ThirdKit Buys Its Own Football Club

All it takes to own a club: A Bank of England five pound note

And so can you! What does it cost? Thousands? Millions? Nope, just five pounds. (roughly $7.56… damn economy) This is all thanks to the genius concept concocted by fivepoundfootballclub.com. With just five pounds per year, you become a shareholding owner of a club. Player signings, facility management, wage bills: you get a say in it all. I ran across the site a few days ago and immediately fell in love with it, just as I had done with Maria Sharapova during Wimbeldon ’04. I felt a connection, something tangible, something real. So when I reached out to Nick Thompson of FPFC.com, I was surprised he was nice enough to grant me an interview, instead of slapping me with restraining order like a certain unnamed Russian tennis star.

Thompson’s footballing endeavors have taken shape in various roles, and various parts of the globe. At 16, he spent a two week placement at Charlton Athletic and gained valuable insight into the structure of a major club. This would help him in the year just before he entered University (the Brits term for college in case you didn’t know). He spent this year in Ghana working as a sort of community relations specialist and coach for a local football team. Various projects started by the club (i.e. litter pickup and entertainment) in the community boosted the team’s support that was able to win a regional tournament providing the team with the money and equipment needed to run the club comfortably as well as establish the sport in the community for years to come. Upon his return to England, he was elected as the Captain of his University football team. His connection to football, and his experience as a community relations expert made him interested in fan ownership models, which he studied during his University days. Currently, Thompson works for a leading travel and leisure company while passionately pursuing his awesome work with FPFC.com. Here is what the modern day Robin Hood had to say in regards to a few questions about his project and fan run models:

- How many people run FPFC.com?

We’re a small team – a copywriter, a web developer and a team of enthusiastic marketeers. Although we’ve had plenty of help and support from people along the way. The members of our facebook group have been fantastic too – they’re always willing to help and spread the word.

- This is a really unique concept, where did you get the idea from?

Our concept has been inspired by ownership structures from around the world. The ‘socio’ model in Spain, the German ‘50+1‘ ownership principle and the supporters trust movement that is sweeping through Europe. We believe that fan ownership is a realistic option that should be taken seriously.

Spending some time coaching in Africa helped provide some additional motivation. The realisation that community involvement can have a huge impact on a club, and that a club should be there to serve its community. It should be ‘their’ club. Many top english clubs neglect there local communities – just take a look at the streets around Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.

We’re hoping to harness technology to create a interactive relationship between our community and the chosen club. We’ll be investing in the local community and we hope that they’ll take the opportunity to become owners of their club too. Who knows – we could become the British Barcelona?

- What kind of response have you had since launching the website in October?

We’ve had an amazing response, particularly on facebook. Our official group has swelled to over 4,500 members and we’ve had about 3,000 people declare an interest by submitting a form on our official site. It’s starting to get really exciting, with the members site set to be launched later this month.

- How much money do you estimate you need to buy and start to run day to day operations at the club?

The club will have to balance its books as normal and the owners will provide additional investment to provide one-off items. This will depend on the country and the club that the members decide to invest in. We’re looking to invest at least £25,000 but this could rise significantly with additional contributions. It would be something that would be discussed in detail with our members.

- How will you go about approaching a club to purchase?

We think that we might be approached by some clubs that would consider the idea and we’d contact the most popular clubs by approaching the current owner. These details are usually available through the league that the club would currently be playing in.

- You are aiming to buy a club in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, or Nothern Ireland, why?

We realise that we wouldn’t be able to support a club in the english leagues with the funds that we will raise. When you reach a certain level in England, the sums of money required to progress are huge. There is the culture of clubs gambling their financial futures to progress. Win or bust. We believe that by investing in one of these leagues there’ll be more opportunities for progression.

- The website says the owners’ money will be put in an investment fund, what would the club be investing in?

The playing budget, facilities or community projects. We’ll look to enforce a salary cap that restricts our wage bill to 60% of turnover, which means that a minimum of 40% of our annual investment fund will be invested in facilities and community projects. So maybe we’d offer a scholarship program to attract some star players, get the ground up to the required standard or start a community coaching scheme? All the decisions will be discussed and voted on in the official site.

- What is the “authority rating” system you have put into place?

Certain decisions, such as the presidential elections, will be on a one member, one vote basis. Other decisions, such as the distribution of funds, could be made by authority rating. A member’s authority rating increases with there personal level of investment. Members receive 100 authority points for joining and have the opportunity to increase this rating, 50 points at a time by investing in £5 increments (there’s a limit of 500 points per season). It rewards the members that make a significant contribution. There is the possibility that members could be rewarded with additional authority points too.

- You want to establish a board of trustees. How large will it be?

The board of trustees will ensure that the views of our members are presented effectively to the football club. There will be a vote but the association rules outline that there will be no more than ten trustees.

- Will there be a complete staff and administration overhaul once a club is purchased, or do you envision keeping the same backroom and board?

That would depend on the situation at the chosen club. The owners would have to make a decision but during a transition some continuity is always welcomed, especially by the people that know the club the most.

- What is your timetable for the project, and when do you think purchasing a club will become a reality?

We’re hoping to launch our new and improved site before the end of the month. It depends on membership uptake but ideally it would be great to have invested in a club before the start of the new season. It’s an ambitious but realistic target.

- How successful do you think the fan run model can be in the UK and other places in which it is starting to emerge?

I think it’s a great model and there are plenty of great example. Barcelona, Hamburg… Exeter City? The problem in the UK is that fan ownership often occurs as a last resort, and the fans have to try and save a distressed club that has suffered years of financial mismanagement. AFC Wimbledon and FC United of Manchester prove that fan-run clubs can be a great success when starting from scratch.

- Would you like to see this sort of approach made mandatory in some respects with all that has happened with poor owners (i.e. the Glazers at United, Gillete and Hicks at Liverpool)?

It’s my opinion that the clubs should have stronger links with the communities that support them and that fans should have a bigger say on what happens at ‘their’ clubs. Recent suggestions have included fan groups being able to have the ‘first option’ should the current owners wish to sell. It’s complicated and there are many private owners that are doing a great job. The German ’50+1′ model is something we could look to emulate.

- How much do the British actually hate yankees for invading their clubs?

Haha, I think it depends what part of the country you’re from. Aston Villa fans appreciate the ownership of Randy Lerner, although the regimes at Anfield and Old Trafford have left a bitter taste. The Glazers could leave a lasting legacy (and make a decent profit) by presenting the club back to the fans (via the Red Knights). It’s down to the Premier League to stop takeovers that saddle a club with mountains of debt though.

- Can you please relay the message that we aren’t all that bad, and some of us even like soccer, I mean football?

That can be done. Although you guys can help too. Sign up at fivepoundfootballclub.com and read, rate and respond to all of the latest discussions. It’s an easy way to show that you know your stuff. The site will be up and running by the end of the month.

(The BigSleezy has taken it upon himself to join this awesome footballing revolution. I will definetly be purchasing a share in the club very soon. Stay tuned, as I will be posting regularly about my experience as an owner, as well as giving updates about FPFC.com. I highly suggest you purchase a share as well. It’s like FIFA 10 Manager Mode expect it doesn’t suck.)