Governance in 2019/2020

‘(Corporate) governance is the system of rules, practices and processes by which a company is directed and controlled (Chartered Governance Institute)’

• Governance is about how decisions are made, fans voices listened to, and their interests taken into account and managed
• Governance helps underpin relationships, and is advisable as it means greater certainty and clarity for both club & fans
• Fan organisations (supporters’ trusts particularly) now make greater demands of clubs to ensure their position is more secure
• MOUs or legal agreements are becoming more popular, and can reinforce the position held by a fan director, or a collective shareholding held on behalf of fans
• EFL and Premier League external regulations i.e.: Customer Charters and SLOs are also important, and are part of the scoring in this section

Governance is about the enforcement of Fan Engagement. Enforcement matters because otherwise, commons standards are harder to maintain, as everything would be left to the club to decide for itself – including whether it wanted to even have forms of dialogue. As a game we have gone beyond that idea and clubs and leagues have accepted that dialogue is at least a necessity – if not a benefit. However, whether and how clubs carry out that dialogue matters equally. We don’t think applying the rules as clubs wish to be a good idea in areas such as stadium safety standards or ticket allocations, so why should we consider it acceptable when it comes to such a critical element as Fan Engagement?

Governance measures external to the club

In English football certain elements of the Governance of Fan Engagement are required by the rulebook such as Customer Charters or Supporter Liaison Officers (SLO).

Customer Charters are well known and have existed since the 1990s. In 2018/2019’s Index, we highlighted the potential for Charters to be important documents that should explain the backbone of how a club carries out its Fan Engagement. Some, including Lincoln City, Blackburn and Brighton, clearly make an effort to ensure that their charters provide information ranging from ticketing to engagement. Some do not. We could find no Charters for Spurs and Chelsea, and even some of those performing well such as Reading and Bristol Rovers couldn’t be found either. Perhaps the EFL and Premier League need to rethink whether Charters should be dispensed with. We still think that they could be the ‘go-to’ document about Fan Engagement, and would encourage both EFL and Premier League to think about how they can help clubs to make them work.

SLOs are another area where some clubs aren’t in our view operating in the spirit of the requirement. Although it is a role that does need to be interpreted by the club concerned to fit its circumstances, simply placing it in the hands of a ticket office manager or head of media without considering other options seems to be missing a trick. Many clubs (Grimsby Town, Tranmere Rovers) deliver the role through a team of fan-volunteers, and this is a good recognition that the role can be a very positive one if clubs want to use to to improve relationships with the fanbase, and many clubs who can afford to, for example Leicester City, Arsenal and Cardiff City, employ their SLO. Cardiff are a particluar example where the role has been fundamental in even helping to change the behaviour of fans.

There is a lot of work being done in this area however, and SD Europe are playing an increasing role to ensure that the role is delivered effectively at clubs. We certainly recommend that any club who wants help in how to make the role effective, to either get in touch with one of those clubs, or to contact SD Europe, who are the Europe-wide experts in this area.

Internal Governance

Internal Governance includes legal agreements in place at clubs with 50%+1/overall fan ownership or minority ownership by fans. It also includes where a director (or a representative that is not a full director) sits on the board or attends board meetings, or where there are legal agreements between a supporters’ trust and club, including shareholders agreements. Finally there is also the ‘quasi-legal’ ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ (MOU), which has become an increasingly popular measure for clubs to adopt, and is used successfully at the likes of Fulham, Norwich City, Rochdale and others. All of these measures help to create greater certainty for both club and fans, and provide a way to ensure that it isn’t straightforward for a new owner or CEO to just change things because it doesn’t suit them. Carlisle United and Swansea have shown the value of shareholders agreements over a long period, whilst Cambridge United are the poster-child for an effective Fan Director role.

Clubs such as Luton Town and Portsmouth both have commitments to protection of patrimony (name, badge, etc). Whilst these agreements are very limited, they are nonetheless quite progressive and important demonstrations of the intentions of private owners.

Governance Table 2019/2020