Supporters Direct Scotland November 2014 E-mag - Issue 6

supporters direct scotland November 2014 e-mag #6

www.scottishfans.org

Inside this issue � Fundraising initiatives for supporters’ trusts � Can fan ownership save football debate � Fan owned Clyde FC become debt free � Labour propose more fan representation � Are Scottish fans being mistreated?

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Since 2002, our primary role has been to ensure that supporters’ trusts and fans in Scotland have the greatest role possible in the ownership and running of their clubs, and the game in general.

For further information on Supporters Direct Scotland please visit us at: Room 4, Beta House, Innovation Park University of Stirling FK9 4NF T: 01786 845 606 facebook.com/scottishfans twitter.com/scottishfans

Some of the photographs used in this magazine were taken on behalf of Supporters Direct Scotland

by Stuart Roy Clarke for The Colours of Our Scarves project. For more details please visit www.scottishfans.org/colours PAGE 2

FELLOW SUPPORTERS, The past three months have been an interesting time to be working at Supporters Direct Scotland with a few changes in staff and several eye catching cases we’ve been involved with.

We were sorry to see the departure of Paul Goodwin as Head of SDS following two years with the organisation and are very thankful for his services over that time. On a personal note, Paul was a good colleague and friend and I owe much of my own development over that time to him.

However, I am enjoying the challenge of taking Supporters Direct Scotland forward and continuing the good work that has been started.

This has involved assisting in the BuyHibs campaign which launched last month. The campaign has three key aims; to create an ownership model that provides the resources to invest in the team, for all Hibernian supporters to be inspired and included in their community ethos and to honour Sir Tom Farmer and fulfil his pledge to return Hibs to the community by facilitating a dignified change in the club’s ownership model.

We believe that supporters are the heart and soul of any football club and the Buy Hibs campaign shows Hibernian have many passionate, knowledgeable and highly skilled supporters who would like to be further involved in the running of the club.

Fan owned clubs are shown to have stronger ties with their communities, attract more sponsorship and encourage greater match day spending.

We’re hopeful that more supporter led campaigns follow suit and we’re looking forward to assisting them in their aims and ambitions. We’re also anticipating the findings of the ‘Supporter Involvement at football clubs Working Party’ report. The group and process has been chaired

by Stephen Morrow and we’re interested to hear his recommendations on how fans can be further involved and engaged in the running of the game.

Our latest E-mag will bring you up to speed on the latest developments within the field of football, fans and governance and includes information on the Labour Party’s proposals for fans on boards in England and the latest news from our Supporters Trusts in Scotland.

Best wishes,

Andrew Jenkin Acting Head of Supporters Direct Scotland

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RANGERS SUPPORTERS TRUST CALL FOR REGULATORS TO EXAMINE MIKE ASHLEY ROLE

Hibernian FC fans launch campaign to buy their club

The Rangers Supporters Trust has called for the financial regulators to examine Mike Ashley’s role at both Newcastle and Rangers.

A newly formed fans group called BuyHibs has announced its intention to unite fans with the aim of buying Hibernian FC.

The Trust have challenged Ashley’s ownership of Newcastle United whilst at the same time now appearing to dictate what also happens at Rangers.

As well as a complaint that the board have failed to treat all shareholders equally, the Trust has also asked the authorities to probe the lack of disclosure by the Rangers board when it comes to commercial income.

The Rangers Supporters Trust letter: “We write as a shareholder to express our deep concern over the stewardship of Rangers International Football Club plc.

“And ask that you carry out an investigation into the current and previous board of directors to determine if their actions favour one particular related party, namely Mr Mike Ashley and his company, Sports Direct.

“Mr Ashley owns a controlling interest in another football club, Newcastle United FC, and ownership of more than one football club is not permitted by football authorities. (Under the terms agreed with the Scottish Football Association, Mike Ashley was initially permitted to be involved with Rangers PAGE 4

if his shareholding did not exceed 10%, and that he did not exert any influence at board level.)

“We believe in placing two of his representatives on the board of RIFC, Mr Ashley is clearly influencing operations which may violate his agreement with the SFA. “This could put the football club at risk of sanctions. Indeed, we understand that the SFA has written to Rangers and Mr Ashley for clarification.

“Potential sanctions from the governing body could range from financial penalties to suspension of membership.

“We believe this is an unacceptable risk to the business, particularly when an alternative offer of short term funding was available. This risk appears to have been taken in order to further the interests of one related party.”

“The Rangers Supporters’ Trust represents over 2000 members with a group shareholding in RIFC. And we believe our interests, as well as those of thousands of other shareholders, may be being overlooked in favour of one particular shareholder/related party.”

Derek Llambias has already been appointed to the Rangers board as an Ashley nominee, with another due to follow shortly.

The group, which will headed by Hibernian legend Pat Stanton, is welcomed by the Hibernian Supporters Association, the Formers Players Association and the Hibernian Shareholders Association who will be meeting with their members to discuss the best way to support the campaign.

The announcement follows open meetings with supporters and a comprehensive fan survey of over 4000 supporters carried out by Supporters Direct Scotland. The survey revealed that 84% of supporters believed that it is time to look at fan ownership options and to seek a change of direction in the ownership of the club. 80% also stated that they believed Easter Road should be safeguarded as the future of the club and any change to that would require fan approval.

68% said that they would be willing to join a membership scheme to provide additional income for the club.

Pat Stanton said: “The BuyHibs campaign has the ultimate aim of buying our club. We are in the fortunate position that the motivation for BuyHibs has not been generated from an emergency situation through a threatened insolvency like supporters of other clubs have been faced with.

We want to be in a position where we can make a

positive contribution to the long term position of our club and to be ready to buy the club when the opportunity arises. We are asking fans to pledge to provide funds which will allow BuyHibs to drive positive change, and to give an indication of what size of stake is achievable. We are open to work with all Hibernian minded people and groups who share the same goal.

Director of the BuyHibs campaign, Neil Wheelan said: “The club are failing on and off the park and the need for change has never been greater; the club needs a new direction with fresh drive and investment coming into the club. The potential within the Hibernian fanbase is enormous and this must be used to take the club forward.”

“Greater fan involvement is a must as no one cares about their clubs as much as the supporters do.

There also needs to be greater transparency and a greater focus on football. We want the Hibernian support to unite behind the drive to bring positive change and to get our club back where it should be.”

Andrew Jenkin, of Supporters Direct Scotland added: “Supporters are the heart and soul of any football club and the Buy Hibs campaign shows Hibernian have many passionate, knowledgeable and highly skilled supporters who would like to be further involved in the running of the club. Fan owned clubs are shown to have stronger ties with their communities, attract more sponsorship and encourage greater match day spending”.

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news It is almost impossible to know where to start to thank all of those that contributed to save the club from extinction. The overwhelming support in the early years from supporters and many friends of the club, who seemingly poured money into black holes to steady the ship whilst maintaining fulltime football on insufficient incomes were leaps of faith. Nobody sought recognition then for their contributions, and so they remain anonymous today.

Clyde FC announce they are now debt free Last month Clyde FC announced that the club are now debt free. This is fantastic news and Supporters Direct Scotland congratulate the club on an accomplishment which had taken a decade to achieve.

The club released this statement on their website (clydefc.co.uk);

Clyde is a club that exists today because of all of its supporters, not because of a few.

Many people have come and gone around the club, but their contributions whether as volunteers, supporters or directors, have all made a tangible difference throughout the last ten years and every contribution has been valued and appreciated.

Thanks to everyone’s efforts and contributions we can now look for ten years of progress.”

“The club is pleased to confirm that it is now completely debt free.

The burden of debt has weighed heavily on the club since the failed bid to reach the SPL. An unsustainable debt of £1.4m had been the result of the quest for top flight football, a quest mathematically possible right up to the last day of season 2003-04.

It has taken ten years to readjust the structure of the club to live within its means and repay its creditors, a process that necessarily saw financial survival take priority over sporting ambition.

Throughout this time we have relied on the support of our creditors as well as our supporters and we close this chapter with thanks to all involved.

There are mixed emotions around this event; a sense of satisfaction at having achieved this massive task, but tainted with the pain of it having happened in the first place and the consequences that followed. Yet it sets the foundation on which the club can again plan to grow and progress.

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Falkirk fans survey shows supporters disappointment in club The results of the most recent Falkirk Fans survey has sparked the group to comment: “We are disappointed that this years survey shows regression in all key measures. It clearly tells us that the supporters remain unhappy with the current club strategy off the park and the quality of football it enables on the park. Once again the big

issues highlighted remain a lack of confidence in the club’s leadership and the degree to which fans have an influence on how the club is run.

“The removal of the Fans Rep from the Boardroom, effective from this month, and the failure of the Board to put a mechanism in place to retain the Fans Rep while ‘broadening the franchise’ is clearly a retrograde step in this regard.

“Over the last few years the Fans Surveys show that, from the supporter’s perspective, the club’s is better run when the club’s leaders engage with supporters properly, take their issues seriously and deliver a level of ambition and quality of football which is commensurate with their expectations.

“We remain concerned that, unless this happens, supporters will inevitably continue to feel disenfranchised and may gradually turn their back on the club.

Supporters Direct Scotland have stated their disappointment at the situation by stating “we’re disappointed to hear of recent developments at Falkirk FC, where their recent survey conducted by fans has highlighted a decreasing level of trust in the clubs’ leadership from this time last year. This follows the club’s decision to remove a fan-director from the board.

“We’d strongly advise the club to return to its old relationship, where it worked far more in partnership with established supporters groups.

Having a strong relationship with fans brings a real and tangible benefit.

Well Society remain hopeful of completing community ownership deal The Well Society say they remain hopeful of completing a deal to bring Motherwell FC into community ownership.

per cent shareholding from former chairman John Boyle.

Last month Motherwell’s board warned the club could fall into the ownership of an unknown party if supporters fail to raise £1m before December.

In a statement, Well Society acting chairman Brian McCafferty said: “We are doing everything possible to help finalise a deal which would stabilise Motherwell FC’s finances and ultimately hand control of the club to supporters.

“The proposed deal is complicated and we are trying to help find a way to satisfy the need to commit ongoing funds from Well Society members and new recruits.

“We had an excellent response to our recent plea for help to keep the club in the hands of Motherwell fans and are hopeful we can find a way to bring the discussions to a positive conclusion.

“Time is of the essence though.”

Having posted losses of £780,000 for the previous two seasons, the Scottish Premiership side faces a potential shortfall of cash in the second half of the season.

In the past two seasons the Well Society has helped to plug gaps in the club’s cash flow.

The statement continued: “As we have said before, our aims are first and foremost to stabilise the club’s finances and keep the ownership of the club in the hands of Motherwell fans, and also to keep alive the goal of supporters owning the club.

“We are doing everything we can to make sure that the club is in the hands of people who have its best interests at heart.

“We have been offered enough help, but it is now down to the details of satisfying John Boyle, the club board, our financial backers and, of course, ultimately, Well Society members.”

The group were originally set an £800,000 target by the end of November to claim control of the 75 PAGE 7

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news players were paid in full at the start of the summer and the majority of former players have now also been paid in full.

Football debt settled as hearts step closer to fan ownership The feelgood factor is at play again at Tynecastle, after Ann Budge, owner of the SPFL Championship leaders Hearts, revealed that they have effectively cleared all of their £575,000 football debt.

With the help of the supporters group Foundation of Hearts - which on the same day revealed the name of the director-elect who will complete the make-up of its six-man board – the club has all but cleared the monies owed following their successful exit from administration in June.

As well as money owed to current and former players, Hearts were also in arrears to clubs such as Liverpool (£46,600), Stenhousemuir (£12,000) and Musselburgh juniors (£5800).

As part of the agreement with Budge, the Foundation, who will be handed her majority share­ holding within three-to-five years, transferred an immediate £1m at the completion of the Company Voluntary Arrangement.

Hearts’ financial position has also been improved by supporters buying more than 12,500 season tickets and Budge admits only £23,000 of the club’s football debt will be outstanding beyond November.

In a question and answer session with the popular online fans forum Jambos Kickback, Budge said: “The real figure was closer to £575,000. All current PAGE 8

“A payments schedule was agreed and only two former players have any outstanding amounts due from the previous regime. Those final amounts will be settled at the end of this month. All players were very understanding and accommodating, with one former player waiving his right to the amount due, expressing his wish to help the club.

“Debts due to other clubs have also been largely cleared, with the exception of a final instalment of £23,000, which is due to be paid next season.

In summary, by 30th November, only £23,000 will remain to be paid.”

Nominations for the sixth place on FoH’s board of directors closed on October 28, with only one candidate, Barry McGonagle, coming forward.

A qualified chartered accountant who graduated in economics from Edinburgh University in 2007, McGonagle has worked both in professional practice and in industry, and is currently a financial reporting analyst with one of Scotland’s leading technology businesses.

Since McGonagle is unopposed, an ordinary resolution to approve his election as a director will be laid before the annual meeting at Tynecastle on December 11.

Across the city, Hibernian fans, backed by club legend Pat Stanton, will today launch a fresh campaign aimed at buying the club from owner Sir Tom Farmer. The new group has been formed since the summer with the apparent endorsement of the umbrella organisation of supporters’ clubs, former players, shareholders and the Erin Supporters’ Trust, and is seeking ‘positive dialogue’ with Farmer.

The move comes following a survey conducted

by Supporters Direct Scotland that revealed an appetite for change, with the responses of more than 4000 participants indicating that 84% backed greater discussions on fan ownership.

The exact details of the new group’s aims will be

revealed at its launch in the Hibernian Supporters Association’s base near Easter Road at lunchtime today, but it is understood organisers already have potential investors lined up should they be successful in developing their plans.

“Having reviewed the salary structure across all areas of the club, we propose to implement the nationally-approved living wage, across all staff, including part-time and contract workers,” said Budge.

Other groups are pursuing change, from straightforward takeover to community ownership, but the organisation being launched today is hopeful of bringing all supporters together behind a common goal.

“We have taken steps to register with the Living Wage Foundation, thereby formalising our commitment. We believe we will be the first football club in Scotland to sign up for this.”

SUPPORTERS DIRECT Hearts to be first Scottish TO EXAMINE WIDENING club to adopt living wage MEMBERSHIP TO SDS Hearts are to implement the living wage at the club, becoming the first in Scotland to make such a commitment. The move will include staff employed on a part-time and contract basis.

At Celtic, shareholders are to vote on the matter at their annual meeting, but a similar resolution has failed to receive sufficient support in the past.

Hearts owner Ann Budge told the Edinburgh club’s website: “We believe it is entirely in keeping with the values we hold dear as a club.” The living wage differs from the national minimum wage, which is set and imposed by the UK government, in that it is an hourly rate set independently, updated annually and calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK. At present, the living wage outside London is £7.65 an hour, while the minimum wage for over21s is £6.50. Semi-professional FC United of Manchester, who play in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, were the first football club in Britain to work with the Living Wage Foundation, which promotes the living wage.

A spokeswoman for the foundation welcomed the interest from a club of Hearts’ size and described it as “really exciting for Scotland and the UK”.

Hearts’ decision to adopt the living wage for their workforce was taken at the Scottish Championship leaders’ October board meeting.

Supporters Direct is pleased to announce it will be examining the governance and membership structure of the organisation in Scotland to ensure that, going forward, it is as representative of supporters’ organisations throughout the country as possible.

This follows requests for a widening of the membership beyond traditional football trusts.

As part of these consultations, meetings will be held with existing and potential members, and a survey will be conducted, to help inform the future direction of the organisation in Scotland.

Robin Osterley, Chief Executive of Supporters Direct, said “Following the McLeish Report, Scottish Football has undertaken some dramatic changes, not least the merger of the SFL and the SPL which might at one time have seemed impossible. It is important that these changes continue, but we believe it’s also essential that fans are represented in a structured and meaningful way at the highest level.

“We are keen to ensure that SDS examine its current governance structures in the light of striving to be as inclusive as possible of formally constituted fans groups, and we hope this period of consultation will result in a variety of options being considered. In the first instance, we would urge individual fans to get involved in their own clubs via their respective supporters’ trusts.”

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fundraising

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stirling albion supporters trust lottery success paves way forward for youth football Many of the aims, objectives and ambitions of supporters’ trusts succeed or fail by depending on success in acquiring the resources and finance to make them happen. Fundraising specifically can be a difficult task, especially when you find yourself ‘fishing in the same pond’; returning to the same people time and again.

club who do not live locally.

Many trusts have taken it upon themselves to seek more lucrative and sustainable sources of income to aid their efforts. The Stirling Albion Supporters Trust (SAST) lottery is now in its 3rd year having raised a substantial sum to support the SAFC youth teams.

In the 3 years since SAST established their own Lotto, there have been two jackpot winners (one racking up £7,000, the other a tidy £15,000) and at the time of writing, the jackpot sits at its maximum of £20,000. In addition to the jackpot prizes, it has paid out a further total sum in excess of £30,000 in respect of runners-up prizes

This has allowed the trust to seek fundraising from alternate sources and from those who it usually wouldn’t be engaged with. This includes those who may not necessarily be supporters of the club, but are keen to support their local community, It also has the added benefit of reaching supporters of the PAGE 10

Having spoken to members at Clyde Supporters Trust, the group were able to get the lottery up and running with notable success, showing trusts across Scotland can work together to support objectives at their respective clubs.

To date, with the funds produced from the Lotto, the trust has been able to make a series of donations to support community football at youth level and most recently handed a Central Region girls’ team a cheque to the tune of £400 – a side

with strong Stirling Albion representation.

Despite its relative success, the process hasn’t been easy and took (and still takes) significant effort to help it ticking over. Graham Douglas, secretary of the Supporters Trust and one of the Lotto’s two managers tells us the legwork involved in making everything possible isn’t light.

Graham, along with the Lotto’s licence holder James Smith, are required to collect tickets from over 25 agents scattered across Stirlingshire every week as while there is the option to play online, over 50% of the lotto’s turnover is produced by the sale of physical tickets.

To encourage ticket sales, agents (mostly clubs and pubs) are enticed with 10% commission from every ticket sale - and 10% of the jackpot if they sell a winning ticket - however some waive their commission and simply sell tickets to help the Trust.

it can be highly successful and support many of a group’s activities and ambitions.

You can play the SAST Lotto by visiting: www.safclotto.co.uk

While it is hard to deny setting up the lottery and maintaining it hasn’t been at times arduous, the proof has been in the pudding. If there is a will and dedication to make a lottery work and worthwhile, PAGE 11

fundraising

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invest in solar energy at your club HOW IT WORKS An exciting opportunity exists for Trusts and fans groups to invest in green energy and finance their long term objectives.

A Solar PV panel installation uses the sun’s energy to create electricity to power your football club’s stadium which in turn also saves the club money on their energy bill.

By investing in a solar panel, your trust or fans group can sell excess energy to ‘the grid’ and make a long-term profit to help with your objectives.

If you don’t own your stadium, or it is council owned, but are interested in finding if a deal can be worked out with the property owner, please contact us. Clubs and councils may be interested in the prospect of free energy through partnership working with your trust. With the help of PAGE 12

Supporters Direct Scotland, you can invest in these panels now and benefit from investing in green renewable energy.

HOW MUCH RETURN WILL WE MAKE ON OUR INVESTMENT? How much return you make on the initial cost of the panels and their installation will depend on several factors, most notably the size of the panels you invest in (the higher the kilowatt, the more energy produced).

Based on AC Gold Energy’s projections, Trusts could stand to earn as much as £325,000 (with a £42,000 cost) when investing in a 50kW solar panel with clubs potentially saving £156,000 in the process (over 25 years).

FINANCING SOLAR PANELS If you can agree a partnership with the owners of the stadium you may want to consider how you finance your solar panels and future investment of which there are:

offering shares in a co-operative legal form, most commonly as Community Benefit Societies (CBS).

Shares in a CBS are different to ‘normal’ shares in companies.

2. If you can part-fund their installation, A C Gold Energy will match your funding and profit share.

CBS shares don’t go up in value, are unlikely to go down, and don’t give extra voting rights to bigger investors. Community shares can, under certain circumstances be withdrawn, with the CBS buying back the shares for the original price that they were bought for, thereby offering the individual investor an exit route. They can also pay a small amount of interest to investors, at the discretion of the CBS Board.

3. Alternatively, we at Supporters Direct are happy to assist in the running of a ‘community share’ offer in which the Trust can raise capital.

For these reasons, the shares are usually called “withdrawal shares” to distinguish them from the ordinary shares in a company.

WHAT ARE COMMUNITY SHARES?

You can find out more by viewing our publication on this fundraising scheme by visiting: http://goo.gl/wq9T5R.

1. If you have sufficient enough funds, you can outright purchase the panels and claim 100% of the return on the investment.

Community Shares are a means to raise finance by PAGE 13

SDS NEWS & COMMENT

SDS NEWS & COMMENT respective clubs, Stephen Morrow (for) and Andrew Adams (against) backed up their own arguments with academia and published research.

‘Can Fan Ownership save Scottish football?’ HeriotWatt University debate Last month saw the coming together of a range of stakeholders in Scotland’s national game to discuss the question of whether ‘Fan ownership can save Scottish football’ for Heriot-Watt’s CFI 5th Annual Debate.

Speaking on the night and presenting their cases for and against the fan ownership model were: Ann Budge: Chair and Chief Executive of Heart of Midlothian FC. Andrew Adams: Professor of Finance and Director of the Centre for Finance and Investment at HeriotWatt University. Co-author of the paper: ‘Mutuality for Football Clubs? Lessons from the Financial Sector’, which was published in 2004.

Stephen Morrow: Senior Lecturer in Sport Finance at the University of Stirling. He is the Chairman of the working group – along with Supporters Direct Scotland – on Supporter Involvement in Football Clubs for the Scottish Government Mike Mulraney: Chairman and Chief Executive of Alloa Athletic FC and a board member of the SPFL. While each speaker debated the wording of the question posed, it nevertheless brought up great discussion among the participants who each had their own personal feelings on the future of the model within Scottish football. While Mike Mulraney (against) and Ann Budge (for) were able to draw upon their personal experiences at their PAGE 14

At the outset of the evening, attendees were asked to show whether they agreed with the statement by a show of hands. While at the start the majority of the audience did believe fan ownership was the way forward, by the discussion’s conclusion this had drastically shifted. It should be noted however, that the Supporters Direct Scotland 2014 National Fans Survey showed an overwhelming majority of fans believe community ownership could work in Scotland.

However, there are numerous inaccuracies in some of the night’s arguments against fan ownership which I feel ought to be addressed.

The same cannot be said of private ownership.

Generally, there seemed an agreement among the speakers that ‘well-run’ clubs should be the model for the game, but that can be unsustainable and put the club in a lot of potential danger if it happens to rely upon one person, such as the case of Gretna FC and former owner Brooks Mileson who passed away while in ownership of the club.

Each one of the speakers agreed that fan ownership has ‘a place’ within Scottish football and most agreed that any sense of benevolence of owners is ‘running out’ – so who will take on the responsiblity of ensuring these clubs continue to exist? As Stephen Morrow pointed out, chairmen, players and managers can all change – but supporters will be there for the long-term.

By Andrew Jenkin

There seemed to be a shared opinion between most of the speakers that fan ownership in Scotland had not been done ‘well’ to date.

Interestingly, just one hour after the discussion’s conclusion, fan-owned Clyde FC – a Trust-owned club since 2010 – released the news that after 10 years of the burden of borrowing which was racked up chasing the SPL, they were now completely free of the debt: This mood is captured well by former Clyde FC manager Jim Duffy in this video: http://goo.gl/Uj1IDb Additionally, I wonder whether fans of fanowned Stirling Albion feel they have done ‘fan ownership badly’? The Binos are one of the few clubs to my knowledge that have produced a profit while extending their activities within their local community. While the club initially suffered consecutive relegations, the essence of community ownership is not that of success on the park, but that of ensuring your club will be to support in 25 years time – something that Trust at Stirling have so far done particularly well in my opinion.

In fact, if one was to argue about the success of fan ownership versus private ownership, the proof is in the pudding that no club in fan ownership has gone into administration in Scottish football.

Supporters Direct Scotland joinS Forth Valley Chamber of Commerce Supporters Direct Scotland has become a member of the Forth Valley Chamber of Commerce.

The Forth Valley Chamber of Commerce was founded in September 2012 with the aim of sharing opportunities, knowledge and expertise across the Forth Valley. Affiliated to both the Scottish and the British Chambers of Commerce, it offers a range of products and services aimed at helping its members to grow and develop their businesses.

Members are kept up to date with all the latest Chamber news via a weekly update, monthly ezine and quarterly INCommerce magazine, as well as through Social Media sites and one to one conversations.

Supporters Direct Scotland looks forward to engaging and working closely with the Forth Valley

Chamber of Commerce and their wide range of members in the near future.

SDS at ‘FREE’ Project Conference We attended and presented at the FREE Project’s ‘Whose Game Is It? Supporters and Football Governance’ conference at Loughborough University. FREE (Football Research in an Enlarged Europe) is a collaborative research project which seeks to understand the impact of the most popular and most widely shared of all experiences of popular culture, football, on identity dynamics, perception patterns and cultural change in Europe.

Andrew Jenkin was in attendance and presented on ‘The Future of the Community Ownership Movement in Scotland’. The research concludes that the fan ownership model holds an encouraging future, however suggested that this could have come about due to financial troubles within the game, rather than because of the models other benefits such as sustainability and democracy.

The research helped conclude that instability is caused by the motives of owners – which are unquestionably good if supporters are in charge.

You can view the presentation by visiting: http://goo.gl/NMYUxK. Gretna Community Sport wins £50k prize The Gretna Community Sport project has won £50,000 from ITV People’s Millions in the ITV Border region. The project is aiming to get more children involved in sport across Gretna and the surrounding areas. The project is supported by Gretna 2008 FC Youth Academy but is seeking to include other sports for people who may not like football.

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SDS NEWS & COMMENT

SDS NEWS & COMMENT

Supporters Direct and Sandlanders launch report at Soccerex African Forum

GOVERNMENT EXPERT GROUP LAUNCHED in england and wales

The 4th and 5th of November saw the staging of the third Soccerex African Forum, at the Moses Mabidha Stadium in Durban, South Africa.

SD in England, Government and the football authorities are all represented on a group that will look at removing barriers to supporter-owned clubs.

Delegates from football and beyond were in attendance, discussing issues such as club licensing, league development, and the governance of the game, including amongst the speakers over Supporters Direct and Sandlanders Football – the representative body for African cooperative football clubs, who participated in the ‘Importance of Club Licensing’ session. Justin Mumba (President, Zesco United), Shehu Dikko (Chairman of the First Instance Appeals Body, Nigerian Football Federation), and moderator Thomas Kwenaite (SuperSport) also appeared. The session discussed the benefits and implementation of the Confederation of African Football’s licensing system across the continent.

core of many issues affecting African football. The partnership with Supporters Direct sees the two organisations join forces with the aim of promoting the value of ownership and involvement by the community in African football.

To aid understanding of the challenges ahead, the report provides an insight into how African football clubs are organised. Questions such as ‘who owns the club?’, ‘where does the money come from?’ and ‘where does the money go?’are often asked but the answers – despite being crucial to understanding how African football operates – are difficult to find.

The report therefore contains an overview and analysis of existing ownership structures across the continent; supported by detailed case studies focusing on four countries (Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa). Recommendations for the future are also included.

As well as featuring in the Club Licensing workshop, Supporters Direct and Sandlanders also launched a joint report focusing on Club Structures and Licensing on the continent. Prepared following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two organisations, this is the first of a number of planned publications.

“Based on our experience of involving communities in the running of football clubs, this report will show the strength of the links between community ownership and involvement in decision making at clubs, and long-term sustainability”, said Ben Shave, of Supporters Direct Europe.

The report is based on Sandlanders’ experience of working with clubs, associations and supporters’ groups in nine African countries over the past five years. Over the course of that time, weak football club structures and an absence of effective club licensing have been identified as being at the

“Community ownership is already a big part of sporting culture in many parts of Africa, and clubs and supporters now need to take steps to ensure that this involvement translates into good governance and financial sustainability”, said Paul Jones, Director of Sandlanders Football.

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The Supporter Ownership and Engagement Expert group will have its first meeting in London next month, and has on it representatives from Government, the Premier League, The FA, the Football League, Supporters Direct, the legal profession, insolvency and tax experts.

Representatives from clubs that are run by supporters (Portsmouth FC, AFC Wimbledon and Wrexham), as well as part-owned Premier League Swansea City, will also be called upon to contribute.

The group will look at removing barriers to clubs becoming community-owned assets, when opportunities arise for that to be a sustainable and viable option, with seeing what more can be done to help supporters groups have stronger links with the executives and owners running clubs.

Sports Minister Helen Grant launched the group on a visit to Portsmouth Football Club, which is owned by its Supporters following a takeover by fans in 2013, after the club had fallen into administration for a second time.

Grant said: “Football fans are the lifeblood of the club they support. We want to see what more we can do to give them a stronger voice in how their club is run and look at ways in which we can help remove some of the barriers to supporter ownership.”

Supporters Direct chief executive Robin Osterley said: “It’s very gratifying to see the Government addressing the problems that prevent an increase in supporter ownership. We’re immensely pleased at the cooperation that we’ve seen across the game, and between Government departments, and we’re grateful to the Minister for making this happen. This is something that can directly and tangibly benefit supporters’ trusts, and we look forward to making swift progress on the issues.”

The group will be chaired by Joanna ManningCooper who is a member of the Portsmouth Supporters Trust, a community shareholder in Portsmouth Football Club – the biggest supporter owned club in the country – and a long-term season ticket holder at Portsmouth Football Club.

She is also a trustee of Pompey in the Community, the Club’s charitable foundation.

Manning-Cooper has worked in sport for many years and is currently the Director of Marketing and Communications for England Rugby 2015, organisers of next year’s Rugby World Cup. Previously to that she was the Head of Media for LOCOG, organisers of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and, prior to that, Director of Communications for the Financial Times.

The group will make recommendations to government, reporting into the Sports Minister.

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news

NEWS

KitAid day of celebration organised by Airdrieonians Supporters’ Trust A day of celebration took place at New Broomfield to mark a charity effort which has boosted the Airdrieonians brand both at home and abroad.

The Airdrieonians Supporters’ Trust joined forces with charity KitAid in the summer as part of a project which offered free season tickets for under16s.

In return for old or unwanted strips, youngsters had the chance to pick up a brief entitling them to a season of free League One football.

The kit campaign has continued apace with more than 4000 items donated for people in some of PAGE 18

the world’s poorest countries – after a fantastic response from the local community.

And trust officials are pulling out all the stops with a family fun day ahead of the Diamonds’ crunch clash at home to Stenhousemuir.

Airdrieonians will also be recognised as an ambassador club by the charity, joining an exclusive list.

There will also be face painting and stalls from Starting Point who have been selling Diamonds merchandise all season.

“We’re delighted about this,” said trust member Dougy Allsop. “We hope to continue our partnership with the charity for many years to come.”

“Our thanks go to everyone who has helped us achieve what we have thus far,” added Dougy.

“Everybody is invited to join our celebration.”

Certificates will be handed out to those who have played a role in supporting the kit drive.

Eight KitAid trustees flew up from England to celebrate the trust’s achievement and thank them for their efforts.

And there will be a training session for the Airdrie Aces at 12.30pm.

The 16-year-old charity recently passed the landmark of 250,000 strips donated and distributed recently with the Diamonds’ contribution getting them over that line.

Members of the community outreach team at Coatbridge Fire Station will be in attendance from 1pm to 2pm with Peter Merlin entertaining the kids in the stadium’s Rowan Suite.

The supporters’ trust managed and funded the free season tickets scheme which they underwrote to the tune of £9000 following talks with the club.

More than 200 season tickets were handed out in a sustained drive to boost attendances at home matches.

Membership numbers of the trust and Airdrie Aces have increased.

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news

NEWS

Scottish FA host inaugural Convention On Wednesday December 3rd, the Scottish Football Association held their inaugural Convention at Hampden Park. The event – attended by a wide range of stakeholders both within and outwith Scottish football – examined some of the pertinent issues facing the game in this country today. There were several interesting speakers on the day, discussing topics such as the brand and marketing of Scottish football, social media, the SFA’s Judicial Process and the renaissance of German football.

After a brief welcome from SFA Chief Executive, Stewart Regan, the morning session was opened

by Joe McLean and James Hichens from Grant Thornton LLP, who discussed Scottish football’s future from an external point of view – looking at issues such as falling attendances and the need to increase the level of fan engagement as a means of improving the ‘customer experience’. It was especially interesting to listen to opinions on how to improve Scottish football from an external standpoint – adopting a non-traditional approach may be the way forward for the game in this country.

Following this was a presentation from Craig Graham, the Chairman of Spartans FC, discussing the work done by the club’s Community arm.

This was a very uplifting story on the work done in this area of Edinburgh – giving local children a chance to not only play football, but spend time with their friends in a safe environment. Outside PAGE 20

of the football, the club uses it’s community work to focus on issues such as health, education and crime.

Before the lunch break in the afternoon, the audience were treated to a hour-long speech from Barry Hearn, the Chairman of Matchroom Sport – who established a strong portfolio of promoting in snooker, darts and boxing. The former Leyton Orient Chairman didn’t pull any punches, outlining what he thought the problems facing Scottish football were and criticising the SFA and SPFL for not doing enough to promote the sport and indulging in too much self-pity. Hearn also advocated the centralisation of Scottish football, bringing the SPFL and SFA together, rather than working separately towards their mutual goals.

After a brief lunch break, the afternoon session began with a very informative speech from the General Secretary of the DFB, Helmut Sandrock, discussing the renaissance of German football, culminating in their successful 2014 World Cup campaign. Helmut began by looking back at Germany’s poor results in the late 90s and early 00s and the decision made to invest in youth development – acknowledging that it would be a long-term approach, rather than a quick-fix.

Perhaps most interesting in this was Helmut detailing the importance of family life in developing a player and that the DFB ensures that players remain living at home until they are at least 15. It could be argued that Scottish football is only at the

beginning of this journey, so being able to see a nation that has followed through on a commitment to change provided a great deal of inspiration.

Lawrence Broadie of Progress Sponsorship and Communications then gave an impassioned speech on the work that needs to be done within football from a public relations viewpoint.

Encouraging clubs to be more creative and open to new ways of working. This was finished off with an positive plea for those in Scottish football to show more enthusiasm for the game in terms of its promotion; that there is a lot of good within Scottish football and it is our responsibility to let as many people as possible know about that.

Following Lawrence was Alex Stone, who is the Social Media Manager for FIFA. Alex’s speech focused primarily on the highly successful social media strategy that FIFA employed during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the staggering statistic that they were able to reach over 1 billion football fans during this period. It was also refreshing to know that the issues that plague any social media user can also afflict FIFA at times – including during the build-up to the World Cup Final!

The penultimate session featured Andrew McKinlay and Tony McGlennan of the SFA, who gave an insight into the SFA’s Judicial Panel. Tony took the audience through the process of a fast track appeal – what was included in this period, the timescale and the interaction between the SFA, match day officials and players and coaches themselves during the process.

The convention was rounded off with a Q&A with Scotland National Team coach, Gordon Strachan.

Charming and entertaining as ever, the best bits were covered by us in the tweets below…

‘It’s a wonderful thing to be able to make people happy’, Strachan reflecting on Scotland’s good recent form #HampdenConvention ‘I’ve tried going bonding with players at every club I’ve been at. It usually ends up in jail’ - Strachan #HampdenConvention ‘That would be mayhem!’ - Strachan when asked if he would consider joining Twitter #HampdenConvention ‘There’s no young players currently that are going to blow your socks off!’ - Strachan #HampdenConvention ‘I don’t want to think about that’ - Strachan on where Scotland qualifying for Euro 2016 would rank amongst his career achievements In his opening address, SFA Chief Executive Stewart Regan confirmed that – amongst others – Supporters Direct Scotland would be in included in discussions regarding the restructuring of the Scottish Football Association. SDS welcomes these developments and looks forward to being involved in helping to make Scottish football a more successful and sustainable sport for all concerned.

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COMMENT

COMMENT

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL LOSES REVENUE DUE TO POOR MATCH DAY EXPERIENCE German stadiums are often hailed as the football fans dream for their culture of great atmosphere, beer drinking, safe standing, free transport to games and lower ticket prices. However many other European countries are providing a similar offering to their football fans, leaving Scottish football very low in the ‘match day experience’ league table.

If you were to visit a football match in England, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway or Sweden (plus many others) you have the option of heading to the stadium for a beer, rather than spend your money in the pub. This provides a welcome revenue stream in these PAGE 22

countries, which our clubs can’t benefit from due to the alcohol ban that has been in place since 1980.

Then there is safe standing. A recent survey carried by Supporters Direct Scotland show that over 90% of fans would like the option to sit or stand. Clubs in Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden have sections where fans can stand in complete safety. This provides a real boost to the atmosphere and in turn increases attendances and revenue.

It’s clear to me that other countries have looked at the success of the fan friendly German model and

realised the benefits this can bring. Lets take a look at an example from a country closer in size to Scotland: In Sweden, Malmo FC moved into the Swedbank Arena in 2009. The stadium capacity is 21,000 seats or 18,000 plus 6,000 standing places. An end behind the goal can be converted from 3,000 seats to 6,000 standing places for domestic games and vice versa for International or European games. This provides the fans with a traditional end behind the goal where most of the atmosphere is created.

As well as O’Leary’s Sports Bar, fans can enjoy a beer from the kiosks below the stands. A standing ticket to watch Malmo FC ranges from 90 Swedish Krona to 155 Swedish Krona - £7.50 to £13.50.

across Europe that provide fans with the ability to have a beer inside the stadium rather than the pub, the option to sit or stand and overall a better match day experience. For many clubs, the additional revenue generated allows them to offer lower cost tickets in the standing sections, making football more affordable to the wider audience and quite often those who care most about their football team.

In Scotland we really need to ask ourselves: would improving the match day experience attract bigger crowds and extra revenue? The answer from most fans would be an overwhelming yes I’m sure.

This article was written by Kevin Mackenzie of Dons Supporters Together.

There are many examples of clubs like Malmo FC PAGE 23

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