Clyde look to emulate Barcelona

Jun 10 2009 by Will Henshaw, Rutherglen Reformer

THE CLYDE Supporter’s Trust are looking to emulate Barcelona as they seek to change the club’s ownership structure.

As things stand the Bully Wee is a private limited company and the trust believe that copying the structure of the Catalan giants will bring more sensibility to decision making.

Barca is owned by its ever-growing membership of 'socis' (members), who pay a fee each year and are represented by a randomly-selected group who meet with the board and vote on major decisions.

These representatives have a major say on significant issues such as sponsorship, finances and sporting affairs, while the president of the club is elected in four-yearly polls.

Thus no one group can buy the club and gain control of affairs without the approval of these socis, helping to avoid any one party taking control of the club purely for financial gain.

Trust director Gordon Thomson explained why the Bully Wee are looking to adopt the structure: "We are looking for change; change that will introduce a mutual structure to give all its members equal standing, change that will enhance the governance of our club, change that will streamline the ways in which decisions are reached and change that will transform how we as a club interact with the local community.

"Though the vast majority of the club is owned by Clyde supporters, its status as a private limited company is inappropriate to take the club forward.

“It can lead to division among our fans as some are shareholders and others are disenfranchised from the decision making process. For a club of our size we believe that is detrimental to our potential to grow if we are not united.”

Gordon revealed that this change in operation has been in the pipeline for over a year and that the structure of the Nou Camp club represents the way forward.

He added: "After relegation to the second division it may sound bizarre to look to the Champions of Europe for guidance but we believe the structure at FC Barcelona represents the way ahead for us and, regardless of the massive gulf in status, its guiding principles could be applied at Clyde.

“This is not a reaction to relegation, it has been in the planning for over a year.

"FC Barcelona demonstrates the relationship between member democracy, commercial strategy, corporate social responsibility and sporting success.

“We want all stakeholders in our club to discuss the fundamental changes required which will change our structure from a traditional style private limited company.

“The present structure is designed solely around the financial interests of shareholders - compare that to a mutually owned structure that has at its very heart one member one vote, community involvement and of course working towards sporting success.

"The Supporters' Trust is delighted to lead on the consultation process. This process will include discussions with all supporters, Trust members, shareholders, the Clyde Development Consortium, the football club board and key strategic partners in the communities surrounding Broadwood - they are all capable of taking part. We envisage this process to be concluded prior to the end of this year.

"Clyde face many challenges but we can’t afford to just focus on the immediate, we need to look ahead and use this time as a period to rebuild our club and develop strong roots in our community.

“This will need the involvement of all sections of our support and that is something the Trust is committed to deliver, with strong support from many members of the club and CDC boards already pledged."