Latest News

The SD Europe network is filled with stories, connections, and the purest forms of passion. Though much progress has been made over the past decade, members have had to learn the correct manner to channel that passion. In order to accomplish set goals and continue to campaign for the fans, our members have had to establish, develop, and prioritise a “structural relationship” with various football institutions. In this SD Europe special in-depth series, we will delve into the

In the beginning of August, Logroño, Spain, hosted the annual meeting of Federación de Accionistas y Socios del Fútbol Español (FASFE), ‘VI JORNADAS FÚTBOL POPULAR’ for a weekend with the Spanish fùtbol popular movement. The meeting was hosted by local fan-owned club, SD Logroñés, with representatives of Supporters in Campo, the Italian umbrella group for supporters’ trusts and community clubs, and a board member of Hapoel Katamon, a member-run club in Jerusalem, Israel flyin

Recently, SD Europe took part in an important conference in sunny Seville, Spain. The conference, ‘EL PROTAGONISMO DEL AFICIONADO EN EL FÚTBOL’ was jointly organised by our members FASFE and Accionistas Unidos of Sevilla FC. The meeting was held with the goal of deepening the developments of the internal reformation of Ley del Deporte, and the central role that fans and small shareholders can play in the future of Sevilla. The aim of the conference was to highlight the contri

The ancient Roman ruins scattered around the Catalan city of Tarragona provided a spectacular backdrop to the fifth meeting of Spain’s Fútbol Popular movement at the end of July (27-29). Hosted by FC Tarraco, fan-owned clubs from across the country gathered for debate, knowledge sharing and discussion and, of course, an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on what has been an incredible season for many of the organisations involved. (Read our 2017/18 season review.) Kicking o

The wonderful city of Gijón in northern Spain played host to the Football Supporters Europe (FSE) summer network meeting from July 19th to 22nd. Organised by Unión de Peñas Sportinguistas (UNIPES) and Spanish national supporters organisation FASFE, the event brought together supporters from across Europe to discuss a range of topical issues. Kicking off two days of presentations and debate, the opening panel discussion focused on how the supporter liaison officer (SLO) and Di

Inspired by green and yellow scarves of protest while on a visit to Manchester, the Recre Trust has made an immeasurable impact on the Spanish town of Huelva in its short existence of less than three years. It was supporters, driven by a rescue campaign designed and led by the trust, that raised an astonishing figure of €1 million in just 25 days to save Spain’s oldest football club, Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, in 2016. And it was the efforts of the trust and its members

La Federación de Accionistas y Socios del Fútbol Español (FASFE) took their campaign to improve democracy and supporter participation within Spanish football to their national parliament recently. As part of the consultation process to draft a new Sports Law in Spain on April 20th, FASFE general secretary Emilio Abejón gave a 15-minute presentation entitled: “Participation and democracy in Spanish clubs: an integrative approach that enhances the social function of professiona

“Inspiring, a priceless experience, lasting cooperation” These are just some of the words used to describe SD Europe’s Clubs and Supporters for Better Governance in Football (CSBGiF) project, as it formally came to end earlier this week with the submission of a final report to the European Commission. Bringing together member-run football clubs and national supporters organisation in a unique collaborative partnership for the first time, an independent evaluation of the work

In July Supporters in Campo, together with FASFE and SFSU, joined the Fútbol Popular meeting in Getafe. Time for FASFE to pay the visit back has come as the Spanish national organisation for democratic supporters’ groups and member-run clubs will attend the Supporters in Campo Annual General Meeting in Prato the coming weekend (16 and 17 September). FASFE representatives will have the opportunity to participate in a round table discussion with the Italian groups on challenges

The fourth ever Fútbol Popular event took place in Getafe, just outside Madrid from July 21 – 23 recently. SD Europe was in attendance along with Erasmus+ project partners Supporters in Campo and SFSU. The Fútbol Popular movement in Spain continues to grow. Now into double figures, it’s a collective of fan-owned, community-orientated football clubs that believe there is a different way to organise and run clubs in football today. SD Europe‘s Niamh O’Mahony addressed the openi

As part of the Erasmus+ project, ‘Clubs and Supporters for Better Governance in Football‘, SFSU and Supporters in Campo will visit fellow partner FASFE this coming weekend in Madrid. An extensive programme has been planned and different stakeholders around football have been invited. Emilio Abejon from FASFE said: “This event will mark another step up in the Fútbol Popular movement. Until today we’ve worked in setting up a group of clubs and organisations with common practic

In what is positive news from Spain, a delegation from FASFE – the Spanish national supporters organisation – met with Sports Minister and president of the Higher Sports Council, José Ramón Lete, on June 20th to put forward proposals for the country’s planned new sports law. The delegation consisted of FASFE members from across the country, led by their president José Ángel Zalba. The group presented proposals to improve democracy and transparency within Spanish football as p

The event will build further on the previous two workshops, on Governance and Finance, as well as the 16 exchange visits between the partners. The initiative is co-financed by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union and Uefa. The third workshop of SD Europe‘s Erasmus+ project will be take place this weekend (16-18/6) at the stadium of Schalke 04, one of the biggest member-run clubs in the world, and in Germany, the country most suitable to welcome an event on members and

On March 14th FASFE organised a meeting with Bayer Leverkusen supporter liaison officer (SLO) Frank Linde in Madrid. The meeting was co-organised by Rayo ADRV Accionistas and attended not just by supporter groups but also by clubs both from the local area and outside Madrid, evidence of the great interest in learning more about the SLO role and how it can improve the relationship between clubs and supporters and the matchday experience for all parties involved. Frank made an