yahoogroups mailing list is up and running. Its a closed membership, so if not invited, you can't get in.
I would be interested in buying part of a club. I have managed a USL club in the mid 90's James Hope Former Director of Operations San Antonio Pumas USISL Former General manager San Antonio International/Alamo F.C. Lone Star Soccer Alliance
Hey James, send me an PM wiith your email. I'm off to Boston for the Gold Cup tonight, so more tomorrow.
Didn't we try this once before with a club in Nepal? I wonder whatever became of Katmandu Fighting Yak United.
What troubles me about this English scheme is that you're not just an owner, but a meddling owner. Actually, 50,000+ meddling owners who think they can manage the squad. So instead of a manager you've got a coach. I think you'll have a really hard time finding a proper manager willing to just be a coach and an even harder time finding players willing to work under this scheme. What happens to your share if you don't cough up the 35 GBP the next year? If you wanna "own" a team, you can already buy shares in many clubs. That said, the idea of Panic FC (or whatever other name you guys come up with) might just be precisely the kind of grassroots club set-up Michael K. has been advocating for quite some time. I hope it works!
Well, I don't have any particularly groundbreaking club set-up in mind and no scheme to expressly advocate. I just like organizations that make some effort to truly represent where they're from, that allows that to well up and develop from the fans themselves, and have some avenues for real participation from supporters/members - not to say that those kinds of clubs are without fault and blissfully free of controversy, because they're not. Then again, nothing is. I think the myfootballclub idea, including the "50,000 decision makers" part is also an experiment worth trying, based on a sort of "Wisdom of Crowds"/"hive mind"-type thinking. I'm intrigued by it and would like to see it happen. I don't think it's just about democratizing a club for democracy's sake, though there is, or will be imminently, the technology available to make this sort of deeply participatory idea happen and that piques my grad school nerd mind. I think there's evidence (you'll certainly find those who argue passionately for this) that it can work better than the way things run now. Maybe a little idealistic. Maybe not. It could be worth finding out. For those interested in something like this, with a feel that's more bottom-up than top-down, I'm coming to the conclusion that it's probably more sensible to found an organization on these future-oriented, "Web 2.0" principles, than trying to pretend that we're all living in a 1920s mass-industrial society. In other words, "fan-ownership," even at a smaller scale club, is doing more for me these days than attempting to go back in time.
Its the lack of communal identity that most puts me off the English scheme. Who knows what club they'll wind up buying??? I'd want them to buy Oxford Utd. I doubt they'll be able to do so with the money they'll raise, despite how low the Yellow has fallen. Michael, I know you accuse me of caring too much for teams far away from where I live, but at least I care about that locale! I'm not just sympathetic with what the Bankies have gone through, having their team stolen from them to become Airdrie, I also love the Kilpatrick Hills, so I've joined their Supporters Trust and therefore own a share in Clydebank FC. Will they ever reach the heights they once attained? That's a steep climb, and one the SFA won't help them with, surely. But its a beautiful dream! The day-to-day management of the club done by internet voting? I guess if I either lived nearby or had some kind of a connection with the place, I'd be into it.
I think that's a very legit criticism. The flipside of something like "myfootballclub" is you could potentially parachute tens of thousands of soccer web-geeks from around the world into control of a club. Surely there are going to be many people who are wary of that happening with their side. That said, the days of the local-boy-done-good buying the team he always supported and running it as a community asset, more than as a vehicle for profit, appear to be waning. At least with something like this plan, there would be the opportunity for people in the local community to buy in to the team and have some say - literally. I just recently read that several of the most stable, and best-performing CFL clubs have been fan-owned (a la the Packers, I guess) since the 1950s. Didn't know that.
Keeping in mind that it's all still very much at "prospectus-level" right now (talking about "live-streaming team briefings" and stuff like that), the whole thing about such a plan is that distance doesn't matter a bit, what with communications technology. In theory, anyway. As far as collecting information to make the kind of decisions they're talking about, it wouldn't matter if you were across the street from the practice field or around the world. Would you feel a connection to a team you happen to hold a share in and cast votes on if they were on another continent? That all depends on the individual, I guess. Lots of people claim to feel emotionally tied to teams around the world, and they don't even have as much as that going for them. So why not? Now if the decisions being made by the swarm o' supporters turn out to be good or disastrous ones...that is the question.
Yes, indeed, those days seem long gone. But you're right, the way the scheme is set up, the locals could indeed buy in and have their share after the sale.
please visit this thread and participate in this poll...that is, if you have not already. It asks about investing into an NPSL team, the NPSL format is a team run league, far more democratic than the current franchise system that MLS operates under (IMO). https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?p=11894374&posted=1#post11894374 thanks
I like citizennow.org, I think the idea is truely representative of democracy, and I would fight for it throughout my lifetime if I ever have "connections". I arrived at the, not too original, idea a year ago, but didn't ever see it in action. Now seeing someone actually doing something in regards to that idea is wonderful. Online voting would be the future of a democratic state, and it would eliminate all needless spending that gets passed on by partisan representatives. Anyways, that is the only reason I would do it with a football club. An experiment to see if it really works, and also the nice operations salary I would recieve as founder.
Thanks! Good to see folks examining their citizen responsibilities (the "what do I have to do" portion of democratic life), and not just their citizen rights (the "what do I GET" portion)!
Great. Anyone interested in this little endeavor send me a PM with the following information: Name email address Location Soccer background: Fan, coach, imperial wizard previous experience in pro soccer: I will then invite you to our mailing list. Read the last few emails, do an introduction of yourself on the list and lets get moving. Now, you are in S. Carolina I'm guessing- what does that state look like for soccer?
I ain't got no background, but I'm willing to put my money in a team in Wichita KS, name it FC Panic Wichita. The fanbase will surprise you. I dunno about the NPSL, why not a PDL team instead?
They want to purchace a team but it seem like it won't be much of an investment. Is more like plot to eventually advertise it as a "real life football manager". It seem like the only one that will be making money are the people running the website.
Hey guys, Got a request, but there no information about yourself. Please send some info first. Thanks
The California Victory a USL-1 side is having some ownership issues. I have heard it costs about 1.5 million/year to run a USL side. Anyone want a Soccer team located in the world class city of San Francisco?