My Football Club - Ebbsfleet United

Ebbsfleet United

On 13 November 2007, MyFootballClub announced that it had agreed in principle to purchase Conference National club Ebbsfleet United, which had been known as Gravesend and Northfleet F.C. until early in 2007. Ebbsfleet United was chosen out of the nine football clubs that approached MyFC about a possible purchase. A process of due diligence was entered into, with "lawyers and the accountants...looking through the books and the accounts to make sure there are no skeletons in the cupboards."

On 16 January 2008, MyFootballClub publicly announced the terms of its proposed purchase of Ebbsfleet United and put the terms of the sale to a vote of its members. MyFC members had seven days to register their opinion on the club's £635,000 takeover. For the sale to be finalised, 50% of the votes cast had to be in favour, with no quorum required. 18,112 MyFC members voted on the takeover, with 95.89% (17,368 members) in favour of purchasing a controlling stake in Ebbsfleet United.

Current Ebbsfleet United manager Liam Daish voiced his support for the deal soon after it was publicly announced. Speaking on the official Ebbsfleet United website, Daish said:

"Everyone has worked wonders to get this club into the top half of the Conference. We all agree the club needs something extra to take it to the next step. As a football fan, I think the MyFootballClub idea is fantastic. And as the coach, I look forward to the challenge of working with thousands of members to produce a winning team. Alan Kimble and myself are 100% committed to making this work."

Opinions on the proposed deal were mixed, as Daish's view was echoed by some football fans, but others, including some people currently involved with the sport, were less sanguine about MyFootballClub's involvement with Ebbsfleet United. Even some football insiders were positive about MyFC's proposed purchase of Ebbsfleet, however, including a representative of Brentford, who told CNN that the deal was " a very positive move for football because the club is owned by people who have real passion for it."

Following the approval of the purchase of Ebbsfleet United by the members of MyFC in January 2008, the leadership of MyFootballClub stated that its members would be able to make decisions affecting the club in future, including picking the starting lineup for matches, but a later members' vote resulted in a decision to leave selection issues to head coach Liam Daish. Ebbsfleet United's first trip to Wembley Stadium, and victory in the 2008 FA Trophy added to the publicity for the project, but questions about an internet society owning a football club remained.

In August 2008, members of MyFootballClub were presented with the type of choice usually reserved for small board of directors: whether to approve a transfer of a player to another club. Ebbsfleet received a £140,000 offer from an unnamed club for forward John Akinde, and as the members of MyFC are the legal owners of the Fleet, they voted on whether to accept that offer. Shortly after the vote for members was publicly announced, it was reported that Championship side Bristol City had made the offer for Akinde. On 29 August 2008, MyFC members approved Akinde's transfer by more than an 82% percent majority.

Even with the £150,000 realised from the Akinde transfer, plus possible add-on fees, Ebbsfleet's financial situation is precarious notwithstanding the investment of funds from MyFC. The Fleet faces an estimated annual loss of approximately £800,000, and MyFC's monetary contribution may not be able to cover the deficiency. Some commentators have noted that participation in votes on the MyFC website has decreased since the initial takeover vote, and if members do not renew their MyFC memberships, it will reduce the funds available for MyFC to invest in Ebbsfleet United.

It was reported in November 2009 that an estimated 23,000 members that had originally signed up prior to the takeover of Ebbsfleet F.C. no longer visited the site, nor contributed towards memberships, leaving around 9,000 active members. By the time of the next membership renewal date, it emerged that the renewal rate had fallen to 20%, with only 800 out of a previous 4000 members still subscribing.

In the close season prior to the 2012-13 season, the membership stood at roughly 1300. A significant drop from the 32,000 peak, but still an active community which support the club both financially and in terms of time. An example of this continued contribution to the club was in June 2012, where the society paid for a new piece of important equipment for the groundsman Peter Norton.

Over time, the challenges that MYFC have had to compete with have been immense. Over the ten years Ebbsfleet have played at Conference National level the league has been populated with traditionally much larger clubs, such as Luton Town who enjoy average attendances which regularly top 6000. These full-time clubs, along with non-league clubs who possess enormous budgets have made competing at the level of football Ebbsfleet play at very difficult for any club who attempt to budget sensibly. Despite this, during MYFC's control Ebbsfleet have managed to hold their own overall. Relegated to the Conference North in 2009-10, they achieved a promotion back to the national level at the first time of asking in the 2010-11 and in the 2011-12 season finished a respectable 14th; above many clubs with average attendances that dwarfed their own. Despite criticisms of the ownership model which point at a decrease in membership numbers, under it Ebbsfleet have so far survived relatively unscathed in a period of turbulence at the level of football they play. In recent years clubs Ebbsfleet have faced over their period in the Conference such as Halifax Town A.F.C., Chester F.C., Darlington F.C., Weymouth F.C., Northwich Victoria F.C., Kettering Town F.C., Grays Athletic F.C., Rushden & Diamonds F.C., Salisbury City F.C. and Scarborough F.C. have all faced financial problems with one way or another have contributed to them dropping out of the league. The hope is that the society can continue running Ebbsfleet within their means and with initial issues sorted, begin to grow membership numbers again to push the club on.