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Nov 22, 2016

Second project workshop to take place in Malmö, November 25-27  

The event will bring together member-run clubs, national supporters’ organisations, and members of the wider SD Europe network.

Over the weekend of November 25-27, partners and contributing organisations in the Clubs and Supporters for Better Governance in Football project will gather in Malmö for the second of three workshops.

Hosted by project partners and newly crowned Allsvenskan champions Malmö FF, the workshop follows on from a successful launch event and first workshop, which took place in March and June of this year respectively. Now, partners will debate, discuss and dissect a range of topics, all with one over-arching theme: Finance. Regardless of how an organisation is structured or its areas of work, this is something that will have a decisive impact on its ability to carry out that work.

The workshop will seek to answer a series of key questions, with a particular focus on the perspective of member-run football clubs and national supporters’ organisations. These questions include:

  1. What do we mean by financial sustainability and how can this be achieved?

  2. What alternative sources of finance are available for organisations that are committed to operating in a sustainable, democratic, transparent manner?

  3. How can an organisation remain sustainable whilst at the same time maintaining an ethical approach and not ‘selling out’?

  4. How should extra community work (for example one-off projects) be funded?

  5. What’s the best way to monitor and evaluate financial performance?

Partners will look to answer these questions and more, through a combination of discussion and practical exercises.

Håkan Jeppsson, chairman of Malmö FF, commented:

“To participate and work actively in this project with SD Europe is very important for Malmö FF. By sharing expertise with other like-minded clubs across Europe, this initiative helps us to develop our organisation and long term unite all parties around the club.”

Sofia Bohlin, board member at the SFSU (Swedish Football Supporters Union) said:

“We are really looking forward to the event in Malmö. The exchange of experience and knowledge shows the strengths and competences the Clubs and Supporters for Better Governance in Football project provides. We are happy to be a partner.”

As well as the formal agenda, partners will have plenty of time to exchange ideas and experiences in a more informal setting over the course of the two days, and will also be able to enjoy the atmospheric setting of the Swedbank Stadion.

Overall, the workshop will aim to provide both inspiration and ideas that can be translated into practical actions in the coming months and years. Partners and contributing organisations will be encouraged to arrive armed with their own case studies and concerns, to drive the discussions and help inform the development of an online training course – one of the project’s key objectives.

For further information about the project, please contact Niamh O’Mahony, Development & Media Manager at SD Europe (niamh.omahony@s839813844.websitehome.co.uk) and keep an eye on our website: www.sdeurope.eu.

About the Clubs and Supporters for Better Governance in Football project

This is a two-year project, coordinated by SD Europe, and co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union and UEFA. The project will help promote EU principles on good governance in sport. It will do this through a training, education and exchange programme involving member-run football clubs and national supporters’ organisations; covering the full range of the football pyramid and aimed at promoting co-operation between like-minded organisations.

The partners and contributing organisations (in Italics) are as follows:

The project addresses three core topics, which are of importance to all the partners: good governance, financial sustainability, and member/volunteer engagement and democratic participation.

Partners will attend a total of three in-person sessions, plus opening and closing events. These will be supplemented by a series of one-to-one exchanges. The project will also include a research and evaluation element, in order to assist the ongoing measurement of good governance in sport; and the development of an online training resource, which will provide long-term impact beyond the lifetime of the project.

The project will be supported by an advisory board, made up of:

  1. Jonas Baer-Hoffmann (Head of Public Affairs, FIFPro Division Europe)

  2. Ivo Belet MEP (Member of the European Parliament)

  3. Sean Hamil (Director, Birkbeck Sport Business Centre, Department of Management, Birkbeck College, University of London)

  4. Dr Joachim Lammert (Universität Leipzig, Sportwissenschaftliche Fakultät, FG Sportmanagement)

  5. Pedro Velázquez (EU sports governance expert)

This is the second EC-funded project to be coordinated by SD Europe, following the successful Improving Football Governance through Supporter Involvement and Community Ownership preparatory action in the field of sport, which also involved three other members of this collaborative partnership.

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About SD Europe

SD Europe is an organisation that assists democratic supporters’ groups in achieving formal structured involvement in their clubs and associations, and developing member ownership of football clubs. Established in 2007 with support from UEFA, SD Europe also advises clubs on their ownership and governance structure and works with football governing bodies, leagues, UEFA, and European institutions. Currently, it is active in over 20 European countries and is responsible for the implementation of the Supporter Liaison Officer requirement (Art. 35, UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations). For more information, contact us and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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