FC United | Moston Community Stadium | 5,000 Capacity | App

[Isaac Newell]

Originally Posted by TheGrand

Quite an evening!

http://www.vimeo.com/16559247




Our reward, Brighton (or Woking) away

Seeing as I'm a founder member with an unused first season, season ticket (sealed for posterity)

I may choose that as my first ever match.

[TheGrand]

Originally Posted by Isaac Newell

Seeing as I'm a founder member with an unused first season, season ticket (sealed for posterity)

I may choose that as my first ever match.

More the merrier


http://audioboo.fm/boos/213429-shind...2nd-round-draw

[TheGrand]

A Thousand Stories

http://www.cobbetts.com/splash/index.html

[TheGrand]

http://www.fc-utd.co.uk/press_article.php?articleid=9

FC United Community Share Investment Tops £ 0.5m
15 November 2010

Investment in FC United shares has topped the half million pound mark, just six weeks after the community share issue was launched to help raise funds towards the development of a new stadium.

Sales of shares have been given a new impetus by the club’s first ever live televised game last Friday, when the club beat Rochdale in the first round of the FA Cup before an audience of millions worldwide.

A further boost has come from HM Revenue & Customs which has given provisional assurance that those who buy £500 of shares can claim 20% back against tax under the Enterprise Investment Scheme.

FC United, which was founded five years ago by Manchester United fans, currently plays at Bury FC’s ground but aims to create a permanent home close to United’s birthplace at Newton Heath, Manchester. The 5,000 capacity stadium will cost £3.5 million to build, of which £1.5 million will come from grant funding, with a further £500,000 from donations.

It hopes to raise as much as possible of the remaining £1.5 million through the community share issue, with any shortfall covered by debt funding. Investors can purchase £1 shares to a value ranging from £200 up to £20,000.

FC United is the first football club to issue community shares. The main aim of the shares is to provide investors with a social return by funding the football and community objectives of FC United, but the club’s business plan also provides for potential financial returns for shareholders.

Shareholders will not receive interest payments or be able to withdraw their investments for the first three years after the club moves into the new stadium, but it aims to pay small amounts of interest after that date. FC United’s one member one vote system will remain unaffected by the share issue.

So far hundreds of individuals have invested and the recent announcement about tax relief has already attracted one PLC and a major building contractor to invest.

Andy Walsh, FC United general manager, said: "We are delighted with the response to the community share issue, which has attracted both ordinary fans and wealthier investors alike. The tax relief alone offers a significant financial benefit - equivalent to a return of 6.5% for the first three years - and after that we aim to pay interest on the shares. Investors will also have the satisfaction of knowing that in raising funds for the stadium, they will be helping to secure the future of FC United and offer major social benefits for the local community.

"We aim to raise as much as possible through the share scheme. We are confident that there are many more supporters and business people willing to invest and urge them to do so as soon as they can.

"As the first football club to raise money in this way, we are pioneering a new model in football finance. We are inviting investors to join with us to change the way football is run by putting supporters at the heart of the game and leave a lasting legacy for future generations."

Community shares cannot be traded or transferred like normal shares, but shareholders who want to withdraw their investment can apply to have their funds returned from the fourth year onwards. Subject to board agreement, the club will allow not more than 10 per cent of the total share capital to be withdrawn in any one year.

The offer is open to individuals aged 16 and over, and businesses. All shareholders must be members of FC United but non-members can join at the time of application. The offer closes on 30 November 2010.

www.fc-utd.co.uk/communityshares




NOTES TO EDITORS

Community shares

Community Shares are shares issued for a community purpose. The concept has been developed through a joint initiative of the Development Trusts Association and Co-operativesUK with support from the Department for Communities and Local Government. For further information see www.communityshares.org.uk.

Terms of Offer

The share offer is exempt from the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 or subsidiary regulations because FC United is a community benefit society and the money raised will be used for community purposes. The legal terms of the offer are set out in the offer document which also contains other important information which potential buyers should read carefully.

FC United

FC United was founded in 2005 and is a semi-professional football club, currently playing in the Northern Premier League. The club regularly attracts crowds of more than 2,000, several times the league average. It is unique at its level of English football in having its obligations to its fan communities and local communities written into its Club Objects. The club was awarded Cooperative UK’s Cooperative Excellence Award in 2009 for its cutting edge work with local communities.

[TheGrand]

http://www.localgov.co.uk/index.cfm?...etail&id=93317

Manchester approve plans for FC United stadium
James Evison

Manchester city council have approved plans to build a new stadium for FC United of Manchester - the controversial club created in the wake of Manchester United's takeover by the US-based Glazer family.

The non-league club, formed in 2005, have drawn up plans for a 3.5 million-pound, 5000-capacity stadium at the Ten Acre Lane sports centre in the city.
The club's business plan was approved by the council - who own the site - earlier this week, and will now go out for consultation with the local community.

General manager of the club, Andy Walsh, told the Press Association: 'The significance of this location is historical while it also showcases a new model of facility development, based on football supporter ownership and community involvement.'

FC United currently play home games at Bury's Gigg Lane ground. If the stadium is constructed, it could see action by as early as the start of the 2012-12 football season.

[CDX]

Looks to be going to planning committee next week, showing committee date as 25/11,

094243/FO/2010/N1

[CDX]

Here's the planning report for it, recommended approve,

http://www.manchester.gov.uk/egov_do...nal_List_4.pdf
http://www.manchester.gov.uk/meeting...ways_committee

[TheGrand]

Originally Posted by CDX

Here's the planning report for it, recommended approve,

http://www.manchester.gov.uk/egov_do...nal_List_4.pdf
http://www.manchester.gov.uk/meeting...ways_committee

[TheGrand]

APPROVED

http://www.fc-utd.co.uk/story.php?story_id=3250

Planning approved for Ten Acres Lane

FC United is pleased to announce that following a meeting today of Manchester City Council’s planning committee, its application to develop a 5,000 capacity ground and community sports complex at Ten Acres Lane, Newton Heath has been given approval.

General manager Andy Walsh said: "This is fantastic news and testament to the hard work and support we have received from New East Manchester and Manchester City Council, in particular the help and guidance from the planning department.

"None of this would have been possible without the dedication and committment of our supporters and their desire to see supporter ownership at all clubs."

[highriser]

Great news

[TheGrand]

http://socialenterpriselive.com/sect...%A335m-stadium

Community-owned football club gets green light for £3.5m stadium
30 November 2010
Gemma Hampson

FC United of Manchester has won planning permission for its £3.5m new stadium, £1.5m of which will be funded by a community share issue
A community-owned football club has got the green light to build a new £3.5m stadium in the original birthplace of Manchester United.

FC United of Manchester, formed in 2005 by Manchester United supporters in the wake of the Glazer takeover at Old Trafford, was granted planning permission for its new ground at Ten Acres Lane in Newton Heath by Manchester City Council last week.

Building the 5,000-capacity stadium will begin as soon as funding is secured. This includes a community share issue, which has potentially raised £800,000 of its £1.5m target already.

Club general manager Andy Walsh said the planning approval was a huge step forward and hoped it would be a further boost for the community shares scheme.

‘This is a massive step forward for our aim of being in our own ground within two years and it is a major vote of confidence in us as a club,’ he said.

‘So much work has gone into getting us to this position and we’re very grateful for the council’s support. The planners’ glowing report emphasises the real community benefit that the development will deliver.’

Walsh said the onus was now on the club to deliver the funding package. The community shares scheme has raised more than £600,000 of investment since the end of September with further pledges of at least £200,000.

‘However,’ Walsh said, ‘we need to secure £1.5m in community share purchases for Ten Acres Lane so I would urge anyone interested in helping us get there to please get their investment in to the club.’

The council’s planning committee praised the plans and said it would provide ‘a high quality sporting facility for professionals and the community’ and would ‘introduce into the area a community-based football club that has working with local residents, schools and community groups at the core of its constitution'.

The news will be an additional boost for FC United in a busy week as the club prepares to travel to the south coast for its second round FA Cup tie versus Brighton on Saturday.

FC United is the first football club to issue community shares. Investors can purchase £1 shares to a value ranging from £200 up to £20,000. The club aims to offer both a social and a financial return on investments.

However, shareholders will not receive interest payments or be able to withdraw their investments for the first three years after the club moves into the new stadium, but it aims to pay small amounts of interest after then.

Find out more at www.fc-utd.co.uk/communityshares

[TheGrand]

http://fc-utd.co.uk/story.php?story_id=3262

FC United extends pioneering community share offer

FC United of Manchester is extending its pioneering Community Shares Scheme offer to the end of February 2011.

The scheme – which aims to raise £1.5 million towards the club’s own ground in Newton Heath – has already generated £700,000 of investment with another £200,000 pledged.

Now we hope that by extending the offer, a further wave of investors will come forward and push the total towards the target.

"We’re the first football club to try this approach and we’re breaking new ground on what is possible for a supporter-owned club to achieve," said FC United board member Adam Brown.

"Given this is the first time a football club has tried this approach, we are delighted with the reaction from our fan-base and the business community, ethical investors and anyone who wants to be part of pioneering a new way for football finance.

"We’ve had a fantastic response so far but we believe the appetite is still there for further investment – particularly now we’ve been granted full planning permission for our own ground, and due to the additional interest in the club off the back of our FA Cup run.

"The cup run has been a great boost to the club but has also stretched our resources to the limit. And we only received assurance about tax breaks on the scheme last month, so we want to give people more time to respond to this huge benefit."

In November, HM Revenue & Customs gave advance assurance that those who buy £500 of shares can claim 20% back against tax under the Enterprise Investment Scheme.

The main aim of the Community Shares Scheme is to enable people to participate as shareholders in funding the community facilities that will be built as part of the stadium development. This will deliver new sports, social and function facilities to Newton Heath, an area which faces significant social and economic challenges.

For full details about the scheme, or to invest, visit www.fc-utd.co.uk/communityshares.

[jrb]

Article on FCUM.

Don't know how long the link will last. http://edition.pagesuite-professiona...b4bbf793&skip=

[TheGrand]

Been quite a cup campaign this season, and the next chapter is tomorrow

http://audioboo.fm/boos/231434-fa-cu...e-story-so-far

FC United v Brighton & Hove Albion
(e.on FA Cup)

Wednesday 8th December 2010 at 19:45
Gigg Lane, Bury, BL9 9HR

Pay on the gate
£ 8 Adults
£ 5 Unwaged
£ 2 Under 18s

[TheGrand]

http://fcumfiles.co.uk/story.php?story_id=3307

One Million Community Shares Sold

We have sold our millionth community share!!

The total of shares now bought stands at £1,000,249 with a further £201,000 pledged.

’We still have some way to go but to have raised over £1million pounds in shares is a phenomenal achievement,’ said FC United General Manager Andy Walsh.

’We have to turn pledges into cash but we can now say that we are in the home straight on the community share offer.’

’This last month has been truly momentous: we have more members than at any time since we started in 2005 with membership now standing at well over 3,000; we have reached the second round of the FA Cup; played in front of our biggest ever crowd and obtained planning permission for Ten Acres Lane.’

’It shows support is growing for our campaign to see football clubs owned and run by supporters and is a tremendous tribute to the efforts of everybody at FC United.’

In addition to the Community Shares the funding package for the Ten Acres Lane development includes a range of grants as well as the club Development Fund. FC Board member Adam Brown is coordinating this part of the project:

’We are now working hard pulling together our grant applications, it is an extremely competitive process but we have some great support from partners and hope that the funding bodies will recognise our submissions as strong bids that will bring real economic benefit to the local area.’

For more information on Community Shares, please visit www.fc-utd.co.uk/communityshares

[TheGrand]

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereven...says_fcs_walsh

Share scheme more vital than TV cash, says FC's Walsh

FC United general manager Andy Walsh says the ground and the club’s Community Share Scheme are more important than their lucrative FA Cup run.

The Evo-Stik Premier League team, who bowed out of the cup in the second-round replay against Brighton, pocketed two fees from live television appearances, plus a percentage from decent crowds at Rochdale and Brighton and a new attendance record of around 7,000 at Gigg Lane for the replay.

It is thought the TV coverage of the Rochdale first-round tie earned them £67,000.

The money will come in handy after planning permission for FC United’s own £3.5m home at Ten Acres Lane, in Newton Heath, was granted last month.

Walsh said: "The FA Cup has been fantastic for us, but the ground, and the Community Share Scheme we intend to use in order to pay for it, are far more significant.

"I would say it is the biggest thing that has happened to this club since it was formed, and has the potential to be adopted by a much broader base.

"Already we have had other clubs expressing an interest in how it works and as time goes on, I am sure the interest will grow."

Walsh said: "Supporter-owned clubs are the way forward. It has happened at Chester, Exeter and countless others besides.

"We arrived at our situation in a slightly different way but the concept is still the same.

"Brighton nearly went out of business during the Bill Archer era and no-one would look at Portsmouth over the past few years and think their ownership structure was stable.

"Supporter interests have been ignored for far too long and it is time the football authorities did something about it."

The Rebels launched a community shares scheme earlier this year aimed at raising £1.5m of the sum needed to build the new stadium.

The scheme allows fans and businesses to invest between £200 and £20,000 into the club.

[TheGrand]

http://www.fc-utd.co.uk/story.php?story_id=3420

[TheGrand]

http://vimeo.com/20102559

HAPPY DAYS!

[TheGrand]

[TheGrand]