Grassroots goal project takes off

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Grassroots goal project takes off Fundraising for football games has received a large boost with a high street sports retailer as a large donation was made to Football Buster’s £1m Grassroots goal project.  As a result, Football Buster is now able to take applications from football clubs that are in need.

Last year www.footballbuster was launched and used as an empowerment tool for sports organizations and football clubs that are in need of fundraising efforts that can be pledged online.

Co-founder and Assistant manager of the Macclesfield Football Club, Gary Simpson, stated that no longer will football clubs be forced to go cap in hand looking for donations from local businesses or wealthy parents because now they can look for new revenue options.

Due to the unique football games and the £1m in donations the site has become quite popular among sports sponsors and football clubs which helped to inspire the latest large donation.

Nathan Griffin, the other co-founder, stated that this is a large breakthrough for grassroots football teams and proves that Football Buster is continuing to grow in popularity with many football clubs now following the example to set up football games online in order to raise the same funds that professional clubs gain access to.

Griffin added that they are working with a large football manufacturer and hope to provide football clubs that are fundraising with free footballs.

FC Barcelona ownership model – blueprint for UK clubs published by Co-opeatives UK and Supporters Direct

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FC Barcelona ownership model - blueprint for UK clubs published by Co-opeatives UK and Supporters Direct A new report, published today, suggests that the way to improve English football following the dismal England World Cup performance is to follow the approach of leading Spanish clubs and hand them over to their fans.

FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, the two leading teams in Spanish football, are co-operatives owned by 175,000 members. Of the 11 players who started out on the field for the winning World Cup team, 10 of them work for one of these two co-operatives.

A recent survey by Co-operatives UK and included in the report, 56% of respondents across the UK see the benefits of this approach, believing their club would be in better hands if it was owned co-operatively by the fans.

The report is published alongside the first English translation of the statutes of Spanish club FC Barcelona, the poster child of co-operative football.

Dave Boyle, Chief Executive of Supporters Direct and the author of the report, commented “FC Barcelona is a powerful example of how a club can be organised co-operatively and still successfully compete with rivals across the world. The club has long been known for being owned by its fans but, until now, we couldn’t see how things worked ‘under the hood’. Fans looking at what rights and powers they have in the club can only look on with envy.  Of course, co-operative football clubs are like all clubs – they are not immune from financial troubles during times of economic austerity. But it’s the ownership structure that really sets them apart.”

“There are a growing number of supporters’ trusts in the UK looking to give fans a greater say and stake in their clubs; our aim is to show how the co-operative model can run effectively and to the benefit of all involved.”

The new report, ‘Barca – fan ownership and the future of football clubs’, and the full FC Barcelona statutes are available on line at www.uk.coop/barca.

Sir Alex Ferguson says US football is taking off

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Sir Alex Ferguson says US football is taking off Sir Alex Ferguson believes that football is starting to get popular in the United States with the Manchester United manager expecting a competitive edge on their upcoming matches as they leave Monday for their Chicago training base.

The US was able to hold England to a World Cup draw and Ferguson is convinced that the Major League Soccer standard is better than ever.

Ferguson stated that American soccer is starting to make an impact and that he had commented before the World Cup that the US team were going to play like the athletes that top football players in England are.

He continued to say that this is also the way that American football players are, athletic and fit with a good feel for the pitch.  Ferguson explained that he can see the improvement throughout the MLS and has spoken to many people over the last few months about this fact and seen an upsurge in the excitement around it.

Darren Fletcher, Edwin van der Sar, and Dimitar Berbatov will be travelling to the United States along with many youngsters which include Fulham’s former defender Chris Smalling.

Ferguson added that winning is the challenge in front of the team but at the same time the idea is to get everyone a chance to play so that when they come back they are prepared for the season.

United will play against Philadelphia Union on July 21st at the Lincoln Financial Field followed by a match in four days at Arrowhead Stadium against the Kansas City Wizards.  They will finish out their United States tour in Houston playing the MLS All-Stars on July 28th.