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Scottish Bull was a founder member of HUISA. Below he gives his views on why it was formed, the present situation and what might be done to carry the club forward.
(This article orginally appeared on Bulls Banter and was written before yesterday's Cup game)
There were two founders of HUISA, myself and Mark Ryan (a
good man with the right intentions and a drive that I have seen
unrivalled in the subsequent years) who founded the association to
address the dire condition of the Club as it was in the latter stages of
our first stay in the Football League under Fry and Hill. There were
several Founder Members who, even today continue in their efforts and
support, sat alongside us at respective board meetings and listened to
Turner's updates. To be honest, these updates were merely reinforcements
of what we were aware of from walking along the terracing on a Saturday
afternoon or sat in a Service Station whilst travelling to an away
match - nothing more!
The ineptitude of past regimes to run the Club is beyond my comprehension.
The sentiment of wanting to be involved at the ultimate level is warming, the determination to save the Club, admirable. The problem always lies in one place and for this I do blame Graham Turner. The current Board have at least turned the Club back into the Community focussed venue it should have always been, have demonstrated a true love of the Club and supporters and have made all the best efforts possible and for this they deserve recognition.
Turner had the opportunity, with the good will of the fans behind him, at the inception of HUISA. Shares were 'allocated' to him to allow some control and whilst I appreciate that he gave up a lot to remain at the helm, his refusal to 'open the doors' and enable HUFC to become a Community focal point was disappointing.
After several offers to help the Club falling on deaf ears, including blatant disregard when offering to purchase a Directorship, I returned to my childhood days of 'simply supporting'. I actually do respect the fact that Turner helped us to survive a couple of difficult seasons but once the reigns were firmly in his palms, how many others were turned away by Graham Turner's closed door strategy?
I wish you luck in your attempts to form the Supporters Trust - from experience, if I was involved in this new attempt, I would immediately seek the views and opinions of those who have committed so much to the survival of the Club thus far, HUISA. Some of those faces that many of you will know, are a library of knowledge, both factual and anecdotal, which may assist you in concentrating your efforts in the desired places. I would establish what it is HUISA already have a clear grasp on and perhaps focus on what the gaps are, to enable true progress to be made. It is 'what is required' to turn this into a Supporter controlled organisation that needs to be addressed here and whatever this is, needs to be clearly communicated to the existing Board. I would suggest that The Club and the Board need to understand that the Supporters Trust WILL be involved and that they WILL have a clear strategy and it is requested that the Club and Trust work together but it is by no means necessary! Assertive intentions need to be made from the outset.
Please, do not become another section of well-intentioned fund raisers - what also needs to be communicated immediately is 'The objective of the Trust', an intended plan, for immediate survival, for next season and a five year intention. A comparison of budgets, present and proposed, how we can achieve the proposed and desired position and how we secure not only the increase of the existing supporter network, but encourage the next generation. It is a 'control, clear direction and design of Club focussed direction' that needs to be strived for here.
This will be a long road and it is nice to see the first steps and respect and absolute support should be given to those behind this new concept and to those exceptionally hard working HUISA stalwarts.
Every penny counts and I am sure that I don't need to remind everyone that additional income such as the FA Cup is always a welcome budget booster. Perhaps let the Players be reminded of that before pulling their boot laces together this afternoon.
Edgar Street is more than a business to me and many many others. Hundreds have and hopefully will pull that shirt over their head and play 90 minutes at a time. Thousands more of us pull a similar shirt over our heads and play a lifetime.
Be there today if you can and take someone with you. Be there for the organisers of this recent attempt to help the Club and hopefully we'll all be there for many many years to come.