A week to celebrate supporter ownership

FC United is supporting Supporter Ownership Week, a week-long event to highlight and celebrate the benefits of supporter ownership, organised by Supporters Direct (SD), the UK network of democratic football supporter organisations.

SD have been working alongside supporters for the last 15 years to make the dream of supporter ownership possible, and the week is celebrating the people who’ve done it, and the people who have taken or are taking the journey - the clubs who have been there, seen it, done it and the clubs who are just starting out.

During the week, SD will celebrate supporter-owned clubs and highlight how they work and promote the stories of the people who make them possible. SD are also looking to raise funds to make it possible for others to start their supporter-ownership journey and have launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise £20,000.

James Mathie, club development manager for Supporters Direct, said: “Supporter ownership of clubs is really building up a head of steam. We owe a lot of that to the 40 clubs that are inspiring the next wave to come through. At the moment we are at various stages of exploring and securing this ownership model for ten clubs, and we want to do more to encourage this growth still further, and support those that make it, to help them really see the benefits of the model. What is great is that increasingly we are working with clubs that recognise the benefits and choose to become supporter owned, rather than it being a model of last resort???

The work of Supporters Direct has been essential in creating 40 supporter owned clubs in the U.K with each club set up on the principle of delivering community benefit before a ball is even kicked. The mutual model of ownership places a club at the heart of its community and it is hoped that this fund will help to grow the network of clubs and deliver a legacy for years to come.

As well as the Crowdfunder campaign, Supporter Ownership Week will see online Q&As with key figures at supporter owned clubs, an SD-hosted drop-in session at the National Football Museum on 15 April and a special event focussing on “The Pompey Story??? documenting the trials and tribulations of how Portsmouth’s fans saved their clubs from the brink of extinction.

To promote the week, FC United’s players will be warming up in Supporter Ownership Week t-shirts before their match with Stamford on 18 April. The club will also be represented at the Football Museum drop-in session on 15 April. For further information about the week visit http://www.supporters-direct.orgYou can support the Crowdfunder campaign at http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/supporter-ownership-week