Is a supporter ownership model possible at Barnsley FC

"Is a supporter ownership model possible at Barnsley ?"

Not if she's too skinny, apparently.

 

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That does not seem to me to be much of a register of interest in the subject. It might be, as one poster pointed out, that there just is no urgency to the situation because the club is not in imminent financial peril, but I doubt it. I know that this is probably not a statistically accurate statement, but there seems to be no significant interest in the fans becoming owners of the club. In which case, it looks like Mr Cryne is stuck with it for the foreseeable future. He cannot sell it and he can't even walk away. What an awful situation he finds himself caught up in.

 

The club may be closer to financial difficulty than you acknowledge, Red Rain. The track we are on at the moment means we are headed for relegation without a significant change in direction. I believe that will hit the gates more than people realise. On past form, that will lead to a further downgrade in the calibre of players recruited, and more of the same. As you have pointed out before, the club needs significant investment in order to break out of this cycle. I know you disagree, but I'd focus the initial thrust of that investment in obtaining a really good quality, experienced manager. (Not head coach).

 

Supporter ownership means the fans would be in effect settling down to a lifetime of supporting a club that could never progress anywhere.
Yes, I know we're going backwards now but there's always the chance someone will come in and improve things at the top with new investment.

You'd never get that injection of extra cash if needed, there'd be no investment in facilities, there's hardly any staff at Oakwell as it is and most would lose their jobs under fan ownership with people expected to volunteer instead. Its crap as it is with hardly anyone in the West Stand but to close it totally would be embarrassing and help kill the atmosphere stone dead. The land would be sold off and the Academy would shut and we'd have a nice little 4th division community club.
Its new investment we need and im sure if Cryne, Watkins, Mansford , Lynton really wanted to they could find some more investors.

For me its just the easy option for Cryne to get the club breaking even for a season then drop it into the fans laps and say here you go, the correct handover would be to new investors, shareholders and give the fans some hope of moving forwards not just existing.

 

Why would anyone want to buy Barnsley unless your a fan. We're a small town club no one want us are owner wants out. It like whe are on death roe waiting to die. Trouble time are coming!

 

Every other club managers to find someone to buy them . The club has got a good fan base with potential to grow and crowds would double with relative success. The best option would be to offer shares in the club to local business people and have a full board of investors rather than one man carrying the burden.

 

I did not want to get into the whys and wherefores of our current position. Both sides of that argument have stated their positions again and again. It has been done to death.

It is common knowledge that PC is looking for a way out. I am sure that his ideal scenario would be to find a new owner, but that is difficult because he is looking for someone who wants the club not simply so that he can make a profit by developing the land. He wants a safe pair of hands and those are few and far between for small town northern clubs like us.

I have become convinced that his best chance of getting out would be to let the fans have it, put in enough cash to provide working capital until it gets on its feet, and simply walk away. But he can only do this if he can set up the deal so that the fans cannot overspend and put the club at risk of administration and closure. I thought that there was probably no interest amongst the fans, but I decided to do a totally unscientific analysis to find out, just for my own interest.

I was right. The fans are used to having access to a money fountain. A place where you can go and press the right buttons and you get more money injected into the club by the owner. It is much better than the alternatives and they do not want to go back. That is fair enough if you have a willing owner, but it is affecting his health, and though his pockets are deep, it cannot go on for ever. There has to be a way out for him if he wants it. He has done enough.

 

Another Clique

On a serious note I don't think a fully fans run model can be successful long term. I mean full fans model as in not with a major investor. May be ok short term in the lower / non league. I'm not sure 50% of our fans would provide £1k per year, every year on top of everything else. Imagine getting into championship and the cost model change.

But this doesn't have to be all or nothing. Perhaps there is room for Pat staying and say holding a significant holding. Say 49%. He can still be on the board and even be chairman. But a wider voice of fans and some investment generated from fan base could contribute. I'm not sure Pat is team player or not and would work with a real board of X directors. This would get some new thinking in the club, a wider board membership reduces risk on major decisions (unless the full board are inept) such as management appointments, partnerships etc. It has to be right people though, after all if we think we can run a football club without too much experience why can't we coach, manage etc personally I'm a fan and that's as far as it goes for me.

 

That's fair enough, but the current position is surely relevant to what any prospective investor would get for the money they put in. The scale of the problem is highlighted by this (incomplete) table:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_football_club_owners

What would be a realistic amount of money for the owners' group to go in with? 10,000 fans investing £1K each would raise only £10M. That would leave you low down on the list of owners by wealth (admitting the list isn't complete). The reality of it is probably that with even double that sum you'd be bumping along much as we are now. My conclusion therefore is that it's a wholly unrealistic prospect, unless it represented the only way of saving the club (which leads back to current position!).

There are many other issues. The 50/50 ownership by PC and BMBC of the land and assets. Would that be included? If not, what would the invsetors be getting for their money? A series of contractual obligations? Has Patrick sunk his money into the club, or are loans due to be repaid for him in respect of the amounst he has put in to shore up operating costs? Would he take the benefit of any sell-on clauses? (Okay, one!).

All in all, I can't help but feel that the only prospect of progress is for us to acquire a richer sugar daddy, such as the one Matthew WAB claimed was interested a year or so ago.

 

2 questions: Is it really up for sale now or in the near future? What exactly will be up for sale, Buggar all or the job lot?