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.