TUST Updates

[TUST_Official]

TUST Crowdfunder

Further to the earlier message today, a new crowdfunding page has been set up for fans to donate funds to TUST if they desire. We have been contacted by a number of supporters who wish to make some form of a donation at this time and have even gone to their own lengths of setting up fundraising pages on different platforms which is particularly heart-warming. In order to maintain a single consistent approach, we have now set up a page with Crowdfunder which can be accessed through the following link https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/torquay ... tions-page

It is stressed this page is not a formal drive to raise a capital fund to enable ownership of the existing club or formation of a phoenix club, but is merely to enable fans to donate if they wish at this time. Your TUST board are continuing to assess the position and potential options in an attempt secure the future of our club and have been in consultation with a number of parties including the Football Supporters Association, the potential Club Administrators and the Local Council and MP. In addition we have been heartened by offers of help from across the footballing family which continue to flood in.

As things stand, the club are seeking to raise funds to meet operational costs over the coming weeks and have similarly set up a fundraising route for supporters to donate if they wish. The link for this page is as follows https://torquayunited.com/thank-you-yellow-army-6/. The club have stated the following in respect of any donations made to this fund: “It should be stressed that all donations received by this method will only be used to ensure essential operating costs are met, and to help the Club continue to function as a professional football club”.

Over and above any Crowdfunder donations; If you have significant funds and are interested in part-ownership, please do make contact with TUST via [email protected] as we will be happy to discuss matters further with you.

JOIN HERE - www.tust.co.uk

[TUST_Official]

TUST Update

All Torquay United supporters are fully aware of the events of the last 24 hours and as a result the TUST board has been very active.

Whilst some of the discussions held are confidential we can share with you some details about what we have been doing.

Chair Nick Brodrick met with the administrators and solicitors on Thursday afternoon and was informed about the roles both will play, the sole objective being to find a buyer for the club.

Members of the TUST board have met with the FSA (Football Supporters’ Association) for advice as they have dealt with many situations like this over the years.

The TUST board has held two emergency board meetings to discuss tactics and ways forward and earlier this evening we posted our Crowdfunding statement. And already we want to thank those who have been contributing all evening. At the time of writing over £2,000 is current total.

We obviously called off the planned Yellow Card protest and have been vigorously urging as many fans as possible to attend the match against Aveley tomorrow. We have noted that tickets have been bought in large numbers and it would seem tomorrow’s attendance will show how important it is to have a professional football team in Torbay.

We have more meetings planned next week and we will continue to update you as and when we can.

COYY!

JOIN HERE - www.tust.co.uk

[TUST_Official]

TUST FANS' FORUM

Open to all.

Thursday 29th February - 7pm

Livermead Cliff Hotel or on Zoom.

Details to follow

[TUST_Official]

TUST Update - 25th February

Memberships

In an incredibly busy period since Clarke Osborne’s announcement on Thursday, TUST has received more than 220 new applications. Our team of volunteers have been processing these as fast as they can and have now dealt with most of them. Apologies to any new member for any delay in acknowledging your application. Let us know if you have not heard anything within 48 hours of applying. Welcome aboard!

Prospective owners

As the main group representing supporter interests, TUST is keen to liaise with any individual or group considering making an offer for the club.

We would also like to hear from anyone able to make a financial investment who is interested in being part of a possible consortium bid in partnership with TUST.

Contact us at [email protected] in the first instance.

Financial Support / Crowdfunding

In line with previous communications, TUST launched its own crowdfunding page on Friday afternoon. It was made clear at the time that this launch was made as a way of providing a central point for donations to TUST pending any formal arrangements being made to consider the long term future of the club. It is not a formal drive to raise a capital fund to enable ownership of the existing club or formation of a phoenix club. Funds donated at this point are therefore being held, pending decisions over how best to use them in the near term. This capital is of course in addition to the funds already held in the TUST Forever Yellow fund.

To be absolutely clear, the funds held are separate to those being raised by the club to support operational running costs. For fans wishing to donate to this cause, please visit the Torquay United website where the opportunity to donate is available https://torquayunited.com/donate-to-tuafc/

TUST has been asked to contribute to the fundraising exercise by the club and contrary to speculation, no formal decision on this has been made. However, we have an overriding duty to apply capital held by TUST in support of our objective of ensuring the long term sustainability of football in Torquay and to that end we must be responsible in terms of the decisions we make.

A further meeting is to be requested with the solicitors acting for the proposed administrators in an attempt to get a clearer understanding of the current position and any decisions made over how TUST capital is to be applied will be made following this and the formalisation of longer term plans.

So far over £4,000 has been raised through the crowdfunding site with donations from TUFC fans and a high number from across the footballing family including our friends at Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City and we sincerely thank you for this. https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/torquay ... tions-page

Further information on our plans will be forthcoming in due course.


JOIN HERE - www.tust.co.uk

[TUST_Official]

Chairman Nick Brodrick and two TUST board members met yesterday with director Mel Hayman and the solicitor and proposed administrator who are handling the administration procedure and potential sale of the club.

We were reassured to hear of their intention to secure a sustainable future for the football club, the proposed way of achieving this and the level of interest from prospective purchasers. Following the meeting we believe supporters have cause to feel reasonably positive about the future of the club.

We endorse the lengthy statement issued by the club this morning and will provide further details of the meeting and TUST’s own position shortly.

[gateman49]

Good news in principle and I assume that TUST will stay 'at arm's length' carefully weighing up options and actions.

[Skillsy]

Who were the two other members who met with the club yesterday?

[TUST_Official]

Who were the two other members who met with the club yesterday?

Matt Gorman and Rick Williams.

[Skillsy]

Thank you.

[TUST_Official]

A WEEK'S A LONG TIME.....
….in the life of Torquay United!

Believe it or not, it was only lunchtime last Thursday when Clarke Osborne announced that he was no longer willing to fund the club and had served notice of his intention to put it into administration.

The TUST board has been incredibly busy since then meeting its brief to do everything possible to secure the future of professional football in Torquay. We are all volunteers and give our time willingly to the cause we love. Some are still working and have juggled those commitments with the needs of the Trust, suffering personal financial loss in some cases. We would not have it any other way.

This is a summary of what has been done over the past week;

Held an emergency board meeting on Friday and informal Zoom meetings every evening this past week

Co-opted three TUST members on to the board to strengthen its experience.

Jon Gibbes is an accountant and will be known to many as the club’s unofficial historian with an unrivalled knowledge of the club’s story.
Matt Gorman is an chartered financial adviser and past TUST treasurer.
Shaun Tanner is a lifelong supporter and insolvency practitioner.
Jon and Matt have been members of our Strategy Team for several years.

Offered our full support and best wishes to Aaron Downes and the team at this difficult time.

Launched a Crowdfunder which has raised over £5,000 to date.

Handed out membership details at the home game on Saturday.

Processed an influx of more than 250 new members.

Received and dealt with a huge number of media enquiries resulting in interviews with local television, local press, TalkTV, national football press When Saturday Comes magazine, the Price of Football podcast among others.

Promoted the plight of the club amongst the football community to galvanise support both in terms of attendees at games and also from a financial perspective

Received and responded to many offers of support from members, other Gulls’ fans, supporters of other clubs and other trusts.

Welcomed a very generous offer from Weymouth FC to donate funds from ticket sales for this Saturday’s match.

Discussed the club’s position and offer of assistance with the trusts at Argyle and Exeter.

Made plans for a Fans Forum (subsequently postponed – details to follow)
Sought advice from the Football Supporters’ Association and other practitioners.

Met with Kevin Foster MP

Attending cross-party meeting with Torbay Council (this afternoon).

Been approached by potential bidders enabling us to promote the case for fan involvement in the future running of the club.

Proactively sought out other potential bidders.

Met with the club and its advisers which was a very productive meeting providing some comfort of a positive outcome and secure future for the football club (a detailed statement will follow).

Issued frequent updates to members and across social media

We apologise to anyone who has contacted us and not received a full reply. We have simply been too busy to deal with everything.

We appreciate the support that our membership have offered and reassure ALL supporters of our continued commitment to securing a yellow future.

[TUST_Official]

29th February 2023

FAN ZONE

TUST's Chair, Nick Brodrick's column in this week's Herald Express - updated for the latest news.

STAND UP IF YOU LOVE TORQUAY’ SANG THE POPSIDE

BIG PLAINMOOR CROWD SHOWS THE LOVE FOR TORQUAY UNITED

AARON DOWNES STEPS UP AND PASSES THE TEST



Yes, three points from a much needed win on Saturday would have been very welcome but after the events of last Thursday it was more important to see the strength of support for Torquay United. And fans came out in their thousands - fans who had decided to boycott matches, fans who had fallen out of love for the club, fans who felt the feel good welcome to Plainmoor had gone.

The owner, Clarke Osborne, may have decided enough was enough but Saturday’s attendance - 3,642, 33 of whom were away supporters, showed the depth of feeling there is for the club. With an owner who is a football person and a return to a family, friendly atmosphere, this would go a long way to restoring trust in the club.

The bars were packed, plenty went into the club shop to buy merchandise and the programmes sold out. The lucky winner of the 50-50 half time draw walked away with £1002.

*****

After recent weeks of protests what a change to hear the ground rocking with “Come On You Yellows’ and ‘Stand Up If You Love Torquay’ - it was like a huge dark cloud had been lifted. So, surely, the time has come for a clean break, out with the old and in with the new owner(s), new ideas installed. Clearly this is the intention of the administrators to achieve before the club goes into actual administration with the inevitable loss of 10 points. There are, by all accounts, a few Interested parties hovering in the wings but how serious are they?

Since it was announced that the owner had filed for administration there has been an amazing outpouring of good will not just from the Torbay public but from Gulls fans round the world with many ‘ghost’ tickets being bought. And TUST’s membership has had a huge increase from a week ago it has risen from 497 to 726; a big thanks to all those who have joined.

The strength of love for the club doesn’t end there for other clubs, ex-players and supporters’ trusts have been posting wonderful messages of support, many offering tangible help, some even offering financial contributions. In this regard step forward Weymouth who host United on Saturday. For every ticket sold to Torquay fans £5 will be donated to TUST.

It is no secret that TUST has been involved in discussions with the administrators and solicitors handling the hopeful sale of the club. Contrary to wild rumours we have had no dealings with Clarke Osborne. It is at times like this that one sees two sides of social media, one being positive and showing a real desire for Torquay United, the other made-up stories factually baseless.

*****
Aveley came to Plainmoor sitting just outside the play-offs and on a decent run. When they went 2-0 down the momentum was with United but the penalty in first half stoppage time was a game changer and probably altered both manager’s team talks. Regulars have seen in recent weeks St Albans, Slough and Aveley not intimidated by playing on the lush, green surface in what is a football stadium well up to Football League standards - well, maybe the floodlights could do with an upgrade. A wonder strike in the second half gave the visitors their point while Aaron Downes’ side tried hard for a winner.

With Gary Johnson departed Downes stepped up with Asa Hall acting as his assistant and all fans were particularly impressed with Downes’ after match interview. TUST has sent him and the players a good luck message.

*****
There are 36 points still to play for and a seven point gap to close if United are to figure in the end of season play-offs so administration, resulting in a ten point deduction, has to be avoided at all costs. Known as the ‘business end of the season’, this is the time when directors start to worry about the possibility of relegation so on Monday struggling York City sacked Neal Ardley as they sit just outside the bottom four in the National League, with one of those sides being, surprisingly Woking.

*****

Non-League Crowd Watch: Oldham’s biggest attendance since 2008 was 11,881, Chesterfield 8,301, Southend 6,631, Scunthorpe 3,419.

In the Southern League Premier South it was Hanwell Town at home to Swindon Supermarine. For Swindon a Jake Andrews penalty gave the visitors a 2-0 lead and for the home side a late consolation with Elliot Benyon on the score sheet.

*****
United’s Women suffered a league defeat last Thursday at leaders Exeter with the home fixture, due to be played at Brixham’s Wall Park, switched to Exeter’s Cliff Hill training ground. The Women went down 4-2 on Sunday at Moneyfields but in their defence they have had a lot of injuries to deal with and have had to play without any subs.

*****
Saturday’s away travel club coach was filled up by Monday and it looks like a great Yellow Army following at the Bob Lucas stadium. The club might well be looking for new ownership but there’s a beating heart with much love for Torquay United.

COYY

[North Curry House]

Talking to a friend who has been speaking to a Weymouth Director and Chairman the £5 per Torquay attendee on Saturday will be paid to the TUFC club and NOT the TUST.

The money is to help pay wages, not just players but staff, many with mortgages to pay. It is NOT intended for TUST funds, in the event of an attempted takeover.

Wonderful gesture by Weymouth, for which the Club are grateful.

COYY.

[TUST_Official]

ADMINISTRATION

There has been some confusion about the club's position among supporters and even in the press and media.

The club is not currently in administration.

At this stage only a 'Notice of Intention (NOI)' to appoint an administrator has been lodged with the court on 22nd February. This provides protection against creditor action for an initial period of 10 business days. If desired and agreeable by the court, a further NOI could be applied for to extend the period by 10 days.

TUST will be issuing a statement based on our understanding and assessment of the position over the coming days but is seeking absolute clarification on certain points before doing so. As you may appreciate, we can only release information that has been confirmed as accurate and does not breach any confidentiality agreed with the club and its proposed administrators and their legal representatives at our meeting this week.

For further information please refer to the club's Q&A section on their website.

JOIN HERE - www.tust.co.uk

[TUST_Official]

WEYMOUTH DONATIONS

As we are sure supporters are aware, Weymouth FC very kindly offered to donate to TUST £5 for every adult away ticket sold for last Saturday’s game. In addition to this, the Weymouth Supporters’ Association raised further funds from a bucket collection and the sale of badges. A total of approximately £3,000 was raised from all of these initiatives.

Weymouth suggested that their contribution should be used to help fund player and staff wages, so we have agreed to forward the full amount on to the Football Club as soon as it is received on the understanding that it is used for this purpose.

Yesterday marked the second anniversary of the passing of the great Frank O'Farrell. How fitting that the two clubs at which he is so revered have come together in this way.

On behalf of all Torquay United supporters, we put on record our appreciation of this wonderful gesture and send our thanks to all involved at Weymouth.

[TUST_Official]

Summary of statement issued by TUST – 7th March 2024

TUST Chairman Nick Brodrick and two board members met with a club director and the club’s advisors on 27th February.

A Notice of Intention to put the club into administration was served on 22nd February and a further NOI for another period of 10 business days was lodged on 7th March.

The club is not yet in administration but still faces a ten point deduction after filing the Notice of Intention.

We have been told that Clarke Osborne will write off monies owed to him.

There are potential buyers, several of whom have contacted TUST.

TUST is working and will work with potential buyers who value fan and community engagement.

TUST is also talking with possible “consortium members”.

Full fan ownership via a Community Share Issue has not been ruled out but is not the preferred option at this stage.

We have reason to believe that fall back plans for a phoenix club will not be necessary, but planning continues just in case.

The TUST Crowdfunder set up last month has raised £5,034 so far. Those wishing to donate direct to the club should visit. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_b ... HTGB8DG24J

The club has asked for direct funding from TUST’s Forever Yellow contingency fund. TUST board does not feel that it is appropriate to apply the fund in this way as it was not accrued with this intention and the board is accountable to its members.

After discussions with Weymouth Football Club, TUST is forwarding all the monies donated to TUST by Weymouth to the club to help fund player and staff wages.

In addition, TUST is actively engaging in a social media campaign to encourage supporters to attend Plainmoor and to boost club revenue through bars, the club shop, 50/50 draw etc
.
TUST membership has now passed 750.

For full details of all these matters please see the Big Picture statement on our website: https://www.tust.co.uk/post/tust-update-the-big-picture