Around 40 LOFT members gathered yesterday evening (6 July) for a Special General Meeting. The meeting was called to give members a chance to discuss recent events at the club and to hear updates on 'disaster recovery' plans should they be needed.

We were joined by James Mathie from Supporters Direct (SD), who gave an overview of how the Trust movement has been gaining momentum around getting more supporter involvement at clubs. There are now 4 clubs in League Two which are owned or majority-owned by supporters; AFC Wimbledon, Wycombe Wanderers, Exeter City and Portsmouth. Meanwhile there are Trusts like LOFT which are trying to second-guess what's happening at their club.

James also remarked that the average League Two club loses around £500k a year, so that while running a club that becomes supporter-controlled needs a lot of work in generating income, it can be viable at that level.

James concluded that there is a vital role for supporters to play in scrutinising what's happening at their club, and that the fans need to stick together and look at the medium and long term situation. He also noted that it is vital to have a supporters' trust already organised and ready to go if their club encounters a crisis situation.

LOFT chair Doug Harper reported that LOFT has been keeping in contact with other Trusts who have been in similar situations to LOFT, and that a 'disaster recovery' plan is being formed should it be needed  - though as both Doug and vice-chair James Cassidy both remarked, we hope that it isn't needed.

James C outlined the questions we had sent to clubs like Hull, Cardiff and AFC Wimbledon around club issues they had faced, to start forming a recovery plan in case of need. James also noted that the mistakes of the past year at the club had rung alarm bells and that LOFT has to now focus on how the club is run and financed, and what its plans for the future are.

The floor was opened to questions and discussion, both about the club situation and what LOFT can do. Among the topics of conversation was the Asset of Community Value nomination put forward by LOFT on the Matchroom Stadium; we fed back that in the past few days the local council had confirmed our second nomination was successful (the first having been withdrawn to prevent a legal challenge on a minor technicality) and that the landlord had an opportunity to request a review by the council.

Our thanks to James Mathie for coming along and contributing to our meeting, and to the Supporters Club for hosting. Thanks also to the members (current, new or rejoining on the night) who came along on a midweek evening in the close season to listen and contribute their views.