Help get us to Moston by getting others to take a share

The building work on our new ground gathering pace in Moston is a practical and real demonstration of what fan ownership can achieve. Much of that work is being funded by our ground-breaking community shares scheme, which to date has raised more than £1.8m. We now need FC United members to push that figure above the £2m mark to enable us to put the project and the new ground on the firmest of financial foundations. One member doing his bit to help is RICHARD BROWN from Radcliffe, who has persuaded four members of his family to invest £1,000 in community shares. Speaking after the Droylsden game, Richard told us how he did it.

“My family know all about my FC United affiliations. I’ve been a season ticket holder and member since the very beginning in 2005 and I’m always going on about the Club. Over the years, they’ve seen how we have progressed and they support what we are trying to achieve. It seemed the logical next step to ask them to get involved by investing in the community shares scheme so I talked to my two brothers, father and brother-in-law about doing just that. One of my brothers is a City fan and my other brother is a United fan, who has only been to one FC game but that didn’t deter me.

“I think the incentive of being able to get a 30% tax break was the catalyst behind their decision to invest in the shares scheme. It’s a good deal with interest rates being so low. You are better off putting your money into something that is going to provide real community benefit while being tax efficient. After speaking to people at FC who gave me advice on how the scheme works and what to say to people who are interested, I was able to tell my family everything they needed to know to make their decision. I’m sure that other member s like me can get their friends and family to invest in the scheme to help us towards our target.

“I’d urge every FC fan to sit down and have a think about who they can speak to about community shares. It’s a great investment and will make a real difference to so many people. From a tax point of view, it’s easy to go online and enter your details and get the 30% back, so it’s really attractive to people. Once I had the information from the club it was pretty straightforward to have the discussions with my family and get them signed up.???

FC United board member Adam Brown was delighted to hear about Richard’s example and hopes that other FC members will do the same. “It’s brilliant what Richard has done and shows how members can be our salesforce to get more investment in our club,??? said Adam. “Have a think about who you can ask and then go and approach them. If you need advice on what to say and how to say it, then contact the FC United Office and we can help guide you along the way. If everyone thinks about who else they can get to invest and gets them involved then it will be a big step towards meeting our financial targets for the new ground and provide us with the best possible start to our new home in Moston,??? Adam said.

For more information and help on how to get others to but community shares, please contact the FC United Office on 0161 273 8950.