"That is fine."

Over the course of the last year, I have had the privilege to work with some really amazing people for one goal: the long term success and survival of the Atlanta Silverbacks. The men I worked with represented the most passionate supporters of a 20 year old piece of Atlanta soccer tradition, with support stretching from the Atlanta area to Florida with myself and Shawn Laird to the UK and Michael Moriarty. Together, we built what became the ASFC Trust, garnering support for our fan ownership initiative from all around the world. For all the hard work and money put in, I personally want to thank all of you. You guys know who you are and you are all awesome.

Between the initial 2015 iteration of the #SaveOurSilverbacks campaign to have us remain in the NASL and our connection with Phoday Dolleh and Alvin Glay, we worked to get the Silverbacks into a position where they could be looked at as the club we envisioned: the premiere soccer club of Atlanta.

When we worked with conjunction with the NASL, we worked on an understanding that the Trust would own a portion of the team. Even though our plan fell short, we at least appreciated the NASL's willingness to work with us and the fact that, even when they shut down the team, they were extremely transparent. Even in our disappointment, we understood their motives from a business perspective.

Since February, we have worked with both Phoday and Alvin as the new owners of the club. They began our relationship by embracing the fans and coming to an understanding that the Trust would like to own a part of the team eventually. While we had disagreements, namely changing kick times, closing parking lots and turning people away, and hosting Atlanta United's affiliate Charleston Battery, we forgave them those things. We looked at those as simply growing pains - something that could be worked through in the offseason and corrected by 2017.

What we could not work past was the blatant disregard of their most enthusiastic supporters by Phoday and Alvin. We were offered the opportunity to buy part of the Atlanta Silverbacks reserve squad who would be competing in the ADASL. We were told point blank by Phoday in conversations he had with Steven Bayley, an Atlanta Ultra and leader of the charge to have an ADASL team, that if we raised $6,000 by the ADASL sign up deadline, then we could own a percentage of it. Steven stepped up and set up a GoFundMe page to help raise the money on August 16, 2016. We asked the team to tweet out a link so that we could use their followers to get a larger reach.

Less than a week later, we were told by Alvin that the ADASL team wouldn't happen because they didn't have the resources and they didn't want to use the club social media accounts for fear of bad press. Even that, we overlooked and we carried on. One day later, after Paul expressed our frustration to Phoday, he responded that we had to stop the GoFundMe campaign and said he would give us time to take the page down. The team would then make an announcement (Still waiting on that....).

We at the Trust felt that the club had undermined our credibility as an organization. We had looked to our supporters, both of the Backs and fellow soccer fans, to help us support the club we love. We began reaching out, but we abruptly had to stop and backtrack. This means that the next time we ask for help, we will have no support because even our own club doesn't support us.

Just yesterday, Paul was told by Alvin, who complained we were acting childish, that "Just because I said I was going to do something doesn't mean I have to do it." When we are told to take down a campaign because you won't support us, we take it down. We don't expect you do change your mind again. We also didn't expect you to refuse help from an organization whose main and only purpose is to support your club. The links between members of the Trust, Atlanta Ultras and Westside 109 means that the most ardent Silverbacks fans are working together to support the club we love.

When told they would lose their most ardent, loyal and vocal fans, they responded, "That is fine."

If you are okay with losing the fans who drove to Miami for a playoff game from Atlanta, then yes, that is fine.

If you are fine with relegating your team to the back burner of an amazing soccer city, then yes, that is fine.

If you are fine with ensuring your investment in a 20 year old club never grows past searching for transfer fees, then yes, that is fine.

If you are okay with bad press, then yes, that is fine.

If you are fine with killing true support for your club, then yes, that is fine.