Donald Vass will step down as Chair of the Pompey Supporters’ Trust at the end of June, when his current term ends. He will also step down from the PST board, as well as his roles on the club’s Heritage & Advisory Board and the Tony Goodall Fans’ Conference.
Donald said: “I’ve been involved with the Trust for over a decade now, first on the Youth Committee in 2015, then as a full board member since 2017. It’s been an enormous privilege to work so closely with the club to help ensure that meaningful supporter engagement has remained a key principle at Pompey, even as we transitioned from fan ownership to private ownership.”
In 2024, Portsmouth won the Supporter Engagement Award at the national Football Supporters' Association Awards, recognising the strength of the partnership between the Trust and the club.
Donald has played an important role in organising the Tony Goodall Fans’ Conference, which brings together key club staff and representatives from around 20 different supporter groups. He has also served on the club’s Heritage & Advisory Board since 2018, meeting regularly with Tornante to ensure supporters’ views are heard at the highest level of the club.
Vass was one of the Trust board members who worked closely on the Jimmy Dickinson statue project, which involved commissioning the piece, crowdfunding over £100,000, and securing an Arts Council grant to complete the work. He also led on other initiatives for the club’s 125th anniversary, including the street art mural and the ‘125’ tifo for the final game of the season.
Prior to becoming PST Chair in 2023, Donald served as the Trust’s Treasurer. In this role, he supported colleagues with the Share Withdrawal Scheme, which returned over £2,000,000 to more than 2,000 supporters following the sale of the club after fan ownership.
During his time on the board, the Trust made a £250,000 donation to Pompey in the Community, helping to enable the development of the John Jenkins Stadium.
Donald has worked with the club on ticketing sub-committees, contributing to the creation of the club’s loyalty points system, and groups leading to the introduction of the Fratton End fanzone and the successful relocation of supporters during stadium redevelopment works.
As PST Chair, Donald introduced the annual supporter survey to ensure the Trust accurately represents the views of the wider fanbase. This enabled supporters to help select who was featured on the PST’s street art mural in 2024. The survey also led to the creation of the Away Ticket Ballot, through which around 2% of the club’s away ticket allocation is made available via ballot, widening access. This initiative has also contributed to an increase in PST membership, which grew by around 10% to 2,200 during his time as Chair.
Donald said: “I’ve been very lucky to work with brilliant colleagues on the PST and supporter representatives across the fanbase, who do a great deal of unseen work for the benefit of other fans. Thank you to former and current club staff who have always been genuinely committed to supporter engagement, particularly Mark Catlin, Tony Brown, Andy Cullen and Mark Judges.”
The PST board will elect a new Chair in due course. Supporters wishing to stand for election to the board have until 16 June to submit their application. More information is available here.