From a conversation at the clubhouse to a company with purpose

Chapter 1

The idea for Cluberly did not begin in a boardroom, a pitch deck or a spreadsheet. It began in a place far more familiar to many people across the UK: a local sports club, a match on the pitch, and a group of friends sharing a beer while watching their team play.

Like countless conversations that take place up and down the country every weekend, the discussion drifted naturally towards the club itself. There was pride in its history, frustration at missed opportunities, and a shared sense of responsibility for its future. As the conversation unfolded, one issue kept resurfacing: funding. The club wanted to grow. More players were needed, facilities needed improvement, and ambitions extended beyond simply surviving season to season. Yet, as with so many grassroots clubs, the costs of running the organisation were rising sharply. Inflation, increased energy bills, travel costs and general cost-of-living pressures were all making it harder to keep pace.

The discussion widened beyond the club. Attention turned to sport more broadly and the pressures facing supporters themselves. Fans were feeling the pinch just as much as clubs were. Tickets, travel, food and drink were all becoming more expensive, meaning fewer people could afford to attend matches as often as they would like. The very communities that clubs relied upon for support were being priced out of regular participation.

It was during this exchange that one of the group floated an idea. What if there were a way to help supporters manage their finances better, while at the same time supporting the club or cause they cared about most? Not a donation drive, not another sponsorship scheme, but something built into everyday financial behaviour. A kind of fintech solution, loosely formed at first, that helped people save money while quietly channelling support back into grassroots sport and community causes.

On its own, it might have remained just that: another good idea sketched out over a pint. But ideas have a habit of gaining momentum when the right people are nearby. Unbeknown to the group, someone sitting close enough to overhear parts of the conversation decided to get involved. With experience in helping companies develop business plans and turn concepts into viable ventures, they offered to help take the idea beyond the bar-room discussion and into something more concrete.

From there, the conversation shifted from “what if” to “how could this actually work?”. Over the months that followed, extensive research was carried out. The team explored the savings and fintech market, examined user behaviour, and assessed whether people genuinely wanted a product that combined personal finance with community impact. The answer was clear: there was a real and growing market for an app that connected savings with sport and social causes.

Two fundamental questions then emerged. First, how would the platform genuinely give back, rather than making token gestures? Second, how would it attract and retain users in a crowded market dominated by well-funded competitors?

The answer to both was bold but simple. Cluberly would be built as the first company to commit to donating 50% of its primary revenues to causes selected by its users, in perpetuity. Not as a campaign, not as a temporary pledge, but as a permanent feature of the business. At the same time, users would remain connected to their chosen cause day-to-day, creating ongoing engagement rather than passive usage.

Of course, that raised an obvious concern. How could a business remain profitable while giving away half of its revenues? The solution lay in community power and structure. By harnessing the collective strength of clubs, supporters and partners, and by operating a licensed technology model rather than a traditional regulated fintech, the costs could be controlled and the economics made to work.

That combination of community, structure and purpose is how Cluberly moved from an idea to a reality. And it is also a reminder that some of the most meaningful businesses do not start with grand strategy sessions, but with honest conversations between people who care — often over a beer, watching the team they love.