‘Our Club, Our Community, Our Future’: Cooperation, Deindustrialisation, and Motherwell Football Club’s Journey to Community Ownership

Abstract

During the 1980s the Scottish steel industry experienced ‘death by a thousand cuts’ due to the ruthless free market restructuring of the UK economy implemented by Margaret Thatcher’s governments, which culminated in the closure of the vast Ravenscraig steelworks in 1992. The town of Motherwell in Lanarkshire, with a population of c.30,000, stood at the epicentre of the Scottish steel industry. The demise of bulk steelmaking not only generated mass unemployment and economic dislocation in Motherwell, it presented a challenge to the identity of the town, which was renowned as Scotland’s ‘Steelopolis’ (Duncan: 1991). The local football team, Motherwell Football Club (FC), emerged from this scarring process as the last remaining symbol of local identity and pride. Yet, a decade on from Ravenscraig’s closure, faced with declining attendances, falling television revenues and a spiralling wage bill following a short period of large-scale investment from a high-profile owner-investor, the club entered administration. This chapter analyses how a community-centred campaign to save Motherwell FC from extinction in 2002 evolved into a supporter takeover through the Well Society, which resulted in Motherwell FC becoming the first top division football club in Scotland and the UK to be supporter owned in 2016.