How often is it that Brentford can legitimately claim to be leading where the rest of football will follow? Well, when it comes to Supporters' Trusts arguably we can.

Back in 1999 the then BIAS committee were determined that whatever legacy Ron Noades left the club (and his previous record did little to inspire rampant optimism) that post-Webb Brentford fans would take measures to seize control over the club's destiny. They had heard about developments at Chesterfield, Lincoln and Bournemouth, where fans were working together to pool their minority shareholdings and raise the funds necessary to turn them into majority holdings, and they decided that such mechanisms were better established before events took a turn for the worse rather than as a hurried reaction.

For most of the history of the 'people's game' it had been an unspoken understanding that clubs belonged to the fans that created and supported them, and that the chairmen and officials who ran them were mere guardians of this relationship. Over time this situation changed to the extent that the media would happily talk about Ken Bates' Chelsea, Ron Noades' Brentford etc. Boardroom representation and eventual ownership became the new goals for fans, who saw their clubs' futures gambled on promotions and relegations, and on the ebb and flow of the transfer market.

As it happened the Government had been thinking along similar lines to the BIAS committee, and thus was borne Supporters Direct, a government-funded body dedicated to promoting the establishment of Supporters' Trusts (not-for-profit mutual societies) and giving free legal and financial advice to supporters groups who were interested in them.

The BIAS committee were able to bring their ideas to Supporters Direct and thus Bees United became one of the first wave of Supporters Trusts. With each year that passes Trusts are established at more and more clubs, and what might once have seemed like a panicked retreat from the hurly-burly of football's unique approach to finance now looks more and more like the future of the game.

Supporters Trusts are a sensible and considered way for the national game to start to repair the damage that the 1990's boom-and-bust years wreaked, whilst enabling fans to feel once again that what they are supporting is truly their club.