MSPs back community rights to own football clubs

Fans could be given the right to buy football clubs, after the Local Government Committee backed a Green amendment to expand the scope of the right-to-buy principle within the Community Empowerment Bill.

If passed at stage three in the chamber, the legislation would give supporters trusts “first refusal” when a club comes up for sale. The amendment brings the principles of rural land reform laws, which help communities buy land, to supporters of football clubs.

Last summer Hearts fans organised to save their club after it fell into administration, and Green MSP Alison Johnstone told the Committee her proposal could be extended to successful clubs too.

"You also only need to look at Germany, where almost all clubs are fan-owned, to see how well this model can work," she said.

After the Committee backed the move Johnstone said it was "an extraordinary day for the future of Scottish football".

She thanked Labour MSP Ken Macintosh who co-signed the amendments. "We asked fans what they wanted, and they asked us for the tools to do the job and run their clubs responsibly for the long term. Today Holyrood has lived up to their aspirations," she said.

Macintosh said: “I believe it would be difficult for anyone in Scotland to stand up and defend the current state of Scottish football in terms of its accountability, its sustainability or simply its success. Football fans and local communities have not only lost out, they have been made to feel powerless, sometimes even taken advantage of or had their goodwill exploited."

The idea has been backed by anti-sectarianism charity Nil By Mouth. Campaign director Dave Scott said: "We welcome such strong cross party support for Alison's proposals for greater fan control and ownership of their clubs, and feel that this could be an exciting opportunity for the silent majority of fans to find their voice and use their increased position to bring about the real changes required to bring the Scottish game into the 21st century."