Now then, lovely community-ites, here's a question for you to tackle...

Fellow fans of my beloved football club (Newcastle) have set up a trust and have launched an ambitious bid to buy the club from the owner, Mike Ashley. It's called the 'Yes we can' campaign and they've registered with the FSA as an Industrial and Provident Society and it has the backing of the Inland Revenue. The idea is to use the Barcelona model of ownership where the fans own the club and appoint a board with control of day-to-day operations.

The press release says 'The idea is based on fans investing in the club through a number of financial opportunities which will be held by a local solicitors in an Escrow account to demonstrate to the owner that the fans have 'proof of funds'. Supporters will be asked to pledge 10% of their investment into this account which would be returned if the bid was unsuccessful'. The full press release can be read here and the Q&A here.

I bought a house last year and I'm getting married next year, so finances are very, very tight at the moment, but I very much want to help and want to contribute. I think this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to help shape my football club.

But what do you think? There's a lot of expertise on here and I'd like to hear your thoughts (minus the inevitable chuckling at the back there from fans of Premier League clubs!)

Graeme Delap's link:

The club is a fantastic investment if run properly.

There have been numerous failed attempts to sell this club and I would have to think that those with the financial clout to buy it disagree with the quote above.

Newcastle supporters are renowned for being very passionate and while this is commendable, I think that there needs to be more of a reasoned argument for investment.

Graeme, you have already failed one of the first laws of investment - Don't get emotionally attached to the stock...

Yes, it might be a once in a lifetime opportunity but then so is your impending marriage...

I think mooreaz makes an excellent point.

I suppose you can either view it dispassionatly as an investment and assess its worth, or you can simply see it as a way to support your club and hand over the cash if it's spare - but don't think you can support your club and make a sharp investment.

Graeme, weren't you saying people can invest in it as part of their SIPP? I am not at all sure what I think about that.

Felicity

Graeme,

I too can see that you are very loyal to the Gooners but on the whole Football Club investments don't seem to do well for the shareholders at least. I seem to remember a Unit Trust or some similar type of collective investment investing in football clubs, which was managed or offered by Alan Hansen back in the 90's, anyone know what happened to that.

I would place this type of investment among the riskiest and limit portfolio exposure to less than 5% (maybe even 2%), it has to be money you can afford to lose Graeme. I have been through all sorts of investments with risk scales from 1 thru 10 (most at the upper end of the scale) and made enough to jack in work, but now I wouldn't invest in something as risky as this as I think of capital preservation.

One more thing to consider, have you got enough cash tucked away to cover the unexpected costs of new boiler, roof repairs as well as your estimated wedding expenses that you may incur. Keep your options open because if you do need money back in a hurry, this could end up being like the Commercial Property Funds where investors have been locked in for the last 2 or 3 years and cannot access their cash. You always need a buyer for your shares and there may well be a wide spread in the buy / sell price.

Just googled Hansen's 1997 Football investment, and it closed 5 years later after losing 50% of share value.....

He was looking to start another fund, Hero Global Footbal Fund at end of last year with a £100k minimum investment and was working with David Elleray (Ref) and David Davies (FA Exec) on that one. I would rather invest in Arthur Daley's Car Lot....

Ah, you guys....thanks one and all - I really appreciate your advice. Excellent points which I'll certainly take on board. I'll let you know how my decision goes (and what the missus says, too!)

As you've all picked up on and pointed out, it's very difficult to separate the heart from the head with this one.

@mooreaz - Thanks. I definitely don't look on it as a 'real' or 'proper' investment or something I have any serious intention of making any money out of. You're absolutely right - this is first and foremost about priorities and looking as dispassionately as possible at what is being proposed.

@ATM - Gooners? Goonies, more like! Interesting to hear the details about Hansen's investment and his Global Football Fund. I'll be keeping a beady an eye on that! Also, you've clearly been eavesdropping on conversations with my fianceé - a new boiler is a very real possibility in the near future, so another timely reminder to exercise serious financial caution and think before opening my wallet.

@CMK - sage and wise old, sorry, young (!) owl. Food for thought as always. I've got Olly in the work X Factor sweepstake, so if Jedward get to number one, I'll be poorer (so will the UK, mind!). I'll get Terry on to Simon Cowell, if necessary...

I don't feel duty-bound to contribute to this scheme or anything like that, but I do have this nagging, gnawing feeling that there's an opportunity to make a real difference here. If it fails, it fails but at least we tried to make a fundamental change to the club and the most I'll lose is 5% of the 10% deposit. eg £5 of a £100 deposit for a £1000 pledge. Quite where I'd get that £1000 from, of course, is anyone's guess (I doubt the X Factor sweepstake pushes that far!)

@Felicity - You're right, I did mention in passing that one of the options the NUST is suggesting is the possibility of releasing part of my pension using a Self invested Personal Pension (SIPP). I'm no expert, but even I know that it's not wise to start meddling with things like this without good reason.

Interestingly, the NUST will be releasing more information in the next few days from the list of 27 IFAs they have on board ready to advise on how it can be done. It seems very early days and they're only keeping the campaign open for 6 weeks to gauge initial interest - I'll be watching with interest and keep you all updated.

And if the fianceé comes looking for me, you ain't seen me, right?! I'm at The Winchester Club with Arfur...

Graeme Delap: I definitely don't look on it as a 'real' or 'proper' investment or something I have any serious intention of making any money out of.

I have a better idea then...

Send me the £5 followed by another £95 and then the final £900.

I'll send you updates of how well the team is doing (well, I'll send the links to the BBC) until I decide to wind up the fund and sell the club.

At that point, I'll give you the option to sell your stake for a to-be-announced portion of the £1 that NUFC sells on for.

Alternatively, I'll send you a few further letters asking you for your contribution to the players wages/transfer fees/court hearings...

G.D. - Quite where I'd get that £1000 from, of course, is anyone's guess (I doubt the X Factor sweepstake pushes that far!)

Graeme - I dare you to stand outside the grounds of a proper club like, "Old Trafford" on a match day, with a begging bowl and placard asking for contributions. : --- )

conmankiller:

Graeme - I dare you to stand outside the grounds of a proper club like, "Old Trafford" on a match day, with a begging bowl and placard asking for contributions. : --- )

CMK,

Old Trafford.......Ahhh, knew you was a sound geezer

Graeme,

Your fiance popped in the Winchester tonight, Dave told her you your membership expired last month...

All they have to do is change the financial stucture of the club and then they'll be top of the premiership next season and just as good as Barcelona. Dream on.

Go for it if you want a bit of fun but financing a football team doesn't make money for many people. Don't you feel that you contribute enough by paying whatever it is that they charge at the turnstyles and by buying the "new" strip every season? I'm sure Mike Astley would walk away happy if he could pass the burden of the club to someone else and get a decent price at the same time.

They are doing well at the moment. They are top of the Championship and will probably be back in the premiership playing alongside the likes of Hull City (unless they go down, of course) next season.

The mob mentality of some supporters does annoy me. A team has a few bad matches and they want to change everything. Hull scraped a place in the Premiership and then managed to stay there (at the expense of Newcastle). They've never been in the top division before yet they lost a few matches and, after they could only (!!) manage a draw against Portsmouth, most supporters were screaming for the head of the manager who took them up.

If you want to join the crowd, sign up to the scheme. If you want to invest some money for the future, click on the "money" tab at the top and see where putting money into a football supporters' scheme sits in those league tables.

Graeme Delap:Quite where I'd get that £1000 from, of course, is anyone's guess

This was playing on my mind last night, but I didn't get round to putting my thoughts down.

I think that the replies to this, although all valid, have not been quite as strongly worded as they probably would have been if it had been someone other than Graeme (or another well known user) asking the question.

This forum is made up of a great deal of people either in financial difficulty or questioning how to invest a sum of money.

This thread covers both topics very, very well.

If you have £1000 burning a hole in your pocket that you can afford to lose without a second thought, go for it. It might make for some interesting story to help guide your children in the management of money in later life.

If you have £1000 that you would like to invest or save for the future, click on the Money tab up at the top and have a read through the best buy tables. Alternatively, for a little more risk, have a look at the stockmarket after a great deal of research.

As it is, you don't have £1000 so, like Maxsteam says, show your support by donning your black and white top and ranting in the stands or at the tv.

You are the Community Editor on a financial advice website, get a grip man!!!

Thanks everyone - really appreciate the replies.

Relax, mooreaz! - I haven't done anything rash - It's just something that's been on my mind since the start of the week and I've been mulling over. I really wanted to float the idea with infinitely wiser heads who don't have the passion clouding the issue! As you all rightly point out, this is undoubtedly high-risk and crosses a number of issues. I'm sure there's a lot of people out there thinking along similar lines about this (and ordinary) financial investments.

The real details of the scheme are emerging slowly: it appears they are guaranteeing a return of 2% per year on the investment. There's clearly a long way to go, but I think it's worth keeping an eye on how this idea develops. The fundamental thing is how you look at it: Is it a cold, hard financial investment decision or something that you can afford to do without worrying about the consequences? If it was any other club, of course, I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole or dream of doing it. Such is the emotional lure of supporting a football team...

David Conn, an excellent commentator on football finances, outlines the details in yesterday's Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/david-conn-inside-sport-blog/2009/nov/11/newcastleunited-mike-ashley

I don't doubt for one minute there are other (better) ways to show your support, although buying a kit, programme etc plays right into the current owners hands - and that's the overriding purpose of this scheme.

Thanks maxsteam, mooreaz, ATM and conmankiller - really appreciate the replies and reality check!

@CMK - Expired? Tsk...I'll have to have words. There's a credit crunch on. He needs to lower his prices.
I don't think I'll be standing outside Old Trafford with a begging bowl just yet, but if you see someone with a "wife, child and football club to support" placard, be kind, take pity on him and slap him for being a fool... ;o)

OK, sorry Graeme, I have taken a chill pill and had another coffee...