supporters Club, and keep each other informed of what we're up to and sometimes attend each other's meetings (indeed, LOFT's 2006 AGM was held at the Supporters Club). It might be that some time in the future the two organisations come closer together, but that's not going to happen at the present time.

Any more questions? Contact LOFT for more information.