Is the team you follow really a club, as probably appears in it´s name? Was it once a club when it was founded but it isn´t anymore and just keeps the word club for historical reasons? Was it NEVER a club, but uses the word because it´s traditional in football? What it means and what is needed to be considered a club? The MLS for example... isn´t MLS a league based on teams that are like franchises? If so, can they be called clubs? I guess even some english clubs couldn´t be called clubs anymore, although the names remain because that´s how they were formed. here in Brazil, soccer clubs are really clubs as far as I can tell. They are registered as social clubs and non profit organizations. they were born in the early 20th century (mine was born in 1903) as gentlemen that practiced the sport. So the members were also the players. And with time it evolved with members being fans (there are around 80 thousand members currently, that pay monthly fees), as well as a board of directors and councilors, president, etc, all elected by the members (fans). There is no owner. I gather many teams in Europe and also Latin America also follow this model... having thousands of members/associates, who pay membership fees. Some are athletic clubs and have several sports PLUS member associates can use the club facilities to practice sports too (not the facilities used by the professionals, usually). But can teams which have OWNERS, are basically companies, whose fans are just consumers, be considered clubs?