We are aware of the speculation and news stories that have been circulating regarding changes to the senior management, coaching staff, and playing squad in recent days and weeks. The Trust would like to assure all members and supporters that we are continuing to both consult with and ask questions to the majority owners at every available opportunity to protect the interests of the club and of course our members and supporters. Our Trust Officers are working extremely hard to get the latest information and updates and are in daily discussions with new club chairman Andy Coleman.
We have impressed on Andy the need to keep supporters updated on the latest developments but accept that there are things that cannot currently be shared with supporters. Andy understands this frustration and we’re assured that when an update can be shared, he is committed to doing so.
The reason that no official communications have been forthcoming is due to complicated legal and confidentiality aspects, which could have meaningful financial implications on the club if shared in advance by ourselves in our capacity as shareholders of Swansea City AFC, or by the club itself.
Our Trust officers will be having further conversations with Andy Coleman again today and we all hope to see announcements being made through the official club channels in the very near future.
We understand that this lack of verified information is concerning and frustrating for supporters, and we will be releasing our own detailed statements to members and supporters once these legal matters are resolved, which provides some further clarity and explanation of some of the challenges that cannot currently be shared.
Over the course of the past few weeks, the Trust has received a lot of criticism, some of which is fair, but much of which goes beyond what we feel is acceptable. Our aim is to provide accurate and up-to-date information to supporters, and with a high volume of questions received across our platforms and via email, we are working extremely hard to ensure that we have the latest information before going to the fanbase.
We do not feel that speculating or commenting on situations that have not yet materialised is beneficial to the club, the Trust, or the supporters. We also want to make clear that the Trust does not and has not historically been involved in personnel decisions within the club, whether they are on the management or playing side – we provide input and opinion from supporters into conversations, but ultimately personnel decisions are taken by the majority owners and senior management team.
Our Trust accounts are increasingly inundated with abuse, often about matters that the Trust cannot directly control, which is wholly unacceptable. We are often as frustrated as supporters with the information vacuum, but it is important that we don’t share things in a way that could inadvertently jeopardise the interests of the club. We are not afraid to criticise the club, and have done so in the past, but as we benefit from being able to see what is going on inside the club, we sometimes feel that public criticism of actions would be wide of the mark.
It can sometimes be forgotten that all of our Trust board members are volunteers who routinely give up much of their time to carry out the myriad of duties their roles require. This includes a small group of board members managing our communication platforms, and at times it is relentless for them – as an organisation we have a duty to protect them from becoming bogged down in the negativity and abuse. We want to be active on these platforms and engage more, but we will only engage with those who show us the measure of respect that any interaction deserves, as we do to all those we engage with. Up until now, we have chosen to simply ignore those who send abuse, but in future we will go further and block any individuals who send consistent abuse to us. That is not something that we want to do as we want to have important dialogue with supporters, but it will be necessary to sustain the levels of engagement that we are working to deliver.
We will aim to provide a detailed update on any changes within the club as soon as possible.
As always, please feel free to email us on info@swanstrust.co.uk if you have any questions.
Swansea City Supporters’ Trust
25th May 2023
