One of the aims of Blues Trust is to help develop a constructive relationship between our club and its supporters. We would like to have open two-way communication between the fans and those who own and manage the club.
This is a lot easier to say than to do. There are so many barriers, a major one being a lack of trust between the people involved. Fans have learned that owners don’t always keep the promises they make. Owners have experienced abuse from fans. Fan groups don’t get on with each other. I’ve recently read an excellent article on The art of starting a dialogue that discusses these barriers and makes the point that it takes time to develop trust.
So is there any possibility of overcoming the mistrust and developing good communication at Birmingham City? I think that there is and that this is the time to attempt it. Ernst & Young are trying to sort out the business affairs in Hong Kong but don’t appear to be interested in the details of the day-to-day running of the club in Birmingham. So the owners are out of the equation for the time being. I believe that the majority of supporters appreciate the way that the club staff has kept things running during all the uncertainty. Both attendance and atmosphere were good at our first two home games. Discord and antagonism have not disappeared but most Blues fans seem to be more interested in supporting the team than arguing among themselves.
I am not saying that it will be easy to get fans and club to talk together and work for the good of the club. Nor am I suggesting that Blues Trust should lead such an initiative. I don’t believe that the Trust or any other Birmingham City supporters group has enough support to call a meeting for all fans. I feel that it would be more appropriate for David Boston, our new Supporter Liaison Officer, to arrange the first series of meetings and invite interested supporters to attend. I hope that he will do so.
Margaret Decker
