Non-league club receive 3.6m investment from billionaire twins who sued Mark Zuckerberg

A club in the ninth tier of the English football pyramid has received an enormous financial injection from a rather surprising and unexpected source

Patrick Austen-Hardy Senior Sports Journalist

15:53, 13 Apr 2024Updated 15:57, 13 Apr 2024

[Picture taken on January 11, 2011 shows Cameron (L) and Tyler (R) Winklevoss, founders of social networking website ConnectU, leaving the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco to attend a court hearing in a lawsuit against Facebook Inc. and its founder Mark Zuckerberg in San Francisco. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have opted not to go to the US Supreme Court with their bid to get out of a deal they made in a lawsuit charging that Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea for Facebook]

The Winklevoss Twins have an estimated combined net worth of 4.33bn, according to Forbes(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

Non-league side Real Bedford FC have received a 3.6million bitcoin investment from billionaire duo the Winklevoss Twins.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, 42, committed $4.5m (3.6m) worth of bitcoin into the ninth division Bedfordshire based side. The cryptocurrency investors are best known for suing Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg for a whopping $65m (52.18m) in 2004.

They will be joining podcaster Peter McCormack, who bought the side in 2021 and expressed his lofty ambition of taking the minnows into the Premier League. The pair will assume the role as co-owners of RBFC alongside McCormack.

Tyler said: We share in Peters deep conviction in bitcoin and its ability to supercharge RBFCs quest to make it into the Premier League. Since our first conversation more than two years ago, Peter has proven he knows how to build a successful club and were excited to work alongside him as co-owners.

In addition, Cameron added: Seeing the progress Peter has made with Real Bedford and his community-building approach has truly been inspiring. His ability to translate vision into action is exactly why we believe in this project. Were not just investing in a football club, were investing in a dream to bring Premier League football to Bedford. We firmly believe Peter is the right leader to make this dream a reality.

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[The home stadium of Real Bedford FC]

RBFC's owners have ambitions of reaching the Premier League

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A press release from the club stated the pair will get to work on establishing a bitcoin treasury within the club. They also laid out plans to develop a new training ground and football academy within the local area.

In his first year of McCormack's reign, Bedford earned promotion from the 10th tier. They are on course for back-to-back promotions, as they are five points clear at the top of the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division.

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They will co-own the side with Peter McCormack(Image: X/PeterMcCormack)

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Now the Winklevoss twins are on board, McCormack could not contain his excitement. This has been a great few years for the club as we hit all of our growth goals and supported the community in a sustainable way" the Bedford native said.

"The demands of a fast-growing club are significant, and the backing from Tyler and Cameron will allow us to continue investing in Bedford and the local community."

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