Exeter City Football Club has topped the Fan Engagement Index 2026 - for the seventh consecutive year, cementing our status as the leading supporter-owned club in English football for fan engagement.
This remarkable achievement underlines what makes Exeter City unique. As a club owned by its supporters, fan engagement is not just a box to tick - it is at the very core of everything the Club does.
The Club has received a gold award from Think Fan Engagement, which rates all 116 IFR-regulated clubs across the Premier League, EFL and National League Premier. Covering the 2025-26 season, 26 clubs received a gold, silver, bronze or merit award this year - and Exeter City led them all.
Exeter City was awarded 230 points out of a possible 240, losing just 10 points in the dialogue section. Lincoln City was the only other club to achieve gold, finishing on 225 points.
The Fan Engagement Index awards up to 240 points based on the quality of a club's fan engagement across three categories: Dialogue - the conversations and meetings clubs have with fans and their representatives; Governance - what underpins and guarantees that dialogue; and Transparency - the proceedings of meetings and fan engagement activity. Each section offers up to 80 points. All data used is publicly available, drawn from club, league and other websites and sources.
John Street, interim General Manager at Exeter City Football Club, said: "We are pleased to have topped the table for the seventh year running and grateful to every supporter who takes the time to engage with the Club.
"We aim to put fans at the heart of every decision - something reflected in the Club's recently launched vision, which reaffirms our commitment to our supporters. Topping this table for seven consecutive years is something we are proud of, but we never take it for granted."
Kevin Rye from Think Fan Engagement said: "Football has changed, and clubs must realise that it is simply not good enough to just consult and engage but still make the decision you want. Clubs must now change not just how they make those decisions, but in many cases, the actual decisions themselves.
"But this is an opportunity, as a number of the best performing clubs in the Fan Engagement Index know: clubs have access to experience and knowledge from fans that can help to spot problems before they occur. Equally, officials and owners should use their talented and knowledgeable fan engagement staff, who are very often experts in their field - they know how fans think and what will and won't work. Our advice is simple: use it."
The full Fan Engagement Index can be found at fanengagement.net.