Slough Town supporter and Trust member Warren Carter (a.k.a. Brighton Rebel) took time out recently to interview Trust board member Martin McCabe for stst.co.uk.

Martin McCabe is a 26-year-old solicitor who lives in Cippenham and has been supporting Slough for 18 years. “I went to a few games during our promotion season to the Conference and recently found my oldest programme from the first game in the Conference when we beat Boston at home.”

Martin is a member of the Slough Town Supporters Trust board and I decided to interview him to find out what the Trust gets up to.

When did you join the Trust?

I joined the Trust at the launch event.

Why are you a member of the board?

Basically because I whole-heartedly support the idea of the Trust as an entity and I thought that the best way of helping and trying to establish the Trust as a body with the capacity to run a football club was to join the board. I also felt that I could offer a different perspective to some of the other board members and am representing a different section of the fanbase.

Could/Should the Trust take over the running of the club?

The Trust could take over the running of the club. One of the main reasons the Trust was set up in the first place was because it is formed in such a way that it has the legal personality to run a football club. This is not something that an old style supporters club could now do.

Whether the Trust should takeover the running of the club is a more difficult matter. It depends on what standard of football the fanbase is prepared to tolerate. The Supporters’ Trust could not maintain the current level of football whilst we do not have our own ground and clubhouse to generate funds. Therefore we either need a financial backer or we need to drop down the divisions and try and fight our way back.

What does the Trust do to help out the club?

At the moment I suspect our biggest contribution to the club is the time devoted to it. If you look around on match days you will see that it is Trust members who are helping at the turnstiles, selling programmes, running the shop, selling raffle tickets, organising the coaches, filming etc. In addition it is the membership that often leads to sponsorship and other opportunities for the club. The Trust is also able to help financially on occasions.

What are the Trust's best achievements?

I think the sponsorship of Slough Juniors was a great move. It immediately gained the Trust new junior members and it will greatly benefit the Trust and the club in the long run if we can forge links with good local junior sides. The Supporters team has already reaped the benefits with two recent additions to our squad!

The Trust should also be praised for the high level of membership which reflects 50% of our average "home" gate.

Do you think the Trust has any failings?

Poor communication - despite efforts such as the Newsletter. I do feel many people do not know or appreciate the role taken by the Trust. It is also disappointing that so many loyal supporters have not taken up or renewed membership of the Trust. On a personal level I think the Trust has lost some of its independence as we try and help the club through difficult times.

What could the Trust do better?

I think there needs to be better communication - ideally making full details of our meetings and decisions available to members and prospective members.

What would you say to Slough supporters who don't think they should join the
Trust?

Please join. It is the best chance we have of securing the long-term future of our football club. I would like to see 100% membership and we can then all push in the same direction. Essentially we all want the same thing - good results and the continuing existence of our club.

I also think that if you have criticisms of the Trust you should become a member. You will then have the ability to raise these at the AGM and ultimately either stand for membership of the Board itself or at the very least vote against the existing board members to change the complexion of the Board. The beauty of the Trust is it is democratic - if you don't agree with my views or my decisions as a Board member you can vote for someone else to take my place. The board is currently made up of 10 members and it is very rare that we all hold the same view and agree unanimously. Therefore if you join the Trust and ultimately the Board you have a real say in steering the direction of the Trust.

Many thanks to Martin and Warren for their time. For details about joining the Trust, visit the STST hut during matchdays or this website, http://www.stst.co.uk/