Name: Dave Dalton

Occupation: Owner of Aeron Valley Associates, Business Management & IT Consultancy Services

Current role: Vice Chair. Elected Board Member to 31 July 2021

Email: dave.dalton@swanstrust.co.uk

Twitter: @davedalton1963

Why did you join the Trust Board:  I put my name forward for election to the Trust Board in August 2017 and August 2018 and despite not being elected was subsequently invited on both occasions as a co-opted member from September 2017. After the 2019 elections I was invited to stand as an elected board member. I originally applied for a Trust Board position as I wanted to get actively involved in the many challenges that I could see lay ahead for the Supporters Trust, especially in how it translated itself to its members and Swansea City supporters both locally and further afield.

What attributes/skills are you able to bring to the Board: I am the Ceredigion Jacks Supporters Group Founder Member & Coordinator and have good organisational skills from also running my own business. I believe I am able to offer sound and balanced opinions and advice to the wide range of functions and duties that the Trust has a responsibility for. I am methodical in my approach and willing to offer a good proportion of my time and business knowledge to the Trust if I feel I can make a difference.

How do you feel the Trust can further develop its representation of members and the wider fan base:  In the three years I have been involved on the Board I am more convinced than ever that it needs a strong and balanced representation to ensure it is best placed to deal with what continues to be difficult  and turbulent time for the club and its supporters.

The Supporters Trust has not been treated seriously (or fairly) by either past or current owners and as a result we have a lot of work to do in order to become stronger and more unified so we can aim to properly represent the Swans supporters again.

Trust Board Responsibilities: Towards the end of my first term as a co-opted Trust Board member I became far more involved in ways to improve the huge range of communication responsibilities within the Trust. I felt this was an area that had been neglected in recent times causing fans like myself to feel distant and apathetic. This needs to change as without the backing of supporters the Trust simply cannot function as intended.

In my second term as a co-opted Board member I was asked to focus on improving our Trust membership across the globe and as part of a sub-group we saw a 25% increase from the previous campaign. Although nowhere near the levels of membership that myself and others would like this was an encouraging sign that many, like me, still believe that the Trust has an important role to play in the future of the Swans.

During my third year on the Board I was given the responsibility of managing and maintaining the various intricacies of our database, website, email and social media platforms that both I and the Trust Board as a whole felt was more important than ever to try keep our members informed of our activities and our role within the club. I also rejoined our dedicated Communications & PR sub group who provided me with articles to prepare for our various platforms and/or email out to members as and when required.

In December 2019 I formed a new working group with the support of the club dedicated at bringing together all our 50+ affiliated Swans supporters groups from across the world. This working group now regularly meets and reports back to its supporters groups and the club on any issues that are of relevance to them.

Looking ahead: As we head into our 2020/21 season, and our 20th year as a Trust, I was delighted to be given the role as vice chair to incoming chair Andy Godden and I will do my utmost to support him as much as I can while we are in office. I believe we share many of the fundamental aims of the Trust and how we can look at improving areas to best represent our supporters and I am looking forward to tackling the undoubted challenges that lie ahead.

Going forward still further and, despite the continued heavy focus on the ongoing shareholding issue, I remain of the opinion that the overall Board structure should continue to strive to have as broad and wide ranging set of skills and expertise available to call upon it as it possibly can. I feel I have some of these attributes and qualities that will allow the board to meet these requirements and will do my utmost to make them available at every given opportunity both in my role as vice chair and on the various sub groups I represent.

Despite my time on the board to date being arguably a time where the resolve of the Trust and its supporters has been tested to its limit I sincerely believe that we can one day soon begin to see a stronger, more proactive Swans Trust that is able to once again properly engage and represent our supporters as intended.