I've not really digested this entirely but my initial reaction is cautiously positive in the sense that I think supporters having the largest amount of shares in the club is important for our future. We've all seen the issues that rogue shareholders can have on the club, so if a good 25-40% of shares are in a supporters organisations hands I see this as a strong bulwark against any hostile takeover in the future.
I understand peoples concerns regarding Club 1872's ability to run the club well, and it will be interesting to see if the purchase of these shares leads to greater boardroom representation for them. I don't think this purchase would mean that they would be in a position to completely takeover the running of the club though, and I think it's clear our future lies in a hybrid of model of a strong amount of fan shareholdings with enough leftover to attract investment from elsewhere, and I'd suspect the practice of these individual investors being elected to the board will continue.
In any case it's a pretty significant event in our clubs history if most of these shares are eventually bought up by Club 1872, and it is hopefully an important stepping stone in the maturation of our organisation as a fan base. It's clear fan ownership is going to play a huge part in our future, regardless of the extent to which that is the case, and so hopefully a fan group proving it is possible to own this many shares in the club if we organise correctly is a positive step.
And lastly, fair play to Dave King. If this is the end of his involvement in the club, what a success it's been. Took us from a shell of a club to where we are now, and appears to be walking away from it by attempting to secure his legacy by leaving his shares in the hands of the supporters - top man.