Football has seen its fair share of nonsense over the years but the takeover of Ebbsfleet United by the website MyFootballClub must surely take the cake.Twenty thousand people have paid £35 each to form the takeover fund to buy the club.
They will all become a 'part owner' of Ebbsfleet, and will vote on every major issue, from team selection to player transfers.
Club manager Liam Daish will see his job title downgraded to 'head coach'.
In theory, giving the fans control in this manner is a nice idea. But allowing people to play Football Manager for real is surely doomed to failure.
For instance, allowing members to pick the team will clearly cause numerous difficulties. Daish will apparently brief members on what he believes the team selection should be.
But surely opposing managers will sign up, see this brief and then have a massive advantage ahead of the game?
Similarly, asking members to vote on transfers will play into their rival's hands. Other clubs will be able to tie up deals while Ebbsfleet are still putting them to the vote.
Most importantly, there are the existing fans who love their club and don't want it turned into an experiment.
For years they have been coming week in, week out and know more about the club than anyone.
We wonder how many of the subscribers will fail to pay again next season. The money would dry up and once again in football, the fans would be the victims.
