What is a football club? It’s one of those questions that seem simple but turn out to be extremely difficult to give an answer to. Not all clubs are the same, and not all people will view a club in the same way, but – and this is perhaps especially true in an age in which it’s becoming more common for a single entity to own multiple clubs – it’s probably worth trying to define what a club is, or what we want it to be, as part of working out the direction it would be desirable for football to go.
The first clubs were established in the mid-to-late 19th century for members who wished to play. Gradually it became apparent that people were willing to pay to watch, but these were not neutral spectators as might be found at the theatre or the concert hall; rather they were partisan, exposing the enduring myth that football is an entertainment.
