David Lowes is the Non-Executive Director and Board lead for Fan Engagement at Lincoln City FC. he also the former Chief Marketing Officer for Samsung – Europe. He’s appearing at ‘Life with Football Legislation; preparing for meaningful fan engagement & consultation’ on the 14th May at the Victory Services Club in London. You can join him and speakers from Everton FC, Grimsby Town FC, Chelsea Supporters’ Trust and Manchester United Supporters Trust plus more there by booking now. Please note that booking closes on the 9th May. Book below.
At Lincoln City FC, behind everything we do is a simple question: How does it strengthen the feeling of pride our fans have for the club? This values-based approach isn’t at odds with our commercial or competitive objectives and is of course at its most powerful in our fan engagement. It helps us build a bank of good faith with our fans which converts to trust. And yes, we must draw on that trust from time to time in difficult moments or when confronting strategically important challenges.
Our Fan Engagement Strategy reflects and addresses the motivations of our fans and whilst there are several the clear number one is to feel a sense of belonging. Football clubs play on a much larger footprint than the pitch. If we make lasting memories through great experiences, provide transparency through open communication and live our values through meaningful actions we believe our fans will feel they belong to a club to be proud of.
A good example of living our values through actions is embracing the fan led review as an opportunity. For us, it isn’t about ticking a box, doing the minimum or being content to just go through the motions. That is why in 2022, we took the decision that if we were going to be able to continue to claim to be a club that incorporates fan engagement as a principle and a way of operating, we had to take a proactive approach. As a result, we formed a working group with representatives of fans groups to develop our joint understanding of and response to the reform of football.
Football clubs are unlike typical businesses, and they need to be developed and operated in a way that reflects the very specific conditions they operate under
Yes, this process delivered 7 fan led review club commitments, but it didn’t just mean that the club and its directors had to take responsibility. It was also an opportunity for us all to improve and strengthen working partnerships with key fan stakeholder groups which meant that fans and their representatives needed to step-up and play their part. The Red Imps Community Trust addressed the challenge of being match-fit to take on responsibility for the “fan’s share” (known more widely in football as a ‘golden share’). To further ensure the Fan Advisory Board (FAB) is not just a talking shop the club entered into new terms of engagement focused on meaningful consultation on operational and strategic, long-term issues that have direct impact on our fans. This required an even higher level of transparency from the club with an acceptance that this could only be done based on a new level of trust in each other.
Balancing the relationship between the FAB and a supporters’ trust might be seen in some circles as almost impossible, however, for us the roles are very evidently separate but complementary. The role of the Imps Trust is as part of the ownership, both through actual equity shares, as the holder of the Fan’s Share, and on a governance level with two supporter-directors playing an active role on the board. The FAB provides the entire board, (inclusive of supporter elected Directors), a level of reflection on critical, supporter-facing issues and this insight is welcomed as input for better decision making.
We also view fan engagement as being linked directly with fan experience, and the rightful expectation that fans receive the right treatment, whether visiting us for the first or five-hundredth time, whether home fans or away. As a result we have achieved the double of both a Fan Engagement Gold Award from our performance in the Fan Engagement Index, and a Family Excellence Award from the EFL: good fan experience must be based on deep insights into what motivates fans, great execution of the activity and rooted in a culture that places the fan at the heart of the business model, with genuine, structured and guaranteed dialogue with the football club that has actual results.
My role as Board lead for Fan Engagement along with our board approved annual Fan Engagement Strategy and Plan help to underpin all of this by ensuring there is accountability and transparency in the club delivering on what it is has pledged to do.
Football clubs are unlike typical businesses, and they need to be developed and operated in a way that reflects the very specific conditions they operate under. Lincoln City Football Club is a community asset with cultural heritage value. In addition to the direct and indirect economic benefits we deliver to the local area we engage in community initiatives and contribute to civic identity and pride in place. We are an important part of the lives of our fans due to the deep emotional and social connection formed. Such depth of loyalty deserves first class fan engagement practice, and we find it’s good for business too.