Transforming fan engagement

By Steve Radley, for Fair Game

There are three elements that will be key to transforming fan engagement - establishing a set of standards that clubs and fans can understand and buy into; developing tools to review progress that go beyond assessing compliance; and targeted support based on a sound understanding of the key barriers to effective fan engagement and the factors that will trigger change.

FOOTBALL’S REGULATOR has made a fast start to life. Hot on the heels of its consultation on the   Owners, Directors and Senior Executives Regime, it is now seeking views on its Licensing Regime. One of the central issues this covers is Fan Engagement. 

Given that fans are integral to the game, this isn’t surprising. Fair Game firmly believes that we will only see the Fairer Future for Football we have called for if more clubs engage with their fans openly and authentically. 

Clubs that work closely with their fans, who really listen to them and respond to their input will also have more success when it comes to making the changes that football desperately needs, which are now being addressed by the Independent Football Regulator (IFR).

However, this is far from straightforward. While few people would disagree with the principle that clubs should engage with their fans, identifying what good looks like isn’t easy. Fan engagement is an emotive issue and fan judgement on whether clubs are doing it well will inevitably be subjective.  

No single approach to fan engagement will work for every club. New Fair Game research demonstrates that clubs’ approaches vary widely, driven by a range of factors such as club history and the make-up and geographical spread of their fan base.  Despite positive recent efforts by the Premier League and the English Football League, the starting point is often not a good one. Many fans are either distrustful, disengaged or downright hostile to the owners of their clubs.                                  

So how do we move forward? Our recently published Fair Game Index and our latest  research with fan groups and club staff that work with them suggest that the IFR has made a good start with its suggested principles but that its toolkit will need to expand. 

It points to three elements that will be key to transforming fan engagement - establishing a set of standards that clubs and fans can understand and buy into; developing tools to review progress that go beyond assessing compliance; and targeted support based on a sound understanding of the key barriers to effective fan engagement and the factors that will trigger change.

Taking standards first, the IFR’s starting point is a good one. Rather than mandating specific approaches to fan engagement, it is seeking views on a set of principles. This is sensible. No single approach is likely to work for every club and its fans. And it’s often too easy for a club to put a tick in the box of say establishing a Fan Advisory Board without having made any real difference to the underlying relationship with fans.  

Our Fair Game Index showed generally good scores on Dialogue across the football pyramid, reflecting the current requirements on clubs to establish mechanisms to seek fans’ views. But these aren’t matched by the ratings in other areas that are central to building trust and deep engagement such as Sharing, Responding and supporting Participation. 

The Index’s scores in these areas are much lower and highly variable. We are therefore pleased to see the IFR basing its suggested approach on similar principles such as whether the engagement is open, two-way, collaborative and democratic. Another positive is the IFR’s plan to require clubs to demonstrate how they have engaged with fans and responded to their input in an annual fan engagement report.    

Putting fan engagement at the centre of its proposed licensing regime, alongside financial regulation and corporate governance is also a welcome sign that the IFR sees raising engagement standards as vital to securing change in football.  Compliance checks will provide strong evidence on whether clubs are working to the principles of fan engagement that it establishes. 

To build on this and to give it a better handle of whether things are genuinely changing in a way that makes a difference to fans, the IFR should also conduct a regular tracking survey of fans and fan groups. This would take the temperature from fans on whether they feel that their clubs are working with them in the way the IFR is proposing. Responses would inevitably be subjective but combined with the hard compliance regime data, they would paint a complete picture of the state of fan engagement.

It would also feed into the third element of our suggested approach - building a fuller understanding of the barriers to better engagement and the factors that will trigger sustained improvement. This will give the IFR a better feel for the rate of progress we are likely to see, help it to target its support for clubs and to secure lasting change. 

Its consultation talks about supporting clubs in a variety of ways but does not currently define how. A range of factors hold clubs back from engaging with their fans. As well as the legacy of past fractious relationships, these can include a lack of understanding of its benefits or how to go about it and shortcomings in either capacity or capability. These are ultimately issues for clubs themselves to address but by working with them, the IFR can ensure that they are bought into the need for change and have the ability to deliver it.   

To contribute to this understanding and to help clubs, our new research looks at the benefits of the various dimensions of Fan Engagement and sets out the principles for success in these areas.                                                  

We have a great opportunity to get fan engagement right and give fans a genuine role in holding their clubs to account. If this happens, we’ll have a much better chance of addressing the many other issues that English football faces.