Members of a fan website have ponied up £700,000 to buy the English minor league soccer team Ebbsfleet United. Fan takeovers aren’t unheard of in England; what’s new here is that fan message board chatter will now supposedly converted into actual coaching decisions. “Every MyFootballClub member will have an equal say in team selection, player transfers and the running of the club,” promises the site. Reports the BBC:
After the takeover goes through the current board will stay in place, as will manager Liam Daish, although his title will change to head coach.
Daish insisted that he was happy for fans to have an input on team matters.
“Picking 11 players and formations isn’t a precise science and luck often plays its part,” stated the Ebbsfleet boss.
My initial thought was that this will be a totally disastrous way to run an organization. But then I started asking myself why. Is it because I think masses of fans are going to more impulsive and less rational than conventional sports club owners? You know, people like George Steinbrenner?
So maybe it’s not such a bad idea.