While the Premier League is one of the world’s most successful sports leagues, loyal fans have often been unhappy with rising prices, lack of accountability and poor matchday experiences. This has led to fan protests – most notably the large demonstrations against the proposed European Super League, which would have undermined the very basis of the open competition which underpins English and European football.

The owners of clubs often feel remote and unaccountable to fans and supporter groups. In the worst instances, they have changed these much-loved institutions in an abrupt manner – whether that’s the club’s colours, name or badge. A survey by the Football Supporters Federation found 90% of fans wanted greater representation at board level, with more than 75% feeling clubs did not care about them or their views.

While historically English clubs have been privately owned institutions, the situation is different in many nations across the globe – including most prominently in Germany and Spain.

FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid are some of the biggest names in world football. With millions of fans across the globe, they have become world-leading sporting institutions and businesses – drawing people from across the globe to their home cities. What separates them from their English equivalents is that all of them are built on fan owned models – putting them fans in control of their present and futures.

In Spain, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are fully member owned clubs – with membership being held by thousands of ‘socios’. The fan owner socios take part in the democratic processes of the club – voting in the AGM, the appointment of the Board and Club President. The socios have significant say over the direction of the club – most recently rejecting changes to the club’s crest and approving the redevelopment of the Camp Nou stadium. This ensures both Spanish football giants remain intrinsically connected to the communities, cities, and regions they represent – while remaining globally competitive.

The German model is different from the fully-owned Spanish model – but maintains the vital ‘golden share’ for fan owner groups. Operating as a ‘50+1’ model, the German system enables clubs to bring in external investment into clubs while ensuring fans remain in majority control of club direction through voting rights. This meant the Bundesliga (German league) clubs have remained considerably cheaper matchday experiences for fans. In 2020, the cheapest season ticket for champions Bayern Munich was less than half the price of the cheapest season ticket found in the Premier League.

The fan owned model is not purely limited to football – but is found in a variety of sports and leagues globally. In Australia, the AFL Australian Rules teams and most NRL rugby league teams are fan owned clubs, while in the United States, the most successful NFL team – the Green Bay Packers – are owned by approximately 500,000 fans in a not-for-profit model.

The fan owned models in Spain, Germany and Australia demonstrate the model can provide inclusive, accountable sports clubs that are globally successful. Importantly, they can ensure the vital connections between fan, community and club are safeguarded for the long-term.