The Trust is an Industrial & Provident Society fully regulated by the Industrial and Provident Societies Act and accountable for all its financial dealings and transactions.

An IPS belongs to its membership. Literally. Every member owns 1 share, worth £1, in the Trust. Those shares cannot be traded or transferred. The share entitles the member to a vote; one member - one vote.

Everything that the Trust does is guided and controlled by its constitution.
The constitution guarantees that:
• The Trust must operate for the benefit of the community that it serves.
• The Trust's members and officers will not profit from the Trust.

The profits or surpluses of the Trust can only be used to maintain prudent reserves and on expenditure to achieve the Trust's objectives.

• to strengthen the bond between the club and the community it serves and to represent the interests of the supporters and the community in the running of the club.

• to benefit present and future members of the community served by the club by promoting, encouraging and furthering the game of football as a recreational facility, sporting activity and focus for community involvement.

• to provide and maintain facilities for the enjoyment of professional football in the area.

• to promote coaching schemes to develop the football skills of young people and to widen interest in football regardless of the sex or ethnic origin of those involved.

• to further the development of the game of football nationally and internationally and the upholding of its rules.

At an EGM held on 22nd March 2003, it was agreed that the following statement of principle should underpin the Mission Statement of the Trust:

"The Exeter City Supporters Trust believes that a model of part or full community ownership and management of football clubs is now a preferable model to that of private limited company or private ownership.

We believe the football club and the community each possess unique resources which could be utilised to mutual benefit.

The Exeter City Supporters' Trust was formed as an 'Association' at a special meeting in August 2000 evolving from the original 'Exeter City Transfer Trust group'.

The first AGM was held on 11 August 2001 where agreement was reached to convert to an IPS.

At this time the Key Objectives were:
1) To convert to IPS
2) To have recruited 200+ members and raised £25,000 by August 2002
3) To send out a monthly newsletter to all members
4) To co-opt the full number of members as laid out in the IPS Document
5) To achieve and maintain links with the Express & Echo

The Trust then officially converted to an IPS on 21 January 2002.

• Achieved the majority shareholding in Exeter City FC in September, 2003.

• Reached membership levels in excess of 2,200.

• Raised over £430,000 for Exeter City FC.

• Successful launch of the Exeter City Bond.

• Regeneration of St. James Park and facilities.

• Building bridges with the community.

This history is not intended to be definitive, nor is the Roll of Honour complete, or in any way meant to be exhaustive. If you think there are glaring omissions or factual inaccuracies, please contact the author at the address below.

A short history:

Ask any of the people mentioned below and you'll get as many different versions of what is essentially the same story as there are individuals. Most would agree that the defining reasons for starting the Trust were fourfold:

1. They thought that the Club was not run in a way which maximised the myriad of skills that could be available if 'fans' were involved in helping to run the Club.

2. They became aware of the embryonic Trust movement, initiated for this history at Northampton Town, and which was to lead to the establishment of the Supporters Direct movement.

3. Financially the Club had been through a series of difficult periods, decisions and events, which had culminated in the decision to redevelop the now unfinished facilities at St James Park.

4. The thought that the Club needed Gary Alexander, on loan from Leyton Orient for a season, to become a permanent member of the playing staff. A Trust could fund this.

Not all the initial members of the group would have subscribed to all of these ideas.

Founded during 2000 the initial meetings of the Trust were held at any available venue, often in a corner of the St James Centre bar, The Mount Radford, The Great Western Hotel, or later in the Fountain Centre. The Trust grew slowly in years one and two, and raising money was difficult, as was convincing people that there was a real threat to the existence of the Club, let alone committing themselves to financial involvement in a very slow growing organisation, and one which had little apparent guarantee of success for its aims.

2001 was a year of change for the Trust. After much discussion it was decided at the Trust AGM that it should register as an Independent Provident Society (I.P.S.) which was completed during the autumn of that year.
At the same time the Trust decided that it would ask the Board of the Club to be represented by an Associate Director, and an election was held to decide between the two candidates Norman Warne and Bill Palmer. A sum of £6000 was given to the Club to facilitate this post. Norman Warne was elected in summer 2001 although he didn’t attend his first Board meeting until September 2001. It very soon became clear that he was to be excluded from all but the most mundane meetings even before the appointment of Mr Russell and Mr Lewis.

During late Summer 2002 The Trust became increasingly sure, especially after the appointment of two new Directors, that they needed to make plans for the future, though at this time the aims of the Trust were still to 'assist and help' the Club. The decision to alter the aims to 'run the Club' was taken as a result of an open meeting of the Trust on 1st February 2003 which was addressed by John Russell

Widening Trust membership:

Having decided to alter the aims of the Trust, to include ownership, membership which had been at 211 in March 2003 began to grow quite quickly. The Trustees formulated two further immediate aims.
Firstly to press the existing Board for an active role for the "Associate Director" post and secondly to recruit business sponsors with a view to developing a more 'professional' look for Trust documentation.
Subsequently six other Directors resigned in March 2003. This followed a visit and report by the F.A. Financial Unit which suggested that the Club was trading insolvently.
The Trust also instigated a meeting at the Buckerell Lodge Hotel where three businesses agreed to become the first Commercial Sponsors of the Trust. Most importantly, as it was to turn out, The Trust was able to improve the look and content of its membership application form.
Events on (and off) the pitch at St James Park made the case for Trust membership easier to promote, and by the end of April 2003 membership stood at just over 500.

Falling apart:

By the end of season 2002-2003 it had become clear to Trustees (and many other fans as well) that the Club was in terminal decline and could be heading out of the Football League. Membership of the Trust was growing but the Trustees started to make contingency plans to put in place a "shadow cabinet" that could act as an interim regime if the worst happened and the Club was left without an administration.
The events of early May 2003 are well documented elsewhere. A particularly good account was published in the August 2007 edition of "4-4-2" magazine written by David Conn.
The arrest of two Directors during May 2003 left the then Chairman in a situation where he was the sole Director, and looked for help to run the club on a day-to-day basis. It became evident to the three Trust members who were appointed as Directors that the Club was in an even worse state than had originally been thought. Not only was the financial situation calamitous (and shrouded in a deceit of unpaid bills and neglected facilities), but it also soon became obvious that uncertainty also extended to management of the playing side of the Club.
In these circumstances the decision of the Trust Board to press ahead with the purchase of a majority shareholding retrospectively seemed foolhardy. However the new Directors were convinced that it was the only way that the Club could possibly continue to trade, let alone put a competitive side out for its first season in the Football Conference. In September 2003 the Trust, after much negotiation, acquired a majority shareholding, and set about planning to move the Club into a C.V.A. with the hope of reducing the debt level.

Roll of Honour to September 2003:

Ian Huxham
Chris Loman
Paul Garnham
Dave Bradford
Fiona Neligan
Geoffrey Styles
Alastair Yates
Roger Monksummers
Gary Nelson
Julian Tagg
Neil Le Milliere
Simon Armitage
Tara Owens
Ed Probert
Martin Ellicott
Sally Cooke
Lance Higgins
David Treharne
Damien Mills
Norman Warne
Terry Pavey
Bill Stone
Nigel Banks
Peter Tomlinson
Barry Sansom
Alan Crockford
Steve Darke
Oliver South
Tim Hopkins
Steve Morris
Andy Beer
Dave Bennett
John Bungay
Roger Hamilton-Kendall
Alan Gover
Chris Wickens
Rob Doidge

Footnote: The Exeter City Supporters Trust readily acknowledges the help that it received from its inception from Supporters Direct and associated partners such as Cobbett’s, the Solicitors.

It would especially wish to place on record thanks to Dave Boyle, now Chair of Supporters Direct for tireless work he undertook to provide support, knowledge and understanding for the Trust both then and now.