Page 4 - Deal Round Up June 2019
P. 4

Fancy Owning A Club
                                                              Online?
                                                         by Matt Badcock

      A GROUP of people each paying £49 to own a Non-League football club and make every decision?
      For now, you’ll have to file the majority of us under sceptical.
      Among the promises on the OWNAFC website, once the decision of which club to takeover has been
      voted on, subscribers can expect to: Make new signings, hire and fire staff, negotiate contracts, set
      admission prices, full financial control, select the squad, plan training sessions and make history.
      Owners will call the shots via an app on their mobile phones.
      The NLP understands Northern Premier League Premier Division club Hednesford Town – who are
      up for sale and debt free – are the target with OWNAFC founder Stuart Harvey having already
      attended games and met officials.
      In an interview with BBC Sport, Harvey explains his vision of allowing people to live out their dream
      of owning a football club and taking the game back to the people. “It replaces the boardroom
      nonsense we see at many clubs with the people that matter,” he says.
      There’s nothing wrong with that and a glance across English football’s landscape shows there is a
                                           lot to be desired when it comes to some of the
                                           ownership of clubs in this county.
                                           The eagle-eyed will  point  out that an  online
                                           community  taking  on  a  team is  essentially  an
                                           updated version of MyFootballClub, who took
                                           over Ebbsfleet United in 2008
                                           l

      Again the promise was the chance to live out   City Awards
      the  real  life  version  of  a  Football  Manager.
      Membership numbers topped 27,000, initially it
      saved Fleet and there was an FA Trophy win at
      Wembley.                                Awards and Engraving
      But, with no vote on the actual picking of Liam   Corporate Awards and Gifts
      Daish’s  team  –  the big  selling  point  –  and
      perhaps the lack of a star name club, renewals
      dwindled. Eventually the Kent club were running   •   Bespoke awards
      on empty, bargaining with clubs who had sell-on
      fees with players, like Stevenage with Michael   •   Repair & re-plating
      Bostwick, to bring in quick revenue before they   services
      eventually  dropped  out  of Non-League’s top
      flight  in  2013  on  the  brink  of  non-existence   •   Discounts available
      before being taken over again.          •   Website design
      Harvey says it is, “… giving people a second club
      to grow to love – for the football fan who is out   •   Design and print
      priced in the modern game.”             •   Logo design
      If  it is  Hednesford,  what  about  their  fans?
      Suddenly  the big  decisions,  all  the decisions,
      are being decided by a majority vote by people
      who have probably never heard of the Pitmen,   Tel-Fax: 01227 738 090
      despite their illustrious Non-League past.  Mobile: 0755 336 0754
      How much they pay to watch their team, who   www.cityawards.co.uk
      signs, who doesn’t, and, potentially, who plays
      can  be  signed  off  at  the  click  of  a  button  by

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