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Two thirds of Celtic fans want fan board put in place as 'poor' engagement called out

mark mcdougall
·3-min read
Celtic Park <i>(Image: SNS)</i>
Celtic Park (Image: SNS)

Two thirds of Celtic fans believe the club should have an independently elected Fan Advisory Board according to new research from the University of Glasgow.

The work was funded by the British Academy Leverhulme Trust and undertaken by Professor Jeanette Findlay and Dr Marco Guidi of the Adam Smith Business School and has highlighted areas Celtic fans want to change things within the club.

Celtic stakeholders including season ticket holders and small shareholders worldwide surveyed as part of the study and showed an increasing amount of fans want to see change.

The survey followed calls for increased fan participation in major decisions within UK football clubs, with plans for the proposed European Super League being abandoned after an overwhelmingly negative reception.

In the aftermath of that, the UK government announced a fan-led review of football governance in response to concerns about the game’s club ownership and financial sustainability.

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A new football regulator is set to be put in place in England after a bill passed through parliament but there’s not been the same response north of the border yet.

This survey now discovers how Celtic fans feel about things and more than 67 percent want to see a Fan Advisory Board. That then rises to 70 percent of season ticket holders and 77 percent of fan organisation members.

Respondents were also unhappy with Celtic’s level of fan engagement with it largely being viewed as average, although one in four say it is either ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.

The assessment of Celtic's fan engagement by more active fans - such as season ticket holders, members of fan organisations and shareholders - is poorer than supporters in general.

Other key findings found that between 40 and 50 percent of all fans want the Fan Advisory Board to be set up and run by the Celtic Trust in cooperation with Celtic PLC, while between 70 and 79 percent believe it should be incorporated into the Articles of Association of Celtic PLC.

Between 50 and 64 percent of fans want elected representatives to be selected from a cross section of the supporter base, with a mix of supporters' organisations, individual season ticket holders and small shareholders.

Professor Jeanette Findlay believes the results show that fan power is important in decisions made by clubs and hopes that it can spark the right conversation with the club.

She said: “What this survey shows us is the role that fan power is now playing in the decisions made by major league football clubs and governing bodies.

“We’re seeing more fans taking on an active role as stakeholders - and it is something that clubs are having to pay attention to and factor into their decision-making processes.

“As trustees of the Celtic Trust and academics, we wanted to undertake this research to explore reactions and thinking around stakeholder engagement and specifically on a fan advisory board. It is our hope that the findings will lead to the right conversations being had, and ultimately, increased fan engagement and satisfaction.”

The initial findings are now being shared with various stakeholder groups as well as Celtic FC in order to receive feedback before the report is finalised.