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Arsenal Fan Share
Arsenal: Getting a Fair Share
Andy Greeves interviews Tim Payton, spokesperson for the newly launched Arsenal Fan Share scheme
In 2003, the UK Government backed the progressive idea of football supporters who wanted to be able to establish ownership of their clubs. It formed 'Supporters Direct' to help fans set up their own supporter trusts and at lower league level, the likes of Lincoln City, Chesterfield, Exeter City and York City were thrown a financial lifeline by supporters who went on to buy the clubs and prevent them going into liquidation.
Despite these success stories, 'Supporters Direct' is largely something of a white elephant in English football. The organisation has not received a penny of funding from the government since its foundation and over the last seven years, fundamental issues over the ownership structure of the game here have never been raised in the House of Commons.
Football fans have a feeling of 'moral' ownership of their respective clubs. What 'Supporters Direct' promised, but subsequently failed to do, was to give supporters of Premier League and Championship teams the knowledge and ammunition to gain concrete ownership of their clubs.
The business of English football has long been about investment from wealthy individuals or small consortiums. Most top clubs here are listed on the stock market, so essentially every club 'has its price' and can be traded in to the wrong hands accordingly. Not so in Spain, where the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona have been owned by their supporters for generations. The views of over 100,000 fans at both the Bernabeu and Nou Camp are genuinely heard, as those supporters who also own a stake in their team vote on all salient issues - including the election of club president.
It's this kind of structure that many supporters in the UK yearn, especially at the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool, where fans are protesting over the style of ownership of their clubs. The level of debt certain clubs have been placed in by their owners and the disharmony this has caused seems a million miles away from the democracy and custodianship at Real and Barca.
The Arsenal Supporters Trust has recently helped launched 'Arsenal Fan Share' - an initiative which aims to give its fans the kind of influence enjoyed by supporters in Spain and maintain plurality of ownership at Arsenal Football Club.
"The Arsenal Supporters Trust believes Arsenal Football Club is too precious to be owned by any one person," Tim Payton, spokesperson for Arsenal Fan Share, exclusively told Soccerphile. "Plurality of ownership ensures that the small and large needs of supporters' groups are best adhered to."
Arsenal Fan Share gives supporters a chance to buy fractions of full shares in Arsenal Holdings PLC, which currently trade at more than £10,000 each. A 'fan share' will cost £100, which in return secures shareholders rights and a balloted opportunity to attend the club's AGM.
Both Arsenal Football Club and Arsenal Supporters Trust are supporting the scheme, which launched in August. The slogan of the Arsenal Fan Share is "Shared Ownership, Shared Influence, Shared Value" and another key term of scheme according to Payton is "custodianship".
"What is vital to the long term future of Arsenal Football Club is the notion of custodianship - keeping the club in safe hands for future generations," he says. "The Arsenal Supporters Trust does not believe it would be good for the club to necessarily owned exclusively by supporters without that backing of prominent investors or vice-versa. But is seeking a balance and an insurance that supporter issues will be represented within any ownership structure of the club in the future.
"It must be pointed out that there can be a misconception that the only two 'types' of people that can be involved in the ownership of a football club – 'wealthy business people' and 'supporters'. Someone like Danny Fiszman, who owns an 11% stake in the club, is of course both a wealthy businessman and passionate Arsenal supporter. There has historically has been a bit of a divide between 'board' and 'fans' at clubs in the past. This is what we want to avoid – we want everyone to work together."
Ultimately Arsenal Fan Share is about "provide the opportunity for Arsenal supporters to share influence and ownership of their club," according to Payton. "It's about increasing the supporter stake within the club so we have a bigger voice," he continues.
Media speculation suggests the Fan Share scheme has already generated enough 'memberships' to enable to purchase of three full shares in Arsenal Holdings PLC. Speculation Payton is unable to comment upon.
"We can't disclose the amount of sub shares/memberships we have sold so far because of certain issues of commercial confidentiality. What I will say is there has been a very good response to the scheme and one which has exceeded initial expectations.
"We've received excellent support from both Arsenal Football Club and its fans since we launched the scheme.
"Although Arsenal Football Club have nothing to do with the running of the Fan Share scheme, they have given it their backing and supported us on the marketing and promotional side of things. This includes display of pitch side hording with our website address on and information in the match programme.
"The Arsenal fans have very much embraced the Fan Share scheme too and given positive feedback on its values and objectives. We've also received a warm response through the football world. Organisations like UEFA and the FA Premier League as well as renowned football writers like David Conn and Henry Winter have endorsed what we are trying to do and that is good to see."
For Payton, an Arsenal season ticket holder for nearly 25 years, and thousands of fans like him, the likelihood of Gunners supporters increasing their influence at the club through the Fan Share initiative seems likely if the opening months of the scheme are anything to go by. It is interesting to note that the Glasgow Rangers Supporters Trust launched a similar initiative this summer and if both schemes are successful, Fan Share schemes could become the norm at clubs up and down the country in years to come.
"Primarily I'm concerned with the interests of Arsenal and I'm not really here to comment on other clubs," remarks Payton, on the question of whether 'Fan Share' schemes could take off elsewhere.
Clearly, this Fan Share scheme has been set-up with Arsenal and Arsenal-alone in mind. So what do Arsenal fans ultimately want from their scheme?
"In ten/twenty years we would like to see Arsenal Football Club still in plurality of ownership, still running a financial model based on custodianship and for more supporters to have a stake in the club," says Payton. "Of course a nice collection of trophies over the next few decades would also be very nice too!"
© Andy Greeves & Soccerphile.com
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