Week of events will celebrate the work of supporter-owned clubs
Supporters Direct (SD) has announced that Supporter Ownership Week is to take place from the 11th to the 18th of April 2015.SD has worked alongside supporters for the last 15 years to make the dream of supporter ownership possible, and the week is about celebrating the people who’ve done it, and the people who have taken or are taking the journey.
The week begins on the 11th April, when a host of supporter-owned clubs play their regular fixtures at home. There will be a series of events across the country and online across the week, with more set to be announced. There will also be a crowdfunding campaign to be launched on the 27th March, in an attempt to raise money for SD to provide more support for supporter ownership in the future.
Two parts of the week have already been announced:
• Fan Footage, a Dublin-based event video crowd-sourcing start-up and the ‘world’s largest video crew’, will partner with SD England and Wales and SD Scotland to chart matchday experiences at all 38 supporter-owned clubs; stitching them together to make the largest attempted supporter sourced video ever seen, to showcase what makes matchday at a supporter owned club so special.
• ‘Unsung Heroes’ will celebrate the work of volunteers at supporter-owned clubs. Clubs will be asked to nominate a volunteer at their club who they think deserves special recognition, to showcase to the public those people that make supporter ownership just that little bit special.
Exeter City are one of four supporter-owned clubs in the English Football League, and membership of SD in the UK also includes three SPFL clubs, three in the Football Conference Premier, three in professional Rugby League, and even one in American Football!
A full list of supporter-owned clubs can be found at www.supporters-direct.org/supporter-ownership-week/what-is-supporter-ownership, where you can also read more about what supporter ownership actually is, how it works, and how you can get involved in the campaign.
Supporter ownership plays an important role in SD’s core work to ensure that supporters have a voice at their clubs, alongside that of establishing supporters’ trusts and campaigning for changes in the rules to benefit the supporters and communities that sustain all clubs.
Keep an eye on the website www.supporters-direct.org/supporter-ownership-week, on twitter at @SuppDirect, or www.facebook.com/supportersdirect. Also keen an eye out for the hashtag #SOW15.