AN IDEA FOR ASHLEY FROM A FELLOW OWNER

Dear Mr. Ashley,

This letter comes to you from a part-owner of one of the most successful clubs in the world of professional sport. Based in a city a fraction the size of Newcastle, my club has won more trophies than any in its league, has filled every seat for every match in a larger stadium than yours for the past 50 years, and has never had to sink to embarrassing depths like selling off the name of our historic stadium when we've run short of revenue. Instead, when times have gotten tough, we've asked our fans for money. And they've said yes.

How have we managed this? By giving fans a small stake in the club. I own the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League along with 112,157 partners. None of us receives a dividend or any share of club profits. The bylaws of the club prohibit any of us from owning enough shares to threaten control. All but a few of us bought shares in modern stock sales that allowed thousands of fans essentially to split one vote on a large board.

But we get to attend a shareholders' meeting in the stadium one day each summer and have our say in how the club is run. We get a certificate to hang on our wall. And we get pride in being minor but official owners of the club we love. For us, that's enough of a return.

It wouldn't work with a club in which fans didn't already invest their hearts and souls along with a couple of hundred dollars now and then. It wouldn't work if there were other big clubs in the city to divide the loyalty of the supporters. It wouldn't work unless the fans had unparalleled passion for their team.

It might work with Newcastle.

There are huge differences between my club and yours. Mine is American; yours is English. Mine has the advantage of competitive protections like revenue-sharing and salary limits that are built into our league and not yours. My club is chartered as a nonprofit corporation while yours is profit-making. I don't know how or whether it's possible for Newcastle United to sell stock or give supporters a minority seat on your board (although I am aware of at least one historic English football club currently offering shares of ownership to fans). And while I'm a Newcastle United fan, I'm not a Geordie, so I don't know whether your native supporters would go for this, even if it were possible. Maybe some of them would like to weigh in with comments below and say what they think.

I do know this, though: It's a better idea than peeling the name of a Holy Apostle off your stadium and replacing it with a bumpersticker for your mail-order business. Even if you don't go for the notion of giving fans a stake in Newcastle United, perhaps you want to take a close look anyway at my wildly successful club, a club that shares many cultural and historical similarities with yours. Perhaps you ought to study the Green Bay Packers. Perhaps you should know what's possible when owners and supporters view each other as partners rather than adversaries.

Comments

[Ceefax]

Don't suppose you fancy buying the club?!

[Chris in Newcastle]

You're wasting your time trying to appeal to any sense of morality or decency in this man. He's an egotist, a spiv and a short sighted shyster. The funny thing is all potential investors know this so once again he's shot himself in the foot.

[M]

Funnily enough, I've always kinda followed the Packers. Started watching the NFL on channel 4 back in the early 90's and they were the team I was drawn to for some reason. This was back when the Steve Young-Jerry Rice 49ers and the Aikman-Smith Cowboys were the top dogs. A young Brett Favre was just starting out....

Anyway, I see u boys just stuffed the Vikes 45-7..... bit like spanking the mackems 5-1, haha!

[ady staff]

Well before the ' The Cockney' regime took over it was on the stock exchange in England, then the majority stock holders (non fans) accepted his bid, so
us fans had to sell our shares too 'Ashley' who in fact is a spurs fan....

[Son of St. James - Ever More]

Agreed. You'll get nowhere trying to reason with him. He cares about his pocket book, and screwing this club over. I understand now why firearms aren't allowed in the UK... if so, he'd be a dead man walking.