Wrexham Needs a Steady Hand

I am so confused! Could someone please explain to me why the WST get so much grief? They seem to me to be the only ones who are emerging from the ongoing WFC farce with any credit or dignity to me.

Okay, I suppose I'm being a little disingenuous. Some of the concerns fans voice about the trust make sense, even if I don't agree with them. I understand some people's anxiety at a perceived slowness on the trust's part to act as it's based on a fear for the club if someone doesn't sort it's future out quickly. However, it's hard to see what else the trust can do. It can't act as quickly as an individual investor or consortium could, as it has to canvass opinion from its membership and also has a responsibility to them to fully investigate all possible options rather than being able to act unilaterally.

Of course, their ability to move swiftly is also limited by their reliance on the incumbents at the club. They can't carry out due diligence until they're allowed access to the relevant information, and the timing of that simply isn't in their hands.

The trust are damned if they do and they're damned if they don't. If they divulge that they are talking to an interested party they are criticised for doing so, or not showing such urgency to talk to others; if they don't make a public statement they are attacked for inaction.

I think it's fair to say that the trust board, made up, let's not forget, of fans with their own lives to lead and jobs to maintain, are doing a sterling job of representing their members' interests and trying to protect the club. Surely no one should be able to dispute that they're doing all they can. Furthermore, they show the sort of professionalism, discretion and restrain you'd hope for in such a delicate situation. They don't make inflammatory public statements, unsubstantiated claims or provocative gestures. And they're the ones without a background in such matters.

I'm as anxious as anyone to see a favourable resolution to the current disgraceful mess the club is in. But I'm also trying to maintain perspective, and ensure I can see the wood for the trees. While dramas like the claims of a winding up order spring up at us regularly, it's easy to be panicked into rash decisions which could prove costly in the long term. I'm glad the trust has a measured hand at the tiller as it tries to negotiate its way through the storm.

We Should All Be Wombles

How wonderfully serendipitous that, when Wrexham FC stands at the crossroads. we should find ourselves going to AFC Wimbledon!

As Stephanie Booth makes encouraging noises about a community-led venture, we were offered a wonderful glimpse at how well such a venture can turn out.

First and foremost, AFC Wimbledon are tenants. But, unlike the norm in that situation, they appear from this distance to be welcome tenants. The relationship between them and Kingstonian seems to be mutually beneficial, and it's my understanding that, as the tenants' status has overtaken that of the landlords, they have gone out of their way to ensure the switch in status doesn't cause friction.

That sort of approach encapsulates what the club is about. By showing that sort of consideration, by being aware of the feelings of their neighbours, fans and business partners, they show themselves to be a proper, decent club run by proper, decent people. The sort of club that generates goodwill and positive PR naturally through its actions, rather than thinking that employing PR consultants and issuing rambling press statements means you'll make a positive impression.

The whole matchday experience at Kingsmeadow on Tuesday was a pleasant one, and not merely because we played so well. I'd say it's true in general that non-league clubs are more welcoming than those in the Football League; however, the high incidence of nice people I bumped into on Tuesday suggests there's something particularly good going on in that corner of Surrey!

From the friendly apprentices joking with me about my camera, through the highly attentive press officer who couldn't do enough to help, to the AFCW fans who applauded and laughed at Mathias Pogba's comical goal celebration when most fans would have hured abuse at him, this was a club packed with warmth and dignity.

A couple of particular incidents really stood out for me though. Mike T - website commentator, PA announcer and all-round top bloke - made an announcement in support of the Wrexham supporters at half time on behalf of the Dons Trust. It was a typical gesture from a big-hearted club. Most clubs are part of the same, tired old boys club and wouldn't dream of making such an announcement for fear of provoking an awkward atmosphere in the boardroom. The Wombles aren't constrained by such concerns though; they follow their consciences. Imagine how good it would feel to follow a club which not only says what you feel, but reflects your wishes in its every action.

The other example of Wimbledon's fundamental decency was a lot more mundane, but touching because of that. At half time there was a ceremony for a young Japanese lad who had contacted the club looking for a chance to develop his coaching skills. He was given that opportunity, but the time had come to say goodbye. The youth players formed a guard of honour for him and a genuinely touching ceremony unfolded in which he said his farewells, tears streaming down his face. When did you last go to a football match and feel the host club had enhanced someone's life? When did you last feel touched by a halftime presentation? Come on, when did you last see a guy on the pitch with a microphone during the break and not think"What a goon"? It was...and here's a word I don't think I've ever used before about something I've seen in a football stadium....lovely!

AFC Wimbledon are a template we should look to follow. They have engaged their fanbase, and as a result they get excellent crowds and support.

Obviously, they have been given a sense of purpose by the fact that there is a common enemy: the repellant MK Dons. But haven't Wrexham fans also got something pretty significant to share? Hasn't going through the trauma of the last seven years or so given us strength? The crowds which gathered at The Racecourse to watch the dross served up during our last season in the Football League suggest we already have a committed core of support. After all, if you subtract the away supporters our home crowds actually went up that season!

There are other examples from AFC Wimbledon that we could do well to follow; just have a look at the Dons Trust section of the club website to see an example of transparancy in action, for example. But in recognising the good in something, you should resist the temptation to mimic. Therein lies the path to failure. Instead, we should aspire to the values the Dons represent, and think of how we can also come to stand for them, in our own unique way.

I genuinely believe that there is something special about Wrexham Football Club, forged from being the one large club in North Wales and having gone through a painful process which has politicised us. I see this special quality in the support the club gets, the remarkably active and informed contribution of Red Passion, a remarkable resource which fans of much larger clubs would be jealous of, and in the pockets of superb work which fans have already done, such as with the programme team of the recent past.

Now's the time to crystallise those qualities. To make them integral to what our club stands for, not merely circumstantial pockets of excellence. To put our club at the heart of our community, and our community at the heart of our club.

And you know what? It doesn't matter how the events of the next few weeks go really. Olly Hides might comically try to push Stephanie Booth on BBC Wales about how all Wrexham fans want is to go up, and if she can't guarantee that then we'll revolt! Too few people from that body bother to pop up here to see what's actually going on; a lot of us would take a hit on the pitch in exchange for a club we can be proud of. After all, that's what happened to AFC Wimbledon, and they didn't turn out too badly, did they?