Fair Game Workshops
Finding a solution
We as Fair Game clubs have a unique opportunity to change football from the inside. It is an opportunity we will not waste.
In June 2021, we consulted national and international experts in a series of workshops to develop realistic and achievable solutions to the problems that are plaguing the governance of the game we all love.
The morning sessions were open to all interested parties to listen in. The afternoon session were for Fair Game clubs to come together with our advisors and experts to start developing our top-line solutions. These solutions will be handed over to our team of experts and partners to turn into potential new laws and legislation to ensure this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is not wasted.
Listen Back
Workshop 1: Community and fan engagement: Delivering long-term security
Friday 28 May
How do we embed football clubs in their communities?
What does good fan engagement look like?
How do we address the issue of diversity effectively?
How do we make football fans ambassadors for the community?
How can it work for clubs without fan representation on their boards
Presentations
Fan Engagement Index - Kevin Rye, owner of Think Fan Engagement, explains the good and bad of fan engagement and helps map out what best practice should be
Dons Local Action Group - Craig Wellstead on the award-winning community scheme that has helped communities in south west London
The Panel
Kevin Rye
Kevin Rye has been at the centre of a unique network of fans, clubs and decision makers in football and sport for nearly 20 years. He owns Fan Engagement experts, Think Fan Engagement, publishers of the Fan Engagement Index and the Fan Engagement Pod
Mark Doidge
Mark Doidge is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Brighton. His specialities include the sociology of sport, football fandom & ultras, refugees and migration, anti-racism, and anti-discrimination
Cathy Long
Cathy has over 30 years’ experience working in policy and fan advocacy roles for the Premier League, English Football Leagye, FA and the Football Supporters’ Association and now Women in Sport
Kristine Green
Director of Grimsby Town, one of the founding members of Fair Game, will be chairing this session
Recording of our first workshop.
Workshop 2: Sustainability: What does it mean?
Thursday 3 June
Why do clubs fail?
How effective is the current system?
How does custodianship fit in?
How can you protect a community asset?
What does ‘good’ look like in a footballing context?
Presentations
The case study - Phil Young, the chair of Shakers Community, the owners of Bury AFC, talks through their tale
Sustainable future - Mark Bradley, founder of Fan Experience Company, on what clubs can learn from organisational design when it comes to raising the profile of the supporter, engagement & sustainability
The Panel
Antonia Hagemann
Antonia is the Chief Executive Officer of Supporters Direct Europe
Dan
Plumley
Senior Lecturer in Sport Finance at Sheffield Hallam University, and a regular commentator on numerous media pieces discussing the finances of football with local, national and international media outlets
Tariq
Panja
Tariq Panja is a global sports reporter for The New York Times. He has reported on the sports industry for two decades, usually focusing on off field affairs that shape the way some of the world’s most popular sports are run. He’s also the co-author of Football’s Secret Trade, an expose of football’s cash-soaked transfer market.
Ian
Mather
Ian is the CEO of Cambridge United, one of the founding members of Fair Game, and will chair the session
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Recording of our second workshop.
Workshop 3: Sustainability: The practical steps
Friday 4 June
What is stopping sustainability happening?
How can we ensure clubs achieve sustainability?
How do we structure a disciplinary system for unsustainable or unethical behaviour?
Can we renegotiate and restructure central finances?
How can we tackle the problems of players’ and agents’ pay?
Presentations
Football accounting - Mark Middling, a Senior Lecturer in Accounting at Northumbria University, currently researching accountability and reporting in the football industry
B Corporation: James Ghaffari from B Corps explains how the new movement could work for sport
An IT solution to auditing: Mick Parsons from Club View explains how a digital solution could help sustainability
The Panel
Jonathan
Booker
Multidisciplinary sports agent for many years, with over 12 years operating in football under FIFA and FA authority. Former General Secretary of both the AFA and SOFIA agent associations, and recently invited to contribute to the new FIFA agent licensing reforms.
Paul
Thorogood
Former Chief Executive Officer of Football Foundation; lay member of Committee of Standards
Kieran
Maguire
Lecturer in football finance at the University of Liverpool. He is also a co host of the Price of Football podcast with comedian and writer Kevin Day, and has written a book of the same name. Kieran is a season ticket holder at Brighton.
Mark
Middling
Mark Middling is a Senior Lecturer in Accounting at Northumbria University. He is currently researching accountability and reporting in the football industry
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Recording of our third workshop.
Workshop 4: The Structure of football: Making it happen
Thursday 10 June
What is stopping the changes happen?
What can be realistically be achieved within the FA and EFL – and last?
What financial rules within football need to change?
What does an independent regulator actually look like?
What measures need to be in place to create and maintain a healthy football eco-system?
Presentations
The options for an Independent Regulator - Campbell Tickell present their view on the future structure of the game
Football economics - Robert Wilson explains the perils in our national game
The Panel
Christina Philippou
Director of Financial Management, University of Portsmouth; author of ‘Could an Independent Regulator really contribute to the betterment of football’
David
Goldblatt
Honorary Fellow, International Centre for the History and Culture of Sport, De Montfort University. In 2015 he won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award for The Game of Our Lives:The Meaning and Making of English Football
Dave
Boyle
Former chief executive of Supporters Direct and vice-chair of the Football Supporters' Federation
Darren
Bernstein
Darren is a lecturer in Football Business at UCFB Etihad Campus, following a career working in a range of National Governing Bodies, including eight years at The FA and five at The Football League. He is an elected Director of Bury AFC.
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