"You only have to look at the likes of Bristol Rovers" - Clear opinion given on Lincoln City's owners | OneFootball

FLW's Lincoln City fan pundit has given his verdict on the ownership

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Lincoln City’s majority shares are owned by Lincoln City Holdings Ltd at a rate of 91.74 per cent.

That is broken down into three main groups, with HJ-LCFC Holdings LLC taking up 31.12 per cent, along with 24.53 per cent for chairman Clive Nates and 15.26 per cent for Liquid Investments Inc.

Supporters also own up to eight per cent, with more than 5,400 individual shareholders involved with the League One club.

Key players at the top of this structure include Ron Fowler, as well as the Jabara family, including members Harvey, Missy, Jaxon and Jensen.

Lincoln City ownership claim

When asked whether the owners have the club’s best interests at heart, FLW’s Lincoln fan pundit Gary Hutchinson emphatically claimed they do.

He believes they are maintaining a healthy financial position at a crucial period in English football history, amid the prospect of an independent regulator, suggesting they’re one of the best owners in the entirety of the EFL.

“I am absolutely 100 per cent confident our club owners have the best interest at heart, we’ve got one of the best owners in the EFL, if I’m entirely honest,” Hutchinson told Football League World.

“They sustained the club with financial input, but not to a point where we’re over-spending or where we’re unviable.

“We did lose £3 million, they covered that, they are community-invested.

“I just think we’ve got really good owners, they’re in it for the right reasons.

“And while some supporters don’t always see that, they want to know why we’ve got a budget that’s 19th when we’ve got the likes of Ron Fowler on board.

“But they are committed to making the community asset sustainable and not try to inflate us too far above our means.

“Unfortunately, fans want to see that, they want the billionaires to come in and throw money at it, but football’s not going that way.

“It’s changing, and over the next 10 years it will change even more with an independent regulator, and over that time Lincoln City will be better placed to deal with the new world of football than a lot of other clubs are.

“You only have to look at the likes of Bristol Rovers this season, throwing money at something does not work in every instance.

“Yes, it works for Birmingham and at Wrexham, potentially a little bit at Wycombe, but it certainly hasn’t worked for the likes of Bristol Rovers and Burton Albion, who put money in at the beginning of the season.”

Lincoln are currently mid-table in League One, and have little left to play for going into the final weeks of the campaign.

Lincoln’s ownership is keeping the club in a healthy position

Given Lincoln’s resources, the club have done well to remain a solid League One side over the last few years.

They came within one game of the Championship back in 2021, losing the play-off final to Blackpool, and nearly made the play-offs again last year.

This has all been achieved while remaining in a financially healthy position, ensuring there are no long-term concerns over the survivability of the club.

The owners have proven themselves as smart operators, and have done well to bring the club this far given they were in the National League as recently as 2017.