| Football Finances: Times 14:39 - Oct 18 with 164 views | RamsTrust |
Letter in The Times today from Supporters Direct Chief Executive Dave Boyle & Co-operatives UK Secretary General Ed Mayo.
Sir,
The ownership wrangle that has faced Liverpool FC ("The spoils go to...",Oct 13) is a stark reminder of what happens when the owners of clubs have a vastly different set of interests to their supporters. It is also the natural consequen...ce of the intensely relaxed to who owns England's football clubs, why they own them and how they finance that ownership.
The undoubted international success of the Premier League means that this unedifying drama is played out in front of millions, a great many of whom rightly wonder why decisions affecting one of the country pre-eminent cultural institutions are being made in courtrooms on both sides of the Atlantic rather than by those charged with governing our national sport.
An alternative is to do what clubs in Germany have done, which is to build up a wider ownership by the club's fans. Fans have a long term interest in the club and cooperative ownership has given clubs like Bayern Munich a stable basis for sporting success and financial stability. As Liverpool fans can attest, the current regulations in Britain offer the prospect of neither.
Our survey of fans in the UK shows that 72% of Liverpool fans would prefer to see their club owned co-operatively. They are also willing to invest their money to make that happen - raising enough together to buy the club. But this cannot be done overnight as it takes time to collect pledges and there are immediate costs facing any bid in the context of a potential bankruptcy.
There is cause for optimism though. The Government have a commitment to encourage greater co-operative ownership of clubs by supporters. We sincerely hope that the new owners of Liverpool recognise that as well as being co-operative towards the club's fans and the city, they should make the club more co-operative by enabling those supporters to share the ownership.
The game's authorities could assist by recognising that it is in the best interests of the clubs to have a minimum level of community ownership. Within a reasonable period of time, clubs could restructure, fans could get involved and the headlines might end up back on just the back pages.
Dave Boyle, Supporters Direct
Ed Mayo, Co-operatives UK
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