Club acquired by website

[Hempstead Gaz]

Can't really take all this in. Wasn't entirely convinced about the name change without consultation, but was prepared to see what happened.

Have only vaguely heard of our new "owners", again the club selling itself without consultation.

On the positive side, as I have been pilloried so much recently for banging on about dwindling crowds/finance etc, etc, the club had to take some remedial action to whet the appetite of supporters, this may just be the start of the publicity we need.

On the counter side, if it does go wrong, it has all the hallmarks of going horribly wrong!

[Eastside Urchin]

So the fans now should pay an extra £35 a year just for the pleasure of supporting their own club.I thought that Lower league and non league football was supposed to be accessible to masses unlike higher league football

[chris blanc]

So can I get this straight? If someone buys in to the club, which the website will own either 51 or 100% of, and the club then gets promoted to the premiership. Will that person get any money back? Do they actually own shares, or does the person who runs the web site own all the shares and is just giving the members a vote?

[PatMan]

Originally Posted By: urchin_mentalist

So the fans now should pay an extra £35 a year just for the pleasure of supporting their own club.I thought that Lower league and non league football was supposed to be accessible to masses unlike higher league football

What? Where did you dream that up?

[Matt (GNFC)]

The people making a return on this investment will be the clubs directors. The club has been torn to shreds in the matter of six months by them. Its their investment from the start and they are entitled to make decisions on the clubs future but i just cant believe that this will work. I think we will go bankrupt as its not like the 20,000 fans can balance the books. We'll sign big name players who the fans have heard of, pay large wages because they're named players and end up broke. A different scenario of course but it will end up like Sittingbourne did all those years ago when they threw silly money at the issue.

[Hempstead Gaz]

Christ - we are headline news on the main BBC sports page. Fame at last. Here

[PEAB]

Originally Posted By: chris blanc

So can I get this straight? If someone buys in to the club, which the website will own either 51 or 100% of, and the club then gets promoted to the premiership. Will that person get any money back? Do they actually own shares, or does the person who runs the web site own all the shares and is just giving the members a vote?

As i understand it any money generated by the club is to remain with the club. Individual members will not receive a pay-off. They have all signed up to the idea of owning part of a club and gaining insight into the day to day running of a football team. Therefore any profits etc should be pumped straight back into the team to be spent on players, stadia etc. Each member owns one share but in signing up they know they will not be receiving money on their 'investment'.

[Eastside Urchin]

Originally Posted By: PatMan

Originally Posted By: urchin_mentalist

So the fans now should pay an extra £35 a year just for the pleasure of supporting their own club.I thought that Lower league and non league football was supposed to be accessible to masses unlike higher league football

What? Where did you dream that up?

Sorry,i was under the impressions that someone asked the fans to get on board.Well by doing this,they have to pay another £35 a year to do that,do they not???
Just more expense for non league fans.No wonder many are turning away from football altogether

[PatMan]

Originally Posted By: urchin_mentalist

Originally Posted By: PatMan

Originally Posted By: urchin_mentalist

So the fans now should pay an extra £35 a year just for the pleasure of supporting their own club.I thought that Lower league and non league football was supposed to be accessible to masses unlike higher league football

What? Where did you dream that up?

Sorry,i was under the impressions that someone asked the fans to get on board.Well by doing this,they have to pay another £35 a year to do that,do they not???
Just more expense for non league fans.No wonder many are turning away from football altogether

No-one has asked the fans to do anything - its still a free country. If you want to pay £35 you 'own' a share of the club, a fan can still go and watch!

[eufcintheprem]

Originally Posted By: urchin_mentalist

Originally Posted By: PatMan

Originally Posted By: urchin_mentalist

So the fans now should pay an extra £35 a year just for the pleasure of supporting their own club.I thought that Lower league and non league football was supposed to be accessible to masses unlike higher league football

What? Where did you dream that up?

Sorry,i was under the impressions that someone asked the fans to get on board.Well by doing this,they have to pay another £35 a year to do that,do they not???
Just more expense for non league fans.No wonder many are turning away from football altogether

I just suggested it might be a good idea. Buy a stake, get a say in team selection to assist the large number of people who are considerably less knowledgable about the team.

Of course there's no requirement and you're fine to carry on supporting in the same way you are but it gives you the opportunity to support your club in a way no other fan (without about a mill in the bank) can do.

Time will tell but I'm pretty sure no-one who's signed up thinks that throwing money at a football club can make it a good club. I just wanted to convey the point that there are a lot of people signed up to this scheme who you would be happy to associate with your football club and the motivations are not money-drvien but with the ambition of long-term success.

Jeez...sounded like a CEO there!

[Eastside Urchin]

Good luck with it anyway,i know what its like when your club goes under.Not nice but saying that you find out who the real fans are when you bounce back

[American FLEET FAN No1]

I have turned my computer on and off several times,and the thread hasn't disappeared, I have checked the calendar, and it isn't April 1st. If this thread hadn't been started by David Holden, I would have thought it was a 'wind-up!'

Not having any business acumen, I am always wary of get rich quick schemes, and this is what this seems to be. Not for the 20,000 fans(wherever/whoever they are), but for the person(s) who run(s) MyFootballclub. Unless they are already on the board of Ebbsfleet, this seems a dangerous position to be putting the club into.

I have this re-curring picture of somebody with 20,000 x 35Pounds in their back pocket, standing on Ebbsfleet Station, waiting for a train to France, never to be seen again!

 

[KShep]

Originally Posted By: urchin_mentalist

So the fans now should pay an extra £35 a year just for the pleasure of supporting their own club.

Have I paid £35 a year to support my club since my first game on 3rd March 2001?

[John Pearce]

Originally Posted By: Jimmy

Apparently the takeover is "subject to approval at a meeting of shareholders to be convened".

I suppose the directors hold a majority shareholding so the approval is likely to occur?

Oh yeah.......just like the name change.

Subject to approval my a^se....this is crazy, a farce, ridiculous etc. etc. Fleet supporters sold down the river. How on earth can 50,000 people pick a team each week?

As I understand it they will have a say in everything about the day to day running of the club. What the club's is called, what players turn out each week, what player the club signs, who will be manager, what colours the club play in, whether Eurostar stay as main sponsor (god only knows what they must think).

Look at Saturday for instance, the Fleet are away to Oxford United. There could well be supporters of Oxford standing on the terraces urging Oxford on to victory, but also being members of the 'committee' running Ebbsfleet United. Ridiculous. The club will become (probably has become) the laughing stock of the Conference

If you look at the MyClub website there are 15 clubs listed as target clubs, we do not even get a mention. It is probably the case that the board of directors at each of the other clubs saw through this scheme and said thanks but no thanks. Our board can quite clearly see no further than the £ notes and to hell with the implications.

As I said earlier, the 'Fleet supporters have clearly been sold well and truly down the river. Sadly, I'll give the club to the end of the season (if we are lucky) before the scheme is seen for what it is, a disaster about to happen, and the club cease to exist. Sadly, I think Liam Daish will ultimately see his position as unworkable and resign, Alan Kimble will follow, quickly followed by the majority of the players.

Botley's motley crew of directors deserve stringing up for this.

[American FLEET FAN No1]

Well if nothing else, (some) people in America are now aware of Ebbsfleet. It has just been mentioned(by a Newscaster with a large smile on his face), on BBC America's main news bulletin!

[DanPoolie]

The money goes into a trust which goes to only ebbsfleet.

Noone gets anything back as far as I know.

[itfcebbs]

I would suggest that you all go to http://www.myfootballclub.co.uk/faq.php

to get your answers, instead of listening to rumors or scare mongering. As a football fan myself I am looking forward to this concept. Think about it, you are getting a £700,000 investment every year! This is big for the club you all love so much. You will also start to see an increase in gate returns as these 20,000 investors or muppets as some person called them on this forum, start to get caught up in the whole affair. You can't lose. If it goes to the wall someone will jump in and buy it up. It is a win win situation. Enjoy the money and the publicity it will bring you and your club. I will be watching with great interest.

 

Good luck Ebbsfleet and enjoy the ride.

[EUFC FAN]

FFS.. What are we now!! A Fantasy Footy Team!! I have played Championship Manager in the past. One thing I noticed is that when it all went belly up and I got the sack. I just restarted. What happens to Ebbsfleet if it goes belly up?

 

Does Liam still have the last say in team selection (in case these people pick 8 defenders and no goalkeeper for example!!!).

 

I wonder if we will see 20,000 at the next home game! Best get there early!

 

I have bad feeling about this...

 

[Hirsty]

I'm with Hannah on this one......I can't make it out......I am usually the most positive of fans but as I said, I can't work this one out....I'll need more facts if I can ever get on the website ! The jury's out at the moment, but immediate reaction is I am not happy ! looks a game of subbuteo !!

 

[Stu B]

I still can't quite believe this has happened, and i'm still not quite sure what to think. The idea could work, but it's a could, and i don't particularly appreciate my club being treated like a guinea pig. The success this club has achieved over the last 5-10 years has been great, and built on steady progress, this just seems to fly in the face of that and throw it all away on some risky experiment. Can anybody seriously imagine these "investors" still being here and paying their £35 in say 10 years?

I'd also like some assurances that if this does go tits up that i'll still have a club, and one with reasonable finances, to support..