Back in August 2021 we sent an article to all our members revealing the 'gamble' of Socios  - highlighting the high risk and that fans must be prepared to lose all their money. We also sent numerous emails and had discussions expressing our concerns to the CEO of LUFC.

The Gamble of Socios

The Club however glossed over the dangers and promoted it as a way to 'get closer to the Club'. The CEO of Socios proudly announced

'Through LUFC fan tokens , Leeds supporters the world over will be able to join a global community brought together by their passion for the club where they can enjoy influence.'

The global community, rather than one enjoying influence, is one united in catastrophic losses. Indeed the Leeds United fan token is the worst performing token in the world. The 3000 odd purchasers at the launch now have so little of their investment left it would not buy a beer at Elland Road to drown their sorrows.

Socios now

It is not however a problem unique to Leeds United. All the English Clubs, bar one , have seen their Socios fan tokens fall dramatically.

                                  % Fall     $current value

Leeds United       99%        0.04

Crystal Palace    97%        0.07

Everton                  90%        0.27

Aston Villa            84%       0.43

Arsenal                  76%        0.65

Spurs                      60%        0.79

Man City             +58%        1.39

(prices as 19 Feb 2025)

We said at the launch that 'it appears to be a western street front of respectability pulling in the unwary, but hidden behind is a raucous gambling den, with marked cards. Enter in there at your peril'

Such have been the commissions generated by the sale of club tokens a compensation industry is springing up. The product was and still is unregulated and it may be difficult for these companies to have any success. However many football clubs have part of their business regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and they do expect a regulated business to have the same duty of care to its customers as if the product had been regulated, particularly when high levels of commission are being paid as in the case of PPI. It is difficult to know how much the club received from Socios, but based on some figures that Crystal Palace announced this could be around a million dollars.

Solicitors acting in the market suggest that:

1. If the rules were not fully explained .....

2. If incentives were offered to invest .....

3. If the information was misleading and incomplete .....

4. The investment was not suitable .....

..... then there is a possibility of compensation. We stated and indeed suggested to the Club that 'this is not a product that should be bought by the broad fan base'

There is little positivity in this sorry debacle, however for those supporters that have capital gains, their taxation liability can be reduced by any realised losses on the sale of the tokens by claiming on their self assessments.

For the rest, maybe a half.

We are pleased that so many heeded our advice initially and have not suffered as a result of this.