A political solution for football?

Since July 2009, the posts in this blog have tried to indicate what I think may be a better way to run professional football clubs in England. In the lower divisions of the Football League and in non-league clubs, there has been some progress but usually only when a club has reached financial desperation.

In the Premier League, the clubs and the sums involved are so much larger that only an incremental approach is likely to be effective. Recently both Manchester United and Liverpool supporters have tried to change the way their clubs are run, so far without success. The money which would have to be raised is simply too large for a one-stage process.

There has always been a general recognition of the part that the local football club plays in the life of the community. In the past, there have been several political initiatives intended to promote this connection. I believe politicians have not been unwilling to help and indeed some legislation has been passed to provide assistance. But it has been largely unsuccessful, particularly with the larger clubs. Is there a key to unlock this financial barrier?

Suppose that instead of trying to raise all the money and transfer ownership in one stage (which would be the usual method in business), a football club could be bought gradually by its supporters. It could probably happen at present, except that, given a choice, the larger clubs would probably prefer not to have to deal with tens of thousands of small shareholders. In other words, they would be very reluctant to change.

So it has to be plan B. This would require a political initiative to compel a football club to sell a fixed number of shares at an agreed price to any person applying for them. Over time, the number of shares bought and owned in this way would become a majority. The small shareholders could then, if they wished, decide on the next stage of restructuring the company. The model of FC Barcelona might be used to guide them!

Keen readers will probably find lots of snags in this proposal. So please make your views known, particularly if they include suggestions for improvement. Remember that all six MPs who declared themselves as West Ham supporters replied positively to the original initiative by WHAM!