The thing is, were the authorities alerted to the counterfeits? We all know how long it takes for them to go around boot sales to collar pirate sellers. The most balanced and well informed view yet:- "Very mixed views on all this, with various caps on as you can imagine. With my Fanzine heritage it has been great to see Town fans wanting to do something like this, (and new faces in all honesty). If we are continue the good work of ALS, the message board and the Supporters Groups we need people that want to be active, coming forward, and it's brilliant that there are people out there, who will put their heads above the line, stand up and be counted. With my Trust hat on, the only way football fans are ever going to fully influence decision making is to engage, and in all honesty own football clubs as a community (i.e Supporters Trusts). Business and fans working together with an equal share, and democratic. The model isnt perfect, doesnt guarantee success, and finding funds to progress is hard. Just look at Exeter, AFC Wimbledon, and AFC Telford. There again look at Swansea (25% Trust owned), and look at all those clubs that continue to screw up. The thing is though, Trust owned clubs live within their means, and understand that you cant just keep rushing to a 'sugar daddy' to fulfil your hopes and a dreams. That doesnt mean that a local businessmen cannot run football clubs successfully, and a lot of clubs could do a lot worse that looking at what the Chairman and board have achieved. Financial stability takes a lot of hard work and is an achievement. However as someone who has been part of engagement with the football club for well over 16 years now, through Umbrella Group, SUFAN, etc, has taught me that running a football club is note easy, is fully of difficult decisions, and sometimes ones you dont want to make. And I've only seen that from the outside in. I doubt very much that the Chairman wanted to get rid of 'Loggerheads' without a very good reason. At the time of the Umbrella Group meeting it was announced, I stated that 'if the club do it, we do it once and thats it'. I liked the solution at the time, and dont hate the solution now. I respect peoples view. We all need to respect everyones views. Whatever anyone thinks about the origins, and the professionalism of the sourcing of the idea for the image, the fact of the matter remains that 'Clippy' can be copyrighted and the image rights managed, whereas the Loggerheads cant (even with the basis being the alleged Clip Art Lion image - only Tony Brooks knows for sure). And as I've stated before until someone can come up with an argument that changes that fact, then I'm afraid that 'Clippy' stays. But Trust me, if that argument can be overturned, I would fully support a phased return to Loggerheads. Right now, that argument hasnt. The debate has taken everyone by surprise. When I first saw it, I thought, hang on, we've only just gone up! But, is there ever a good time to campaigning for something? There will always be something that gets in the way. The clubs statement may be seen as a bit terse, and I'm sure there is a little bit of 'you ungrateful buggers' in there, but my advice to the football club - understand and be thankfully that we have such a wonderful and passionate fanbase that wants to engage. That will go out and collect 3000 signatures in support of a new stadium, and right letters of support for it etc, etc. Understand that the challenge isnt personal, and that the case to a businessman is clear, but to a blue and amber salopian, isnt always going to be. And to fans, we have a great board, who are Town fans, who arent trying to flog the silver, asset strip, think we are franchise, build a chemical plant, supermarket, flats etc. They are good guys, and understand that to take us where we all want to go, doing something like Clippy actually does make sense. A Large Scotch campaigned for the return of Blue and Amber (we called it Gold back in 1990, and the Loggergheads badge). We achieved both (in 1992), and I'm proud we did. Football has changed and that is why I'm proud to be part of shrewsTRUST. But with campaigning with things like colours and badges, and new grounds, comes the realisation of the world we live in and the compromises we sometimes have to make. Repsonsibility is the key word and Supporters Trust are about responsible enagagement of football fans in the running of the football clubs they support. I hope that those that have organised the petition, supported it, dont just give up, but look at how they could approach the challenge from a different angle (as I've suggested above). But most of all, why dont you get involved in bodies such as ourselves, the SuperBlues, OSC, and start shapeing these organisations going forward, becuase that is what we all need. New ideas, new blood, new ways of tackling challenges. But, responsibility is the key word. Not stone throwing or arab spring revolution. The fact that none of the groups has an 'official policy' on the club badge speaks volumes - that we were all caught with our pants down says a lot (we have always stated though that the Loggerheads will always be part of the 'shrewsTRUST' logo). I hope that the fact the Trust wanted to know peoples views (through Twitter/ Facebook) etc before coming off the fence, shows that we do follow the responsible route, working things out, before seeing things through. Not just making off the cuff decsions, when they seem popularist, but for the greater good and the survival of the club. If what people are saying is true, then I hope to see many people wearing Loggerhead branded goods and donating to one of the Supporters Groups the money raised. That way everyone wins. My hope is that fan engagement becomes tighter, better organised and continues to solve real problems, rather than being seen as an unnecessary and annoying challenge. If its the fomer rather than the later, we are all defintely going to win!"
