When you think of club ownership, perhaps you imagine a wealthy businessman who want the best for the club and loyal supporters. However, this is not always the case.
Owners like Sisu of Coventry City, Roland Duchâtelet of Charlton Athletic and Massimo Cellino of Leeds United, have all endured protests by supporters and perhaps damaged clubs' well-being. On the 15th of October 2016, Charlton Athletic played at home to Coventry City at the Valley. As a result of both of the clubs' poor quality of owners, they both decided to unite by walking together to the ground, whilst protesting outside Roland Duchatelet’s and the board's offices. The protest enabled thousands of fans to join together and show their opposition towards the owners.
The Sisu ownership took over Coventry in 2007 whilst they were in administration. Since the reign of Sisu, they have been relegated to League One, lost the rights to the Ricoh Arena, the Sky Blues academy collapsed and now there are strong rumours that houses are to be built on the training ground. The club are currently sitting in the relegation zone of League One, which is another reason why Coventry fans are left so frustrated.
In contrast, Charlton fans despise Duchâtelet for different reasons like his misunderstanding of English football and the many managers they have had in the last couple of years. Going to the game itself, there was a very negative atmosphere amongst both sets of fans. As soon as the game was about to kick off, both sets of fans threw toy pigs on to the pitch as a protest to both owners being “greedy”. As a rough estimate, there must have been at least 1,000 pigs on the pitch. Throughout the game, both teams chanted in unison with chants like, “Sisu out” or “Tim Fisher is a…”.
Massimo Cellino of Leeds has taken a lot of criticism since taking over as the club owner in 2014. Massimo Cellino could be classed as a criminal in the future as he has been charged with tax evasion and fraudulent misrepresentation. So really should he have passed the FA's ownership test when he decided to buy the club?
There is much sympathy for Leeds fans. During Cellino’s reign at the club, he has caused uproar with his treatment of players like Sam Byram, whom he sold to West Ham. He also promised to get Leeds back into the Premier League but they continue to plummet.
In 2010, Portsmouth went into administration with £70 million worth of debt. Pompey had a horrid few years going from winning the FA cup final in 2008 with a squad of great quality to administration and three relegations. Thankfully, Portsmouth are currently 5th in League 2 and are now in a more comfortable financial position. Portsmouth are currently fully owned by the Pompey Supporters' Trust which has been very positive example as to why fans should have at least some ownership. The supporters' ownership is definitely having a very positive impact on the club and should hopefully see the club soon back where it belongs. However, the fans' group will lack finance when they get into a greater league so that may become an issue.
Another club who have endured a similar situation as Portsmouth, is be Real Oviedo of Spain. Real Oviedo have a very respectable history of being in the top flight of Spain and also qualifying for the European competitions on occasions. In the early 2000s, Real Oviedo were relegated for two consecutive seasons which led to the club having economic troubles and not being able to pay the players' wages. The financial restraints continued into 2012 where they urged supporters to buy shares of the club. Former stars of the club like Santi Cazorla and Juan Mata offered their financial support. On 17th November 2012, when Carlos Sim invested $2.5 million into the club which saved them from bankruptcy. Since then, the part fan ownership has been a success as the club are now in a good financial position and are in the second tier of Spanish football.
In conclusion, it could be suggested that fans make excellent part owners of clubs, although they cannot generate funds for Premiership. There are clubs that are owned by supporters like Portsmouth, Real Oviedo and Swansea city (where fans have a 25 per cent stake) and this works very well. Realistically, though, is it too easy for owners to take control of the clubs? Finally, should fans have a percentage of ownership in the club by law? It would make great sense.