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“Doing a Sunderland”: Let’s show the World what that really means
Mark Bradley @fanexperienceco Mark works all over Europe helping associations, leagues and clubs to understand and improve fan engagement and their match day experience. The Fan Experience Company was founded in 2005, and they have carried out over 3,000 assessments as well as other fan engagement and matchday experience improvement projects in 19 countries. ‘Doing […]
Read moreHow can Sunderland AFC grow women’s football attendances?
Mark Bradley @fanexperienceco Mark works all over Europe helping associations, leagues and clubs to understand and improve fan engagement and their match day experience. The Fan Experience Company was founded in 2005, and they have carried out over 3,000 assessments as well as other fan engagement and matchday experience improvement projects in 19 countries. It’s […]
Read moreTo Have And To Hold (Onto Those Three Points)
A football fan, especially one of a lower league club or one that doesn’t perpetually reside in the top half of the Premier League, has to go through a fair few lows in their time. Cup upsets, relegations, getting rid of managers that don’t work out, losing good ones that do, defeat in cup finals […]
Read moreIndependence Tray
The recommendation by former Sport’s Minister, Tracey Crouch, that football needs an independent regulator (from now on called an IREF) to ‘stop it lurching from one crisis to another’ is both very welcome and also incredibly frustrating. Welcome, because we’ve seen to many clubs go to the wall or too close to it for comfort […]
Read moreDoes Your Club Have An Identity Crisis?
At a time of controversy in the upper echelons of the game, I find myself holding my nose too much to be able to sniff out any remnant of values or principles. The dreams of clubs further down the pyramid have been vapourised by the resources of entire states. Even the sacred jeopardy of relegation […]
Read moreDon’t Wait For A Fairytale Of New York To Find New Fans
On Sunday evening, as Emma Radacanu (who, let’s face it, virtually none of us had even heard of before the summer) was being led by two surly ‘protectors’ towards the box where she was able to celebrate her – massive understatement alert! - incredible US Open victory, the LTA must have been feeling pretty pleased […]
Read moreMaking Non-League Day Happen Weekly
While much of the focus is on the return of fans to professional clubs right now, they’re all still here (though only just in some cases). However, the damage to non-league clubs was close to fatal. In this article, I want to set out how those precious community assets can not only survive, but thrive, […]
Read more'Ask Not What Your Fans Can Do For You'
Of all of things JFK is remembered for, being a champion of customer engagement is perhaps one of the least known. But he did play a minor role in ensuring that business growth became founded on caring for customers, rather than on exploiting them. While football still struggles to fully comprehend this, I’m going to focus […]
Read moreOne Hundred and Eighty Degree Turn Leaves Fans Out In The Cold
The Hundred, a brand new form of cricket unique to the English (and Welsh) game, was concluded on Saturday with a spectacular finals day at Lords. It can be viewed as a success so far, not least for the superb marketing campaign that attracted record crowds, especially in the women’s game. A far more family-focussed […]
Read moreThe Euros Vision-Wrong Contest?
Like a few of the UK entries in the annual pan-European singing contest, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Back in 2012, Michel Platini’s original, and rather romantic, vision for Euro 2020 was outlined just ahead of that year’s final when Spain thumped Italy with one of their best, and last, triumphs […]
Read moreThe Model To Keep Football Off Its Knees
Just as the sight of players taking the knee confuses the hell out of some of England’s less emotionally and intellectually developed supporters, the word ‘sustainability’ can often mislead fans too. It’s not – as some believe - about limiting ambition or muzzling clubs but it plays the long game rather than gambling on a […]
Read moreThe Rise of the Sub-Mariners
Most of us agree that football needs a reset. And while more effective solutions to sharing the game’s wealth and improving governance are needed, there is an opportunity to think differently about sustainability in 99% of clubs outside of the super-elite and that is the development of social relevance and its potential to generate revenues. […]
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