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Stuart Campbell ArabTRUST Associate Director Blog - June 2018
Stuart Campbell ArabTRUST Associate Director
Blog - June 2018
It’s been a while since my last update in what has been a really difficult period for the club both on and off the park. The biggest disappointment was undoubtedly the way the league campaign ended with the team missing out on promotion.
Since Mike Martin was appointed Chairman we’ve seen the implementation of the widely reported “root & branch” review of everything that happens at the club and while we expect to see many more changes reported over the next few months changes have already been made in finance, recruitment, youth and commercial, the Chairman, Directors and staff at Tannadice have been putting in long hours to bring about the changes needed that will give the club the best chance of delivering the promotion to the Premiership and the financial stability we all want.
I’m not evading the “elephant in the room” but really can’t answer any of the questions many of us have on the reported potential takeover / investment in the club. ArabTRUST are taking the view at this stage that a lack of information is a positive sign that any negotiations are taking place in a business-like manner and when it’s possible the club will bring us all up to date with any developments, too many times in the past we’ve seen gossip drip fed into the media on all sorts of issues where ultimately everyone has been left frustrated and disappointed. We must also remember any discussions of this nature will be private discussions between shareholders and potential other parties.
In terms of people we’ve seen Luggy come home with some positive early results in recruitment, Paul has a wealth of experience within the game and I’m sure he’ll have a positive effect at the club over the coming months.
ArabTRUST continues to be a driving force within the Youth Development Board with the recent Youth Football Festival being a huge success, we had over 60 teams and over 400 kids taking part at Tannadice. We are already planning for 2019 where we’re sure it’ll improve further and remember all the money raised will go straight into youth development at the club.
ArabTRUST think investing in the club is really important regardless of who sits in the boardroom with all the money we manage to raise being ploughed back into The Youth Development Board and community projects through The Dundee United Community Trust.
We will continue to try and work with all of the supporter’s groups in areas where we share a common goal but neither will the ArabTRUST shy away from the fact that people have different views. This in itself is only to be expected but everyone needs to remember that we are all United fans trying to do our best for the club.
Closer to home we’re delighted to welcome on board new ArabTRUST Board Members in Ian Barr, Stephen Drake, and George Laidlaw who bring a wealth of experience to the AT. We have another couple of new faces in the pipeline and hope to announced these over the next few weeks.
Having said that, its with some sadness that we say goodbye to Avril Muir, Gavin Muir and Colin Gillan from the board. They have all been hugely supportive through some difficult times and put in a mountain of work on ArabTRUST’s behalf. Gavin as Chairman, Avril as a Board Member and working in the TTP’s and Colin instrumental in introducing the Football Festivals to our fundraising calendar. We haven’t seen the last of them as they will still be seen around the Trading Posts and at the ground during home games, so it’s a huge thank you from everyone at ArabTRUST, if you see them on game day or at the TTP’s stop off and say hello.
Our focus over the next few months is fundraising to support Youth Development and Community Activities so you can expect to see developments on this shortly. We have a Race Night in planning and a summer prize draw /raffle due for the start of the season (there will be some unique prizes for this draw). We are also looking to introduce some new ArabTRUST merchandise over the coming months, so watch this space.
Continuing on the theme of ArabTRUST in the Community, The Club along with the ArabTRUST and Football Memories are proud to host Football Memories Scotland at Tannadice in late June where we will be discussing plans to expand and develop Football Memories across Dundee.
Finally, we’re really pleased to see the team being re-built and while it’s tough to see players go we believe that the standard of personnel being signed shows that the club are very serious about winning promotion back to the Premiership next season.
My personal belief along with my colleagues on the ArabTRUST’s board is that the best way we can support the club is to buy a 2018/19 season ticket if you can, it’s a personal choice and we understand that but we also believe that buying a season ticket is a great way to support the club in the coming season. For me personally I’am always proud to tell others I am a season ticket holder at Dundee United. So far, this sentiment has been shared and echoed by nearly 2500 like minded Arabs. This is a fantastic show of loyalty and support.
I will get back to you all a bit closer to the start of the new season but for now have a great summer, enjoy the World Cup and see you all again when it all kicks off in a little over six week in mid-July.
Stuart Campbell
ArabTRUST
Associate Director
