The Scottish football club with investors from the NBA, NFL and NASA

AMERICAN investors have got lower-league clubs across the world dreaming, following the success of Wrexham since being taken over by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

And now a Scottish club has become the latest to get a taste of the American dream.

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Caledonian Braves were only formed five years ago, but are already competing in the Lowland League, the fifth tier of Scottish football.

The club came from Edusport Academy, a private football academy which worked to provide French footballers the chance of a year of education in Scotland combined with furthering their footballing skills.

The academy launched a project in 2018 with the aim of creating a football club proper, which was ratified by the SFA and became Caledonian Braves in June 2019.

Owner Chris Ewing has championed the use of technology and social media to build a fanbase, as well as allowing fans to have their say on everything, from the naming of the team and stadium to designing the kits and deciding board priorities.

He also launched the WeFunder campaign, allowing fans and brands to invest money in exchange for part-ownership of the club.

And the campaign has been a massive success, raising $1million from across the world, drawing in investors from the NBA, NFL and NASA, and earning the unique accolade of having shareholders in each of the 50 US states.

Ewing said: “The idea of the Braves was simple: we are a small fish in Scottish football but in the digital age there are no boundaries to get involved and play a part in the running of a club.

“For as little as $100 you could be an owner of a football club, that has appealed to fans of all ages and in all corners of the world.

“We wanted to buck the trend of needing to have billions of pounds or a private equity firm to have a say in the running of a club.

“The response has been terrific but I always had confidence in our vision.

“It shows if you build the right format, people will come and not just be a part of it but play an active part in it.

“Our TikTok awareness campaign has been transformational in reaching a global audience who are now fans and owners of our club.

“I have had countless messages from people watching our games on YouTube at all hours of the day in time-zones across the world.

“We strive to be more than a football team, we want to be an entertainment brand where owners can shape and evolve the experience over time.

“Key to that, of course, is building success on the field.

“Our manager, Ricky Waddell, has already made his pitch for a bigger player budget for next season and it’s natural that we would want to invest some of the money raised into improving the squad.

“Ultimately, we want to continue our journey into the SPFL but we want to do it responsibly, and by staying true to our vision and values as a community club with fans at the heart of our decision making.

“We have big plans for the club and the recent investment will help us take significant strides forward in terms of playing squad but also infrastructural improvements off the field.

“More importantly, we now have more than 3000 owners who believe in that vision and want to play an active part in getting us there.”

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