An Open Goal? Fans involvement in football clubs

The Working Group for Supporter Involvement in Football Clubs was set up by the Scottish Government in April 2014. Its remit was to identify, consider and recommend ways to increase and improve supporter involvement in Scottish football clubs

The group was chaired by Stephen Morrow, Senior Lecturer in Sport Finance at the University of Stirling. It comprised of representatives from the Scottish Football Association (Scottish FA), Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), Supporters Direct Scotland and sportscotland.

The recommendations include:

• Development of an annual Supporter Involvement Award
• All clubs should give consideration of the best ways that supporters can get involved in how they are run
• Training and guidance should be given to supporters’ representatives
• That the Scottish FA consider as a matter of priority how best supporters can be represented in its formal governance structures
• Clubs to make various key pieces of information available, including names of all board members, their involvement in the club and the reason for their appointment, details of the number of board meetings held and the number of directors attending
• All SPFL clubs to declare the identity of their beneficial owner
• That best practice guidelines be developed for community clubs
• To explore the establishment of a Business, Community and Football Enterprise unit to provide legal and financial support to supporters and club owners

Development and implementation of these recommendations will be overseen by the working group and taken forward by the clubs, governing bodies and relevant associated organisations

Jamie Hepburn, Minister for Sport, Health Improvement, and Mental Health said: “Supporters should be at the heart of their football clubs, but too often they have felt marginalised and excluded. We established this working group because we wanted to find ways of making supporter involvement easier, and of strengthening the relationship between clubs and the communities they represent.

“The group has come up with some interesting recommendations and it is now dependent on everyone involved, including the Scottish Government, to make these work.

“These are challenging times for Scotland’s football clubs. The Scottish Government agrees with the working group that a legislative approach to addressing many of these issues is simply too prescriptive and not desirable or necessary at this stage.

“I thank and congratulate all those involved for taking part in this working group, and for taking the important issue of supporter involvement seriously. By working together to implement these recommendations I am confident both fans and clubs can bring about real improvements in how they engage and operate at all levels. ”

Stewart Regan, Scottish FA Chief Executive, said: “The Scottish FA acknowledges the need for greater supporter involvement in the national game. It is also supportive of the need to enhance fan engagement, not just in-stadia but expanding our digital provision. We have been pleased with the commitment shown by our colleagues in the working group and look forward to working together to implement the recommendations contained in the report.”

Neil Doncaster, SPFL Chief Executive, said: “Supporters are the lifeblood of the game in Scotland. We welcome initiatives that are designed to increase fans’ engagement with their clubs.”

Andrew Jenkin, Acting Head of Supporters Direct Scotland, said: “Supporters Direct Scotland were pleased to be an active member of this Working Group. We believe supporters are integral to the game of football and should continue to be further involved in the decision making with the group offering us the opportunity to shape future recommendations.

“The report rightly states that community ownership of clubs can come in many forms and brings a number of benefits to clubs, supporters and local communities. In Scotland there are various models and examples of fans joining together and offering new solutions in the future ownership of their clubs, from fully owned debt free Clyde, to the Foundation of Hearts”.

Stephen Morrow, who chaired the working group, said: “It is clear that Scottish football is in a period of transition. For example, after a period of great instability it is exciting to see one of our biggest clubs, Hearts, embarking on a journey towards supporter ownership. At the same time, another of our major clubs, Hibernian, is actively considering radical changes to its ownership and governance; proposals which are particularly interesting given that they are not emerging in response to financial crisis.

“One of the areas the Working Group focused on was how to reduce barriers to supporter ownership in circumstances where there is demand for this ownership structure. But it is important to stress that our group did not take the view that there was an ideal ownership model for Scottish football clubs.

“Our emphasis was on how best to encourage broader involvement of supporters, irrespective of the particular ownership structure adopted by a club and I am very grateful to the members of the Working Group for working so constructively to come up with proposals which have the potential to greatly enhance supporter involvement and supporter accountability in practice.”

The full report can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/ArtsCultureSport/Sport/football/WorkingGroupSupporterInvolvment