Ambitious Lowland League side Edusport Academy aim high

Edusport Academy owner Chris Ewing, centre, launches ourfootballclub.com with head coach Ricky Waddell and assistant Colin Cameron. Picture: SNS

Club owner Chris Ewing could never be accused of  lowballing what he believes is possible through a “new business model” wherein supporters will buy £25 membership and in turn decide on the rebranded club’s name,  colours, budgets, scouting targets and all manner of other aspects in an “immersive” engagement.

The Pollok-born 39-year-old, once on the books of Motherwell, believes he can establish an online fan community that can propel a club that effectively has no history, fanbase or home into a Premiership outfit by 2025.

It is an ambition that, frankly, appears pie in the sky. But all he is asking for is that the dish he believes the new club can serve up not to be judged before the open-minded among the football fraternity give it a taste.

Ewing knows his plan for a club distinct from the Academy – which was established in 2011 and is principally populated by young French players who undertake a one-year residential programme in Scotland – will be open to ridicule and derided as “a gimmick, a PR stunt, and all that”.

He is prepared for all that. Set against that he also believes, however “cheesy” it might sound, that “you can never underestimate the power of people”. He believes they will embrace an “innovative” model that will allow them to have a voice and a say in matters at the club with “soft votes” for things like colour schemes, and “policy votes” that will cover key decisions on the direction of the club, such as budget dispersal.

It is fan ownership meets Fifa Ultimate Football Manager meets football docu-soap by providing content, contact and human interest stories from the heart of the club. All without compromising the necessary “professionalism” or the role of the manager, who will have sole responsibility for team affairs.

“If you give a project to people that are genuinely interested in it then it could be huge,” said Ewing, with his Lowland League club currently based in Annan because he has struggled to find facilities for it in what he considers its natural central belt home.

“What we are trying to do is create an interest where there’s never been before. This is a brand new concept. There will be sceptics….‘there’s a lot of clubs in Glasgow, how is this one going to be different?’ But people just need to go on the website, look at it and listen to interviews. We hope they will like it and buy a membership and see how it progresses. I have this club, and it is just myself with no politics, and I am opening the door for people to be involved in it.

“It’s about being creative and giving them that immersive experience. For example, imagine we have 10,000 members, we have £250,000 at the start of the year, the fans, the membership will have a say on the allocation of that budget. If we reach 10,000 members we will ringfence £50,000 to grassroots football development here in Scotland and the fans/members will be able to decide how that is best spent. Is it going to be investing in youth, is it going to be getting the best players that are available here in Scotland.

“There is obviously going to be a board of directors, selected by the membership. It doesn’t need to be people from Scotland, these days it can be done online through Google hangouts, Skype, those sort of things, so people all over Europe with different skill sets, and better competencies, can run the club. At the end of the day it is a real football club, you’ve got to keep that in mind. If you look at MyFootballClub in 2008 [which owned 75 per cent of Ebbsfleet United], within a period of a year they were able to generate 52,000 members across the world. I’m not saying we could get that amount but if we get 2,000 to 3,000 then it would be a positive start.”

Yet even before the club is up and running, Ewing, with admirable frankness, admits the clock will tick down rapidly on being able to make it work. In the next year-and-a-bit he considers all will be revealed. He may have extraordinary ambitions, then, but those come with a hard-nosed realism when it comes to performance indicators for a club that, in its current form, lies 11th in the 16-team Lowland League.

“This is what is exciting about this project, it has huge potential, but you just never know,” said Ewing. “It would be excellent if we could generate enough members this year so that next year we have the resources in place that we can get a better quality footballer in place and challenge for the Lowland League. What I do believe is if next season we don’t challenge for the Lowland League, or don’t win the Lowland League, the bubble has burst and this project hasn’t worked.

“That has to be key because this is a project that’s going to be based on momentum. So if next year it is the same as this and we are middle of the table, or fighting relegation, then people are going to say ‘aw, whatever, it was a good year but it’s not for me’. If we win the league or are up round about it and fighting for the championship people are going to say ‘ah, ok, we are going in the right direction’.

“People will want to see progress and if they see that, then they’ll have confidence in the project. Next year is key, that is a big, big thing for us. I’m just being honest by that. Totally, totally, honest. Next year is really, really key. So a lot of pressure is on our coaches Ricky [Waddell] and Colin [Cameron] to get it right.”