Plan for the future from Scottish football Fans

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Plan for the future from Scottish football Fans

Plan for the future from Scottish football Fans

Football supporters have a unique vision for league football in Scotland, and it includes larger attendance at games, better methods of funding, and increased competition.

The Scotland trust Supporters Direct Scotland aims to implement some of these changes by publishing their directive, The Fans’ Plan,’ that is filled with recommendations to help make league football more entertaining for fans in the country. The information contained inside is the result of two years of surveys conducted among fans and supporters.

The Fans’ Plan calls for:

greater competition within Scottish league football structures

equal funding for each team in a league

support for clubs by central league management to increase the average attendance by 20% by 2016, and achieve an average stadium capacity utilisation of 65% within 10 years

two leagues of 16 teams, and a qualifying league of 10 or a feeder league of 16

re-introducing the League Cup, with a mini-league qualifying format structured on a geographical basis with four teams in each group

improved training and professional development for all players including greater use of Modern Apprenticeships and post-career planning

the establishment and implementation of a strong club licensing scheme

SDS spokesperson, Alan Harris commented: “The future of Scottish league football lies in the hands of its supporters and Supporters Direct Scotland has gathered the views of fans for the past two years: the most comprehensive surveys of football supporters in recent times. Fans are clearly telling us, we want more competition, more even distribution of the available funds, investment in the game, especially developing its talent from grassroots, and a greater say for supporters in clubs and national football.”

Alan Harris added: “Our approach is fairly simple. It’s about creating a virtuous circle for the long-term benefit of Scottish football. Too much of the present has been driven by short-term fixes and quick wins. However, that approach is unravelling at every level of the game. The time is right to re-build the foundations of the game in Scotland. We are proposing that a combination of league re-structuring, a re-formatted League Cup and more even distribution of funds, can continue to attract the all-important television sponsorship, create more competition between clubs and widen the game’s attraction to bring supporters back. This is our path to more sustainable development of Scottish league football.”

 

FC Barcelona ownership model – blueprint for UK clubs published by Co-opeatives UK and Supporters Direct

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FC Barcelona ownership model - blueprint for UK clubs published by Co-opeatives UK and Supporters Direct A new report, published today, suggests that the way to improve English football following the dismal England World Cup performance is to follow the approach of leading Spanish clubs and hand them over to their fans.

FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, the two leading teams in Spanish football, are co-operatives owned by 175,000 members. Of the 11 players who started out on the field for the winning World Cup team, 10 of them work for one of these two co-operatives.

A recent survey by Co-operatives UK and included in the report, 56% of respondents across the UK see the benefits of this approach, believing their club would be in better hands if it was owned co-operatively by the fans.

The report is published alongside the first English translation of the statutes of Spanish club FC Barcelona, the poster child of co-operative football.

Dave Boyle, Chief Executive of Supporters Direct and the author of the report, commented “FC Barcelona is a powerful example of how a club can be organised co-operatively and still successfully compete with rivals across the world. The club has long been known for being owned by its fans but, until now, we couldn’t see how things worked ‘under the hood’. Fans looking at what rights and powers they have in the club can only look on with envy.  Of course, co-operative football clubs are like all clubs – they are not immune from financial troubles during times of economic austerity. But it’s the ownership structure that really sets them apart.”

“There are a growing number of supporters’ trusts in the UK looking to give fans a greater say and stake in their clubs; our aim is to show how the co-operative model can run effectively and to the benefit of all involved.”

The new report, ‘Barca – fan ownership and the future of football clubs’, and the full FC Barcelona statutes are available on line at www.uk.coop/barca.