Swansea City Supporters Trust. Firstly, I must declare an interest as a member of Swansea City Supporters Trust. Unfortunately in Britain, professional football clubs—especially at the top level—normally have a very large local fan base, but ownership of the club by one or more individuals, quite often from abroad. I know Cardiff City fans would recognise that situation.

Swansea City is different, because even though a foreign owner has over 50 per cent of the shares, the supporters trust owns over 20 per cent of the club. The supporters trust has one member on the club’s main board, an opportunity for the views of supporters to be raised in the club’s boardroom. The supporters trust has direct contact with supporters, and is representative of us.

With the supporters represented on the main board, Swansea City have avoided the arguments over kit colour, team name, club badge and ticket pricing that have beset other clubs. Direct supporter involvement is, I believe, crucial to keeping the football supporters and the owners working together. A club in the Premier League, owned partly by the supporters, is, as far as I am aware, unique. But, having a supporter representative on the main board is both unique and also is desired by supporters of other clubs.

This shared ownership stems from the dark days of Swansea City nearly going out of the football league. The supporters trust’s success owes much to the hard work and dedication of its officers and those who have served on the football club board. A team partly owned by its supporters, playing in the Premier League, is a huge success—one I hope continues into next season—and something that I hope will become more common in the future for other clubs.