Community Ownership

[fatcalf]

Not quite stuwell, people will definetly be buying 1 share.

1 share = part ownership of the club and a vote on every shareholder's poll.

 

Essentially, each person's single share will give them a voice in club... (and a warm & fuzzy feeling inside!)

 

What about a certificate to frame and put on the wall in my living room? I'd like one of those.

[exiled_in_wales]

I would have a few questions prior to investing. I was sure I saw John Boyle state last week that the club was 'bank debt' free which raises the question do we owe money to anyone else? If so who? Is there an agreement in place to pay back any funds and if so how much and over what period? Were funds invested previously in the club invested on the basis of loans? Does that mean that investors money could be used to pay back those loans / debt?

[Wellfan1984]

We have a Directors Loan due to John Boyle. Not sure if this has changed from the accounts up to 30/05/2010 and this year though.

[Paisley Steelman]

Im pretty sure the barca example of this is you buy into the club every year. So each season you pay a fee of say £30 , you then are in the co-op of Barca for the year with your right to vote

[Spiderpig]

Im pretty sure the barca example of this is you buy into the club every year. So each season you pay a fee of say £30 , you then are in the co-op of Barca for the year with your right to vote

 

 

That sounds a good shout, if it was correctly priced it could be added to the Season book package if you are buying one, or as a separate deal if not. The basic principle is good, one share = 1 vote etc, but nobody is that naive to think that we will influence any real decisions, as the bulk of the shareholding will still be in the hands of a few. But as recent events have shown companies / directors etc cannot afford to ignore the shareholders, so on contencious issues the ordinary fans could have an important say.

[steelboy]

That sounds a good shout, if it was correctly priced it could be added to the Season book package if you are buying one, or as a separate deal if not. The basic principle is good, one share = 1 vote etc, but nobody is that naive to think that we will influence any real decisions, as the bulk of the shareholding will still be in the hands of a few. But as recent events have shown companies / directors etc cannot afford to ignore the shareholders, so on contencious issues the ordinary fans could have an important say.

 

the bulk of the shareholding will be in the hands of the people in the mutual society.

[Brazilian]

if thats the case and those in charge have no major holding then we are doomed by the very fact that we will not retain the critical people to run the business.

 

critical positions in the club have to be stakeholders

[Andy_P]

i don't think they will be looking to raise a great deal of capital with this. the club will continue to be self sufficient.

 

Yeah from what I can mind from the AGM they hinted that it wouldn't simply be a case of looking for one off investment from supporters in the same way that say Rangers and Celtic have done so in the past.

 

There was also talk of partnerships and co-operatives being the way forward. A loose example was given whereby Motherwell benefited directly through financial investment through Commsworld. Commsworld benefited through the exposure their sponsorship of the club brought them and were able to gain access to some existing business contacts of the club to further boost their own business, Motherwell's existing clients were able to benefit from the new business opportunities that Commsworld were able to offer which in turn left them better placed to be able to assist Motherwell in the future and so on, and so on....

 

I think there's still a lot more needs to made clear to give supporters a clearer understanding of where we are, where we hope to be and the timescales involved in getting there.

 

To me it didn't sound a million miles from what St Mirren were trying to do. I don't know who is further down the road in terms of putting the necessary structures in place. Perhaps if Faraway Saint or Shull are looking in they might be able to offer their perspective?

[TigerWoodsMFC]

Did Fergus McCann not try something like this with Celtic when he took over in '94 or suhin?

[john_M_F_C]

This not the same set up that put Airdrie under? No major shareholder= no major investment. Season ticket money plus X amount to keep the club afloat/ have the privilege of having a say in how the club is run. Our attendances are going down, the supports getting older all the time. Less youngsters coming along means a long term future would be in doubt.

 

Btw what has having a fan on the board got us? Can somebody tell us what this has achieved?

[Paisley Steelman]

With JB owing most of the club no one could or would try to speak agaonst him. But with the co-op scheme we can raise issues such as ten team spl vote. Range of ticket prices or offers . Safe staying like the germans being brougjt in.

[Ewan87]

This is an interesting one for me because I have watched my other team go from the brink of dissolution in the fifth tier in England to a strong position in the third tier, all on the back of supporter control.

 

In 2003, Exeter City were relegated to the Nationwide Conference - debt ridden and with two crooks in charge. We entered a CVA, got lucky with a good cup run and the Trust took over the running of the club. This season we finished eighth in League One, our joint highest ever finish in our history. There are now over 2,500 trust members, each contributing a minimum of £24 a year to the club, and we are going from strength to strength.

 

We have been the only successful supporter run club in the English Football League for several years, a fact that will change with the promotion of AFC Wimbledon. The Supporters' Trust model has worked well with both City and Wimbledon and seems to also be doing the job at other clubs like AFC Telford (this season promoted to Conference National - tier five - via the play-offs), FC Halifax Town (runaway winners of the Northern Premier, will be playing in the Conference North - tier six - next season) and FC United of Manchester (missed out on promotion in the Northern Premier - tier seven - in the final of the play-offs).

 

Obviously there is a vast difference between the clubs I mentioned and Motherwell. Well are already a strong Premier League side whereas those clubs either folded and started again, are otherwise newly formed or had dropped to a much lower division.

 

I'm not sure whether, from the Supporters' Ownership, Well will gain anything as like enough financial backing as we need to maintain a strong top-six place in the league and push on to bigger and better things. I hope I'm wrong and that the same success that City and the others achieved can be emulated at Well and especially without the heartache and hardship that came in the first few years.

 

Here's to a bright Claret and Amber future under Supporter's Ownership.

 

'Mon the Well.

[Amber_nectar]

Is the timing right for this? Well i suppose in a way it is. As far as our debt is concerned we don't have that much and I think it is owed to John Boyle. Our pitch doesn't need 250 thousand pounds spent on it this year.

We have a stadium which is ours. We seem to have a board with a plan and not just for the next six months as a lot of clubs seem to do.

Season tickets where up 12% last season and hopefully that trend will continue this season with the WELLevate thing.

I truely see us as one of the top seven teams in Scotland. We have a squad of players that should be able to match the likes of Hibs and Aberdeen, Oops sorry they are both shit. I meant Hearts and Dundee Utd.

Finacially the club seem to be running things a little better although that is partly down to selling players, managers getting to the cis cup semi and scottish cup final and of course finishing in the top six.

If we start to slip down the league and can't sell players and don't have cup runs we would really need to cut our cloth and that is when things will get difficult .

The only other thing that I am a wee bit concerned about is does this mean a new stadium is virtually impossible. Fir park does the job but more and more of the space inside is being used for learning centres which I am sure we must make some money from but if we want to branch out further there ain't much space left.

This whole community thing is a good idea although I don't really get any benefit living in Livingston but if it helps local people and brings them closer to the club then it can only be a good thing.

Scottish football needs to start again with some fresh ideas and it looks like our club is trying to come up with something dfferent. I say good on them. Hopefully I will be able to contribute in some way when the time comes.

Long live Motherwell FC. Live the dream!

 

 

[kmmfc]

We have a Directors Loan due to John Boyle. Not sure if this has changed from the accounts up to 30/05/2010 and this year though.

 

How much is the loan due to John Boyle, £300k? I heard he a rumour that he was wanting it repaid immediately, therefore, possibly meaning we have to sell someone to finance it.

[thewhitepele]

From todays Herald.....

 

Alan Campbell

 

 

 

8 Jun 2011

 

 

CASE STUDY: MOTHERWELL

 

HAVING espoused the “sugar daddy” model of ownership when John Boyle bought the club in 1997, Motherwell are poised to return to their roots and become a members’ club.

 

Ironically it is Boyle himself who has made this possible. The travel company entrepreneur is gifting his 73% shareholding, and the freehold on Fir Park, to the club. Having received similar such share donations to take them up to the required 75%, Motherwell will now become an Industrial and Provident Society – which will mean significant changes to the way the club is run.

 

“We’re going to create two, or three, levels of membership,” explains Leeann Dempster, the chief executive who was brought to the club by Boyle 30 months ago. “The first will be aimed at the regular punter, costing about £300.

 

“There will also be corporate membership, and possibly a tier for wealthier individuals. We will start to publicise the scheme in the next few weeks – but regardless of whether you invest £300 or £5000 each member will get one vote.

 

“The principle is one of democracy, and importantly a say in how the club is run, moves forward and develops. A supporter who invests more will get more overall benefits in terms of value, but this will not mean they have a bigger say than the regular supporters. This is a very important point.”

 

According to Dempster, Motherwell have posted a profit in six of the last seven years. The hoped-for £750,000 raised by the membership scheme will be banked, and used as a facility when cash-flow is tight. It will not be used to fund player transfers, nor to help finance a proposed stadium move to the new Ravenscraig site at some point in the future.

 

Under Dempster’s stewardship, and encouraged by Boyle, Motherwell have already made big strides towards becoming a community club. Fir Park is already the focal point for educational and fitness programmes, and once the members take control of the club, Dempster is hopeful that the links with the town will become even stronger.

 

“Football is changing,” she says. “There aren’t too many John Boyles around any more. And the question you have to ask is, do you want a John Boyle again? He’s been great for the club but if he’d pulled his money out where would we have been?

 

“He’s giving us a legacy and we decided not to go down the route of a one-off share issue because once you’ve done that there is pretty much nowhere else to go. We’re not just jumping on the community bandwagon. We’ve been a proper community club since I came in here. We want to be Scotland’s best community and family club, and we’re well on the way to achieving that.

 

 

“Norwich is a club I look towards – over the last 10 years they have gone from 7000 season ticket holders to over 20,000. It’s very much a family-orientated club with a good match day experience. We can do something very similar here. Our season ticket sales were up 13% last season.

 

“Furthermore, football clubs we’ve been to on the continent, especially Odense, put themselves at the heart of the business community, not just the wider community. That is also something we have to learn from.”

 

Optimistic rhetoric is something Motherwell supporters also heard in 1997, yet some five years later the club was in administration. There are no easy solutions, but building the club up from the grassroots is the option which Dempster is determined to pursue.

[carlukemurray]

I don't know Leeann Dempster but she is someone I would have a lot of time for. Common sense, practical, creative and passionate. i look forward with interest to the announcement in a few weeks time.

From todays Herald.....

 

Alan Campbell

 

 

 

8 Jun 2011

 

 

CASE STUDY: MOTHERWELL

 

HAVING espoused the "sugar daddy" model of ownership when John Boyle bought the club in 1997, Motherwell are poised to return to their roots and become a members' club.

 

Ironically it is Boyle himself who has made this possible. The travel company entrepreneur is gifting his 73% shareholding, and the freehold on Fir Park, to the club. Having received similar such share donations to take them up to the required 75%, Motherwell will now become an Industrial and Provident Society – which will mean significant changes to the way the club is run.

 

"We're going to create two, or three, levels of membership," explains Leeann Dempster, the chief executive who was brought to the club by Boyle 30 months ago. "The first will be aimed at the regular punter, costing about £300.

 

"There will also be corporate membership, and possibly a tier for wealthier individuals. We will start to publicise the scheme in the next few weeks – but regardless of whether you invest £300 or £5000 each member will get one vote.

 

"The principle is one of democracy, and importantly a say in how the club is run, moves forward and develops. A supporter who invests more will get more overall benefits in terms of value, but this will not mean they have a bigger say than the regular supporters. This is a very important point."

 

According to Dempster, Motherwell have posted a profit in six of the last seven years. The hoped-for £750,000 raised by the membership scheme will be banked, and used as a facility when cash-flow is tight. It will not be used to fund player transfers, nor to help finance a proposed stadium move to the new Ravenscraig site at some point in the future.

 

Under Dempster's stewardship, and encouraged by Boyle, Motherwell have already made big strides towards becoming a community club. Fir Park is already the focal point for educational and fitness programmes, and once the members take control of the club, Dempster is hopeful that the links with the town will become even stronger.

 

"Football is changing," she says. "There aren't too many John Boyles around any more. And the question you have to ask is, do you want a John Boyle again? He's been great for the club but if he'd pulled his money out where would we have been?

 

"He's giving us a legacy and we decided not to go down the route of a one-off share issue because once you've done that there is pretty much nowhere else to go. We're not just jumping on the community bandwagon. We've been a proper community club since I came in here. We want to be Scotland's best community and family club, and we're well on the way to achieving that.

 

 

"Norwich is a club I look towards – over the last 10 years they have gone from 7000 season ticket holders to over 20,000. It's very much a family-orientated club with a good match day experience. We can do something very similar here. Our season ticket sales were up 13% last season.

 

"Furthermore, football clubs we've been to on the continent, especially Odense, put themselves at the heart of the business community, not just the wider community. That is also something we have to learn from."

 

Optimistic rhetoric is something Motherwell supporters also heard in 1997, yet some five years later the club was in administration. There are no easy solutions, but building the club up from the grassroots is the option which Dempster is determined to pursue.

[fatcalf]

First time I've heard mention of the freehold for the stadium being included

[Finlay]

Future looks promising on quite a few fronts. The membership scheme described in the article and the trend in the last year or so of committing our best young players to longer contracts is very sensible abd I hope we reap the benefits from this hard work.

[Spiderpig]

One member one vote and a move to a new stadium at some point it is then, should be interesting to see how it works out, ordinary supporters with a genuine say in how the club is run can only be a good thing, well done to Leeann and the rest of the board. 1 point though will the £300 for your share include your season ticket or maybe a free pie and bovril every game

[Steve Diggle]

One member one vote might mean two new stands doon either side of the ark

[carlukemurray]

It will be interesting to see how many members come on board.

[Albi]

 

Someone had to.

[fatcalf]

One member one vote might mean two new stands doon either side of the ark

Al vote for that

[East_Stand_Al]

From todays Herald.....

 

Alan Campbell

 

 

 

8 Jun 2011

 

 

CASE STUDY: MOTHERWELL

 

HAVING espoused the "sugar daddy" model of ownership when John Boyle bought the club in 1997, Motherwell are poised to return to their roots and become a members' club.

 

Ironically it is Boyle himself who has made this possible. The travel company entrepreneur is gifting his 73% shareholding, and the freehold on Fir Park, to the club. Having received similar such share donations to take them up to the required 75%, Motherwell will now become an Industrial and Provident Society – which will mean significant changes to the way the club is run.

 

"We're going to create two, or three, levels of membership," explains Leeann Dempster, the chief executive who was brought to the club by Boyle 30 months ago. "The first will be aimed at the regular punter, costing about £300.

 

"There will also be corporate membership, and possibly a tier for wealthier individuals. We will start to publicise the scheme in the next few weeks – but regardless of whether you invest £300 or £5000 each member will get one vote.

 

"The principle is one of democracy, and importantly a say in how the club is run, moves forward and develops. A supporter who invests more will get more overall benefits in terms of value, but this will not mean they have a bigger say than the regular supporters. This is a very important point."

 

According to Dempster, Motherwell have posted a profit in six of the last seven years. The hoped-for £750,000 raised by the membership scheme will be banked, and used as a facility when cash-flow is tight. It will not be used to fund player transfers, nor to help finance a proposed stadium move to the new Ravenscraig site at some point in the future.

 

Under Dempster's stewardship, and encouraged by Boyle, Motherwell have already made big strides towards becoming a community club. Fir Park is already the focal point for educational and fitness programmes, and once the members take control of the club, Dempster is hopeful that the links with the town will become even stronger.

 

"Football is changing," she says. "There aren't too many John Boyles around any more. And the question you have to ask is, do you want a John Boyle again? He's been great for the club but if he'd pulled his money out where would we have been?

 

"He's giving us a legacy and we decided not to go down the route of a one-off share issue because once you've done that there is pretty much nowhere else to go. We're not just jumping on the community bandwagon. We've been a proper community club since I came in here. We want to be Scotland's best community and family club, and we're well on the way to achieving that.

 

 

"Norwich is a club I look towards – over the last 10 years they have gone from 7000 season ticket holders to over 20,000. It's very much a family-orientated club with a good match day experience. We can do something very similar here. Our season ticket sales were up 13% last season.

 

"Furthermore, football clubs we've been to on the continent, especially Odense, put themselves at the heart of the business community, not just the wider community. That is also something we have to learn from."

 

Optimistic rhetoric is something Motherwell supporters also heard in 1997, yet some five years later the club was in administration. There are no easy solutions, but building the club up from the grassroots is the option which Dempster is determined to pursue.

 

Certainly since Ms Dempster came on board things seem to have been going well, howver I would like to know how we will fund player transfers , and also reading between the lines a move to the Ravenscraig may well still be on the cards.

 

 

The futures bright , the futures Claret and Amber dare we dream ?

[TheLip69]

The key phrase in this is "optimistic rhetoric" because that's all this is.

Quoting Norwich City's rise in St holders is a joke, how many ST holders did they lose when they dropped two divisions? Norwich fans will be watching the cream of English Football next season, Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Man City With the likes of Rooney, and Hernandez, Fabregas, Nasri, Torres, Drogba, Suarez, Carrol, Tevez, and Balotelli. We've got Celtic and Rangers with Brown and Lafferty.

Norwich haven't just pulled these punters out of thin air, they've always been there they just wont pay to watch First Division Football.

We are already playing in the Top Division and we've had European Football in the last three years yet we still cant get a regular 5.,000 punters for our home matches.

In fact replace optimistic with empty.