L’Aquila Me’, the supporters’ trust at Lega Pro club L’Aquila, have presented a proposal to their club for the trust to acquire a ‘golden’ shareholding, of 1% but with a number of key rights attached.
The trust hopes that the proposal will lead to a strengthening of the relationship between the club and its local community, and have developed the proposals with the advice and assistance of Supporters in Campo, the Italian national organisation for democratic supporters’ groups.
The proposed rights attached to the shareholding are:
– The right to nominate one or more member(s) of both the club board and supervisory board. Or, alternatively;
– The supervisory board only, provided that the veto rights which, in the trust’s proposal, should be attributed to the board member appointed by the trust, are left to the competence of the club’s members and attributed to the trust;
– Veto rights over changes to the club’s colours, name, trademark, transfer of trademark, and registered address;
The right to veto any proposed mergers;
A guarantee that the stake paid by the trust in order to acquire the shareholding will only be used to cover any future losses if the stakes of other shareholders do not suffice.
In a letter to their club which outlines their proposal, the trust refer to the growing number of Italian supporters’ groups playing a role in the decision-making process at their clubs – including fellow Lega Pro Girone B side U.S. Ancona 1905, which recently became the first professional Italian club to be owned and managed by its local community.
The example of Ancona, and the stated support of Lega Pro President Gabriele Gravina, for the idea of supporter involvement, has provided a boost to L’Aquila Me’ – after all, the Ancona story also began with the acquisition of a ‘golden’ shareholding with rights attached.
To find out more about L’Aquila Me’, visit their Facebook page. To find out more about Supporters in Campo and the growing movement of democratic supporters’ groups in Italy, visit the SinC website, like them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter.
SD Europe is an organisation that assists democratic supporters’ groups in achieving formal structured involvement in their clubs and associations, and developing member ownership of football clubs. Established in 2007 with support from UEFA, SD Europe also advises clubs on their ownership and governance structure and works with football governing bodies, leagues, UEFA, and European institutions. Currently, it is active in over 20 European countries and is responsible for the implementation of the Supporter Liaison Officer requirement (Art. 35, UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations).
For more information, contact Ben Shave (ben.shave@supporters-direct.coop / +44 7985 628 215)