A Scottish lowland league football team has smashed a summer fundraising target by raising $1 million with the help of investors across the world.

The owner of Caledonian Braves, a five-year-old football club from the fifth tier of the Scottish football pyramid, set out to attract investors from across the globe by presenting everyone who donated the chance to be an owner of the club.

Anyone who donated $100 or more would become a part owner of the Caledonian Braves.

The initial target for fundraising was £750,000, with the aim of raising the full amount by the end of July this year, but it has since been smashed well ahead of the deadline.

It now means the team can look to put some of the $1m -which equates to just over £780,000 - back into the club to increase its chances of reaching the Scottish Professional Football League, after they finished 12th in the Lowland League this season.

Owner Chris Ewing said: “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 the 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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The idea for the fundraiser came from Mr Ewing, and it attracted new shareholders of the club from the NBA, NFL and the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States.

The owner says the club can now also claim the distinction of having owners in each of the 50 states of America.

Shareholders now include Isaiah Covington (Strength and Conditioning Coach, Boston Celtics), ⁠Mujtaba Elgoodah (NBA Players Services), Kristen Hamilton, Elizabeth Ball and Hailie Mace (Kansas City Women’s), ⁠Tide Osifeso (Basketball Operations, Utah Jazz), ⁠Ryan Rollins (Point Guard, Washington Wizards), Kevin Abrams (Senior Vice President Football Operations, NY Giants), and Dean Whitehouse (NASA).

Established in 2019, the North Lanarkshire-based club has put fan interaction at the heart of decision-making since day one, with the name being chosen through a fan opinion poll. They have since used app-based technology and fan interaction to make decisions from boardroom to dressing room – including naming their stadium, Alliance Park in Motherwell, approving new kits, and agreeing on the strategic priorities for the board.

Mr Ewing said the new investment is a victory for the everyday football fan and hopes to partly emulate the likes of Wrexham FC who are on a mission to rise through the leagues in England after Hollywood A-listers Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought them.

He 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.

“We wanted to create a club for everyone, wherever they are, to play a meaningful role in – 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. We wanted to put the fan at the heart of everything we do.

“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.”