My Football Club - Similar Projects

Similar Projects

Projects that are similar to MyFootballClub exist in both England and in at least 11 other countries. The ownership of the semi-professional English football club Biggleswade United inaugurated myBUFC in September 2007, which aims to put the management of that club in the hands of paid-up members, both on and off the field, in a way similar to MyFootballClub. The People's Club was launched in October 2007 and is a similar scheme looking to allow fans to acquire and run a lower-level English football club. Ownaclub.com, a comparable project founded in 2009, has a similar objective with the key difference being that rather than requiring fans to pay an annual subscription, a one off payment secures a permanent share of any acquired club.

Another UK-based project is Fivepoundfootballclub, an active community which aims to take charge of a lower league club in the UK, excluding England due to the higher cost required for success in that country. Members are required to donate £5 to the investment fund on joining. As of June 2011, this community had drawn up a shortlist for investment consisting of four clubs in the Welsh League system.

Projects outside the UK include:

• Brazil: MTDF, or "Meu Time de Futebol," was launched in January 2008 with the aim of acquiring a club in the second tier of Brazilian football by the end of 2008.
• Denmark: Mitsuperligahold, which was launched in August 2007 with the aim of acquiring a club in the second tier of professional Danish football, the First Division.
• France: Web F.C. allows its members, called "entraînautes," to vote on strategic and tactical decisions relating to a lower-level French club in the Ligue de Basse-Normandie through a website. Unlike MyFootballClub's members, members of Web F.C. do not have to pay a fee to participate in the decision-making, but the more they participate, the more value his or her vote is accorded.
• Germany: Deinfussballclub.de was launched in April 2008 with the aim of acquiring 49% of SC Fortuna Köln; a club that plays in the German Oberliga Nordrhein-Westfalen, a lower-level professional league.
• Israel: Web2Sport currently operates Hapoel Kiryay Shalom, a Tel Aviv club that plays in Liga Gimel, the sixth tier of Israeli football. Web2Sport allows voting on numerous club functions, including the composition of the club's starting lineup.
• Italy: Squadramia, which was started in January 2008, is an online community that seeks 20,000 members to buy an Italian football club. In late 2008 the web community purchased Santarcangelo Calcio 1926 a team in the Italian Serie D, the fifth tier of the Italian football system.
• Japan: Fujieda MYFC is a team playing in the Japanese regional leagues funded by online subscribers. The team which is based in Fujieda, Shizuoka, is the first of its kind in Japan.
• Poland: KupimyKlub.pl is a Polish project, was launched in May 2008. The purchase of the club is planned for season 2008/09 in the Polish league.
• Romania: Clubulmeudefotbal started on 7 July 2007 as an online community that seeks 50,000 members that are willing to pay an annual membership fee of 50 Euros and aims to buy a Romanian football club.
• Russia: MyFootballClub.ru has a proposed start date of 2007-12-10, but is not affiliated with MyFC.
• Spain: miclubdefutbol.com proposes to raise funds and buy a Spanish lower league club, as does Mi Equipo Favorito, which was launched in January 2008 with the aim of acquiring a club in a Spanish league.
• United States: In 2007, two efforts to crowd-own a team were underway, but have since become dormant: MySoccerClubUSA, which would have allowed fans who pay a fee to join a website which will start a club from scratch to play in either the United Soccer Leagues (USL) or the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), and SaveTheVictory.org, which attempted to raise enough money to purchase the now-defunct San Francisco-based USL club, California Victory.