THE Newport County AFC Supporters Trust have revealed that the club has received around £400,000 as part of Conor Washington’s move from Peterborough United to Queens Park Rangers – an amount that could eventually be doubled.

The windfall is as a result of a sell-on fee negotiated by the previous regime when Washington moved to Peterborough from County in January 2014.

In a monthly update to fans the Trust also reveals that they have now been recognised by the Football League as the owners of the club.

They also state that elections to select the new board are ready to start and that the club has submitted a formal complaint over Oldham Athletic’s approach for former Exiles boss John Sheridan.

The Trust statement reads: “We are happy to confirm that following some dialogue and clarifications our submission to the Football League has now been fully accepted.

“We are now formally recognised as owners of our football club! The formal ratification from the Football League has allowed us to commence the two stage election process.

“The long awaited elections are now ready to commence.

“As relayed in our share offer we will be adopting an incremental approach – this will take the form of two stages with four positions being offered initially.

“The remainder will follow after a review. This approach will support the need for stability in the club. All the information that is needed can be found on the Trust website – www.ncafctrust.org”

It adds: “Having considered our position, we have formally written to the Football League objecting to the approach of our previous manager. We await their response.”

On the Washington deal, the Trust says: “We can confirm we have received a significant windfall from the sale of Conor Washington from Peterborough to QPR.

“As expected the agreement has a number of clauses and complexities based on a range of triggers. “Notwithstanding this we have received an initial cash payment in region of £400k, which could almost double over the coming years if the various other clauses are applied.

“We fully recognise the contribution of the previous board in achieving such an excellent deal for the football club.

“The injection of funds from the Conor Washington transfer is excellent news, especially given that apart from regular, relatively low value, long term creditor agreements all money will be available to be re-invested in the football club.

“Initial considerations are to replicate the approach developed by Exeter where the income is split three ways into the playing budget (this season and next), working capital and football development (academy, infrastructure etc).

“The academy at all levels is a critical part of our club and the need to continue to invest is paramount.

“We have recently asked the head of the academy to explore the possibility of moving us from a category four academy to category three. As this develops we will update members.”