TWO club insiders claim influence from Worcester City Supporters’ Trust is preventing people from speaking out against community ownership proposals.

The duo, both of whom represent City in an official capacity, insist support for the special resolution set to be put to shareholders at an annual general meeting (AGM) at Worcestershire County Cricket Club tonight (7.30) is far from universal within the club.

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If the motion is backed by 75 per cent of the shareholding or more the trust would acquire all unsold shares in the club, approximately 46 per cent of the business.

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Votes will be weighted by the number of shares held, meaning anyone with the maximum of 3,000 has more clout than 50 shareholders who each own 50 shares.

Four new directors, all of whom were affiliated to the trust, joined the board in August following the resignation of previous chairman Anthony Hampson with another two joining and one standing down since.

That instigated a change in the club’s position over which site to pursue for a new ground in the city, returning to the trust’s long-standing vision of a facility at Perdiswell with community ownership put forward as the key to accessing grant funding and the land owned by Worcester City Council.

Club director and trust chairman Dave Wood last week said the fan-owned model was “the only viable way forward for the football club”, adding "we are all as one, the trust and the club, and this would galvanise it".

However, sources from within the club claim alternative views are not being heard.

“I feel that it is the wrong time to have ownership via the trust. The club needs investment and that is not going to come in the short term, over the next four or five years,” said the first source.

“The way it is being done would close the door on anyone coming along to put money into the club.

“They are relying on Perdiswell being the end to all our problems but still need permission from the council and then have to raise funds to build a stadium which isn’t going to happen in the next four or five years.

“In that time we will be away from Worcester and the finances will take a bit of a dive. This is not the answer to the club’s problems.”

They added that “there has been interest” from private investors “and that the book is not closed on that”.

Asked why they wish to remain anonymous, the source replied: “People get talked down to if they have an opposite view to what the trust is saying.

"I think it is influencing the decisions trust members make as far as the club goes.”

The second source said: “Although fan ownership would have been a good idea three, five or even 10 years ago, it is not right now we are at tier nine of English football with only a small amount of money left in the bank that is going down year on year.

“You could get all of our fans to try to support building a new ground but we would not be able to finance it. In my opinion we need to raise the cap on the shares one person can buy so we can have a majority shareholder.

“I feel like the grants are not as easily accessible as the trust portrays or believes.

“Members of the trust board promise the earth, saying this is the only viable option.

“We were promised an upturn in volunteers this season but that has been minimal. We were promised an upturn in supporters because of the new (club) board and that has been minimal to non-existent.

“I don’t believe there is a real appetite for fan ownership in the fanbase of Worcester City Football Club, people just support it because they are being told it is the only option."

On their reason for requesting anonymity, the second source said: “Some people have been blamed for past issues that were not their fault by trust board members and that is perceived to be the truth."

Both Wood and club chairman Steve Goode said they did not feel it would appropriate to respond to the comments prior to the AGM.

The AGM, which is open to shareholders only, takes places in the Graeme Hick Suite at New Road.