Pink News 29th April 2000

McLeish earning Hibs fans' Trust
By David Hardie

HIBS boss Alex McLeish today saluted a unique fans' initiative, which could see more than £1 million come his way in just three years and to underline his enthusiasm for the ground breaking scheme, McLeish himself signed up to become a member of the Erin Community Trust, an organisation devoted to raising cash for the club's manager.

Already 'several hundred' fans have joined the organisation, pledging a minimum of £5 a month, with the promise that every penny of their donation will go directly to where they want to see it being spent.

While admitting that the money raised, hopefully a minimum of £350,000 a year, wasn't a huge sum in comparison to the millions spent each year by Britain's leading clubs, McLeish admitted it could make a difference.

The Trust, the first of it's kind in this country, will be run by a management committee of ordinary fans under the stewardship of five trustees including Famous Five legend Lawrie Reilly, Skol Cup hero Keith Wright and ex-Hibs defender Craig Paterson.

Each year McLeish will be given a cash donation to spend as he sees fit with the Trust having received an assurance from Hibs chairman, Malcolm MacPherson, that their money will be in addition to that made available by the club to the manager.

McLeish acknowledged that most fans would expect him simply to go out and splash the cash on a new player, but he revealed that there were many ways in which such money could be used to benefit Hibs.

He said: "It's not going to be a huge amount of money and we are not going to be able to bring in a top-class player with it but we can put it in other directions."

"There may be occasions when we have done sufficient homework to perhaps bring in a bargain in the transfer market but there are other things we can do with it."

"Perhaps we can bring in a couple of coaches to take kids at an earlier age, which I believe is crucial to the future of Scottish Football and hopefully one day we will have a crop of young players coming through every year."

"Going to look at players, bringing them to Easter Road on trial, putting them up in hotels while they are here all costs money, perhaps as much as £50,000 a year and that's perhaps another area where this money might help."

"It's another extra revenue as far as I am concerned and it is massively appreciated. We are already asking a lot of the fans, buying season tickets, shelling out for all the merchandise but we want to put out a team that repays that loyalty."

"It's fantastic that the hibs supporters are making this gesture. The fans have already, as far as I am concerned, shown a hell of a passion for this club and I feel we are moving in the right direction and we are in it together."

"I'm not speaking as someone who was born a Hibs fan but believe me, I felt the sense of disappointment of going out of the Tennents Scottish Cup in the semi-final."

"I want to see the day when we are going into these games saying we have a better than 50/50 chance of going into the final. I am sure the fans will understand and dig deep."

The Trust, which is the result of discussions, which first begun two years ago, has three aim; to raise money for McLeish, to build up an investment fund to generate additional cash and to buy shares in the club, while making it clear they have no intention of trying to mount a take-over in the future.

John Campbell, convener of the Trust's management committee, said: "We worked out that if each of our 6500 season-ticket holders were to chip in £5 each month we would raise more than £1 million in three years."