Ancona becomes first Italian club to be fan owned

Ancona has become the first professional Italian football club to be owned and managed by its supporters. Their 2-0 win against Pisa, in the Lega Pro, Girone B division on Sunday 31 January 2016, was a celebration of Ancona supporters’ achievement in taking over the running of their club.

The story of how Ancona emerged from a crisis in 2010, when the owner of the club failed to meet the financial licensing criteria of Lega Serie B and abandoned the club, leaving it facing extinction, to becoming supporter owned is an inspiring one and is documented on the Supporters Direct website here.

With the active help of Supporters Direct and Supporters in Campo (SinC), a national umbrella organisation for democratic supporters’ groups and member-run clubs in Italy, Ancona supporters have seen their club emerge from a life-threatening crisis to become Italy’s first professional side to be owned and managed by its supporters - a remarkable achievement. Things aren’t going too badly on the pitch either: after 19 matches Ancona are fifth in the Lega Pro Girone B, with a play-off spot and promotion to Serie B the goal.

The involvement of Supporters Direct in the Ancona story has been important as they have been able to use the experience and learnings of fan-owned clubs in the UK and elsewhere in Europe to benefit supporters in Italy, highlighting once again that the struggle of fans to have more of a say in the running of their clubs is an international one.

FC United sent a message of support to Ancona fans ahead of their match last Sunday in which the club congratulated them on becoming the first Italian professional club to be owned and managed by its local community. “What you have achieved is a testament to your commitment and belief in a better way of doing things, and we are sure that you will inspire other supporters in Italy to follow a similar path,??? the message said and invited Ancona fans and the team to visit Broadhurst Park sometime in the future.

Read more about the Ancona story here.

Read an interview with the Ancona fans’ organisation here.

View a video of Ancona fans at Sunday’s match here.

The next issue of the FC United matchday programme will carry a feature article on developments at Ancona.