Ebbsfleet United FC: 1 year on under MYFC

A new thread for EUFC supporters and MYFC members here, since the last one that emerged when MYFC showed up has since descended into oblivion. I know you're out there, BS people.

Feb 19 marks 1 year since the MyFootballclub.co.uk takeover. And overall, it's been a decent year in my eyes (though my own involvement has been pretty limited at times). A trip to Wembley, a WIN at Wembley, the 3700+ attendance for the free cup match recently, holding a spot somewhere around mid-table, wholesale creation of a new culture - part local and part global, part net-based and part community-based...all seem to be very bright spots.

It hasn't all been ideal, of course, but you had to be awfully optimistic (or delusional) to think that there wouldn't be any bumps in the road. We're still lingering too close to the drop, for one. "Pick The Team" is still a dream deferred, and while that's pissed off some (hard to ascertain just how major or minor the vocal contingent on that is) it hasn't really ruffled others - including me. PTT would be fun, interesting even, and maybe will come into play if Daish totally loses the plot on us, but that isn't the case right now. There's lots I'd like to see done yet on a number of fronts. Certainly this is a work in progress.

Most importantly, with renewals sure to come in well under the original 30k mark, there's gonna be a shakeout and everyone knows it. That's gonna pose a major financial challenge, especially in the thick of the global economic shitstorm. But if there's a silver lining to be seen, it's the sense that those who remain (those who weren't so naive as to think MYFC would be buying Leeds or something) stand to have a more cohesive vision of What It's All About as we go forward.

What is it all about, then? For me, the reason why I renewed (for 30 bucks less than it cost last year - thank YOU, strengthening dollar!) is that, despite whatever squabbling goes on, whatever ways it falls short of being the perfect open-source club, it's still the most interesting and engaging way to support local club football on a week to week basis that I know of. Because I for one am so f###ing tired of creepy gazilionnaire arms dealers, oligarchs and private equity cowboys profiteering off the game at its highest level, while MLMers and soda-pushing slimeballs contrive an ersatz "soccer experience" in my own country.
Better my money, attention, and affection goes to a real team and club down the ladder somewhere else; better we try and build something different, if we can.

I sense that a lot of those who are sticking around for Year 2 (and 3, and 4) are in it to build. And because a year of this has gotten us kinda stuck on the Fleet.

So here we are, one year on. All 3400+ of us in the US, last time I checked - which is pretty incredible if you stop to think about it for a second. I hope to get out to Stonebridge Road sometime in 2009. Until then, the prospect of live streaming for overseas members, starting with the next home match, is awesome. Hopefully it means we can spend more time talking about the action on the field. In a sense, the promise of this club really begins when we get that going.

So yeah, enough with the ranting, on with the thread. Wrexham on Saturday!

 

Now there's a complex thought process at work.

 

Absolutely, however I think everyone with the slightest acquaintance with reality could foresee that there was going to be a significant drop-off come renewal time, no matter what. Keeping in mind that some people signed up because they thought MYFC would end up with a bigger club like Leeds or Forest (and they didn't), or that MYFC would end up buying their hometown club (and they didn't), or they signed up solely because of PTT (and it hasn't won enough votes to be used yet.) Then there are probably even a few hundred people who pitched their 35 pounds in when the idea was making the rounds a year and a half ago, and never ever thought about it again. Many of these folks are going to drop off - that was relatively easy to predict early on. The sorry state of the economic world doesn't help, either.

In some ways (as I wrote before) the enterprise really gets going here, as all those who bought in and were disappointed for some reason go away, and we have a core left - hopefully a core that's big enough, and with the right intentions. I'm relatively confident of the latter, and very curious about the former.

Also, while today is a pretty important day, it's not like the member numbers at the end of the day tell all. Of the 30,000+ members as of yesterday, a few thousand of those began their membership sometime after Feb 19, 2008, so there will be a question of how many renewals the club gets on a rolling basis.

 

Well, they can't be "asked" in any kind of coercive way (upping of the fee) without a vote on it. I'm glad they haven't gone the way of tiering the membership (i.e pay more, get more features), because that goes against the egalitarian spirit of one member, one vote. There are already a number of avenues through which members can pitch in a few bucks, from PASE scheme donations to virtual turnstiles, etc.

To me, the test of this is a) building a community of members who buy into a culture of voting on things like kit sponsors and matchday ticket prices - issues that are more consequential in the long-term than who the left back should be on Saturday (these issues are also more appropriate for the wisdom-of-the-crowds idea); and b) fostering that sense of responsibility to the club and the community surrounding it amongst the MYFC members remaining near and far, so they are inclined to pitch $5 or $10 here and there for things like live streaming of games, etc. It's not a big ask individually (for most), but you've got to have a critical mass of people who take part often enough for things to work and eventually grow. There's been an argument made by some along the way that they've "gotten nothing for their 35 pounds." Well, I believe if you were expecting to "get something" in an individual, financial way from this, you misunderstood the point right from the start.

 

The club loses a substantial amount of money each month, is the story there.

Who's John Moules and what's he about?

 

I believe the operating agreement has the club getting #27.50 of the #35, but don't quote me on that.

 

This is pretty great, by the way. The sooner that overseas live-streaming is up and running, the easier it is for overseas members to actually watch in real time and feel a little more connected to the club.
It's a shame it wasn't done long before renewal day, but now it's getting there and I'm happy for it.

 

The second half was a lot of fun, minus the one hideous backpass by Opinel (and the PK, but that didn't matter in the end anyway so I'll forget about it.) Goals #2 and 3 were rips. Getting to watch live made all the difference, and I'm glad we covered the cost and then some.