The formation, organisation and management of myfootballclub: Implications for marketing practice

Abstract

In January 2008, an internet-based company, MyFootballClub (MyFC), completed the purchase of Ebbsfleet United, a small English football team playing in the nonprofessional Blue Square Premier League. The company's plan was to attempt a revolutionary management structure where fans, paying an affordable annual membership fee, could take over ownership of the club and, through democratic online voting, make every major decision concerning the club, from team selection to choosing sponsorship deals. This paper will present a case study of MyFC and examine how the organisation was formed, how it is organised and how it is managed. It starts by outlining the project background. The following section relates the objectives, which are split between tactical and general. A description of the strategy adopted by the team running the project and the tactics will follow. In the next section, the results achieved by MyFC will be presented, followed by a conclusion. We acknowledge that the project presents an evolution and a new alternative in terms of football clubs ownership. On the other hand, although the project can be deemed fairly successful in the short term, attention needs to be given in the long term to some manifestations of the members of the community. © 2008 Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.