Supporters Direct Scotland Conference 2015

SUPPORTERS DIRECT SCOTLAND

CONFERENCE 2015

SPONSORED BY SHAREIN

WELCOME TO THE SDS

CONFERENCE 20th June 2015 | Glasgow, Scotland

WELCOME

the set up of Bala Sport, a new cooperative selling fairtrade footballs in Scotland.

In the future, we hope to be able to add further value through employment and physical activity programmes.

Welcome to the 2015 Supporters Direct Scotland Conference. We’re pleased to welcome you to the home of Scottish football for toToday offers us an opportunity to reflect day’s event. on the past three years while also lookWith football in Scotland continually boasting one of the highest percentages of population attending games in Europe, it’s fair to say fans in Scotland love their clubs and want nothing more than to see them prosper. When clubs have hit crises, their support has ensured they are there to be enjoyed and treasured by future generations. No where was the importance of fans to the future of football more evident than in the cases of Dunfermline Athletic and Heart of Midlothian where communities rallied and through democratic cooperatives in Pars Supporters Trust and Foundation of Hearts, came together for the benefit of all.

ing forward to seeing what we can further achieve in the future. The strength, organisation and networking channels for supporter groups have never been stronger and we’re fortunate to have such vibrant Supporters Trusts and group movement in Scotland.

Supporters have also demonstrated their benefit to game beyond finances and it’s good to see more and more fans involved in governance and decision making everyday. Their skills and importance have been recognised in the form of the Green Party’s proposed amendments to the Community Empowerment Bill and the Scottish Government’s Working Party which examined Supporter Involvement in the game.

Finally, we’re delighted to have such a strong line-up of speakers today. They come from a range of strands of the game but today are united by a desire to speak to supporters in Scotland. We’re privileged to have them talk and appreciate their time. We hope you’ll enjoy hearing from them.

We’re very pleased to be delivering today’s event in partnership with ShareIn. ShareIn is a website that connects individual investors to companies who need equity funding. They are soon to be making a splash in the sport sector and we look forward to working with them in the future and seeing their workshop on crowdfunding this afternoon.

If you’re on Twitter, you can find us @ ScottishFans and please feel free to use hashtag #SDSC15 throughout the In the three years since we received fund- the ing, we’ve been able to achieve some quite day. special things. Not only have been able to Best wishes, undertake our core activities by assisting our members and promoting fan involvement in football governance, but we’ve been able to undertake new activities and add value to a range of social issues, such as equality through our Colours of our Scarves (please feel free to visit our ‘Col- Andrew Jenkin ours’ room today) and our involvement in (@AndrewJenkin)

THIS YEAR’S

ITINERARY START TIME

END TIME

SESSIONS

ROOM

09.15

09.55

Registration

Hampden Park Entrance

10:00

10.30

Opening Plenary & Message from sponsor

Auditorium

10.30

11:00

Key note speech #1: Kenny MacAskill MSP “The Importance of Supporters to the Game” - HSL

Auditorium

11:00

11:30

Key note speech #2: Darryl Broadfoot “Improving Scottish Football” - SFA

Auditorium

11:30

12:00

Key note speech #3: David Longmuir “Scottish Football - Its a Community Business”

Auditorium

12:10

12:50

Question and Answer Session

13:00

13:50

Lunch & Access to Museum of Scottish Football

The Nevis Suite & Hampden Museum

14:00

14:30

Key note speech #4: Martin Calladine “8 things football could learn from the NFL”

Auditorium

14:30

15:00

Key note speech #5: Henry McClellend “Real Football for Real Communities”

Auditorium

15:00

15:10

Comfort Break

Crush Hall

15:15

16:00

Workshop 1: Community Shares Workshop 2: Disability Access in football Workshop 3: SDS drop in session

Nevis Suite Room 1 Nevis Suite Room 2 Nevis Suite Room 3

16:00

16:45

Workshop 4: Fan Representation on the board Workshop 5: Kick off time rescheduling Workshop Workshop 6: ShareIn Crowdfunding

Nevis Suite Room 1 Nevis Suite Room 2 Nevis Suite Room 3

17:00

18:00

Networking and Drinks

Nevis Suite

Auditorium

SPEAKERS KENNY MACASKILL MSP

Kenny MacAskill MSP is the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Eastern with the Scottish National Party (SNP) and is the former Cabinet Secretary for Justice in the Scottish Government.

Currently, he is the Chairman of Hibernian Supporters Limited (HSL) – an organisation designed to increase the level of supporter influence and involvement in the governance of Hibernian FC. HSL will be used to by the clubs supporters to try to gain 51% in the club.

@KennyMacAskill

DARRYL BROADFOOT

Darryl is the Head of Communications and Corporate Affairs at the Scottish Football Association. He has been chief football writer with The Herald newspaper in Glasgow, as well as a regular guest on football shows such as Sportscene, Radio Clyde and Setanta Sports.

He has been an advocate for improving the matchday experience in Scotland and has looked into a range of measures to improve the game. This includes raising the profile of the debate around the alcohol ban and other factors

@DarrylBroadfoot

DAVID LONGMUIR David served as Head of the Scottish Football League (SFL) from 2007 until the merger of the SFL and Scottish Premier League in 2013, having previously spent over a decade with multinational beverage firm Diageo.

Since leaving the SFL at the end of the 2012/13 season, he has taken up several consultancy roles, both within and outside of sport, including as a member of a Think Tank with the Scottish Professional Golf Association.

HENRY MCCLELLEND Henry is the Chairman of SPFL League Two team Annan Athletic.

He has been at the club as they competed in Scottish junior football and English regional leagues before becoming a member of the Scottish Football Association in 1978 which made the club eligible to compete in the Scottish Cup for the first time. Annan Athletic won the South of Scotland League twice and the East of Scotland League four times before successfully applying to join the Scottish Football League in 2008

MARTIN CALLADINE Martin is the author of ‘The Ugly Game: How Football lost its magic and what it could learn from the NFL’, a book of essays for football fans setting out where the game has gone wrong and showing that, perhaps surprisingly, the NFL has many of the answers. @uglygame

THIS YEAR’S

WORKSHOPS

Organisation: Community Shares Scotland Community Shares Scotland is a dedicated support service for those interested in and involved with community share offers. The programme operates as a dynamic hub for support, building relationships with networks and organisations to signpost communities, investors and other interested parties to the most appropriate forms of advice and assistance to develop new share offers and support existing ones. It also acts as a platform for profiling the community share model, raising awareness of the value of the approach to new entrants and facilitating peer support and networking to those already involved in community shares.

Finally it acts a central reference point for market intelligence, providing the latest information on community share activities nationwide, as well as producing regularly-updated guidance materials. This session can prove valuable for delegates representing both clubs and trusts, offering advice and suggestions on how the use of community shares can help those looking to fund projects. Community shares provides the opportunity raise much needed finance for clubs and trusts, whilst strengthening their relationship with the local community, involving more people in governance matters and creating a more inclusive and transparent environment.

Facilitator: Kelly McIntyre

Organisation: Scottish Disabled Supporters Association The Scottish Disabled Supporters Association (SDSA) was launched in October of 2010 as organisation to represent the views and interests of disabled football fans across Scotland.

Membership is open to disabled supporters, their personal assistants, family and friends who support clubs at all league levels in Scotland. Regular meetings take place which all members are welcome to attend. The association has had a strong relationship with the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Professional Football League. This session will seek to engage with delegates on both the work done by the SDSA and the issues facing disabled supporters at stadiums across the country. The topic accessibility and quality of facilities is one that has been raised to SDS and the SDSA on several occasions and is of paramount importance to disabled football fans.

SDS has been working closely over the last few months with the SDSA to ensure that disabled fans are given the opportunity to have their voice heard and that their opinions are made known to clubs the game’s governing bodies.

Facilitator: Sandy Riach

Website: scottishdsa.co.uk

Organisation: Supporters Direct Scotland To complement the day’s workshops, Supporters Direct Scotland will also be hosting an open forum for any delegate to come and discuss any issue that is important to them.

SDS staff will also be on hand to answer any questions about the work the organisation does and what events we have planned over the coming months. Supporters Direct Scotland has enjoyed a busy last year, working hard with its members, while engaging with other groups and clubs across the country. The anti-sectarian project, Colours of our Scarves has proved immensely popular and successful, visiting stadiums up and down the country, working not only with supporters, but with local schools and community groups. As was the case last year, SDS has also undertaken extensive research on issues important to Scottish football fans. These research papers – six in total – will be published on ScottishFans.org in the coming weeks. Fans have also been given the opportunity to have their voice heard with the National Fans’ Survey, presented in partnership with the SFA. This is your opportunity to ask any questions relating to the work of SDS and what we can offer your club or trust.

Head of Supporters Direct Scotland Andrew Jenkin will host the forum.

Facilitator: Andrew Jenkin

Website: communitysharesscotland.org.uk Website: scottishfans.org

Organisation: Dundee Supporters Society

Organisation: ShareIn

Organisation: Supporters Direct Scotland

Colin is the fans’ representative on the Board at Dundee FC. This session will seek to inform delegates of what this role entails and what is expected of a fans’ rep at Club Board level.

Having supporters’ voices heard is more critical than ever before in Scottish football and SDS believes that more clubs should allow representation for supporters at the highest level of governance. Delegates can discuss and debate the role that supporters play at their clubs and the level of representation that they currently enjoy. With supporter influence in Scottish football increasing over the last few years, more provision is being made for trusts and supporters groups to have their voice heard in the running of their respective clubs.

For those wishing to find out more about what having a supporter representative on the Club Board requires and how the role works, this is an invaluable session.

Jude Cook from ShareIn – Supporters Direct Scotland’s 2015 Conference title sponsor will be taking a workshop on crowdfunding and the work that ShareIn do. ShareIn is a crowdfunding platform for organisations looking to raise capital in return for equity in their business.

Companies can list their ‘pitches’ on ShareIn’s platforms, allowing them greater exposure to potential investors. FC United of Manchester part-funded their new stadium through crowdfunding, using the local community and football fans from around the world as a resource to achieve their goal. Portsmouth FC, another supporter-owned club, used a similar method to help pay for a new Youth Academy. This forum will help delegates from trusts and clubs alike learn more about different avenues for resource generation that could help potential upcoming projects.

The issue of fixture rescheduling in Scottish football has become an increasingly important one to many supporters. The strong influence of broadcasters on when matches are scheduled for and their kick off times has created problems for fans wishing to follow their team both home and away. Supporters Direct Scotland has conducted extensive research on this issue, working closely with supporters’ trusts and groups on what aspects of fixture rescheduling our important to the fans. This includes minimum notice periods for any changes, cheaper ticket prices for televised fixtures and greater consideration for the distance between teams selected to play on weeknights. As well as today’s workshop, SDS will also be publishing its research paper in full at ScottishFans. org. The importance of this issue cannot be overstated. The role that supporters play in improving the ‘product’ of Scottish football is immense, with larger crowds bringing better atmospheres and more revenue for clubs. The more work that can be done by the game’s governing bodies to make football more affordable and accessible for all, the healthier state Scottish football will be in.

Facilitator: Colin Reid

Website: dee4life.com

Facilitator: Jude Cook

Website: sharein.com

Facilitator: Michael Wood

Website: scottishfans.org

THIS YEAR’S

RESEARCH Research: Fixture Rescheduling/Kick-off Times

Research: The Future of Fan Ownership in Scotland

The issue of fixture rescheduling in Scottish football has become a significant concern for football fans across the country. Due to the increasing influence of broadcast partners in the game, matches are at the mercy of late date and kick off time changes. This presents a great inconvenience to supporters looking to follow their team home and away. Short notice also makes football less affordable and accessible for a number of fans. This paper looks at the biggest concerns for fans, what they would like to see be addressed and what changes can reasonably be made.

Over the last few years, Scottish football has seen a significant increase the level of supporter involvement in how clubs are run. As well as fully fan-owned clubs such as Stirling Albion and Clyde FC, groups such as the Foundation of Hearts and Rangers First has proved that there is an appetite from fans to take control of what they love so much. This bodes well for the future of fan ownership, with more clubs recognising the benefits of what it can bring. This paper looks at what we can expect in the coming years from the strengthening supporters movement and the role that Supporters Direct Scotland can play.

Author: Michael Wood

Author: Andrew Jenkin

Research: Commodification of Scottish Football

Research: Impact of Broadcasting on Fixtures

Much has been made of Scottish football’s inability to draw significant commercial revenue to help the game grow at all levels. This research paper looks at what clubs can and are doing to make football more attractive to a wider demographic of supporters – to help both the individuals clubs and the leagues themselves more prosperous.

Linked to the research paper on the price of football, this paper looks at the impact that broadcasting of matches has had on match day attendances. It is not only high ticket prices that keeps fans away from stadiums on match days – many are happy to sit at home and watch matches that are shown on television. The research conducted looks at just what the impact is, how severe it is and what can be done to address it. Should fans who attend matches that are televised be rewarded with cheaper ticket prices for example? There are many potential avenues that clubs and the SPFL could explore in order to encourage more fans to watch Scottish football at the stadium, rather than in the living room.

Author: Cat Blair

Author: Kevin McCluskie

Research: The Price of Football Football is gradually becoming a more and more expensive sport to follow for supporters. Fans are being asked to pay more and more to follow their team home and away. This research looks at the cost of football in Scotland, where the best and worst value is to be found and makes suggestions on how clubs and the sport’s governing body can make the game more accessible and affordable for more fans. Attendances at Scottish football have significant room for improvement and many fans are put off watching their team due to the high prices demanded by clubs. An honest and open assessment of what represents value for money in Scottish football could potentially see more supporters willing to attend matches across the country.

Author: Kevin McCluskie

Research: Use of 3G pitches in Scottish Football Many clubs in the SPFL now employ the use of synthetic 3G pitches, foregoing traditional grass surfaces. This has a number of benefits, including reducing costs of maintain the pitch itself and reducing the possibility of matches being postponed due to poor weather conditions. This research engages with many clubs across the leagues who use such pitches and what their attitudes to it; whether it has proved to be a success, what the players themselves think of playing on it compared to grass and whether it has impacted positively on the club’s finances.

Author: Matthew Sheridan

NOTES