Search: ' Supporters Direct'

There are still some excellent webzines about, but the intervention of the real world – aka family life – is taking its toll. Ian Plenderleith talks to the duo who have retired with Watford at (well, nearly) the top

When the internet first became a part of our daily lives around the mid-1990s, everyone who thought they had an opinion worth hearing rushed to sign up and let the world know their views. Football fans were among the surge of previously disenfranchised citizens ready to exploit the new age of ultra-democracy and a million club webzines were born.

Read more…

Justin McCurry examines the issues facing clubs looking to conquer the Japanese market

It is a measure of English football’s global reach that the American owner of an English club has plans for commercial expansion in Asia. His description of Liverpool as a “franchise” might have upset traditionalists, but George Gillett’s enthusiasm about the commercial potential of the Far East has a predictable ring to it.

Read more…

As some clubs impose a price freeze or even cuts in response to poor crowds, a campaign has been launched to give a fair deal to away fans. Tom Green reports

How much are you prepared to pay to watch a game of football? With millionaires on the pitch and billionaires taking over the clubs, is it fair that the fans should be paying more in England than anywhere else in the world?

Read more…

Tom Davies on clubs in crisis

The supporters’ campaign to force Mansfield Town owner Keith Haslam to relinquish control of the club has been ratcheted up in recent months, with demonstrations, boycotts and even a plane fly-past display at the away game at Notts County. Haslam announced that the club was for sale on March 19, but there is widespread scepticism about the substance of this offer: the owner has form for frustrating previous expressions of interest by not ­providing enough information to bidders.

Read more…

Lyon attempt to cement their domestic dominance by floating on the stock market. Steve Menary reports

Olympique Lyonnais dominate their domestic scene in a manner few can match. They have won the past five French titles and are on their way to a sixth, 16 points clear with nine games left at time of writing. Yet though they are routinely tipped as potential Champions League winners, Lyon have always fallen short. To provide a bigger challenge to English, Spanish, Italian and German clubs, they want to quit the 42,000-capacity Stade Gerland and move to a new stadium seating 60,000 and costing €300 million (£200m). They decided a stock-market flotation was the best way to finance the move. But why did the European Commission, which is interested in promoting greater ownership of clubs by fans, force the French government to change the law in order to help Lyon out?

Read more…