‘FOOTBALL without fans is nothing”, legendary Celtic manager Jock Stein once said.
With new figures showing Scottish football has the highest match attendance per capita in Europe, the spotlight is firmly on those who make up the heart and soul of Scotland’s football clubs.
Fans are now setting the agenda in the sport, with their ever increasing power resulting in three fan-owned clubs in the top flight.
Statistics show that across all four divisions Scotland comes first for attendances per cepita – 65% clear of second-placed Netherlands, with 21.3 and 12.9 attendees per 1000 people repsectively. England and Wales both have 11.4 attendees per 1000 people.
After the Super League fiasco down south – which saw plans for a Europe-wide elite battling it out in a league format ultimately abandoned – many top-flight supporters are having a bit of an identity crisis.
This is perhaps best exemplified by Manchester United fans storming the Old Trafford pitch before a game against Liverpool, in protest of the Glazer ownership. Some of those supporters even called for the 50-plus-one rule to be introduced.
This is a form of fan ownership, pioneered in Germany’s Bundesliga, where fans own a majority of voting rights in the club.
In Germany, football clubs are not allowed to play in the Bundesliga if commercial investors have more than a 49% stake. This protects against reckless owners, meaning decisions are taken democratically by the fans.
In the era of two-grand season tickets, football tourists and coverage aimed at the viewer on the sofa rather than the fan on the terrace, English football can look north of the Border for inspiration on how to take control of their clubs.
Motherwell FC became the first fan-owned top-flight club in the UK back in 2011. This was after Scottish billionaire John Boyle, who previously ploughed money into the Steelmen, stopped investing, leaving a gaping financial hole that put the club into administration.
Derek Watson, director of the Well Society, a supporter’s group with the majority share in Motherwell, feels fan ownership protects football clubs from maverick owners and hands control back to the local community.
He told the Sunday National: “Fan ownership allows those who care most about the football club to have a say in the decision-making process.
“One of the reasons I believe fan ownership is working at Motherwell because we have seen the other side of what it can be like.
“Unlike the big clubs across the globe, we currently don’t have a tycoon bankrolling us. We’re not able to gamble millions on transfers each season.
“That has its own challenges but as we witnessed first-hand just over 20 years ago, having a benefactor with lots of cash to spend doesn’t necessarily guarantee you success and in many cases if not managed correctly can end up causing you trouble.”
When the controlling interests are sovereign wealth funds or American businessmen, the lines become blurred and it is no longer clear what a club stands for or what qualifies as success. For a club like Motherwell with a clear mission statement, “we exist to improve people’s lives”, community engagement is a higher priority than profit.
“Of course I’d love to see us win a cup, qualify for Europe and the likes, that’s what many fans see as success,” Watson said.
“For me, success at Motherwell is ensuring we have an inclusive and affordable ticket model, that we have players who not only understand the ethos of the club but strive to be part of that, and through organisations like our Community Trust, we deliver for the people who live locally at a time when they most need us.”
One of the main criticisms aimed at the footballing hierarchy of clubs is they often leave fans out of the conversation, forgetting that football teams are often the lifeblood of a town.
This is one of reason many teams have looked to continental Europe and introduced supporter liaison officers (SLO).
John White is a supporter liaison officer and explained his role at St Mirren: “The principle of an SLO is to be a conduit between the fans and the club. At top-flight level, people who run the club are usually professional people not necessarily football fans.
“My role is to close that gap and improve communication between the two groups. You can’t get an understanding with the fans if you are sitting up in the box eating prawn sandwiches. You need to get out there and meet people.”
A huge problem in football globally, especially for elite teams like Arsenal and Manchester United, is high ticket pricing.
This is an issue that has also creeped into Scottish football. As a result of this, many supporters’ groups, including those at Celtic, have started a Twenty’s Plenty campaign.
Ryan Fitzsimons, from the “The Sellik, The Thunder” podcast, is an active member in the fan scene.
He said: “I think us as fans are feeling the pinch more and more each year when it comes to ticket prices.
“It’s hard to make a big difference in the current climate with everything being so business orientated, and owners looking to make clubs as profitable as they can. But I think it’s important these guys realise the people who make football clubs what they are.
“It’s a traditionally working-class sport and we’re slowly seeing football get further and further away from the working class. So, overall, I think we need more campaigns like this up and down the country at more football stadiums.”
In this tug of war over what obligations clubs have to their fans and the battle for control over clubs’ identities, one point from Watson stands out: “Across Scotland, in areas like Lanarkshire, the one thing that can still brings a sense of pride to the community is its football team.
“There’s not many other vehicles that bring anywhere from 4000 – 50,000 people from varying social backgrounds together as one, and that collective voice can be powerful.”
