Breaking News 50+1 Ownership Petition - add your signature on Gov.uk

[sufc4life21]

I'd imagine a fair few are not overly happy with the Super League rubbish at the moment.

Yeah I guess. But they have to also remember what those owners have done for them....... without them they probably still be mid table prem side. Their are some good sole owners out their to. Leicester owners are fantastic, really do appreciate the fans at that club.

 

[harveyoe]

The statement at the start of this petition is incorrect:

"Bring in a law which enforces professional football clubs to have at least 51% fan ownership similar to how the Bundesliga operates this rule."

German clubs do not have 51% fan ownership, in a financial sense.

The owners of German football clubs are not allowed to have more than 49% control when it comes to voting rights.

Fans do have a degree of control over the club through their voting rights, which is good.

This model however means that owners do not get overall control in return for their investment, which leads to owners being less willing to invest and to clubs being unable to compete financially with clubs from other countries.

The issue is not as simple as it is being portrayed.

Please bear this in mind when deciding if you should sign this petition.

 

[Blue Yonder]

I think we can all agree that the system of ownership and financing of clubs within English football is not ideal and that the clubs aren’t going to instigate any change themselves without pressure from outside so whatever the petition says it is at least attempting to provoke a debate about change to a new ownership model whatever that might be and is therefore worth signing ?

 

[Fairport]

In the German model the large money comes from the 49%. For example, Bayern Munich are backed by Adidas, Allianz and Audi.

 

[nick12]

Never quite sure how effective online petitions are, but as this one is relevant to our current situation: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/583310

Signed ?

 

[sufcrocks]

Done!

 

[rigsby]

If people really want to improve English Football they should vote for a maximum wage bill of 49% of a clubs income. With the 51% to be spent on stadiums, academy and grass roots level.

You would then automatically have better owners.

 

[harveyoe]

[

If people really want to improve English Football they should vote for a maximum wage bill of 49% of a clubs income. With the 51% to be spent on stadiums, academy and grass roots level.

You would then automatically have better owners.

Well said.

If you set this up as an alternative petition, I'd be happy to sign it.

 

[martinreed]

Does anyone have details of how the German version works? Who funds any losses each year etc? What are the loop holes (I think Red Bull exploit one)? Does it really work? How could it be improved?

Explaining the Bundesliga's 50+1 rule

Football in Germany is popular for many reasons: top-quality play, the highest average attendances in world football, low ticket prices and a great fan culture. A major contributing factor in this is the 50+1 ownership rule. bundesliga.com takes a closer look at exactly how and why it works...

www.bundesliga.com

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I’ve added my signature - come on folks we need this debated in Parliament, so tell everyone you know and let’s get to 100,000 signatures

 

[Mad Cyril]

Never quite sure how effective online petitions are, but as this one is relevant to our current situation: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/583310

I agree - If the government are going to ignore the opinions of the likes of Mr C. Dracula or Mr Terry Dactyl then it shows they aren't prepared to listen.

 

[rigsby]

The Government will do absolutely nothing. In fact they wont even do 1% of anything you might even hope.

They would never force a 51% sale of private businesses to a 3rd party. Especially those owned by people they are to frightened to even collect tax from.

You good people do have power, you have consumer power. If you cancelled your Sky that would be a start but the armchair PL fan will never do that. The only real option we have is to disrupt the live games. Block the town and transport of the live game? tennis balls into the stadium etc.

This is just another political distraction tactic (both sides do it before anyone starts). Sign it if you want but i now from experience the only thing that changes anything is financial loss, or at least the threat of it.

 

[Supershrimper]

If fans own 51% of the club, if any investment is required does that also mean that the fans that own the 51% would have to dip into their pockets every time the club needed cash, unpaid tax bills etc etc

Unless the club runs at a profit (how many football clubs run at a profit??) surely there would need to be investment from somewhere. Would the fan owned portion then step aside and ask the minority share holder to pay all the time?

 

[ColinMorrisWalksOnWater]

They might not initially, or for a very long time for sure, but a debate has to start somewhere, the alternative is we stay stuck as we are, in football as a whole, and the fate of Bury, Macclesfield and the like become more frequent.

Whilst we all sit on the sidelines wringing our hands and saying what a shocking state of affairs, but we can change nothing....and funnily enough nothing changes.

As has been said above, even the title of the petition is not right, but 100k signatures it is debated....,nothing happens, but hypothetically another petition slightly tweaked is raised, fans groups like the National supporters association pick up the banner, a couple of well known figures from football get involved and a little more momentum is made, and it progresses from there, but it starts because it is driven by a few passionate fans in the greater scheme of things who realise that despite the time, size and accuracy of the challenge, we have to start somewhere and it just seems that this might be as good a place as any.

Just my view, especially after the way the ESL got kicked down, but don't forget the Italian geyser who said it will come back in some other format, so what he meant was the point I am trying to make above, they have started somewhere and at some time in the future will resurrect it, because it is on the radar of those who want it. Action by fans will be needed again, but the danger is the men who want it are now wiser and will be tweaking their own plans.... mark my words, we have not seen the last of the subject.

 

[Holy Joe]

Explaining the Bundesliga's 50+1 rule

Football in Germany is popular for many reasons: top-quality play, the highest average attendances in world football, low ticket prices and a great fan culture. A major contributing factor in this is the 50+1 ownership rule. bundesliga.com takes a closer look at exactly how and why it works...

www.bundesliga.com

Thanks - it's mystifying how they stay competitive at the Bundsaliga level. How does it work further down the pyramid, where sponsorship and TV money is presumably significanty less. Are wages just much lower?

 

[C'mon you Shrimpers]

I wish people would stop using the word investment. Investment in a football club reminds me of the old saying about having a yacht. Tearing up five pound notes while standing fully clothed under a shower.

 

[Westcliff DGS]

As I’ve stated on another thread, German fans do not have 51% shares of their club- the clubs are still association clubs and are not Limited Companies. Fans are given 51 votes out of 100 when appointing a board of directors and appoint a holding Limited company to run the day to day operations of the club (normally hold the other 49 votes).

Leipzig got around this by taking over the license of a 5th tier club, as they had practically no members- allowed Red Bull to assume 49/100 votes and 10 of Mateschitz’s mates became the “fan members”. They all then had a vote which stopped any open form of club membership.

The idea we can just get someone to give 51% of his/her shares away for free is just ridiculous.

Yes apologies i used a % sign for ease, but it is voting rights to do things at clubs and they give 51 out of a 100 so if the fans dont want it it doesnt happen.

But even then I still say an owner will not keep the same investment if he cannot do certain things he wants to

 

[Tommy2holes]

Signed

 

[ms brush]

Voted.

Remember that the proposed constitutional reform at the moment is just that - a proposal that the government have asked for, and the petition for 50+1% voting rights as per Bundesliga is one of the possible options. Every opinion has its merit and downsides, but the fact that clubs currently operate as limited companies, with private owners who can do what they like is the overriding issue here.

I would like to see football, particularly in the EFL and below to be run as community interest companies, where profits are automatically reinvested rather than taken out by dividends etc. That way, there is automatic reinvestment in infrastructure and it instantly detracts anyone who is only in for the vast potential returns generated by land, income streams from TV, commercial activity and player sales. Wont fix many current situations in many clubs, but as a fundamental reset is needed, legislation and a new operating rulebook is also urgently required.

 

[meerkat54]

The statement at the start of this petition is incorrect:

"Bring in a law which enforces professional football clubs to have at least 51% fan ownership similar to how the Bundesliga operates this rule."

German clubs do not have 51% fan ownership, in a financial sense.

The owners of German football clubs are not allowed to have more than 49% control when it comes to voting rights.

Fans do have a degree of control over the club through their voting rights, which is good.

This model however means that owners do not get overall control in return for their investment, which leads to owners being less willing to invest and to clubs being unable to compete financially with clubs from other countries.

The issue is not as simple as it is being portrayed.

Please bear this in mind when deciding if you should sign this petition.

Have you signed the petition ? just asking for a friend.