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This list of fan-owned sports teams includes professional and semi-professional teams solely owned by fans/supporters, either via a collective organisation or where the assumption of majority ownership by a small group is prohibited by the club's constitution or governing documents. In some cases, the line is blurry between these teams and teams whose ownership is publicly traded. Teams playing at every level in each country are shown, and are sorted by home country.
All association football clubs in Argentina are owned by their members. Every club is organised as not-for-profit organization according to Argentinian law (asociación civil sin fines de lucro).
There are a few privately owned teams such as Crucero del Norte.
All football clubs in Bosnia and Herzegovina are registered as not-for-profit associations of citizens. However, in practice, only one club allows its members to democratically participate and vote in its General Assembly.
Although since 1993 Brazilian law allows for privately owned sport clubs, most of the hundreds of professional association football clubs in Brazil are owned by their members as not-for-profit organizations. These include many of the traditionally considered 12 major clubs in the country:
Acteurs économiques (22 %) Supporters (20 %) Collectivités (10 %) Salariés et anciens salariés (10 %). [84]
In Germany, majority control by a single entity (person or company) is not permitted by the Deutsche Fußball Liga, [85] and this is consistent with German law. The law requires a registered club shall have at least seven members when it is founded. [86] The German Football Association requires in its statutes that either a club, or a limited company which is controlled by a club with 50% + 1 vote, can get a licence to participate in the German first or second league. In the lower leagues, it is required to be a club. [87] [88]
An exception to the 50+1 rule allows a company or individual investor that has substantially funded a club for at least 20 years to gain a controlling stake in that club. This exception most notably applies to Bayer Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg. Both were founded as sports clubs for employees of major corporations (respectively Bayer and Volkswagen) long before the 50+1 rule was established. More recently, SAP co-founder Dietmar Hopp has gained control of 1899 Hoffenheim—where he had been a youth player—after having funded the club's rise from the lowest reaches of German football to the Bundesliga. [89]
RB Leipzig have been accused of bypassing the law through legal loopholes, essentially not being fan-owned and undermining the system.
Shares of Borussia Dortmund, a German Bundesliga Club, are traded on the German stock market and are largely held by fans.
TC Freisenbruch, a club which was founded in Essen in 1902, is managed completely by the fans. The team currently plays in the ninth division of the German football league. Since July 2016, the club is managed via a webpage, [90] where the fans can make their decisions about, for example, the starting line-up or the prices for the jersey.
All association football clubs in Norway are owned by their members. [104]
Benfica, FC Porto and Sporting CP football teams are also fan owned through a SAD for football as far as the club remains the owner of a majority of the SAD's stock. Some legal provisions are made to guarantee that in any case, the club have the last word on any major changes in the club and its SAD.
In Spain, most professional clubs in the top two tiers have been converted to public limited sports companies ( sociedad anónima deportiva , or SAD). However, four clubs have thus far resisted such a legal restructuring:
Many teams in the third tier and below are structured as members' clubs. However, a movement known as "popular football" ( fútbol popular ) began in 2007, consisting of clubs "that want to return to the democratic, social and community roots of the sport." [128] As of February 2021, there are 19 such clubs:
All sports clubs in Sweden are owned by its members. The Swedish Sports Confederation allows clubs to create limited companies together with investors as long as the club controls a majority of the votes. [131]
FC Luzern - Established in 1901. In 2023, a group of fans founded the association "FCL-Basis" and this association, which is open to all fans for membership, acquired 10% of the shares of FC Luzern-Innerschweiz AG for the amount of CHF 1 million. [132] Just a few months after its foundation, "FCL-Basis" already has more than 1,300 members, [133] all of whom now effectively own part of the club. In addition to various veto rights, "FCL-Basis" is also guaranteed a seat on the Board of Directors of FC Luzern-Innerschweiz AG. [134]
Chester F.C. is in the England section
AFL:
These clubs all operate sides in the AFL Women's league.
Division One
Division Two
NRL:
RFL:
In British sports, a supporters' trust is a formal, democratic and not-for-profit organisation of fans who attempt to strengthen the influence of supporters over the running of the club they support. There are over 140 supporters' trusts across England, Wales and Scotland and the majority of these are affiliated to football clubs, however trusts also exist for Rugby league and Rugby Union clubs.
AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Merton, London. The team compete in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system.
Stenhousemuir Football Club is a Scottish football club located in Stenhousemuir, Falkirk. They are a member of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League One.
Manchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester. The club was formed as Newton Heath LYR Football Club, the works team of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot in Newton Heath, in 1878. The club split from the railway company in 1892 and remained under private ownership for almost 100 years, changing its name to Manchester United after being saved from bankruptcy in 1902. The club was the subject of takeover bids from media tycoon Robert Maxwell in 1984 and property trader Michael Knighton in 1989, before going public in 1991; they received another takeover bid from Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB corporation in 1998 before Malcolm Glazer's stake was announced in September 2003.
Hapoel Tel Aviv Football Club is an Israeli semi-professional football club based in Tel Aviv that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The club's traditional home ground is Bloomfield Stadium. To date, the club has won 13 championships and 16 State Cups. In 1967, Hapoel Tel Aviv became the first club to win the Asian Champion Club Tournament.
Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gigg Lane was in continuous use by Bury until August 2019 when the club was expelled from the English Football League. The ground did not host competitive men's football between 4 May 2019, when Bury hosted Port Vale, and 29 July 2023.
Supporters Direct was an umbrella organisation set up originally by the British government to provide support and assistance for its member trusts to secure a greater level of accountability and deliver democratic representation within football clubs and within football's governing structures. Its first managing director was Brian Lomax, founder of the first supporters' trust at Northampton Town F.C. Supporters Direct also worked in other sports, most notably rugby league, as well as ice hockey. It was also funded by UEFA to work in football across Europe.
Manchester United Supporters' Trust is the official supporters' trust of Manchester United F.C., as recognised by Supporters Direct. The group, like other supporters' trusts, seeks to strengthen the influence of supporters over the destiny of their clubs through democratic supporter ownership. With a membership of over 200,000, it is the largest supporters' trust in the United Kingdom. MUST's members hope to be able to pool their funds to buy a meaningful stake in the club at a future date if the opportunity arises.
Wednesdayite is the largest independent supporters group for Sheffield Wednesday fans.
Supporters' Trust at Reading also known as STAR, is the official organisation representing the interests of supporters of Reading Football Club. STAR is the successor to Reading Football Supporters’ Club (RFSC), which was established in 1930.
Maccabi Ironi Ashdod F.C., commonly known as Ironi Ashdod, is an Israeli football club based in Ashdod city. In 1999, the club was forced to merge with local rivals Hapoel Ashdod to create F.C. Ashdod.
MyFootballClub is an English Industrial and Provident Society that sought, starting in August 2007, to recruit at least 50,000 football enthusiasts from across the world to purchase an English association football club. MyFootballClub's premise is to allow its paid members to control the club through a democratic voting process conducted over the internet. Member voting includes matters both on the pitch, such as team selection and player transfers, and off the field, like what type of food to serve at the stadium.
The Arsenal Supporters' Trust is the official supporters' trust of Arsenal Football Club, as recognised by Supporters Direct. The group, like other supporters' trusts, seeks to strengthen the influence of supporters over the destiny of their clubs through democratic supporter ownership.
The ownership of Arsenal F.C. and Arsenal W.F.C. is considerably different from that of other clubs in English football for men and women. It is owned by a parent company, Arsenal Holdings plc, which has relatively few shares which are infrequently traded. Historically, the club has been owned by descendants of the Bracewell-Smith and Hill-Wood families. The club attracted outside interest as two rival tycoons, Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov, acquired significant share holdings in 2007. In August 2018, Kroenke's offer of £550 million for Usmanov's share was accepted, and Kroenke bought out the remainder of the shares to become the club's sole shareholder.
Detroit City FC (DCFC) men’s team is an American professional soccer club based in Detroit, Michigan, that competes in the USL Championship. The club played in the National Premier Soccer League from 2012 to 2019 and the National Independent Soccer Association in 2020 and 2021. Detroit City plays its home matches at Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, an enclave of Detroit.
For other people with the same name see Huw Jenkins (disambiguation)
The Exeter City AFC Supporters' Society, known commonly as the Exeter City Supporters' Trust and abbreviated as ECFCST, or simply The Trust; is a supporters' trust consisting of fans of Exeter City, an English professional football club based in Exeter. It is the majority shareholder of Exeter City, controlling 53.6% of the voting shares in the club. Since taking control, the Trust has handed over more than £1.75 million to the club.
Bhayangkara Presisi Indonesia Football Club, simply known as Bhayangkara, is an Indonesian professional football club based in South Jakarta, Indonesia. The club are linked to the Indonesian National Police, with many of their players serving as policemen. Even the name of the club is based on a police rank. They have won the Liga 1 title only once in 2017. However, they will play in Liga 2 for the 2024–25 season following a relegation in the 2023–24 Liga 1.
Club 1872 is a supporters group for fans of the Scottish football club Rangers.
AFC Crewe is a fan-owned football club based in Crewe, England. They play in the Premier division of the Staffordshire County Senior League. The club was established to create a community-focused football team, allowing supporters to have a significant influence on the club's operations and decisions. The club is powered by NUFAN, a platform that facilitates fan ownership and engagement in sports clubs.
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