Welcome to Caledonian Braves: How you can own a wee Scotland football club for as low as $100

A pipe dream became my reality

5 min readMay 6, 2024

I’ll be the first to admit that my dream was always just that — a dream. One that requires A LOT of capital, resources, and time. One that requires pockets so deep that it not only needs to be filled with money but also filled with love & ambition for the world’s most popular sport.

One day, I wanted to be an owner of a soccer club.

It’s such a pipe dream, especially on my meager salary living in (probably) the most expensive city in the world. I’ve idolized David Beckham ever since he joined Major League Soccer (MLS) and his transition to club owner of Inter Miami — putting the team on the map by attracting global stars such as Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and more. I’ve watched ‘Welcome to Wrexham’, a documentary starring Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney as they became owners of a club based in Wales (Wrexham) and immediately attracted a global following as they document their journey of bringing Wrexham to the English Premier League.

These celebrities were living my dream, and further reinforced my thought that my dream was simply unattainable — a pipe dream.

I had accepted it. I didn’t need to pursue this dream in order to enjoy the beautiful game. Heck, I was already a soccer fanatic. If you were to search my browsing history, you’ll find that it’s filled with bookmarked pages of young prodigies on Transfermarkt (your go-to source of nearly every soccer player and their value/stats), articles & podcasts that talked about my favorite league & team (MLS & New York City FC, respectively), Football Manager 2024 tips and strategies, updates on all USA national team players, etc.

You get the idea.

It felt enough…until recently. Last month, April 2024 — I came across a WeFunder link shared by a fan calling for investors to invest in a small club based in Scotland competing in the 5th level of Scotland’s Football pyramid — a club called the Caledonian Braves.

Invest in Caledonian Braves FC: https://wefunder.com/cbfc

I couldn’t believe the opportunity that was in front of me. Naturally, I dug deeper and did some research on the Braves and found that they were the youngest club in Scotland. Based in North Lanarkshire, the concept was originally a crowd fundraiser to help generate some funds for their club as they navigated operating a club in the lower divisions. However, what they quickly realized was that they can achieve so much more than just collecting a quick few dollars. Their idea turned into a vision — to create a global online community of fans, who work together to drive the club forward into a new and innovative generation.

The Braves aimed to build their community by attracting a diverse group of fans, where each owner has a voice and can vote on important club matters. Fans can now buy stake into a club and feel like they’re part of something bigger, perhaps more than just a fan as now their voice can be heard — something that traditional sports organizations have struggled with as the gap between senior leaders and the fans have become wider & wider.

The club aims to give soccer back to the people — and we’re here for it.

Strong Leadership and Values

Led by an experienced leadership group and a strong investor group, the club aims to climb the Scottish Football pyramid and compete with the likes of Rangers FC & Celtic FC, two of the most historic and reputable clubs in Scotland. Just the thought of that gives me goosebumps!

The team’s core values are:

Ambition
Fearless
Equality
Democracy

While many clubs may state that they’re ambitious — how many can say they empower their fans in the way that the Braves do? Equal footing — it’s a farcry from how many organizations conduct their business, and it’s a business model that many organizations across the sporting landscape should look to adopt.

2,200 Owners…and counting

Call it the Wrexham effect. Whatever it is, it’s working.

Ever since I invested back in mid April 2024, the ownership count has ballooned up more than 1000 investors with the total investment amount eclipsing $700,000 USD — with a majority of the owners from the United States.

These are huge numbers for a wee football club competing in the 5th division of Scotland, and the momentum doesn’t look to be stopping soon. With the popularity of soccer on the rise in the United States, fans are looking for ways to get involved, and I can’t think of any more reasons than buying a stake to a club, being financially invested in its development, and being there at the clubs infancy as they embark on a lifelong journey.

Oh, and bragging to your friends that you own a soccer club in Scotland is pretty cool too :)

Accessible & Affordable — move aside Ryan Reynolds

Finally, the biggest, and perhaps most important, reason I became a owner was that the Braves made club ownership accessible & affordable for anyone. Each share is worth $100, which means that you can join the ownership group for as low as $100.

There are some wonderful perks offered by the Braves as well to help incentivize further investment as well, including an authentic jersey, Zoom call with a coach/player, and even a weekend stay in a Scottish castle if you invested $100,000 (hah, perhaps I’ll just stay in a hotel).

And to cap it all off, the Braves built an intuitive app where you can access all Braves information, such as team news, voting polls, and match centres. All home games are streamed live, and away games have a radio commentator for you to follow along anywhere in the world. You’ll also have access to the ownership Discord channel, where you can communicate with fellow Braves owners across the globe and feel ever closer to your team.

Embark on a lifelong journey

Saturday mornings will never be the same again. Having previously never felt any allegiance with a European based football club, this opportunity has forever changed that fact — and one that I’m incredibly excited and grateful for.

Join me on this ride, and perhaps we’ll one day find the Braves competing at the highest level in football.

Wouldn’t that be a story to tell?