Fans given the chance to buy football club for less than the cost of a ticket
Supporters can now buy their own football club and manage it their own way. MyFootballClub is a new initiative aiming at giving fans responsibility for decision making.
Taking over from where football management games leave off, ‘MyFootballClub’ aims to bridge the gap between the owners and the fans of football clubs.
The website – www.myfootballclub.co.uk – offers registered members the chance to buy a share in a football club for an annual £35 registration fee, less than the cost of a match ticket at many Premier League clubs.
Of this, £27.50 will go towards purchasing a team in one of England’s top seven divisions, the club purchased reflecting member votes and the purchase fund available. When total membership reaches 50,000, MyFootballClub will begin the process of buying a club.
With that, a dream will be turned into reality for MyFootballClub founder Will Brooks, who describes the project to Play the Game as “the opportunity to try something revolutionary and see what impact a large group of fans – with channelled passion, knowledge and finances – can have on the fortunes of a small club.”
Fans picking the team
MyFootballClub will bring supporter involvement in the running of clubs to a new level.
While supporter trusts are not new, with some of Europe’s major clubs, notably Barcelona and Real Madrid having powerful supporter involvement in the running of the club, decisions upon whether to play four-four-two or five in midfield has traditionally been the sole domain of the manager.
A key feature of the MyFootballClub team will be that there will be no manager deciding upon team selections and strategies – only a head coach. Members will therefore be able to vote on team tactics, with the winning formations and strategies, kept secret until just before kick-off, put into action by the players and backroom staff.
Although the new members will not necessarily be fans of the team purchased, this should not preclude them from getting behind their new team, believes Brooks.
“Many owners aren't lifelong supporters of the clubs they buy. And similarly, many footballers play for clubs they don't support. I certainly think it’s possible for supporters to become very passionate about a second club, especially when their involvement will be so great.”
A great chance for a small club to become world-famous
With a large influx of new fans and owners, there is of course a danger that the dynamics of the purchased club will alter, foisting change upon a club and its supporters that do not seek it. Brooks does not envisage this being a problem however, stating the desire of supporters to see their club doing well as reason for getting behind the new owners.
“It's a great chance for a small club to become world-famous,” says Brooks. “A very important part of the website will be to convey the history and traditions of the club that is bought. The club won't lose these, it's just that a new chapter in the club's history will open. If a club has spent 50 years in the equivalent of division 5, with attendances of 750, surely the chance of having up to £2m put into the club every year and selling thousands of tickets will be a very welcome change.”
The club will retain a board of directors, including supporter representatives, to protect the financial security and integrity of the club from over-zealous member decisions. Brooks does not feel though that this will mean members are second-class owners.
“It's not about being second class owners, it's about being responsible owners. Football history has many, many examples of owners who have ruined their clubs by taking unnecessary risks in the search for glory,” he state. “That is exactly why, for example, the club will not take a bank loan to buy a player it cannot afford in the long term. That would be reckless and could seriously affect the club's future.”
From fantasy to reality
With nearly 26,000 registrations in the space of just one month, at the very least, the idea looks destined to turn from fantasy to reality.
“It will work in terms of injecting finance into a club and providing a new annual income stream,” says Brooks. “This is the foundation, and it will then be up to the members to make the club successful.”