At the European Football Fans Congress held in Hamburg recently, 350 fan groups across 29 countries gathered. ShareLiverpoolFC was amongst them. There were also senior administrators from UEFA present; including, William Gaillard, the former Head of Communications who has recently been promoted to the position of ‘Advisor to the UEFA President’.
At the Congress, William Gaillard told the ShareLiverpoolFC representative:
‘UEFA is in favour of any movement to increase fan ownership and representation in football. Liverpool is no exception.’
He also advised those at the Congress that fan organizations,
‘must be structured and organised in a democratic way.’ As you know, we are - and we’re ready for the challenge.
The event provided an opportunity to network with other fans’ groups and supporters’ trusts who are experienced in club ownership. We took the opportunity to examine best practice and take advice from those who have already become part of their club’s governance and ownership structures.
The most important message is one of optimism.It is clear that democratic fan ownership can work and does work, even for some of the biggest European clubs. It isn’t just the ‘right thing’ for our Club to be owned by its fans;
there is also a strong business argument to be made in the current climate that member-owned institutions are both successful and sustainable over the long term.UEFA’s Head of Professional Football Services, Alex Phillips, echoed the views of UEFA president, Michel Platini:
‘In many ways the best example is the one in Germany, or of some Spanish clubs, where the clubs are owned by the fans and so cannot be just bought and sold.’The time may come when football clubs will not have any choice. UEFA’s forthcoming changes to the club licensing system, designed to enforce ‘financial fair play’, are still being developed, but
it is likely that financially irresponsible or unsound clubs will not be allowed to continue to participate in UEFA competitions. And that means clubs carrying unsustainable debts. Even more important, then, that ShareLiverpoolFC’s revised business plan is considered carefully as an alternative structure of ownership and a much firmer base for providing a long term solution to our debt problem.
The more registrants we have, the more powerful our negotiating position will be. So please encourage your friends to register their support and keep passing on the word.
And if you haven’t been back to the website recently, please visit the ‘Register Your Interest’ page; fill in the questionnaire and indicate your commitment.You can do that right now, if you click
here.ShareLiverpoolFC
PS The Fans Congress organisers, Football Supporters International, is a totally independent organisation and provides a forum for fan groups across Europe to share experiences and best practices in the structures and governance of their football clubs.
For more about the conference see
www.footballsupportersinternational.com.