Online fanclub on rise
Chris Ewing aims to create a new football template with ourfootballclub.com – and already has 500 signed up for the journey. For just £25 a year, members can have a say in how Eduspor t Academy is run and help decide on how the club progresses. The pioneering project has been met with scepticism but Ewing said: “We’ve had 500 members sign up in a month from all over the world – more than 25 countries. “This is the power of people and football in 2018 – there are no boundaries. “Edusport had no plan as an actual club. “We set up a team in the South of Scotland League just to give the guys a game. We won the league and now we’re in the Lowland League – there’s more attention on us and more quality is needed. “The business model is set up to support an academy, not a real club. “Traditional clubs have a fan base, people turning up and paying at the gate. “We don’t have that, or sponsorship or a physical community. So the idea was then to create a community online. “It’s a football project and a human project. People coming together from all over the world. “We’ve had criticism. People might take exception to the fact it’s private and I’m making a living from it. “You might be against it if you’re a xenophobe or a racist and dislike the fact its French players who are coming over. “That’s just what we’re up against. “We got refused for the Lowland League because we never had an SFA membership. “Even knowing we didn’t have one, their board still had me fly in from France so they could tell me that. “It’s always a struggle to get where you are but this is a new model and I’m hoping people are inspired by it. “We’re up against clubs who’ve been there for a century and are part of the fabric of their community. “But we’re not trying to revolutionise Scottish football, we’re just doing what we think is best for our club. “We’re criticised for what we don’t have – like fans or history. “Bu t w e now h ave 5 00 fans from all over the world. No other club in the Lowland League has that. “Tradition doesn’t mean you have a right to stop people trying something different.”