For nearly 15 years Lewes FC have never really fitted into the community club mould. Too many directors from the outset simply followed a non-conformist independent and commercial directive. The rules of community ownership are enshrined in our constitution and have been neglected. Prior to the launch of Equality FC many directors fought to establish the principles of a community club for Lewes, but since Equality FC the quality of director has declined dramatically, as has any adherence to the principles of our constitution of community ownership. Indeed, so low has the bar sunk that we have seen the arrogance of characters at the helm of our club claiming we are a community club representing the international community and not Lewes. This is because the recent directors have run the club into such financial difficulties that they have had to rebrand to try and associate with the international community, rather than the Lewes community, as it is seen as a better option to raise finances through the membership drive which has already dramatically failed, targeting 3500 new members and getting nowhere near. In a rare mea culpa, even the board admitted the drive had failed.
This explains why two thirds of voting members during the Murky 13 debacle voted to begin the process to break up the principles of fan and community ownership in exchange for outside finance for three years. Frankly why hold onto and cherish something that is not fit for purpose? I get that. Community ownership at Lewes FC has failed and sunk to the depth of lip service and a mere branding commodity vehicle to attract do-gooding investors. Who of course have not come forward,
In brief, here are the main objectives of our constitution:
4.1 Enhancing the social, cultural and economic value of the Club to its Communities and by acting as a responsible custodian of the club for future generations; 4.2 Upholding the mutual ownership of the Club operating democratically, fairly and transparently; 4.3 Ensuring the Club operates with financial responsibility enabling the Club to be run for the long term interest of the Community; 4.4 Providing sporting facilities and opportunities regardless of age, income, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexuality, religious or moral belief; and 4.5 Playing at the highest level possible, but always operating in a financially responsible and prudent manner.
We currently tick one box out of 5: 4.4, which is the easiest as we already have a football club and facilities. 4.5? The Board got confused – ‘playing at the highest level possible’ was a reason to bring in Murky 13, but it’s 100% clear it must be in a ‘financially responsible manner’. Attempting to flog part of the club off and contradicting 4.3 (‘operated with financial responsibility’) is not by anyone’s definition sticking to the scripture.
Through Bonfire and the associated societies, Lewes is a town with volunteering and participation going through its DNA and a perfect fit for a community club. Sadly, too many people have got involved with the club and used it as a personal vehicle for personal agendas and run it contrary to our constitution. Who sanctions these? Where is the working group of Board and members that reaches out to the supporters to decide who and what we support? Nowhere, because the leadership of Lewes FC has been creating a brand, and brands need consistency of objectives. To rebrand as liberal trailblazers and ha ha ‘disruptors’ means you have to follow a specific pathway of associations. Vegan day is a good example of how out of touch the club are – championing minor issues that 98% of supporters are not interested in.
Launching Equality FC as your prima facie ‘brand’ and dropping it as soon as Mercury 13 come waving a wand, launching the meaningless Equity FC as a foil instead and then presumably realigning back to Equality FC, is just a dictionary definition of desperate, clueless and unprincipled.
But to what end? The leadership must learn lessons, and there are still people who have not learnt on the 2023/4 Board, that to create a thriving successful community club you need to operate like one commensurate with our constitution. Those still chasing the failed path of chasing commercialism over proper ownership are clueless and out of touch. And it is a hard thing to do, but our town at least provides a brilliant foundation to do it with. But such is the paucity of love for the community model not even 2% of the owners attend the online meetings and two thirds voted for the Mercury 13 investment. In fact most members didn’t even bither to vote on the fundamaetal pricilpes of the Murky 13 deal. So, what is the point? To me community ownership has been a fraud.
These seem to be our options moving forward:
1) Oblivion, the current preferred model
2) Rolling up our sleeves and the new 2023/4 Board turning us into a proper community club which will be difficult is as it appears some members of the Board prefer the oblivion option.
3) While we are a well-known entity in women’s football, large gates and a fab stadium, simply sell the club to a private investor on the condition of huge investment as well as fan representation and community engagement.
There is a simple case study here. You do not have to look far. The previous owner with private money took Lewes FC to the heady heights of the National Conference and left a legacy of the fantastic stadium we have now. Oh, and set up the Lewes Ladies, as it was then. Do you prefer the current model to good old capitalism?
So, what to do? As I have said elsewhere the Board need to stop chasing dreams and try to reinvigorate the principle of community ownership. They need a huge campaign to detoxify the mess we have drifted into and signal changes to draw in the talent that Lewes oozes.
Look, the members of the previous Boards were smart people with their own skill sets. But read their CVs and is there anything in any of them that suggests they know how or have any experience of running a football club with a turnover of £1.5 million and 50 or 60 staff? Not just the current Board but many previous directors since we have been fan owned. Would they get a look in if they applied to manage a normal ‘entertainment’ business? They’d be laughed out of the room.
To me we have to face up to the fact that maybe fan ownership does not work. The Board have to accept total responsibility for their decisions, but if nobody has challenged them and fought them, the fans and membership could do better. Chris and I have been the lone voice out of 2,500 members who have constantly challenged the club for 18 years. Who helped us? Nobody. A smattering of dissent over the years has achieved nothing. My fear is the encouraging uproar of dissent over Murky 13 has already faded and we are back to firefighting. The Board need to show leadership but do they have it? Why are they not warning members about the mess we are in. We have been in a financial hole for years but we were only told this to get us on board for potential Mercury 13 investment. We are not children!
My hope is that the new post-election Board take their responsibility to maintain the ethos of our fantastic constitution to heart and follow rigidly the guidelines within, rather than do just exactly whatever they want to do and continue to pick the parts that suit their own agenda whilst picking the club apart. Before it’s too late.
The Board, having repeatedly painted a rosy and healthy club – even so far as to repeatedly saying how healthy our finances were – changed tact with the Murky13 proposal and it was made perfectly clear we are in huge financial problems. Yet I see so little being done to meet these challenges from the leadership and the members. Is the glass of endeavour simply empty?
I will be candid here. Previous Boards have laid down a challenge to a large section of fans and members. It has been ‘a hybrid of private and fan ownership’ or ‘no way’. The section of members supporting the ideology of fan ownership need to raise their game from keyboard warriors to a tangible force to challenge the leadership and force a change of direction and proper community ownership model at Lewes FC. The future is bleak. Two-thirds of voting owners have preferred a fistful of dollars to pure fan ownership and unless the remaining third kick up a racket, just forget about the whole thing. I have researched various fan owned clubs and some work really well, but the ones, like Lewes FC, where the membership are seemingly unbothered, they do not.
At the end of the season or thereabouts the Board will sit down to discuss funding the club for next season, 2024/5. If, as we suggest elsewhere in the fanzine, many of those previous income streams we have previously enjoyed are gone, reality will kick in and the club will steadily decline. Too little has been done to address the huge challenges and we will decline into where we were ten years ago trying to make ends meet, but now without the benefactors to balance the books. The benefactors are currently due to end benefacting at the end of this season. Possible bankruptcy or realigning in the county league looms large, so would it not just be sensible to put the club up for sale whilst we can still call the shots? Selling a club in terminal decline is a case of taking what you are given. Doing it now might mean we are able to choose a more suitable bedfellow.
The recent failed move towards commercialism has left us in financial free-fall and a disenfranchised support base. As the finances unravel and supporters drift away, as budgets are slashed and the tools for the branding and razzmatazz are blunted by lack of resources we will embark on a new era. The board are making hopeful noises that the principles of proper fan ownership will replace the hybrid fan-owned/private model that has just capitulated, as the fanzine always predicted, but to rebuild the trust of so many hardcore fans and Lewesians will be the key to getting the club back on it’s feet and bringing the huge financial, intellectual, volunteering and experience that the club has on it’s doorstep back into the fold.
The Rights of Fans. 