Portsmouth Supporters trust

So supporter owned clubs don't work?

 

They can do in certain circumstances.

 

Well they did get promoted to league 1 , so up to a certain point yes

 

So they work until you get to League 1, then not after that?

I do think this is a huge shame tbh, it had such potential, but I also think the realities of how much cash is needed in this day and age to go beyond League 1 means unless one of the supporters happens to be an Ogliarch who doesn't want to make any money, or even break even, then it's ****ed.

 

Barcelona and Real Madrid are owned by their fans.

 

Barcelona

Real Madrid

Fan ownership, but royal patronage, exclusive control through financing and contrived elections isn't a brilliant example.

 

The problem Supporters Trusts face is making that huge step from being a club that can survive on gate money/transfer income to one that can survive mostly on tv/commercial money.

 

But they are examples of fan owned clubs being successful on the football pitch.

 

The way football clubs in this country are run, will always make it difficult for Supporters Trusts to operate in the highest levels. I was wrong to think otherwise. In Europe the football clubs are often part of a wider sporting club. This is the way forward I once touted for Hull City. To form a Hull CIty Sporting Club. Clubs from different sports would all merge under one umbrella organisation, there would be cost savings and membership benefits would extend across the different formats.
The individual clubs would retain their own identities, only the management and membership would be centralised. But....

 

I am sure the trust own it.

 

I recall us discussing this on here and this was always my take on it, although I will always support a credible Trustthat is prepared to address supporter concerns; fortunately we appear to have one evolving which now, maybe, detractors may consider supporting?

 

I believe a supporters trust should always have as a main objective, community ownership.

 

Interesting opinion

 

I would love to see Hull have top Volleyball, Handball and Water Polo teams. Not sure who they'd compete against.

 

Rugby League, Ice Hockey, Rugby Union and Basketball. Would be a start.

 

No. And never will.

 

That's an amazing effort from Pompey.
To come from nowhere to win the title is outstanding

 

Why?

 

I have always supported the view and whilst the following is not what directly influenced the belief it sumarises it.
From Supporters Direct.
"Supporter owned’, ‘community club’ are phrases that have become popular when talking about clubs. Lots of clubs do lots of great things in their community, and many supporters feel like they ‘morally own’ their Club, but when Supporters Direct talks about ‘supporter ownership’ (or similar phrases like ‘community ownership’) we mean that;

• A minimum of 50% +1 of the voting rights of the Club to be controlled collectively by a democratic entity which has an open and inclusive membership
  • ‘Democratic’ to mean the membership of the entity to work on a one member one vote principle
  • ‘Inclusive’ to mean that there are no substantial barriers to participate as a voting member, with membership open to all that are sympathetic to the aims of the Club
  • Any profits are reinvested back into the Club as opposed to being distributed to shareholders.
  • The Club is committed to running as a sustainable business.

It’s not to say that other forms of ownership don’t work and should be ignored, but our research suggests that Community Ownership opens up a number of benefits to a Club that are much harder to achieve or not possible to achieve in a privately owned Club."

I beleive that we have to get away from the view that Supporters Trusts are only there for when there are problems. Supporters Trusts should not just be see as saving clubs in trouble, they should not be just a conduit for protest. Remember that this is not a thread about HCST. I believe in supporter involvement in football clubs, in supporters on the boards and in the community being recognised as stakeholders in clubs, formally.

 

And speedway