MyFootballClub takes over Ebbsfleet United
In a first for British football, Conference side Ebbsfleet United today agreed a deal to be taken over by fans’ community website MyFootballClub.
The MyFootballClub inititive involved £20,000 members each paying £35 to provide the necessary £700,000 kitty to take over a football club. They were approached by nine different clubs before announcing today that the initiative now own 51% of Ebbsfleet United. Each member has an equal share in the club and MyFootballClub have the option to buy the club outright in the future.
So the fans of this online project now own a football club. Ebbsfleet United were previously known as Gravesend and Northfleet before being renamed this summer and currently lie in 9th position in the Blue Square Premier.Membership of MyFootballClub is annual so new members can join and become owners at any time and help boost the clubs finances.
This may sound like any other supporters trust takeover of a football club, such as at my club Exeter City where as a trust member I own an equal share of the football club and get to help make off-field decisions. But that’s where the twist comes with MyFootballClub….
The 20,000 members will get to vote on transfers, player selections and all major club decisions!
The current board will stay at Ebbsfleet but as non-executives and current manager Liam Daish will obviously have his hands tied slightly by the takeover and his job as ‘manager’ has now evolved into ‘head coach’. But Daish is confident the takeover will be a success, saying ” I think the idea is fantastic. I look forward to the challenge of working with thousands of members to produce a winning team.
“Picking 11 players and formations isn’t a precise science and luck often plays its part. During and after matches, Ebbsfleet supporters often give me their opinion on which players should or shouldn’t start games. Now they can have their say.My job won’t change that much. As a club, we’ll select the starting 11 players and formation together.”
There are plenty of chairman and directors of football around the world who sign players without the managers consent but Daish gets the chance to work with these fans who are providing his club with the transfer funds. He said how “It’s the supporters’ money that finances this club and pays my wages and those of the players. So there’s a good argument for them having a say in what players they want to see.”
Daish will still be the only one to give the team talks, to take training etc so his role at the club may be downgraded a little but with £700,000 being pumped into the club looks to have become a lot more exciting!
This story is unheard of in football, in an era where a lot of clubs are being owned by rich business men looking for a quick buck, Ebbsfleet United will join the list of clubs owned by Supporters Trusts, where the people in charge only care about what’s best for their club. The Observer described MyFootballClub as “magnificently chaotic pure democracy” and the Times described how “attendances should shoot up as members turn up to follow a team that is, literally, theirs”.
Ebbsfleet’s owners may differ than most supporters trust as only a minority are long-time fans of the club, but MyFootballClub creator Will Brooks says how all MyFootballClub hope is that “MyFootballClub members and Ebbsfleet supporters will join forces and make the football club more sustainable and successful.”
The Financial Services Authority has approved the setting up of a ‘MyFootballClub Trust’ to safeguard members’ interests if the club ever ran into servere financial difficulties, showing just how well thought-through and professional MyFootballClub is.
Ebbsfleet Chairman Jason Botley was also confident ahead of the takeover saying, “The board, the coaching staff, club employees and myself are united in believing this is a great opportunity for Ebbsfleet United. This extra finance and support will enable our club to progress.”
As a fan of the Blue Square Premier and football in general I look forward to the official takeover being completed to see just whether this exciting, innovative idea could work in practice. But as an Exeter City fan, only two league places above Ebbsfleet, I hope it takes a while to warm up!
If your a football fan who feels disillusioned by your clubs treatment of the fans and feel you aren’t being listened to, Ebbsfleet and MyFootballClub have just created the answer!
What are your views on the takeover? Would you join myfootballclub? Would you want your club to be taken over?
Peter Evans – Sources BBC Online, Football365 and myfootballclub.co.uk!– –>
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