Leeds United Supporters' Trust: Why we oppose fan token scheme - YEP 7/8/21
This week, the Leeds United Supporters’ Trust Board looks ahead to the start of the new Premier League season and also outlines its concerns about the club’s plans for Leeds United fan tokens.
By The Board Of The Leeds United Supporters’ Trust
With only one week left until our season gets underway,
we’re reaching the sharp end of pre-season.
While the results in many of these games may have not gone
as we hoped, the larger goal of getting players back up to speed and giving our
new faces an introduction to our style of play has been achieved.
Our pre-seasons under Bielsa have always been lacklustre,
perhaps the only occasions where our manager truly prioritises function over
style.
One thing you can be certain of however is that from the
second we kick off at Old Trafford, our players will be giving everything to
take us one step further than last season.
You may have seen the news this week of plans for Leeds
United fan tokens. This is a form of cryptocurrency made available to buy for
fans (and non-fans) advertised as a way of allowing supporters to have an
impact on club decision making.
At the Trust however, we take a much dimmer view of the
impact fan tokens will have. The scheme appears to simply be another way of
monetising fan engagement, while offering supporters the opportunity to have
their vote on some superficial decisions in return.
Another concern is the fact that operating this way would
obviously allow wealthier Leeds fans to have much more influence than those who
can’t buy as many tokens. Any supposed ‘fan engagement’ scheme that doesn’t
offer something to fans from all financial backgrounds is clearly questionable
right from the start.
On top of this, there is also the fact that there is no way
of ensuring that these tokens are only bought by Leeds United fans. At their
core the tokens are a cryptocurrency like any other and as such can be bought
and sold by anyone.
The idea of non-Leeds fans buying and selling these tokens
to make a quick profit doesn’t sit well with any of us at the Trust.
We aren’t the first club to launch schemes like this, clubs
like Atletico Madrid and West Ham have already had their own cryptocurrencies.
Judging by their examples, this isn’t something we believe we want at Leeds.
For all these reasons and more, the Trust opposes the plans
to implement these fan tokens at the club.
To read our full statement on the subject, please head over
to our website www.lufctrust.com where there are more details on our opinion of
fan tokens.
This week we also received the news that another of our club
legends, Terry Cooper, has sadly passed away.
Having made 250 appearances at the club in arguably our most
successful era, there is no doubt that he will be remembered fondly in Leeds
for years to come.
We send our best wishes to Terry’s loved ones at this
difficult time.
Marching on together.