Supporter engagement reaches new bounds at Grimsby Town FC

Owner of Grimsby Town FC, John Fenty, met with trust board members of the Mariners Trust last night to sign a Memorandum of Undertsanding (MoU). This is the fifth MoU to be signed between a supporters trust and a football club.

The MOU’s were introduced following a government led group that called for an increase in structured and meaningful dialogue between a football club and its supporters. The document sets out a minimum level of dialogue between the Club and the Trust and what the nature of those meetings should be.

For the Trust Dave Roberts said

“We are delighted to have agreed a memorandum of understanding with the football club which will further improve our already strong relationship. Not only does the agreement guarantee a high level of engagement and communication it also commits to consultation on major issues such as club name, badge, shirt, ground use and ownership. It also reaffirms our commitment to help raise funds for the club, particularly through the running of the ground bars, but importantly there is no conditionality on this regarding our place on the board and furthermore the use of any funds raised will be clearly communicated. We would like to thank the football club for their positive approach during this process and also Supporters Direct for their help and advice.”

John Fenty on behalf of the club board commented

“We are more than happy to cement our relationship with the Mariners Trust with the signing of the memorandum of understanding. The club is nothing without it’s fans and having a high level of engagement with them can only be good for the future of the club. It is reassuring to hear from Supporters Direct that we already operate at a high level of involvement with fan representation on the board and regular meetings. The new agreement provides the framework to ensure this continues and indeed improves going forward.”

On a national level, it is important to recognise that these agreements are signed because there is a genuine and honest commitment from both parties to have open dialogue through the good and the bad times at the clubs. The more clubs that commit to these agreements the more the standard of supporter engagement and structured dialogue will improve.

We welcome the move by Grimsby Town FC and Mariners Trust to further cement their relationship.