From the terraces to the boardroom

The recent European Football Fans Congress showed fans do have a voice, but the hard work is yet to come.

I spent last weekend at the European Football Fans’ Congress in Manchester. Hosted by the English Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) and Football Supporters Europe (FSE) it was chance for hundreds of delegates from across the continent to get together, share experiences and discuss the issues facing the game and the fans.

It was the collective experience, passion and ingenuity of ordinary fans that really made the event, but what was also notable was the list of guest speakers. The opening speaker was UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, FA chair Debbie Hewitt attended an opening night panel, former Manchester United star and TV pundit Gary Neville took part in a Q&A session, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham addressed a session and Sports Minister Stuart Andrew gave a speech.

Ceferin, especially, was a controversial choice. The event came shortly after another shambolic Champions League final organised by UEFA and the feeling among many fans was that despite all the fine words in the aftermath of the European Super League debacle, UEFA simply didn’t care about fans. Ceferin did not avoid the issues, beginning his opening night address by saying: “Given what some of you experienced recently, I would understand if I got a cold reception tonight.”

Cynics will say Ceferin is the consummate politician, but the fact remains he did not have to acknowledge fan feeling or say, as he did: “I have come here to say sorry… Good intentions are many times not enough. We know that and we are sorry for that.” He was also smart enough simply to fly in and fly out again straight after he’d delivered the speech. Glad-handing will have to wait until the promises of working together are properly delivered.

Aleksander Ceferin addresses the European Football Fans Congress

But the fact that Ceferin the consummate politician felt the need to speak at a fans’ conference showed that fan organisation has come a long way since Rogan Taylor and Peter Garrett sat and discussed forming a national fan organisation in 1984. It’s worth reading Taylor’s recollection of those events and remembering that, 40 years ago, the idea that any senior football figure, let alone a UEFA president, an FA chair and a minister for sport, would sit down with the fans was preposterous,

There will be those who think the fan organisations are allowing themselves to be flattered to be deceived, but there are enough canny campaigners in the ranks to know how the game is played both on and off the pitch. When these figures feel they need to come to a gathering of fans, it’s proof we are getting somewhere. Of course, we are not yet where we want to be, but establishing a place at the table has been a long, hard struggle and the achievement should not be dismissed.

At European level, the FSE and UEFA have signed an agreement to work together more closely and this recognises fans as major stakeholders alongside clubs, players and leagues). That is an important step forward, as the FAQs on the FSE website indicate. But the relationship will take time to flower, and until the experience of attending games organised by UEFA improves for the many fans who endure rather than enjoy them, scepticism will remain. The proof of the pudding, and all that.

The agreement is all the more remarkable when you consider that, just 15 years ago, pan-European supporter organisation was a loose confederation of national team fan embassy operations grouped under the name Football Supporters International. It was in 2008 that the FSA’s predecessor the Football Supporters’ Federation hosted the first European Fans Congress at Highbury, which led to the formation of FSE in Hamburg the following year.

From left: FSE’s Niamh O’Mahony; FSA’s Kevin Miles, FSE’s Ronan Evain, Debbie Hewitt of the English FA

FA chair Debbie Hewitt’s presence was also an indication of changed times, and hopefully also a sign of changes to come. She comes across as professional and empathetic, and people I spoke to who have worked with her already within football say how impressed they are by her leadership and soft skills. The FA is already considerably further ahead in establishing genuine fan engagement than the Premier League, which is intent on preserving its own importance and keeping fans at arm’s length. Again, there is distance to travel but the journey has begun.

Sports Minister Stuart Andrew’s presence was also symbolic. The government knows it is important it delivers the independent regulator the fan-led review called for, not least because it may be one of the few positive achievements it is remembered for. While Andrew hedged as might have been expected, he did commit to delivering a formal response to the consultation before the summer recess on 21 July, and gave a strong indication that the legislation would be included in the King’s Speech. Andrew also backed the idea of a shadow regulator getting on sooner rather than later with some of the work that would enable the full regulator to get off to a quick start, but warned against expecting anything that would pre-empt the full regulator’s work.

It’s clear that progress will be slower than many of us want, but there will clearly be progress. The pace of change can be extremely testing, which is why it was so encouraging to hear so many positive stories over the weekend.

Anwar Uddin and Chris Paouros at the Fans for Diversity session

Some of the most inspirational came in the opening session on the work of the Fans for Diversity campaign, in itself a statement that this area of work is central to the idea of what the supporters’ movement is about. Anwar Uddin, former diversity and inclusion lead at the FSA and now Diversity and Inclusion Manager at the Football Association, is an expert in presenting with straightforward humanity, and his account of bridging the gap between the Asian community around Bradford City’s ground and the club itself alone was worth coming for. The game will benefit from Uddin’s approach, which eschews much of the culture war nonsense spoken by all sides in this debate and instead focuses on the simple concept of treating people as people.

There were informative debates and sessions on multi-club ownership, the role of Supporter Liaison Officers, the fan-led review into English football, planning for the men’s Euro 2024 event and how the FSE works to improve fans’ matchday experience. At the last of those events I learned that, thanks to pressure put on by the Supporters’ Trust at my club, Tottenham Hotspur, the awful toilet facilities in the away section at the San Siro were going to be improved. A small step in some people’s eyes, maybe, but pretty big if you’ve ever had to use those toilets.

Much of that work was driven by Kat Law, who I used to co-chair the Trust at Spurs alongside, and the result shows that determination can pay off. Law is an experienced fan rep with a focus on matchday experience, and it’s that perspective she’ll be taking on to FSE’s board after being elected as the FSA’s candidate. That is a pretty big thing as she’ll be stepping into the shoes of Kevin Miles, the FSA CEO who was one of the founders of the FSE. Alongside Michael Gabriel, a veteran of the German fan movement and the fan embassies initiatives, Miles stood down from the FSE board at this event, and both were thanked for the significant contribution they have made.

One thing that struck me as an English observer was the difference in the way the SLO role has panned out in Europe and in England. In Europe, the SLO is more usually a supporter who liaises with clubs and authorities. In England, it’s more usual to find the SLO is a club officer who liaises with supporters. It’s not a new development, the English clubs moved years ago to colonise the SLO role as a marketing opportunity. That’s not to say there aren’t some very good SLO’s around in England, but the feeling that a trick has been missed was reinforced in a session I attended at which Niels Hilboesen spoke.

Hilboesen is the Supporter Coordinator for the Dutch national association the KNVB, and his story is very much poacher-turned-gamekeeper. He told us he had been a member of FCF Groningen’s Z Side, and still turned up to games donned in all-black and in good voice. But, he said, some years ago, they took a decision. “We were the hard-core firm, but we had to make it legal because we wanted to be at the table,” he said. He now works with fans across the Dutch game, and makes the effort to ensure he stays in touch with those in the grounds rather than become just another employee of the game.

It's not uncommon to hear stories like this in Europe, but in England it’s hard to imagine the game embracing anyone with what it would class as an undesirable past and giving them the freedom to do the job as they see it should be done. People like Hilboesen have a legitimacy that is vital, and legitimacy is important if the efforts to give fans a voice are really going to work.

Panel discussion on the English game’s fan-led review

Any movement for change has to find the balance between getting around the table to make a difference and just being at the table for its own sake, and those who put themselves forward have to guard against corporate capture as well as learn how to press the right buttons. There will, understandably, be cynicism about UEFA’s overtures to fans, and about moves to give fans a greater voice generally. But coming away from the European Football Fans Congress I got the sense of being part of a movement that was smart enough to realise how far it had come, as well as how far it has to go.

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I spent a really enjoyable evening with my former Trust co-chair colleague Kat Law and Kevin Rye, who we’ve known since his days at Supporters Direct, to record an episode of his Fan Engagement Podcast recently. Kev wanted to talk to us about what was the best part of a decade spent at the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust, getting us to reflect on what had been achieved and why we did things, and using the freedom that comes with not holding an official position in a membership organisation.

Kev has good judgment, so I’ll trust him when he says the episode worked well – even though my opening answer tries to take in too much and goes on for far too long. For which apologies. If you can get past that, it’s apparently a very good listen, and you’ll certainly get an idea of why Kat has been asked to work with the FSE. I’d also recommend subscribing to the pod. Kev has interviewed some very interesting guests and if you like The Football Fan, you will be interested.

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And if you want to find out more about Lily Parr, go to the website of the National Football Museum, where the opening session of the weekend was held.