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.
With its purchase of a majority share of Ebbsfleet United, MyFootballClub became the first online community to fully run a professional sports club in history.
[7] Shortly thereafter, The Independent reported that MyFootballClub had raised approximately £500,000 in the first 20 days it had been collecting funds from members to purchase a football club.
[8] On 3 September 2007 it was reported that Halifax Town had approached MyFootballClub in an attempt to save the football club from a winding-up order over unpaid taxes.
[9] In May 2008, it became public that the other two clubs besides Ebbsfleet United that MyFC had come closest to purchasing were League Two's Mansfield Town and Leigh RMI, then of the Conference North.
[10] On 13 November 2007, MyFootballClub announced that it had agreed in principle to purchase Conference National club Ebbsfleet United, which had been known as Gravesend & Northfleet F.C.
[15] Ebbsfleet United's first trip to Wembley Stadium, and victory in the 2008 FA Trophy added to the publicity for the project,[19] but questions about an internet society owning a football club remained.
[20] In August 2008, members of MyFootballClub were presented with the type of choice usually reserved for small board of directors: whether to approve a transfer of a player to another club.
[24] Even as early as September 2008, commentators noted that participation in votes on the MyFC website had decreased since the initial takeover decision, raising concerns about the ability of MyFootballClub to cover the continued losses at the club.
[28] Even with the £150,000 realised from the Akinde transfer, plus possible add-on fees, Ebbsfleet faced estimated annual losses of approximately £800,000, and their financial situation remained precarious notwithstanding the investment of funds from MyFC.
In April, with the threat of administration, a takeover bid by Spain-based Carlos Kabir Karani [30] was considered and approved in principle by both the Fleet Trust and MyFootballClub.
"[30]After Karani's bid stalled, MyFootballClub voted to hand over control to the supporter's trust [31] but this still would have left a shortfall of £100,000 in order to avoid administration.
A subsequent takeover bid from KEH Sports Limited, a Kuwaiti-based consortium, offered to clear the urgent debts and set a £100,000 transfer budget for the 2013–14 season, as well as committing to construction of a new stand at Stonebridge Road.
During MyFootballClub's control Ebbsfleet was relegated to the Conference South in 2009-10 but was promoted back to the national level at the first time of asking in the 2010–11 and in the 2011–12 season finished a respectable 14th.
[36] MyFootballClub received a "modest sum" from the sale of Ebbsfleet United, and in May 2013 were considering options for the Society, including sponsorship of a club or partial ownership.
[40] Media outlets from all over the world have also showed interest in the project, including news organizations from Australia,[41][42] Chile,[43] Germany,[44] India,[45] Italy,[46] Sweden,[39] the United States,[47] and Vietnam.
[50] Ownaclub.com, a comparable project founded in 2009, has a similar objective with the key difference being that rather than requiring fans to pay an annual subscription, a one-off payment secures a permanent share of any acquired club.
[52] Another UK-based project is Fivepoundfootballclub, an active community which aims to take charge of a lower league club in the UK, excluding England due to the higher cost required for success in that country.