Why YOU need to “OWN YOUR FOOTBALL CLUB”
With the ‘Fans Led Review’ of Football being announced in Parliament, let’s take a few minutes to remind ourselves of its importance.
Football fans, have for years, flocked to watch their chosen team, often in the thousands and in their eyes it is ‘their club’ and it “belongs” to them.
However, in the eyes of the Law, it is a remarkably different matter. Football Clubs are categorised as “Companies” and under Company Law, the Company (Club) is, in fact, owned by its Shareholders. That is to say, whosoever owns more than 50% of the shares owns the Club.
In these circumstances, Owners can, for example:
- Opt to move the ground.
- Change the Club’s colours.
- Move the team to a new league.
Fans, who do not have a say, can do nothing about any of these decisions!
As we have all seen played out in the media, select Premier Club Owners wanted to start a European Super League. Fans strongly protested! Had there not been a strong lobby from Government and Football Governing Bodies, the fans’ protest, would, again, have meant nothing!
So what does this mean for fans of Hereford FC?
It is widely known that in 2014 the then “owners” of Hereford United got us relegated two divisions (from Conference Premier to Southern League Premier) without kicking a ball. Nobody saved us and HUFC went bust.
When Hereford FC was formed, a year later in 2015, the new ‘Hereford Model’ attempted to address this heartache and reduce the chances of the demise of Hereford United being repeated. At foundation, there were five Benefactors who each paid in £50,000 in return for shares in the Club. Individual Supporters collectively paid £39,000 in return for shares in the Club. HUST was granted the opportunity to match these 289,000 shares, over time, by progressive fundraising from ‘rank and file’ supporters.
The fully paid-up “Ownership of Hereford FC” would then consist of:
- Benefactors 250,000 shares (43%)
- Individual Shareholders 39,000 shares (7%)
- HUST 289,000 shares (50%)
Thus, none of the above would own more than 50% of Club shares. The collective cooperation of all of these would be required to make binding decisions concerning our Club.
So…. Why YOU Need to “OWN YOUR FOOTBALL CLUB”
At the time of writing (May 2021) HUST (on behalf of supporters) owns 240,000 shares (45% of the current issue). Nigh on a quarter of a million GB Pounds has been raised by ordinary fans who have given freely to help achieve the target of 50%.
We are one of the few Clubs in the UK who are leading the way in a Fan Ownership model that is currently being reviewed by the Government. Some might say, ahead of our time!
So if YOU want a say in how YOUR Club is run and ensure decisions, like Club colours and Stadium location, are driven by the fans for the fans, please join HUST as we represent the many, not the few. Your membership fee directly purchases 10 shares in HFC!
We are currently within touching distance of that 50% (289,000 shares). Please join us to achieve this fantastic important goal and so OWN A STAKE IN YOUR FOOTBALL CLUB!
#TogetherWeAreStronger Join HERE
