Club statement - 21^st April 2006

In response to a couple of questions raised by some of the club's members, FC United wishes to clarify the situation as regards the supply of official and unofficial merchandise. It is important to stress that the following is already a matter of public record however as some confusion clearly still remains the club lays the following facts out before its supporters.

FC United has entered into a number of arrangements with companies for the supply of official goods, such as the kit suppliers, the scarf manufacturers, badge makers, DVD producers etc, which are mutually beneficial to the club and the companies concerned. Where unofficial goods - over which the club has little control - are concerned, appeals have been made in the programme and on the website during the season for any company seeking to use the club's name or badge to seek permission before so doing.

In this regard T-Shirts United, in which board member Vasco Wackrill has declared an interest, (as required by the clubs constitution) and T-Shirt Factory (previously trading as FCUnitedT-shirts), in which Club Secretary Luc Zentar, and board member Tony Pritchard have also declared an interest, are two prior established companies which have produced goods from which they pay FC United a commission on all items sold. It is worth noting that as both companies are not producing items that pertain to be official merchandise, they are not obligated to pay the club a commission, yet choose to do so.

Neither company has been granted any deal of exclusivity. The club has released its own range of official t-shirts during the season, and will continue to do so in future. It should also be pointed out that "unofficial" use of the club's name for t-shirts is not restricted to these two companies, only that they are the only two who, thus far, have entered into an arrangement with the club.

The club's own t-shirt ranges - such as those with the official badge on - are those that we know will sell. The club has no wish to be left with the potential of large amounts of unsold stock, a risk that private t-shirt companies are no doubt happy to deal with.