Its time to end private ownerhsip in football clubs.

It seems to me that these are very worrying times for football clubs in general. Currently Portsmouth, Cardiff, Southend and Notts County are the subject of Winding Up orders courtesy of HMRC. Even though I am quite sure that they will all survive it will only be a matter of time before a club goes to the wall. We see teams such as Manchester United and Liverpool with in excess of One Billion Pounds of debt between them. This situation simply cannot continue. Football does not belong to the clubs with their fly by night chairmen. It belongs to the players that give their whole heart to the game and to the fans who brave the elements through thick and thin to follow their clubs.

I am not saying that investment from private individuals is a bad thing. Chelsea were in a very bad way before Abramovich stepped in and who knows what would have happened to them if that money didn't surface. But on the counter side, look at Peter Riddsdale. His wayward spending cost Leeds their Premier league status and almost their future and look what is happening to Cardiff.

There is barely a club outside of the Premier League that has not suffered at least administration over the last 15 years or so. Luton, Chester, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Southampton, Darlington, Rotherham, the list goes on as to clubs who have been or are currently threatened with their immediate survival.

Of course there is a bright side. Football fans have always been the driving force behind the game and Teams such as Accrington and Aldershot have resurfaced after bankruptcy and regained their football league status. Just look at AFC Wimbledon, a club that was created following Wimbledon's move to Milton Keynes. In less than a decade they have moved from the bottom ring in the football pyramid to be just one promotion away from the Football League. We may even say the same thing of FC United of Manchester, a club formed by unhappy Manchester United fans.

It is only the fans who have the game in their best interests and it is time for a shift in emphasis on who runs football. The playboys or the people. I believe that the Football League and the Football Association and the Premier League should get together and thrash this problem out. I would propose that every club must appoint a Supporters Trust which should maintain a minimum of 25% ownership of the club and who retain the power to veto any major financial proposal. Any prospective owner should also have to place a bond with the Football League of at least 10% of their share in the value in the club. Clubs should also place on bond every three months a sum of money that is estimated to be 1/4 of their liability to HMRC.

These moves may be drastic and may slow down investment in football clubs, but if it is for the long term sustainability of football, then it is a positive move to keep football where it belongs, with you, the fan.