The England MAD editor explains why he hopes the fans group Supporters Direct will survive its loss of funding from the Premier League.

Over the summer some Scunthorpe United supporters hope to meet to setup a new group, which would use money raised through membership fees to buy shares in the club.

Should we get this off the ground, we will be far from the first set of fans in the country to set up such a group. More than 150 such groups, generally known as trusts, exist across the country with more than a quarter of a million members.

These have largely been set up with the assistance of Supporters Direct, an Industrial and Provident Society, set up by the Government (with cross-party support) in 2000. They offer support from the initial conception right through to assisting the running of a trust.

At Scunthorpe, we have made contact with them and are relying on their help to assist us in creating a trust that can represent fans views to the club.

That is in doubt because of some stupid tweets. Those tweets were from Dave Boyle, now former chief executive of the organisation, celebrating the promotion of his team AFC Wimbledon back to the Football League.

He was not very kind about Pete Winkelman, the man who pushed through the move of Wimbledon to MK Dons (where, in the end, he took just the Football League spot as the history and fans remained in London). The comments no doubt reflect what many football fans, in particular at AFC Wimbledon, feel but were not particularly appropriate for the leader of such a group and he resigned when it became apparent funding for his organisation was at risk.

Supporters Direct has a complicated funding structure, largely because the people who actually run football do not buy into the idea of fan ownership. We are there to buy replica shirts and matchday programmes, not tell them how to run the club.

I have seen this first hand. Steve Wharton, the Scunthorpe United chairman, has told me he is not convinced in the trust concept. He is, however, willing to work with us which makes him one of the more open-minded chairman out there. There are plenty of examples of the model working, not least in the club from Spain currently proclaimed to have the best team in the history of the world.

The Supporters Direct funding from the Football Stadia Investment Fund, which comes from the Premier League, has been withdrawn. The Premier League is hardly well-known for listening to supporters views: this is the organisation that came up with the 39th game concept after all.

Supporters Direct has won widespread praise for its work in the game. All three major political parties promised support during last year's General Election. The parliamentary select committee, which has been looking at the way football is run, is expected to back the concept when it reports in July.

Now is the time for the Government to come good with its promises, and help find the money to fill the funding gap. Either by pressuring the Premier League to reinstate their money, having already claimed the scalp of the Boyle, or helping find more reliable sources who will not pull the plug at the earliest opportunity.

Supporters Direct will change under the guidance of a new chief executive, but it must not be allowed to die. Us Scunthorpe fans must be allowed our opportunity to benefit from their experience.