Supporters and football governance, from customers to stakeholders: a literature review and agenda for research

The commercial and political development of association football (soccer) in Europe has transformed the relationship between the sport and its fans. A growing political discourse has argued that football has lost the connection with its (core and traditional) supporters; a connection that should be regained by allowing them a greater say in the governance of the game as legitimate stakeholders. This article reviews the emerging academic literature on the role of supporters. It suggests that the evidence to support a case in favour of increased supporter involvement in football governance is limited. This group of literature is theoretically and conceptually incongruent and fraught with contradictions. Academic attention thus far is broadly divided into two areas with little overlap between the two: analysis of supporter engagement at the macro (government/policy) level with a top-down focus, and sociological ‘bottom-up’ case studies of supporter engagement and activism at the micro level (individual clubs/supporter groups). The study of supporters has predominantly focused on them as customers/fans and it needs to articulate a new narrative around this ‘governance turn’ to consider supporters as stakeholders, hence responding to on going policy developments. By doing so, it will be possible to reconcile the existing disparate bodies of work to gain a greater understanding of the new demands from the supporters and, moreover, the literature will be better placed to have an impact and to contribute to better informed policy-making if public authorities decide to continue their existing political agenda in favour of greater supporter involvement in football governance

Using a smartphone ‘app’ in qualitative research: the good, the bad and the ugly

This paper reflects on the use of a smartphone application (‘app’) in qualitative research following the experience of the FREE (Football Research in an Enlarged Europe) project, which investigated the lives of football fans in the UK. To meet this aim, a participant-focused audio-visual methodology was designed, featuring the use of an app to collect data. Fans were asked to take photographs and keep diaries to show the role football plays in their lives. The smartphone app was developed to allow fans to use their own mobile phones, capturing qualitative data in ‘real time’. The paper reflects on our experience of using the smartphone app in this qualitative research, analysing the advantages, disadvantages and the main risks that researchers will need to take into account when using smartphone apps in their future qualitative research projects. We encourage others to build on and advance this under-researched but potentially valuable tool

Whose game is it? Football governance through the eyes of the supporters [Paper #3: Are supporters getting involved in football governance?]

The first two policy papers in this series explored the demand for further regulation of football from supporters. Taken together, they conclude that supporters have an acute understanding of the problems with current football governance and are highly critical of how it is governed at the top level. A number of suggestions were made to address the problems highlighted including reform, government intervention and increased supporter involvement. This paper explores the latter point in more detail. If supporters are to be more involved in football governance – and there has been a recent policy focus on the way that this could improve football governance – what form might this take? Are supporters seeking out opportunities to involve themselves in football governance, at their clubs or elsewhere? Calling for greater supporter involvement is an important step, but it is vital to gain a greater understanding of how supporters feel about this. Policy recommendations in the area (DCMS 2011, 2013) very much focus on the role of supporter trusts and the work of Supporters Direct. However, one of the findings is that there is a variety of avenues through which supporters would like to be involved with football, not necessarily club ownership via a supporters trust., This paper analyses the supporters’ extent of engagement with football governance themselves, and the dynamics around this. It further investigates the scope for supporter engagement and the potential barriers that fans see to their involvement by current governance structures. The following paper in the series – Policy Paper #4 – focuses exclusively on club ownership and supporter trusts

How much do supporters care about football governance?

The governance of European football has been subject to much debate over the last decade. Among the issues discussed the question of the engagement of supporters in the game’s governance is a key point. Should we encourage it or not? The FREE project attempted to answer this key question for the future of European football

Whose game is it? Football governance through the eyes of the supporters [Paper #1: What is wrong with football?]

The first paper in the FREE policy series discusses supporters’ opinions on football governance and asks the fundamental questions that should form the basis of any policy proposals or recommendations for supporter involvement: What do supporters actually think about current football governance? Any answers can then begin to form a platform upon which to build proposals for increased supporter involvement, as it will reflect their own concerns and insights rather than being based on assumptions. If supporters are to be more involved in the running of the game – and receive a real say rather than a token acknowledgement – it is vital that we ask and listen to supporters themselves

Whose game is it? Football governance through the eyes of the supporters [Paper #2: What could be done to improve football governance?]

Policy paper #1 in the series discussed what supporters actually think about football governance. It concluded that supporters are dissatisfied with current football governance in the UK, and feel that the game is in need of increased regulation. An unequal distribution of power at the top level of football is believed to have caused a shift in power towards external stakeholders and away from the Football Association. This has resulted in a loss of trust in football institutions, particularly the governing body, to govern effectively. Further, supporters feel that their importance to the game is not recognised by the football authorities, external stakeholders or their clubs, particularly those at the elite level. Supporters however had a number of thoughts concerning how the governance of football in the UK might be better regulated. This second paper explores the opinions of supporters and their suggestions on how to improve football governance. Supporters who took part in the FREE Project generally made suggestions in two areas: (1) football governance reform, and (2) the need for greater supporter involvement. These will now be discussed in turn, using examples from the qualitative data (37 ‘engaged’ supporters in the UK)

Whose game is it? Football governance through the eyes of the supporters [Paper #4: Supporter ownership and the Supporter Trust model in football]

Within the FREE policy papers on football governance, papers #1 and #2 focused on the demand for further regulation of football from supporters and concluded that supporters have an acute understanding of the problems with current football governance, and are highly critical of the way the sport is governed at the top level. Various suggestions were made to address the problems highlighted including reform, government intervention and increased supporter involvement. Policy papers #3 and #4 explore the issue of increased supporter involvement in football governance further. Policy recommendations in the area strongly focus on the role of supporter trusts and the work of Supporters Direct. However, one of the findings in our conversations with supporters is that there is a variety of avenues through which they would like to be involved with football. Given that variety, it is necessary to disaggregate the analysis of this complex issue. Thus, the FREE policy paper series addresses forms of supporter engagement in two different papers. First, policy paper #3 focussed on wider fan activism via a variety of avenues, in an attempt to understand the perceived opportunities for and barriers to supporter engagement. Second, policy paper #4 focuses exclusively on club ownership and supporters’ trusts

Football stakeholders and governance: FREE Project policy brief no. 2

As football touches a large part of the European population, it is not surprising that in recent years EU policy-makers have become interested in the governance structures of this game. There is a general consensus that the transformation of European football’s governance is underpinned by a constant tension between the most commercialised and professionalised part of football (whose target is to maximise economic profits) and a more socio-cultural view stressing the social values of football. For football fans, the evolution of the game creates a complicated scenario. On the one hand there are increasing calls by the European Union institutions to engage supporters in the governance of the game. On the other, the commercialisation of football might be endangering some of the values of football most cherished by supporters. What impact has this shift in European football had on the very diverse body of supporters in Europe? The supporters’ movement is an important part of Europe’s civil society, and it has the potential to develop active citizenship and the social dimension of sport through fan involvement. Supporters are extremely diverse in Europe, mirroring the heterogeneity of fan cultures across the continent. Organisations such as Football Supporters Europe (FSE) or Supporters Direct Europe (SDE) have been praised for their work in favour of the supporters. They have earned with their work the status of partners in the development of EU sport policy. Moreover, a large number of supporter groups already work to improve the governance of the game at continental, national and local level in Europe. Against this background, this policy brief summarises the results from the football stakeholders and governance research stream of FREE. Two other policy briefs deal in more detail with two other aspects of the project’s research: the feminisation of football, and the historical, sociological and anthropological research streams