Found this on my travels round the web and after the success of the public ownership of Ebbsfleet United, who knows…..
www.fivepoundfootballclub.com – Become a football club owner for £5!
Own the club.
fivepoundfootballclub.com wants to help you become the owner of a football club in the United Kingdom. We hope to gather an army of owners to invest in a lower league club in either Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland or Wales. You vote to decide which country and, eventually, which team will be invested in.
Never miss a match.
As owners, it’ll be important that you know what’s going on at the chosen club. We’ll make all the information available and you can vote on any decisions. We’ll get you all the latest news, match reports and highlights of every game that is possible online.
Increase your authority.
Invest more to have a greater say on what happens at the club. Push for a star signing or maybe you’d prefer to create links with local clubs and provide free tickets for schools? Can you help a lower league club rise up through the leagues? Leave a legacy.
What’s the plan?
The aim of www.fivepoundfootballclub.com is to invest in and establish a club that is run by the fans, for the fans. As you probably know, some of the most successful clubs in the world are owned by their fans, like Barcelona and Hamburg. A website community of football club owners could soon start a remarkable football adventure in the UK.
The minimum amount of members required for the process to start is five thousand. Currently, just over a week after promoting the site has begun, we have just over five hundred members (people that have declared an interest in the project). We believe five thousand members would provide us with enough finances to be taken seriously. It’s also possible that far more members could sign up.
Members aren’t restricted to contributing only £5. Initially, maybe members would vote in favour of contributing additional funds if the most desirable club had a higher asking price? All members that sign up will have an authority rating, which will rise as their personal level of investment rises. An increased authority rating will give members a bigger sway in the official votes.
We are considering a couple of structures but I think it is most likely that a supporters association would be formed, who will hold any shares purchased in the club. Members could decide on how many board members would be elected, maybe along with an association president? These roles would be voted on after a set ‘term’ or when one of the roles becomes vacant.
Why not an English club?
The most common question we have been asked is ‘why not an English team?’ It’s basically down to money. It’d be extremely hard to progress to league football and although it could be possible to make the Blue Square leagues, which would be a massive achievement, it would be very difficult to progress any higher without significant investment. There would seem to be better opportunities for progression in the other leagues.
It could definitely be more difficult to keep everyone happy with an English club too. There are so many options and people are more likely to be disappointed that a club was chosen that wasn’t close to them. It is likely that any chosen club would eventually be competing against any given members ‘local’ club. I think along with the limited opportunities for progression, there are more opportunities for disappointment with an English club.
Owners exerting an influence?
At just five pounds, we hope to make football club ownership accessible to everyone. There is the possibility that the new owners could fund ‘player packages’. For instance, raising £50k could pay a star players salary for three years in a lower league. The fans/owners could make some star signings?
More importantly, it could mean that the football club could still be run sustainably and the fans/owners could provide luxury items; a star player, improved facilities or a community program to produce stars of the future. The aim is to create a successful, sustainable club using the pooled resources of our members.
Why not give it a go?
(Thanks to Olivia at fivepoundfootballclub.com for the details), There’s also a facebook group
Oh and while your there, you could always sign up to the footballbits page as well!
October 21st, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Whilst I’m all for this sort of real-life Championship Manager malarkey, I wouldn’t say that the Ebbsfleet experiment has been the “success” you allude to.
The ‘Unprofessional Foul’ blog goes in to more detail (this isn’t a plug, so I’ll not link) but I think it is safe to say that if such a venture was mooted around my club, I would be very sceptical of its long-term merits.
October 21st, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Thanks for the comment Nik. When I mentioned the success of the Ebbsfleet ownership I was alluding more to the fact that it had been (reasonably) successfully implemented, rather than any great improvements on the field.
I can understand any offering such as this would cause many headaches and problems.
But as the saying goes: You never know til you try!
And as I’ve had a quick look at your blog and think its pretty good, here’s the link you didnt post:
http://www.oopsupsideyourhead.co.uk/football-blog.php