Graeme Macpherson

Power to the people? It may not be as far-fetched as it once seemed. There is a growing feeling among a section of those perceived as the proletariat of 
Scottish football, the fans, that the 
traditional model of limited liability companies or family dynasties running clubs could be gradually coming to an end.

Rangers supporters met with representatives from Hamburger SV and Espanyol last weekend to see what lessons could be learnt from these clubs’ transition to supporter-owned entities, but they are not the first Scottish club to pursue this populist alternative.

Stealing a march on them is the Stirling Albion Supporters’ Trust who launched their Buy Stirling Campaign in May this year with a view to becoming the first community-owned club in British senior football.

To do so, they must find a way to melt the heart of Peter McKenzie, the club’s octogenarian owner, who has expressed a willingness to sell up and move on but has proven difficult for the Trust to deal with. To add to the supporters’ frustrations, the club has been taken to the brink several times in recent months due to unpaid bills, with a debt of £70,000 still owed to the local council before the end of the month.

It is to their credit, therefore, that the Trust have not allowed those setbacks to blunt their creative edge, and they have not been short of ideas. Led by Paul Goodwin, a marketing professional with several high-profile campaigns for blue-chip firms adorning his cv, their plans are both radical and wonderfully simplistic at the same time.

While others view a blank piece of paper as a challenge rather than a comfort, Goodwin and his hardy band of followers see it as an opportunity to show what you can achieve when freed from the constraints of traditional club management.

A slick, professional-looking website gives details on how supporters or curious surfers can become a part of this bright new future, and what you get for your £40 (voting rights on “major club decisions”, weekly manager video updates, and a guaranteed trial for those who fancy pulling on their boots, among other things).

Already high-profile figures such as Andy Murray, Gordon Ramsay and Cristiano Ronaldo have pledged their support, with Goodwin hoping to utilise his business contacts to get the Real Madrid forward to give further public backing to the campaign, a spectacular coup.

“In my marketing head, there are no barriers,” he said. “So I thought, let’s get Ronaldo. And it’s about who you ask, how you ask it, and what you ask them for. I had been doing some work for Soccerade, a brand of sports energy drink that he co-owns and that launches next year.

“It was free publicity for them and I asked if Ronaldo would support our campaign in return. He liked the idea and gave us some quotes. We’ve got a couple of other things that we’re working on with him at the moment. We also want 
to present him with his certificate, which in turn will hopefully drum up fresh interest in our campaign in Spain and Portugal.”

Goodwin had been asked to bring his expertise to try to save Clydebank when it emerged they were in real financial difficulty seven years ago. Time ran out on that venture, but his ideas did not go to waste when a friend asked him to join the Stirling Albion bandwagon.

“We had looked at the Ebbsfleet United thing [where members of a website pick the team and make transfers], but we were never going to get what they did as it’s always about first to market, albeit it we’ve got the unique 100% per cent community ownership thing,” he added with infectious enthusiasm.

“So we looked at it what we could do and I brought out a list of activities from the Clydebank days and we worked out a plan. It was always about being positive and pro-active. If you look at the clubs who have folded in recent times, history tells us that if you wait until the very last minute you’re stuffed, as you have no time to fix it.

“The idea, therefore, behind the Buy Stirling Campaign was to fundraise as much as possible, gain a high profile, and create things that were compelling and make people go, ‘Hey, that’s different, these people know what they are doing’.

“Our bids for the club, and the subsequent rejection, weren’t part of the plan, but the media coverage of that helped raise awareness further and persuaded more people to sign up. It also helped build our credibility. We have a robust business plan and a good working relationship with the council, as we want it to be entirely a community project.”

Other ideas are stored, ready for use once/if the Trust assume ownership, including a controversial, but very lucrative, plan to re-brand the club’s name. “Phase one is getting the club and phase two is what you do when you’ve got it,” added Goodwin, who generously donates his time and effort free of charge.

“We won’t have someone writing cheques any more, as it’s a new business model, so the fundraising will never go away. We need to get up to about £800,000, so not only do we save the club but we have enough money to see it running on a sound, even footing.

“When people see it in action one day as a working case study, they might wonder if it could work for their club as well.”

Goodwin, though, will not hang around to assume power come the revolution.
 “At that point they will have got enough out of me,” he added. “And I couldn’t do it anyway, as a Partick Thistle fan.”

For more information, visit www.buystirlingalbion.org.uk