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UNITED TRUST HISTORY

The Trust Rules : The Trust's roots are in the formation of the independent supporters' group CISA (Cumbrians' Independent Supporters Association) back in 1999. The idea behind this organisation which was founded by Brian Hall, a long-standing supporters organiser, was to establish a totally independent fans group in the wake of the winding-down of the Official Supporters' Club and to look into the feasibility of forming a Trust. The CISA came into being before the dawning of a new age in football with the foundation of Supporters' Direct (SD) in 2000. SD is a government-funded body whose main role is to provide financial support and advice for new Supporters' Trusts.Although the CISA in its original form did not directly evolve into CCUIST, the efforts of Brian and his committee sparked interest in the idea of forming a Trust amongst other groups of fans and so it came to pass that in early 2001 a 'gang' of four of them got together in a pub outside Carlisle to thrash out the beginnings of what was to become CCUIST.

The First Group Of Valunteers:Working at first behind closed doors, the first group of volunteers held a series of meetings in and around Carlisle to get people involved and launch the Trust at a special public meeting to be held in the Sands on the morning of the final match of the 2000-01 season.A press launch was held a week before this momentous date and the first wave of application forms went out along with invitations to the big meeting on the following Saturday. Dick Young, Billy Rafferty and Ross Brewster all made appearances in the local media to kick the CCUIST idea into life and that first public meeting will go down in history as one of the biggest ever staged in Carlisle.

Financial Difficulties :Everything wasn't rosy though in the United garden. As the Cumbrians slid to the bottom of the league at the start of the 2003-04 season, and manager Roddy Collins was relieved of his position, it was becoming clear the club still had significant financial difficulties to overcome.Although they finally exited the CVA in October, they were still reliant to a great extent on John Courtenay's financial backing to keep on paying the bills.

Share Dispute : Brooks Mileson offered in November 2004 to make a one-off donation of £600,000 to the Trust to enable it to complete the purchase of 40% of Holdings as per the existing shareholders' agreement. Due to an impasse in negotiations with Fred Story, this was still in place.. Mr Story went to the High Court in November 2005 to try and get this injunction lifted but the Judge Sir Donald Rattee upheld it and put in place a surety of £80,000 upon the Trust . The new agreement allows the Trust to purchase 25.37% of shares in the club's holding company at a total cost of £800,000. Holdings can issue new shares but it must also offer them in an equal portion to the Trust at £1 each, enabling the Trust to protect its stake for future generations. Kate Rowley stood down as fans' rep as part of this new agreement and was replaced by Norman Steel with Chris Fuller as his deputy.The Trust has still to raise a portion of the final £85,000 needed to complete the 25.37% stake in CUFC Holdings Ltd. A new fundraising initiative has been launched to help raise the required cash.