What do Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion, AFC Bournemouth, Sheffield United and Tottenham Hotspur have in common with 19 clubs in League Two, 18 in League One and 9 in the Championship? They all had Fans Forums last year.
Fans Forums, referred to by some as the more American ‘town hall’, are still one of the most popular forms of fan engagement by clubs. (Confusingly, some clubs refer to their ‘fans parliaments’ as ‘fans forums’. That’s why we provide a thorough explanation of all the terminology in our Algorithm section on the website.)
The Fan Engagement Index refers to the these as ‘events are where a wide group of fans as individuals (including season ticket holders, members or unaffiliated fans) meet with the club on a regular basis.’ This is a minimum of twice a season, though many do have them at least four times in that period.
In terms of where they sit compared to the other forms of dialogue ranked in the Index, the Fan Engagement Index for 2023/2024 season ranks them as follows:
- Structured dialogue (FAB/Fans Parliament/Supporters Board): 57
- Structured dialogue (supporters’ trust/independent group): 54
- Fans Forums
- Twitter (two way/inbound): 45
Our information – which we send to clubs every year for them to cross check – tells us that an overwhelming number of Premier League clubs, and the vast majority of those in the Championship, eschew these big events, and prefer to run much of their engagement via more focused channels. It’s easy to understand why: a big, set-piece meeting when you’re doing badly on the pitch is rarely that attractive. You’re putting yourself up for a potential roasting from your fans, and why would anyone want to do that? Good question. Except I’d say why would anyone want to avoid it? Here are some of the reasons why all clubs across the divisions should embrace the fans forums/town halls.
You can better frame the discussion
In an era where almost everything gets seen through the prism of some kind of technology, a lot of people convince themselves that it’s possible to control or frame issues remotely. That’s simply a naive interpretation, and a misunderstanding of the limits of technology. The best way of seeing relationships with fans is that it’s a continuous conversation, and therefore treating it like one is probably the best approach. You can’t just put a statement out and expect the issue to be solved. You have to have the conversation at multiple levels, including face-to-face. I’ve never seen the reason for the biggest clubs not to see this approach as worthwhile either. It’s totally understandable if you choose to ticket such events because of limited capacity, but owner(s) the CEO/senior leadership team should want to meet ordinary fans.
You can reduce tension and suspicion
Much of the current fan engagement where clubs that don’t do fans forums tends to be related either to matchgoing issues or more strategic areas of finance and governance (long-term plans, etc). Both are important, and I’ve written a lot about the latter (see the previous piece about Fan Advisory Boards). However, there needs to be a nuance. Fan Engagement Award winning clubs like Brighton and Brentford, Swansea City or Norwich City do these because of a tradition of openness created and shaped by experience. Brentford, Brighton and Swansea came through long periods of struggle, and Norwich City have a wide shareholder base, so the need to be open and honest is quite probably part of the expected modus operandi.
Embrace the crisis
Of course, the big fear is always what to do if you’re in the middle of a crisis. That’s when the words of intelligent leaders like Paul Barber come in. The Brighton and Hove Albion CEO and Deputy Chair is always good value on these subjects, and not only does he do these meetings himself, along with owner and Chair Tony Bloom, he also believes in embracing engagement when times are good as well as bad. Security considerations aside (some will be thinking of the risk, and the risk is fairly easily managed for businesses whose primary function can’t happen without huge security and risk management undertakings), sometimes you need to take the sting out of a situation. Yes, there’s a risk that you could be subject to abuse or barracking, but my experience of the ‘crisis’ is that if you duck it, you only build up problems for yourself and your colleagues. Tackle it head on, and people have a tendency to respect you.
Clubs are dynamic, living, breathing institutions.Some people’s egos might struggle with that, but personally speaking, if you’re going to own or run a football club, my advice would be to get used to it.
Don’t wait until times are good: do it now.
Clubs are dynamic, living, breathing institutions. They ebb and flow, and part of the skill of good fan engagement is to roll with the punches (not literally, of course!) As I said earlier, the process of engagement is a conversation. The reason I use the term ‘dialogue’ is because it’s meant to be, and that means that sometimes you’ll get it in the neck. You should try to see that as part of the process of learning and developing. Some people’s egos might struggle with that, but personally speaking, if you’re going to own or run a football club, my advice would be to get used to it.
Some quick tips for a successful fans forum/town hall meeting
- Get an independent chair – a local radio host or journalist can be perfect for this sort of occasion
- Broadcast or record it for those who can’t be there – for those clubs who have to restrict attendance because of numbers
- Lay out the rules in advance – don’t expect everyone to know how to behave in a public meeting. People get passionate and either hog the microphone, or try to speak without it. Don’t let the latter happen. Also, try to reasonably limit the time someone can speak, and the amount of times they can come back on a question.
- Be polite when you have to tell someone they’re wrong – you must never think you can’t tell someone that they’re wrong, but you should always do it politely and with evidence.
- Don’t worry about getting back to someone after the event – if you can’t respond there and then, promise you’ll respond when you have the information