NEWPORT County AFC fans have been warned that there is a lot of hard work to be done before they can realise their dream of owning and running the club.

The County Supporters Trust looks set to take on the majority shareholding of the club from former chairman Les Scadding.

And the Trust has announced that it is to accept membership applications online ahead of Friday’s public meeting at the Riverfront Theatre at 7pm.

But Supporters Direct, the group working with the County Supporters Trust on the potential takeover, says there is a long way to go before the dream becomes a reality.

James Mathie is a club development manager at Supporters Direct, who have helped facilitate similar fans’ takeovers at Portsmouth, Wycombe Wanderers and Wrexham.

He told the Argus: “I’ll be there on Friday with Nick Igoe, who is the architect of the financial assessment report that the Trust have been looking at.

“We’ll be coming to talk about some of the headline stuff from that.

“I’ve seen a lot of the statements coming out and there is still definitely an opportunity for the fans to take control of the club.

“But there is a fair amount of work to be done yet.

“Friday will give people the opportunity to hear more about how a supporter-owned club works and the magnitude of what needs to happen before the supporters can own their club.

“It is an important evening and, subject to that going well, there will be a follow-up to ask fans for some money to enable the opportunity to take control.

“But obviously if we’re asking people to invest we need to properly establish the financial position of the club and find out if people are up for it.”

The Trust is hoping to boost its numbers before the meeting via its website ncafctrust.org.

The online application process was suspended last month when news broke that they were in talks with Scadding.

In a statement the Trust said: "This is the Trust listening to its fan-base and [we] are grateful for their feedback. Please keep it up!

"The membership of the trust costs £10 for adults and £5 for children (16 and under). This gives you membership of the Supporters Trust, one vote and more so helping towards reaching the ambition of the fans owning the club.

"We now ask all fans to help and get involved by joining the Trust today and by attending our open meeting on Friday at The Riverfront.

"Also, let's see a big attendance on Sunday against Queens Park Rangers.

"Let's bring the enjoyment back into watching the County and show everyone we can make this work.

"If you were considering buying a season ticket, joining the 100 Club or Business Club now is the time to buy and help support your club."