What an interesting story! United is 5th division soccer team in England. It is owned by close to 30 000 shareholders, each of them having invested 43 euros to run the club, which makes about 1.2 million euros. Last week, the club has decided to trade one of their players John Akinde, to Bristol City (2nd division), for 175 000 euros. 7 452 of these shareholders have made this decision, with 82% of yes.Some other teams in France have tried to accomplish the same, especially at Alfortville. I'll probably complete this article when I'll get more information about that, but basically fans of the team can invest and make decisions.
The author of this article (published in Sport Magazine in France) is concerned about the fact that some fans could take control over a club, deciding for a yes or a no of what should be the strategy of a team. I actually think it is a great news: sport is getting back into the hands of amateurs, that love the sport, and are more concerned about the game than profits and political decisions.
What do you think about it?
This idea of fans buying clubs is one that I think will fail. It is currently being tried in the US as well but as I said, this really doesn't have much chance of working. Soccer clubs need moneys and fans need wins to stay interested. I don't know if either will happen.
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