Frankie 8,151 Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 HAVING espoused the ââ?¬Å?sugar daddyââ?¬Â model of ownership when John Boyle bought the club in 1997, Motherwell are poised to return to their roots and become a membersââ?¬â?¢ club. Ironically it is Boyle himself who has made this possible. The travel company entrepreneur is gifting his 73% shareholding, and the freehold on Fir Park, to the club. Having received similar such share donations to take them up to the required 75%, Motherwell will now become an Industrial and Provident Society ââ?¬â?? which will mean significant changes to the way the club is run. ââ?¬Å?Weââ?¬â?¢re going to create two, or three, levels of membership,ââ?¬Â explains Leeann Dempster, the chief executive who was brought to the club by Boyle 30 months ago. ââ?¬Å?The first will be aimed at the regular punter, costing about Ã?£300. ââ?¬Å?There will also be corporate membership, and possibly a tier for wealthier individuals. We will start to publicise the scheme in the next few weeks ââ?¬â?? but regardless of whether you invest Ã?£300 or Ã?£5000 each member will get one vote. ââ?¬Å?The principle is one of democracy, and importantly a say in how the club is run, moves forward and develops. A supporter who invests more will get more overall benefits in terms of value, but this will not mean they have a bigger say than the regular supporters. This is a very important point.ââ?¬Â According to Dempster, Motherwell have posted a profit in six of the last seven years. The hoped-for Ã?£750,000 raised by the membership scheme will be banked, and used as a facility when cash-flow is tight. It will not be used to fund player transfers, nor to help finance a proposed stadium move to the new Ravenscraig site at some point in the future. Under Dempsterââ?¬â?¢s stewardship, and encouraged by Boyle, Motherwell have already made big strides towards becoming a community club. Fir Park is already the focal point for educational and fitness programmes, and once the members take control of the club, Dempster is hopeful that the links with the town will become even stronger. ââ?¬Å?Football is changing,ââ?¬Â she says. ââ?¬Å?There arenââ?¬â?¢t too many John Boyles around any more. And the question you have to ask is, do you want a John Boyle again? Heââ?¬â?¢s been great for the club but if heââ?¬â?¢d pulled his money out where would we have been? ââ?¬Å?Heââ?¬â?¢s giving us a legacy and we decided not to go down the route of a one-off share issue because once youââ?¬â?¢ve done that there is pretty much nowhere else to go. Weââ?¬â?¢re not just jumping on the community bandwagon. Weââ?¬â?¢ve been a proper community club since I came in here. We want to be Scotlandââ?¬â?¢s best community and family club, and weââ?¬â?¢re well on the way to achieving that. ââ?¬Å?Norwich is a club I look towards ââ?¬â?? over the last 10 years they have gone from 7000 season ticket holders to over 20,000. Itââ?¬â?¢s very much a family-orientated club with a good match day experience. We can do something very similar here. Our season ticket sales were up 13% last season. ââ?¬Å?Furthermore, football clubs weââ?¬â?¢ve been to on the continent, especially Odense, put themselves at the heart of the business community, not just the wider community. That is also something we have to learn from.ââ?¬Â Optimistic rhetoric is something Motherwell supporters also heard in 1997, yet some five years later the club was in administration. There are no easy solutions, but building the club up from the grassroots is the option which Dempster is determined to pursue. Will be very interesting to see how this works for them. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dutchy Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 I used to give Motherwell �£14, or something like it, a year to guarentee me a ticket for every Rangers game. It was a good idea and it was to help fund the building of the far side stand, opposite from where the away support sit. It's got a name, I don't think it was the 'Davie Copper' stand, or I may have remembered that. I'm sure it's named after some ex-Motherwell chairman, or maybe Tam Cowan. The 'Fat Bastard' stand,or sometnhing like that. lol 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stimpy 0 Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Good luck to them, I really do hope it works out for them. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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