Arsenal Supporters’ Trust (AST) statement on Government Expert Group on Football Ownership and Supporter Engagement

When the Expert group was launched the AST successfully campaigned to the Government and  Supporters’ Direct to get supporter engagement added to its terms of reference. The AST then submitted written evidence and twice gave oral evidence to the Group.

Our main concern was that fans at every football club should have access to the type of information and dialogue that exists where a club is a public limited company.  At the majority of football clubs fans are not able to own any stake in their club and this is a significant barrier to supporter ownership and effective engagement.

The AST’s proposals were that all Clubs should have to report in a similar way to that of being a public limited company recognising their supporters as key stakeholders. This means access to information reporting on ownership, governance and financial matters and other strategic issues alongside meetings where the Club’s directors explain and take questions on the Club’s activities.

This exists at Arsenal now and is very valuable especially in terms of transparency and accountability. Our motivation to lead the debate on this issue was taken by a desire to help Trusts at other Clubs and also to put in place a framework that would apply at Arsenal should the club ever be taken be private.

We very much welcome the Expert group accepting the AST’s proposals for structured engagement to be made a part of the Premier League and Football League rulebook process. It is now imperative that these arrangements are swiftly implemented and that structured dialogue arrangements that include ownership, governance and financial reporting are put in place.

We also note and welcome many other proposals for action including around insolvency actions and community tax breaks  that will benefit Supporter’s Trust lower down the football pyramid and hopefully increase opportunities for more fans to own their Clubs.

Due to the Expert Group’s terms of reference and composition it was not possible for it to look in detail at broader governance issues in football or ownership proposals that would require changes to company law through primary legislation. This is a matter for Parliament and the Government. Many good ideas in this area such as electing Supporter Directors and giving fans a right to maintain or buy a small stake in their Club were put forward in detailed evidence given by the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (MUST).

The AST is now calling upon the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, which has twice reviewed this subject, to hold a further inquiry into Football Ownership and Governance. The focus of such an inquiry would include reviewing the implementation of the Expert Group’s proposals on supporter engagement and to also take stock of the wider debate about how to improve Football Governance and  enhance opportunities for supporters to own a stake in their club.

The full report can be read here