Guardian sports writer Will Buckley wonders whether a little bit of wikinomics thinking could democratize football in England. The English game has recently attracted a wave of American investment as clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, and Aston Villa have succumbed to American-backed takeovers. There is intense speculation that Stan Kroenke, who co-owns the St. Louis Rams, will make it four after having recently bought a 12% stake in Arsenal.

Now Buckley reports that Will Brooks, son of legendary actor Ray Brooks, is harnessing mass collaboration to mount a takeover bid of his own. Brooks has been asking people to join with him to buy a football club and is already over halfway to his target of 50,000 investors (http://myfootballclub.co.uk). As Buckley points out:

The sub is only £35. In other words, it’s cheaper to be a co-chairman than it is to take a child to Chelsea.

Once the sum is raised, the investors will vote on which club to purchase (Leeds, maybe?) And then the fun and games will begin as all decisions, including team selection, will be taken after a vote by the membership. Welcome to a magnificently chaotic pure democracy.

Best of all, the purchased club will presumably receive the TV monies due to them. We will, therefore, receive some of the money we pay to watch football. The more successful we are the more we will receive, the more imitators we will spawn… until people’s football clubs will be in a majority.

For 35 quid it might be worth the gamble — if only to get a vote on team selection and which players the club brings in at the end of each season. That being said, I wouldn’t bet on Brooks’ new team winning the Premiership anytime soon.