2016/17 Membership of FC United

You can now purchase your FC United Membership for the 2016/17 Season, £12 Adults, £3 Juniors u/16s.




Ewan MacColl’s Dirty Old Town is a wonderful folk song; a tale of factories, canals and the love of a place and its people. Our own version of it celebrating the building of our own football ground is imbued with a spirit of Mancunian defiance (ok so the original was written about Salford but you get the drift) and in the line “this is our club, it belongs to you and me??? neatly encapsulates the very special relationship that we have with our football club.

This thing is truly ours and one of the ways that is expressed is in the renewal of our annual membership. For the sum of twelve pounds, barely enough for three pints in town these days, we get an opportunity to own our own football club. You don’t need to be a Thai billionaire, a Russian oligarch or to have made a fortune flogging pornography or cheap sports gear, anyone can become a co-owner of this football club.

In British football we represent one of the few examples of a football club that is wholly owned by its supporters. Even at AFC Wimbledon, our inspiration back in the early days, the supporters’ Trust has a reduced (77%) stake in the club. Currently FC United has more than five thousand members making it the largest supporter owned football club in the country (by number of members) and our constitution ensures that the club can never be bought by an individual or a company. No fat cats can get their hands on our club.

Where fans at other clubs such as Blackpool, Newcastle United, Charlton Athletic and Leeds United are barred from the boardroom, treated with disdain and restricted to protesting to bring about change as co-owners of FC United we have a direct say in the running of the football club. Being a member of FC United of Manchester means that you have an opportunity to;

- Vote on all major decisions such as electing the board
- Stand for election to the board
- Observe a board meeting
- Attend bi-annual general meetings and put ideas forward in the form of resolutions or members’ votes
- Be involved in one of the club’s volunteer-led working groups or committees
- View board agendas, minutes and reports
- See the club’s financial and operational position and plans for the future
- Vote on admission prices for the forthcoming season
- Choose the new playing shirt for the next season
- Attend regular members’ meetings and board surgeries and ask the questions that matter to you
- Become a ball boy or ball girl if you are a junior member of 8 years or older
- Lead the players out onto the pitch as a match day mascot if you are between the ages of 5 and 14.

But with ownership comes responsibility too.

By signing up as a member you become a custodian of this football club and it is your responsibility to love it, cherish it and nurture it into achieving its full and very beautiful potential but at the same time ensuring that the club, in everything it does, remains true to its founding principles.

- The Board will be democratically elected by its members.
- Decisions taken by the membership will be decided on a one member, one vote basis.
- The club will develop strong links with the local community and strive to be accessible to all, discriminating against none.
- The club will endeavour to make admission prices as affordable as possible, to as wide a constituency as possible.
- The club will encourage young, local participation - playing and supporting - whenever possible.
- The Board will strive wherever possible to avoid outright commercialism.
- The club will remain a non-profit organisation.

The health of this football club rests on its members playing an active role in all aspects of the running of the club, asking questions of the board and remaining vigilant at all times.

Membership offers an opportunity to influence how the football club is run. There is no talking down to the fans as so often happens at bigger clubs, at FC United our one member one vote democracy means that everyone has an equal say in the running of the football club.

In order to help us plan and budget effectively for the 2016-17 season, we kindly ask all supporters to consider purchasing their membership for the new season as soon as possible.

Membership is £12 for adults and £3 for juniors under the age of 16 and the membership year runs from 1st July 2016 to 30th June 2017.

You can become a co-owner for the 2016-17 season in the following ways;

Buy	Adult Membership Here

Buy	Junior Membership Here

Alternatively you can,

- Fill out an application form and send it with a cheque payable to FC United to the club office - forms are available here. The address for the club office is FC United of Manchester, 310 Lightbowne Road, Moston, Manchester M40 0FJ

- Contact the club office during normal office hours by phoning (0161 769 2005) or calling in at the ground to pay by debit or credit card

- GoCardless Direct Debit scheme. By signing up to the Direct Debit scheme your membership will automatically renew each year. To join the Direct Debit scheme please click on the following link FC United Membership Direct Debit. If you have any problems please contact the office on 0161 769 2005 or email office@fc-utd.uk.

Thank you for your continued support of FC United of Manchester.

This is our club, it belongs to you and me.