Fanownership and not just owning Shares

Where I show that the aims of Fanownership are not just achieved by the Fans groups buying Shares.

Some people like Cooperative Fanownership of Shares because of the philosophical belief in the common ownership of property and assets.

I am not like that

Personally I think private Enterprise is fine and that if i was to endorse a particular line of thinking then at the moment it would be that "people should be equally given the chance to make themselves as unequal as they like."

To this end it is my opinion that the destination of where you want Fanownership to take you is as important as the organisational setup of collectively buying shares.

This is because as you go along i believe it is possible that what Fans want from a fanownrship model can be seen to be delivered plus greater impact on the Football bit we all care more about if you are flexible and at some point realise that buying more shares is not the answer.

So what do Fans really want when they talk about Fanownership?

There is obviously no straight forward answer, but Fanownership issues normally raise their heads when things are either difficult or during a time of uncertainly  at your Club,  maybe debt issues, or fan relationship issues, or the Club is for sale or about to be quoted.

For this reason pure Fanownership normally raises its head in the form of what you would normally call Shareholder Activism.....a Fan group buying up or bidding for shares or a single group gathering proxies in order to get their voice heard..........mostly though this does not work as at short notice a large enough share block either bought or by proxy can not normally be found.

But what if there was a different way?

If i was to summarise what most Fans tell me they want via however they understand Fanownership for their Club it would be:

 "Consultancy through Transparency"

Fans want to know what is actually going on at their Club and they want to be listened to by their boards, but not just listened to and then ignored but actually get heard and get some action on the issues that they care about.

It is about boards treating Fans as grown ups rather than like being at school hiding your workings from the person next to you with a covered arm and your head down.

It is a recognition that Football Clubs are different, they may be companies with all the rules of Companies, but they are also institutions with a history that will outlast us all, you do not pass onto your kids what Supermarket you shop at but you do hope to pass on what team they support.....


...football is just different....FULL STOP

So here is a different pathway one which gets the Fans the Consultancy through Transparency but also if the board of the Club respond the way they should to the Fans (their customers) allows a change of direction to focus on building the best team the Fans can get.

A proposal.

Fans form a New group, with the single issue of Fanownership, no baggage and everyone forgetting about Yesterday and focused on tomorrow.

If you have been wronged or have done wrong to someone else, let it go your Club is more important than you are.

This New group gather financial Support lets say it gets 10,000 people at £15 per person per month average.

That's £1,800,000 per year

The group is constituted as  CIC so that it is ultimately flexible, e.g it is not only bound to just buy shares the board and membership are empowered to be flexible and adaptable in their approach to achieve the Consultancy through Transparency aim.

The CIC goes about buying shares as this is the ultimate way of getting Consultancy through Transparency, with the first target being 5% which crosses an important line in a PLC.

However the CIC makes it clear to the board that while pure Fanownership floats some folks boat really we all care about the football the most and so if the board were to negotiate in an appropriate way for this Consultancy though Transparency to be effected via the CIC with all its members then the CIC could in fact direct the money raised each month at a Club project that would have the aim of having a better more secure Club.

For example:

This could be a Youth Academy or Scouting initiative.

The funding and contracting of player recruitment

Development in a secure way of a Stadium or Property asset.

Funding of a Safe Standing initiative

frankly imagination is the limit, so long as it fitting into the legal structure and protections that a CIC type approach need then it can be done.

Any excess over the contract to the Club for whatever sort of issue suggested above is adopted could then be used to purchase shares as they become available.

Thus this hybrid achieves Cooperative ownership of Shares long term, while benefiting the team immediately, and getting the fans the Consultancy through Transparency they mostly want.

This is why fanownership should not just be framed in terms of owning shares but in terms of the final destination of what fans seem to want, which is to be Fans but be able to hold the board to account properly and quickly should it be necessary.

The above is achievable at any PLC Club, and has the added advantage for the existing shareholders that this sort of contracted Fan Engagement helps the share price.....


....so everyone is a winner....

but hopefully most of all your team.

GET IT DONE

Update to One Group to Lead them all.

A post where i develop some further ideas from the original post....

Please read original post first, you can find t here: One group post

I have had a few questions from a couple of different Fans who are members of existing groups and some of no group from different Clubs about this.

So please be aware this is not directed at any particular group or any particular Club.

Much though we like to think "our" Club is different from all the rest in my experience the reality is the only real difference between one Club and another revolves around scale.

It is difficult sometimes to see through any agenda that someone might ask you a question with, so i will try and avoid any judgement of anyone or any group so if you feel judged or that I am judging it is not my intention.

At the end of the day Fans love their Clubs and anyone who puts in time as a volunteer to coordinate a sensible Group be it a Supporters Bus, an overseas Supporters Club a Supporters Trust, or any other of the myriad types of group we create around our Clubs should be applauded.

It can be a truly thankless task, and those that have stuck at it should all get medals IMHO.

However that is not to say that the good reason why something was set up cannot over time drift and become factious and difficult and even alienating or divisive to other Fans who are members of no groups or Fans who are members of other groups.

Please note most Fans are members of no Group at all other than just being Fans of the team they support, this is important because we often end up forgetting just what a minority of Fans it is that are group members, or regular users of Fans Forums and Social media. the bulk of all of the supporters in Scottish Football are a very silent majority

(N.B I use the term member from the point of view of the person concerned. The reality is most Groups of Fans cannot actually use the term in its Legal meaning as they have no Memorandums and Articles of Association that define the term membership. But frankly if someone thinks of themselves as a member of a group be it a bus or an Internet forum or a Fan based Sunday Football team then that is good enough for me in this article)

So with all that said can I suggest some fundamental questions, to draw us to a conclusion.

Do you care about Fanownership of your Club?

Do you agree that Fanownership is much more easily if as many people as possible participate?

Do you therefore agree that any impediment that would stop people participating (rightly or wrongly) in the greater interests of achieving Fanwonerhsip should be removed?

Do you agree that in the interests of your Club should be paramount rather than the interest of individuals or groups?

Do you have any Fans Groups who again rightly or wrongly create division within your fan base?

Frankly if you answer Yes to the above then i refer you back to the previous blog entry noted at the start of this post and suggest that for Fanownership to truly stand the best chance and engage equally with as many people as possible then the best chance of doing this is the creating of a Single issue new group to make it happen.

I will write another post on the technicalities of doing this so that all are treated as equally as possible.

So to summarize give folk no reason not to participate other than that they don't believe that the Fans Controlling the Governance of the Club are best placed to ensure its future.

If they don't believe in themselves then at least you do.

@rchrdtknsn