PLANS to make Dorchester Town FC Community Trust and current owner Shaun Hearn joint majority shareholders in the Magpies were unveiled last night.

Around 150 supporters, learned of the move – due to come into effect on May 17 – at a public meeting where it was also announced that the club will have joint chairmen.

Present chairman Hearn, who currently owns a 55 per cent stake in the Magpies, is to be joined in the hot-seat by a member of the trust – treasurer Neal Butterworth has been nominated for the position.

In ownership terms, Hearn will transfer half his shares to the trust, leaving both parties with 27.5 per cent each and full community ownership the future goal for trust chairman John Greenslade.

“We are committed to community ownership, that’s what we are about,” Greenslade told the meeting.

“Shaun loves the club and he doesn’t want to give it up but it’s no secret that he and previous owners have struggled to take the club forward within the present model.”

On the planned changes, Hearn added: “Instead of taking the line of transferring the shares in one hit I want to see that the confidence and backing is there.

“It’s safe to say the model will be changing for next season and I think if we all pull together it will be fantastic for the club.”

The long-term aim is to see the club operate within its means and become more sustainable through greater community involvement.

Dorchester Town Youth FC is also set to link-up with the club in the hope of providing youngsters with a better opportunity of making it into the first team.

A number of issues were raised by fans in attendance at the Dorford Centre, including the point that not all clubs who go for the same approach necessarily reap the benefits on the field.

But Butterworth did outline the benefits such a move towards community ownership will have; *For supporters it means increased ownership of the club, a real say in the running of it and greater transparency.

*It will give a better link to the club for the youth set-up and bring players through to via the academy.

*The club itself will have greater community involvement and be run more sustainably to protect its future.

*A club the community can be proud of and which would hopefully result in bigger crowds at the Avenue for home games.

It is fair to say there was some scepticism over the plans but the parties involved are confident that if the fans can take the first step in the right direction then others will follow.

Butterworth added: “We don’t have all the answers. It’s a bit of a leap of faith, we know that.

“But there are a lot of examples of clubs who have gone down this road and are living within their means.

“Working together, we can make this work for the club and the community.”

The meeting also heard from James Mathie of Supporters Direct and Martin Clayton of Lewes FC, who have embraced the community ownership approach.

*Dorchester Town Reserves have been thrown out of the Wyvern Challenge Cup for fielding two ineligible players in their victory over Wimborne last month.

League officials say the club broke competition rules that those involved did not play in at least five league, cup or shield matches prior to the semi-final. Wimborne will now play Sholing in the final at New Milton on May 4.

Also, the Magpies’ home and away league games against Winchester and the visit to Salisbury have been scratched.

All three teams involved and the league agreed on the move due to the fixture backlog at the end of the season. The matches will be recorded as 0-0 draws.