NEWPORT County AFC Supporters Trust members have a simple message for fans who are still sceptical about their takeover bid – get involved.

In a special question and answer session conducted by County Choir chairman Chris Silverthorne, County’s interim board members Gavin Foxall, Jon Bowkett and Shaun Johnson reiterated that the success or failure of the bid is down to the fans.

Asked what they would say to any fans who are less than optimistic about this model’s ability to take the club forward, Foxall said: “They’ve got to get involved and if they get involved then they’ll understand how the model works.”

He added: “You’ve got to remember that we’ve been guided by professional advisers within Supporters Direct and you’ve got to look at the success of those that they’ve taken through the process.

“As you saw at the open meeting, there’s a raft of clubs like Exeter and Wycombe and we’ve had emails from them wishing us luck “In my mind to anyone who has hesitations I’d say get involved because if you get involved you’ll see it from the inside and see what we’re trying to achieve.”

Bowkett said: “I think the best example would be the Bury model from last year; a similar process took place and it succeeded to the highest level with them getting promoted back to division one immediately.”

And Johnson added: “I think there is also a misconception that it’s someone else imposing it on the fans. If you switch it round and ask will this model work then, to be honest, it’s up to all of us.”

The Trust membership has now passed the 1,000 mark ahead of the share offer launch at 7pm on Thursday, August 27, at Newport's Riverfront Theatre.

In a statement the Trust said: "This is an incredible vote of support from the fans of the club, and we have seen membership increase by 700 in just three weeks, which demonstrates the appetite for the proposed fans takeover of the club.

"We are now approaching a critical week in respect of this, and we are looking forward to sharing the plans for the future with supporters at the share offer launch."