There was a Supporters Club meeting earlier this week with updates from a director.
The proposal is progressing and now hinges on approval from the Football Supporters Association (FSA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
All members are entitled to invest and have now received emails from the club to test the waters as to interest. According to the club, 80 to 100 people have indeed expressed interest, and they seem pleased, feeling they’ve reached the minimum target of £150,000.
However, based on my research, only 15% to 25% of initial respondents typically proceed with actual investments. If those figures hold, the club has likely secured only £15,000 to £30,000—just 1-2% of their £1.5 million target as of now. This shortfall must be deeply concerning.
Relevant Industry Data:
- Community Share Offers – According to data from the Community Shares Unit (UK), successful community share issues often see 15-25% conversion from expressions of interest to actual investment.
The club initially hoped for a swift conclusion but is now pushing the timeline to July. It’s unclear whether this delay is due to FSA/FCA stipulations or a recognition that more time is needed to drum up interest.
The board were left with an ugly legacy from the Murky 13 debacle, £200,000 was put in initially by Mercury and as the deal fell through this needs repaying, the good news is half of it has. The club is currently breaking even, which is great news.
The club lost another director, bringing the board down to six members. Two months ago, Kelly mentioned the board was under significant pressure and talked about co-opting new directors and engaging the vast queue of volunteers to help. Yet, no visible progress has been made. Effective, decisive leadership is critical at this point, but it’s hard to see how that’s possible given the current pressures on the board. Why has nothing happened?
It seems the club is now exploring other options. Three representatives from the FSA, who oversee fan-owned clubs, have suggested that the Lewes FC Holdings Limited proposal is problematic and have recommended a community share issue as a better route forward.
I agree. It seems unlikely that the club will come close to meeting its financial target. If they’re only managing to scrape together £25-40,000, a community share issue would make far more sense. It would preserve the fan-ownership model as it is.
At the moment, we seem to be going down an unnecessary path. The funds for the business plan are clearly not going to be anything close to embark on a significant business plan, and if the new proposal is just going to keep the wolves at bay, why are we pursuing it? A community share issue would likely garner more support and revenue without impugning the purity of our governance model.
Right now, there’s a general recognition of our financial struggles, but support for the current proposal remains lukewarm. The board needs to rethink the approach and pursue a community share offer. No matter what happens, the new Lewes FC Holdings board idea needs to be dropped. The club might find more suitors if they are not aimlessly trampling over the foundations of fan ownership.
The Rights of Fans. 