Supporters Organisations and member-run clubs from across the continent and further attend the SD Europe AGM in Beveren, Belgium.
Key Points
New-look Board & Advisory Board: Dafne Goldschmit and Lasse Bauer join as Directors, with Mike Denham joining the Advisory Board
Introduction of new organisational principles
SD Europe Fund: successful clubs and organisations confirmed: – SD Scotland, Israfans, FASFE, AKS Zły, PAC Omonia 1948 & Unsere Kurve
SD Europe partners with UEFA Academy to deliver SLO training
Rwanda project selected to be beneficiary of Atmosfair carbon offsetting partnership as voted on by members
AKS Zły presented award by SD Europe in recognition of being named UEFA Community Grassroots Club Of The Year
The SD Europe network came together in Beveren, Belgium from 15th-16th February 2020 for the organisation’s Annual General Meeting. With over 60 individuals in attendance from 19 countries, this was by far the largest gathering of the network to date. The weekend played host to a series of workshops, discussions and networking sessions.
Proceedings kicked-off on Saturday morning with Diego Riva (Chair) welcoming the new faces in the room from the SD Europe network from Dragoons FC (Poland), Olimpia MCMXXI (Romania), Sociochaux (France), FC Kuban (Russia) and BK Frem (Denmark) and many more.
CEO Antonia Hagemann and Membership Development Manager Loukas Anastasiadis then reported on the significant milestones of the last year including the completion of the LIAISE project, the European Community Clubs Tournament, the newly launched Fans Matter! Erasmus+ project and the SD Europe Fund. The new organisational principles of Democracy, Solidarity, Cooperation and Sustainability were also introduced – more on this soon!
New-look Board & Advisory Board
Daphne Goldschmidt (Israfans board member, Chairwoman of Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem F.C.) and Lasse Bauer (Chair of Fanafdelingen I Brøndbyernes IF, former SLO of Brøndby IF) were appointed to the SD Europe Board joining Sofia Bohlin (Chair of SFSU) as Directors alongside Diego Riva (Chair of Supporters in Campo) as Chair. Narcisco Rojas (FASFE and Recre Supporters Trust), Shay Golub (Israfans) and Mike Denham (formerly Irish Supporters Network and Cork City FC) all stepped down from the Board.
Shay will be joining the SD Europe team to work on the Fans Matter! project, whilst Mike will be joining the Advisory Board. Another welcomed addition to SD Europe’s Advisory Board is Katarzyna Biniaszczyk who brings a wealth of experience from the heart of European politics in Brussels where she works as a Parliamentary Adviser to MEP Tomasz Frankowski and as a Coordinator of the Sports Group in the European Parliament. Lastly, Tony Ernst is stepping down from the Advisory Board to join SD Europe’s SLO team alongside Stuart Dykes and Lena Gustafson Wiberg.
SD Europe Fund: Awardees confirmed
It was announced to the AGM that SD Scotland, Israfans (Israel), FASFE (Spain), AKS Zły (Poland), PAC Omonia 1948 (Cyrpus) & Unsere Kurve (Germany) were the successful applicants to the SD Europe Fund. The objective of the SD Europe Fund is to enable the members of the SD Europe network to establish their own projects that further develop supporter involvement.
Discussions & Workshops
Advisory Board Member William Gaillard led a discussion on the future of European football touching on the notion of fans special status, solidarity and competitive balance and financing.
Sports Psychologist Jorge Silverio presented on ‘Managing Success & Failure’, a session tailored to better equipping the members when goal setting and developing successful teams.
Stuart Dykes, Head of SLO Development then shared an update on the activities of the SLO work and how the members can benefit. This session included the announcement of SD Europe’s partnership with the UEFA Academy in developing and providing Supporter Liaison Officer training – (more coming soon).
Luke Cox, SD Europe’s Communications Consultant presented on the organisation’s carbon-offsetting partnership with Atmosfair and the membership voted to contribute to a cause in Rwanda through the arrangement.
Last but not least, Shay Golub held a workshop on ‘is football a community or sporting project? Finding the balance between the two’, which looked at how clubs measure sporting and community success getting it right in their environment.
During the AGM weekend, the network attended KSK Beveren’s home match against KFC Herleving Sinaai where the devoted and humble nature of the football club was clear for all to see.
KSK Beveren fans and players celebrate together after 2-0 victory.
At half-time of the fixture, AKS Zły former Chair Karolina Szumska and Board Member Andrzej Kostek were presented with an award from SD Europe in recognition of the club’s achievement last year of being named UEFA Grassroots Club Of The Year.
Reflecting on the AGM, SD Europe CEO Antonia Hagemann said “our AGM allows all these member run football clubs and supporters organisations of different experiences to come together, hear about what others are doing and learn from each other – this is the true benefit of being in the SD Europe network, and ultimately what it’s all about. What is most encouraging is that more and more people want to come every year.”
All in all, it was a very special weekend and demonstrated the vibrancy of the individuals involved in member-run clubs and supporters organisations. A special and warm thank you must go to our Belgian friends for hosting.
Comments