When RamsTrust was first formed in 2002 as a co-operative, two of the earliest members to join were Margaret Beckett and her late husband Leo. Margaret is not a natural football fan but was always mindful of representing a football city in Parliament and having the football stadium in her Derby South constituency be it at the Baseball Ground or Pride Park. She also believes that fans should have more say in the running of their clubs and that club owners should be respectful of their supporters and the legacy which comes with ownership.

Over the years, Margaret has always spoken up for the Club in times of crisis, both locally and nationally. When Derby County hit rock bottom in 2022 and looked like going out of existence, Margaret once again set about demanding answers from football authorities by asking hard hitting and relevant questions in the House of Commons. She also joined the protest march from the city centre to the stadium.

Now that a Supporters’ Board is to be formed at Derby County and an Independent Football Regulator looks likely, the board of RamsTrust unanimously decided to make Dame Margaret an Honorary Life Patron of our trust in recognition of this support. This was presented to her by Central Co-op’s President Elaine Dean who was the first elected Chair of RamsTrust and who is standing down from the RamsTrust board after 22 years at this year’s AGM.

Margaret was delighted and honoured to receive the award and will cherish the title.