The Clarets Trust were delighted to attend a Premier League Network meeting organised by the Football Supporters’ Association earlier tonight, alongside representatives from the supporters trusts of the 19 other top flight clubs. Below you will find a brief rundown of the topics discussed by those present. Should you wish to find out more, or discuss the agenda items further, please email claretstrust@gmail.com //
It was eye-opening to hear from Joe Blott of the Spirit of Shankly, who provided an update on the Crown Prosecution Service’s approach to tragedy chanting. Everton’s Fan Advisory Board also informed us of educational practises that will hopefully discourage discriminatory chanting from away fans, which has seen Everton fans unfairly mocked for the levels of food poverty in the city.
Sarah Keig of the Fulham Supporters’ Trust and Fulham Lillies, meanwhile, is helping with a fantastic campaign to make football games accessible for under-2s. This is no points scoring exercise by parents, but an important support for the mental well-being of supporters with parental duties.
The Vice-Chair of the Football Supporters’ Association, Tom Greatrex, informed us of a Broadcasting Paper that has been written by the FSA’s Broadcasting Working Group. This has been shared with the Premier League and will result in consultation over issues surrounding supporters and TV broadcasting.
In terms of ticket price increases, we know this is a topic that has affected many Premier League clubs, and tonight we heard from the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust, Newcastle United Supporters’ Trust and Bees United (Brentford), amongst others, who offered both negative and positive perspectives. The insight of Bees United was particularly fascinating, as it offered an understanding into how a well-run Club has dealt with ticket prices. Brentford have led the way in keeping football affordable and avoided any lies about matchday operational costs in order to justify price hikes.
In more downbeat news, we heard troubling reports from the West Ham United Supporters’ Trust of inappropriate and over-zealous stewarding, both at home and on European away days. This is an issue we have not become aware of at Burnley, but please get in contact should it arise.
Katie Cross and Sarah Jacobs of Pledgeball gave us a heads up of the Green Football Weekend 2024, which will aim to build on the success of this year’s campaign. We remember seeing the good work of Burnley FC and Sustainable Clarets highlighted by Sky Sports earlier this year, and look forward to supporting the Green Football Weekend once again.
Finally, for all Premier League clubs (excluding the promoted trio), there is a requirement to have a Fan Advisory Board (FAB) in place by the start of the season and a published Fan Engagement Plan. For the trio, this is an ‘as soon as possible’ requirement. We all know Burnley FC have a Fan Advisory Board in place and it has had three meetings to date, but the group has not officially been announced/launched yet. We are continuing to support this happening sooner rather than later.
We look forward to the Club releasing the minutes of the meetings held to date, and will be on hand to support the drafting of Burnley FC’s Fan Engagement Plan.
