The Ebbsfleet Question

I hear that one of the first official engagements for the rescued Chilean miners will be a visit to Anfield. They are to advise Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson on how to get out of a deep hole before Christmas... That's football for you. Whilst Liverpool supporters have been taking the daily shuttle bus to go to the High Court to extricate the club from unwanted American owners, we've had the Money Hokey-Cokey played by Wayne Rooney and also at Portsmouth Football Club: "You put your cheque book in, you put your cheque book out..." Manchester United (I almost typed "Untied") fans will also point the blame at American absentee landlords, in their case the Glazer family. The Glazers' takeover in 2005 prompted many fans to stay away from Old Trafford. Some formed a new club, FC United of Manchester whilst thousands of others returned to wear green-and-gold scarves at matches: the colours of Newton Heath, Manchester United's Victorian predecessors in an era before football clubs (and players) were bought and sold like just another soulless commodity. Portsmouth, it seems as of today, have been saved; Rooney will stay at Old Trafford but so will the Glazers, and as for Liverpool - well, watch this space.

One alternative that frustrated soccer fans have suggested to get rid of absentee landlords and Fantasy Football owners is simply to buy the club themselves. Never mind Liverpool or Manchester United, bring on Ebbsfleet United! A few years ago, the club, in huge debt, decided that the fans would not only buy the club but effectively run it. I'm not quite sure how it works out in practice, as I can't see how you get 1,000 fans in the manager's dug-out on a Saturday afternoon and who gives the team talk or picks the players, but it seems to work in a fashion. In their last league game against those tricky opponents, Boreham Wood, Ebbsfleet won 1-0 and currently lie about sixth in the Previously-Never-Heard-of-Paint-Company South Division.

Sooner or later the Ebbsfleet Question will be raised by fans of more famous teams. We've had the West Lothian Question, now we have the Ebbsfleet Question: can the sports fans run their team and be owners and managers, not just supporters?

The question is being asked in churches too. In the Presbyterian Church of Wales, "Cardiff" is often seen as the bad guys, absentee owners (just as "Edinburgh" or "121 George Street" took on all the charm and popularity of the Glazer family in Church of Scotland congregations up and down the land). But there is a difference between churches and football clubs (not just the price of half-time drinks): your local church has always claimed to be part of a bigger picture. We need Cardiff, just as much as we need each other. Some of us call it Presbyterianism, though one of the saddest trends I have witnessed in my ministry is the insidious growth of congregationalism - the Ebbsfleet question again, a go-it-alone-who-needs-Cardiff/Edinburgh/Church House mentality. You see, the Ebbsfleets of this world are not totally isolated: they need other teams to compete against. Football and faith are both league sports with team players. What does it say about our commitment to the little church across the road from us or in the next village if we go in for cheque book faith where only "my" team, "my" church will survive, if "we" have the money? To go down the Ebbsfleet route is to aspire to being a Glazer, a Hicks or Gillette.

Of course, the faith community has its Ebbsfleets: the modestly-titled "The One Single True Church of Jesus Christ" that has bought your local chapel or cinema, and belongs to nobody but itself. Not for them Christian Aid or CAFOD, mission partners or the bigger picture. But do you really want to buy into that? And if you do, sooner or later that One Single True Church will just become another institution, finding its own Glazers to rally against. Recently at a pastoral care training session, I asked the question "To what extent should the church adapt its policies to suit individuals?" I suspect the answer to that will determine what colours you wear.