SCOTLAND’S Greens are urging football organisations and the government to encourage and empower their fans to own their football clubs.

Scottish Greens spokesperson for sports Gillian Mackay MSP made the call following news that Inverness Caledonian Thistle has entered administration, and this week Dumbarton’s future has been put in serious doubt.

Ms Mackay said: “Football is the lifeblood of many Scottish communities. It brings friends and neighbours together and provides entertainment to hundreds of thousands of fans across the country each weekend.

“Unfortunately, Scottish football is being harmed by businessmen who seem determined to drain every last penny from our game for their own profit. We’ve seen numerous cases in recent years of investors who couldn’t care less stripping historic Scottish clubs of their funds to turn a quick profit.

“We need urgent change in Scottish football or we risk losing many of our clubs.

“Fans are vital to any football club. We must ensure their voices are heard and encourage clubs to allow fans to have an ownership stake, like Motherwell, Falkirk, and Hearts have done.”

In Germany, fan ownership is the default, with a 50 per cent+1 method allowing fans to own a majority of their club and protect them from unruly investors.

Fan-owned clubs in Scotland have seen success in recent years, with Falkirk gaining promotion from League One, now sitting top of the Championship, Motherwell reaching the League Cup Semi-Final and Hearts reaching the group/league stage of European competitions three times in the past four seasons.

Ms Mackay added: “Scottish Greens have previously secured legislation to introduce a fans’ right to buy their football clubs.

“We will continue to push for fan ownership to become the default for Scottish clubs, ensuring fans have their voices heard by football governing authorities to prevent the loss of our historic game to big business profiteers.”