An article on co-operative ownership of football clubs in the League of Ireland.
Might be of interest to some in this group.
It looks at the success of co-operative ownership in Irish professional football and the threat of new investment to the model.
Can it work? Would you want to own your club?
Will big money kill off community ownership in League of Ireland? (rte.ie)
Exeter City in League One are actual fan-owned, as are AFC Wimbledon obviously.
Newport County (League 2) currently are, but look like they might be selling a 52% share Huw Jenkins.
A number of other clubs have at some point been fan owned (Wrexham for example) and there are plenty of examples in non-league (Bury FC, FC United of Manchester, Chester FC, 1874 Northwich etc.)
Notably, most of these clubs are either protest clubs or fans buying a club following horrid mismanagement.
Apparently there are also a bunch of other clubs which are minority owned by fans but it’s hard for me to confirm this with quick searches. So might be true for Accrington Stanley, Carlisle United, Lincoln City & Grimsby Town.
Heart of Midlothian might be the biggest example of a fan owned club in the UK however over in Scotland having gained ownership 2 years ago.
Exeters City are probably the best example. Biased as it’s my local club, but they have gone from strength to strength after becoming fan owned. It can be done if it’s done right. But I’m not sure it’ll be able to happen in the premier league. Way too much money involved.