Recently
I was asked by some colleagues to set down my vision of what I envisaged a fan
ownership could look like and how it would best be implemented at Newcastle
United. The question rocked me back on my heels. To strike a theological
comparison, I felt like a priest, sure in his knowledge and understanding of
both doctrine and scriptures, yet unable to delineate a cogent and credible
explanation of what life after death would actually involve. Politically, it’s
rather like the SPGB’s absolutist position as regards Socialism; we know the
radiant future under workers’ control won’t be like capitalism, but we can’t quite
describe how things will pan out, other than mentioning the abolition of money.
Sadly, there is one reality we do know about attempting to transform Newcastle
United into a fan owned entity; it will take a lot of money. We need a nuanced
debate about this; one that does not descend into distortion and calumny.
I’m
a conceptual person, but I’m not so hot on the precise details to follow on
from my vague theorizing. My mantra has always been that we need Ashley OUT and
100% Fan Ownership IN, though I’m prepared to take 51% as a transitional
demand. I’m not, and I freely admit
this, particularly conversant on the finer points of detail regarding fan
involvement and ownership models in La Liga, the Bundesliga, FC United of
Manchester or the proposals for Bath City. I’ve read Reclaim the Game by John Reid, which was Militant’s banal,
opportunistic response to the formation of the Premier League. As you could no
doubt imagine, this Leninist lunacy advocates a cadre of vanguardista fans
drawn from “advanced sections of the working class” to run the club by
committee on democratic centralist terms, meaning a self-selected elite of
super trots will call the shots. As you could imagine it contains as much sense
and logic as your average ponytailed TUSC pestiferous oaf, so we can safely
ignore the xz of the messianic, cultist fringe. Consequently, the only model
I’m personally acquainted with is the failed project that sprang from www.myfootballclub.co.uk
which
involved the purchase and administration of Ebbsfleet United.
In
2007, almost 27,000 of us, many after reading an article in When Saturday Comes, paid £35 each to
create a fund to buy a club. The one that was chosen was Gravesend &
Northfleet of the Conference South, whose name was changed to Ebbsfleet United
after the takeover. As the club didn’t have two pennies to rub together, the
takeover was broadly welcomed by the fans as a means of securing the club’s
future. Each stakeholder received one vote, which could be exercised in all
major decisions, but no dividends. Unnecessarily and unhelpfully, in my
opinion, stakeholders also could vote in team selection and transfer dealings.
To me, this caused a major problem; the stakeholders are not as knowledgeable
about the technical intricacies of the game as the football people. When, not
if, we take over Newcastle United, I am convinced we must appoint a robust,
effective management structure, that encompasses every aspect of the club from
the first team to the catering operation, that has the best people possible,
remunerated accordingly and competitively though without any incentivised
element, working autonomously in their role that they were appointed to after a
rigorous selection processes in which all full club members (a definition of
who they will be is to follow) are involved at each step. Obviously, all those
in managerial roles will be fully accountable and subject to immediate recall,
whereby they would be required to explain their actions at an EGM.
At
the end of Ebbsfleet United’s first season, the team won the FA Trophy, as well
as the Kent Senior Cup. All well and good it seemed, except that over 50% of
stakeholders failed to renew for the 2008/2009 season. By the third anniversary
in 2010, which coincided with relegation from the Conference, membership was
down to 3,500. You do the maths; the club income from the stakeholders was now
negligible. Despite this, promotion back to the Conference was achieved in
summer 2011 but before the fourth anniversary of the takeover came round, the
club announced it needed an immediate cash injection of £50,000 to simply
survive. Begging letters were sent out. At this point, I decided not to throw
good money after bad and checked out of the project. The valiant few remaining stakeholders
voted to hand the club over to Fleet Trust, a group of concerned supporters,
who eventually brokered a deal whereby KEH Sports Limited, a Kuwaiti registered
firm, took control of the club for a nominal amount and settled the debts. From
democracy to dictatorship in ten short weeks; the experiment in fan ownership
was over. At the end of 2014/2015, Ebbsfleet United finished 8th in
the Conference South. Despite this bizarre story, they remain solvent and
stable, which is no bad thing. Interestingly, FC United of Manchester have
reached the Conference North; I wish them well, but my instinct tells me
(though I hope I’m wrong) that this level, the one below full time
professionalism, is perhaps the glass ceiling for 100% fan owned clubs. Time
will tell and I hope to be disabused of my reservations by the course of
events.
Obviously
the main problem for those investing in the www.myfootballclub.co.uk experiment
was that people were becoming involved in a club they had no connection with.
The lack of emotional ties meant walking away when the annual renewal notice
turned up wasn’t a hard decision for many. Unlike certain rapacious venture
capitalists we could name, it’s almost certain people didn’t sign up to try and
make money from this scheme, but out of curiosity and possibly a naïve hope to
effect change. With Newcastle United it will be very different; the loyalty,
passion and affection for the club, the city and the region will draw in,
potentially, hundreds of thousands of members. Yes, I know the ground only
holds 52,000, but there’s far more to Newcastle United than just the match day
experience.
I
think that there needs to be two levels of membership at Newcastle United. For
the sake of argument, we can call these ordinary members and full members.
Ordinary members pay a nominal sum each year; say £60, or a fiver a month,
which is what Labour Party membership costs. For this they get a vote in all
structural and philosophical questions and resolutions about the club mission
statement, the ethics of any sponsors, future plans for the ground and with the
community. In short, they will help shape the vision and policy for the new
Newcastle United, by being involved in the writing and adoption of the club’s
constitution. I envisage that ordinary members will encompass everyone from
lapsed attenders, exiled Geordies and members of the local community (by that I
mean everywhere from Darlington to Berwick) who cares about Newcastle United.
Any and every local sports team, union branch, social club, residents
association, pub, small business or other properly constituted organisation,
could buy themselves an ordinary membership. It would be the choice of the
individual organisation how they ascertained a democratic mandate for all
voting matters. For instance, if we bought ordinary membership for The Popular Side, we would consult with
all contributors as to their opinions, before voting. Of course, I could also
purchase my own membership, as well as persuading my union branch, employer,
constituency Labour Party and every other club and organisation I’m a member
of, to take out membership. We are talking at a potential membership of at
least 1 million people, though 10% of that would be nice.
Then,
there is the idea of the full member; these would be season ticket holders.
Whether that’s in Level 7 or a private box, it doesn’t matter; one season
ticket, one vote, but on every single aspect of club policy, other than team
affairs beyond the hiring and firing of the head coach, who would have sole,
ultimate responsibility for performances on the pitch. The head coach, like all
senior managers, but not all employees, would be subject to immediate recall by
full members. The question of the internal structures and committees that would
show fan ownership in practice would need to be established around the time of
our new club constitution and mission statement post takeover. I’m open to
persuasion whether full members should pay the £60 per annum ordinary
membership fee as well as their season ticket money.
Hand
on heart; I know the money raised from fans wouldn’t be enough to buy the club.
My fervent hope would be that fan investment could constitute 51% of the
capital involved in the club; the rest could come from larger investors. I
would be particularly happy if local councils (Newcastle, North Tyneside,
Gateshead, South Tyneside, Castle Morpeth, Wansbeck and Derwentside at least)
were able to use finance from any future plans for devolved government to
become the kind of ethical investors we would hope for.
Am
I naïve? Am I hopelessly romantic? You tell me…
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