This Tuesday we traveled to Kingston to learn more about a very successful fan owned professional club AFC Wimbledon’s stadium at their Kingsmeadow stadium. AFC Wimbledon is extremely unique such that it is one of the only football clubs in the United Kingdom where it is supporter owned. This elicits a whole host of novel advantages as well as problems that we have not seen in clubs like Arsenal. The stadium for AFC Wimbledon itself seats barely over 2,000 people and is shared with another football club. With its limited seating capacity, one of the pressing questions we had for chief executive Erik Samuelson is how AFC Wimbledon is able to generate enough revenue to compete in League Two of English football. Erik went briefly into the club’s grassroots history to illustrate the community support and mission of AFC Wimbledon. Their unique competitive advantage to remain profitable lies within their ability to do what many bigger clubs fail, not overinvesting. They avoid paying transfer fees all together and pay players proper wages.
The beauty of AFC Wimbledon that it is truly a community organization, and that was evident when we visited the club. Men, women, and children in the neighboring areas have dedicated countless hours and money in an attempt to better the club. In addition, AFC Wimbledon’s community roots created a natural resistance to owners’ attempts to moving the club to a larger corporation or selling it to a private investor. The difficulty will emerge as the club is not generating enough money to move up in the league (the team is in league 2). Without greater funding it will be difficult for AFC Wimbledon to joint the championship or to the premiere league. Even Erik said that he thinks that the club will eventually be sold to a large private investor.
In addition, James Mathie from Supporter’s Direct came to talk about AFC Wimbledon supporter’s ownership structure. Supporters direct is a UK based company whose premise is to make a trust to provide funding to community or member based clubs. This is exceedingly important because a major shortcoming of member owned club is a lack of financing. Mathie said he is focused on giving poorer supporters a voice in the politics of football. He also said he was a big proponent of the Green Bay packer model of football in America. Clubs in Germany must be 50 percent +1 supporter owned and their model are among the most successful in Europe.
Upon the completion of their new stadium, Erik plans to retire, but he offered some insight to upcoming issues AFC Wimbledon must face. In order to compete at the higher levels, additional capital is necessary and their supporter’s group majority ownership status will be challenged. Will a rich investor like Roman Abramovich for Chelsea buy the club and pour millions of pounds in pursuit of sportive success? Or will AFC Wimbledon be able to maintain its capital structure? Only time will tell.
Big thanks from Carleton to Erik and James for making today happen. We were extremely fortunate to hear directly from a club chief’s executive and gain an insider’s view on how this supporter owned club survives and thrives in English Professional Football.
