The best source of support available to football fans are other supporter organisations, according to a new Football Supporters Europe (FSE) survey. Asked who provides information and resources to help get fans involved in local football structures or for queries around ownership, 67.8% of fans chose supporters organisations as a vital source of information.
The results were part of a survey conducted by FSE in recent months with responses from supporter organisations or supporter representatives across 33 UEFA nations informing the research.
The objective was to gain an updated picture of the landscape of supporter involvement as well as the language that resonates with fans around the topics of governance and representation within club, league, and national association structures. Other findings included:
- 67% of people understood the phrase “Structured Dialogue”
- 75% of respondents understood the term “supporter involvement”
- 50% of respondents indicated that a majority of professional clubs in their country had no formal involvement of fans within clubs
- 52.7% of respondents say there are football clubs in their country owned by a person or company that controls at least one club in another country
- 80% of respondents say fans in their country have taken action to protect their club’s heritage and traditions
The research also identified that different phrases and terms used by some within these topics are not always understood by all. For example, 39% of respondents said they understood the phrase “Fan Ownership” “very well” and use it, while the same number stated that it was “Not well understood” or commonly used in their country.
Why ‘Governance & Representation’?
Since the merger of FSE with SD Europe in late 2022, the FSE Office has continued to provide case work support across Europe while working to understand how the organisation can deliver effective support to:
- fan-owned, member-run clubs
- supporters whose clubs operate under ‘50+1’ regulation
- those fans that sit on club boards on behalf of groups (supporter directors)
- supporters that have developed or are interested in developing formal relations with their clubs and other footballing stakeholders (structured dialogue)
- those interested in forming supporters trusts or more formal groups in order to be organised and active
- and those with an interest in protecting their club’s history, heritage, and traditions.
All of these topics will come under FSE’s Governance & Representation work (which is the new name for Fan Ownership & Heritage Protection division), organised by staff with years of direct experience working on these topics. The new ‘umbrella’ term was formed on the basis of what the Europe-wide survey made clear: different terminology is used in local situations across the continent and our future work and how we talk about it should reflect that.
Need Support?
When asked to identify what key resources FSE could provide to support members’ work, responses included a specific point of contact, support in terms of capacity building, peer support & networks, and regular seminars, workshops, and training opportunities.
For support, reach out to the FSE team at any time by emailing: info@fanseurope.org.
Membership of FSE is free and members can choose to receive updates on specific topics including Governance & Representation once signed up for an account with our Member Management System.
If you are not a member of FSE, you can still join our networks by emailing info@fanseurope.org and specifying which of the topic(s) above are of interest. New resources and future online and in-person meet-ups will be shared online and via our Fans Digest newsletter.