Post by QPR Report on Feb 19, 2009 7:33:08 GMT
The fad/novelty is over? 
Guardian/Mikey Stafford
Internet-run club in need of crucial signings to surviveEbbsfleet United's future is at risk if 3,000 online owners fail to renew
Today is the day of reckoning for the world's only football club owned by an online community. On 19 February 2008 Ebbsfleet United was purchased by MyFootballClub.co.uk but a year on the majority of the site's 32,000 annual memberships are up for renewal and there is no disguising that what started as an online deluge has been reduced to a cyber trickle. The creator and operator of the website admits the club's future is in doubt unless 3,000 people subscribe today.
"I would like to see 4-5,000," said Will Brooks. "I would expect a couple of hundred every day for the next 10 days after that and then I think we're in a relatively strong position – we've got a foundation and some breathing space. But, if it's less than 3,000today , we've got some decisions to make."
Brooks had already convinced 20,000 people to pay £35 for the prospect of football club ownership before Ebbsfleet were identified last year and the majority of the 18,112 members who voted on the choice of club backed the £635,000 purchase. Membership peaked at 32,000 and success followed on the pitch, the Kent club defeating Torquay United 1-0 in the final of the FA Trophy at Wembley.
Silverware in their first season as bona fide club owners might have been expected to lead to more activity among the members, who had the opportunity to vote on everything from accepting a sponsorship deal from Nike to buying and selling players. But voter turn-out has been steadily declining and last month, when given the opportunity to decide whether they should be allowed to pick the team (a major selling point when the idea of online ownership was introduced by Brooks), only 492 votes were cast, with a narrow majority deciding to leave team selection in the hands of the manager, Liam Daish.
This apathy has lead Brooks to temper his optimism: "If we have as much money in year two we will be laughing but, as many suspect we are not going to keep 32,000 members, it's whether or not there is going to be enough to cover the ongoing monthly loss. So technically, yes, the club's bank account is at zero, which is probably something not a lot of football clubs have. But that is totally relying now on the members."
Ebbsfleet's chief executive, David Davis, said the club's operating budget is secure until the end of the season but admitted there is some trepidation among the club's workforce: "It would be fair to say there is a degree of anxiety because we are in unknown territory. We've got hopes but we won't know realistically until the end of the month exactly what revenue we've got to depend on." Brooks estimates the revenue generated for the club by MFC.co.uk at approximately £150,000 but one member, Jessica McQueen, who is also the chairwoman of the supporters' trust, believes the club in its current guise needs to mature before it can grow.
"We'd love to be promoted but we are not financially stable enough and we would end up doing what a lot of clubs have done, which is go up one year and come back down the next and possibly keep sliding down," she said. McQueen does not see the club retaining its 32,000 owners but, even if the subsistence threshold of 15,000 subscribers is not reached, she believes the current ownership model can raise the £500,000 needed to run for a further 12 months.
"If we look next week and realise that we need more members, then we could get together and try to come up with other plans to get more money," she said. "There are a lot of people who have paid their money but would be willing to pay a lot more money, for example £250 for their yearly subscription."
Ebbsfleet could become a boutique web-owned club, asking more of its owners but ensuring that those involved are committed and like-minded, with McQueen saying one of the biggest obstacles in the first year was a polarity of expectations among the community, with local and established fans more laissez-faire than those attracted by the promise of real-life fantasy football. "They have to understand we're a non-league football club, we're not Manchester United. We're not up there with the big boys and they have to understand, for the local fans, where we are is amazing."
"If the model doesn't fund the club going forward, then I wouldn't call it a success. It will be a one-off, something that won't be repeated," admits Brooks, who could see MFC.co.uk forced to sell the club if the worst comes to the worst.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/feb/19/blue-square-premier-ebbsfleet-united-online-future
Guardian/Mikey Stafford
Internet-run club in need of crucial signings to surviveEbbsfleet United's future is at risk if 3,000 online owners fail to renew
Today is the day of reckoning for the world's only football club owned by an online community. On 19 February 2008 Ebbsfleet United was purchased by MyFootballClub.co.uk but a year on the majority of the site's 32,000 annual memberships are up for renewal and there is no disguising that what started as an online deluge has been reduced to a cyber trickle. The creator and operator of the website admits the club's future is in doubt unless 3,000 people subscribe today.
"I would like to see 4-5,000," said Will Brooks. "I would expect a couple of hundred every day for the next 10 days after that and then I think we're in a relatively strong position – we've got a foundation and some breathing space. But, if it's less than 3,000today , we've got some decisions to make."
Brooks had already convinced 20,000 people to pay £35 for the prospect of football club ownership before Ebbsfleet were identified last year and the majority of the 18,112 members who voted on the choice of club backed the £635,000 purchase. Membership peaked at 32,000 and success followed on the pitch, the Kent club defeating Torquay United 1-0 in the final of the FA Trophy at Wembley.
Silverware in their first season as bona fide club owners might have been expected to lead to more activity among the members, who had the opportunity to vote on everything from accepting a sponsorship deal from Nike to buying and selling players. But voter turn-out has been steadily declining and last month, when given the opportunity to decide whether they should be allowed to pick the team (a major selling point when the idea of online ownership was introduced by Brooks), only 492 votes were cast, with a narrow majority deciding to leave team selection in the hands of the manager, Liam Daish.
This apathy has lead Brooks to temper his optimism: "If we have as much money in year two we will be laughing but, as many suspect we are not going to keep 32,000 members, it's whether or not there is going to be enough to cover the ongoing monthly loss. So technically, yes, the club's bank account is at zero, which is probably something not a lot of football clubs have. But that is totally relying now on the members."
Ebbsfleet's chief executive, David Davis, said the club's operating budget is secure until the end of the season but admitted there is some trepidation among the club's workforce: "It would be fair to say there is a degree of anxiety because we are in unknown territory. We've got hopes but we won't know realistically until the end of the month exactly what revenue we've got to depend on." Brooks estimates the revenue generated for the club by MFC.co.uk at approximately £150,000 but one member, Jessica McQueen, who is also the chairwoman of the supporters' trust, believes the club in its current guise needs to mature before it can grow.
"We'd love to be promoted but we are not financially stable enough and we would end up doing what a lot of clubs have done, which is go up one year and come back down the next and possibly keep sliding down," she said. McQueen does not see the club retaining its 32,000 owners but, even if the subsistence threshold of 15,000 subscribers is not reached, she believes the current ownership model can raise the £500,000 needed to run for a further 12 months.
"If we look next week and realise that we need more members, then we could get together and try to come up with other plans to get more money," she said. "There are a lot of people who have paid their money but would be willing to pay a lot more money, for example £250 for their yearly subscription."
Ebbsfleet could become a boutique web-owned club, asking more of its owners but ensuring that those involved are committed and like-minded, with McQueen saying one of the biggest obstacles in the first year was a polarity of expectations among the community, with local and established fans more laissez-faire than those attracted by the promise of real-life fantasy football. "They have to understand we're a non-league football club, we're not Manchester United. We're not up there with the big boys and they have to understand, for the local fans, where we are is amazing."
"If the model doesn't fund the club going forward, then I wouldn't call it a success. It will be a one-off, something that won't be repeated," admits Brooks, who could see MFC.co.uk forced to sell the club if the worst comes to the worst.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/feb/19/blue-square-premier-ebbsfleet-united-online-future