The introduction of a new UEFA licensing requirement from season 2012/13 for all clubs to have an operating Supporter Liaison Officer (SLO) marks an important new chapter in club to supporter relations and emphasizes how important this relationship is considered.

Saturday saw AFC Telford United defeat FC United of Manchester 2-0 at the New Bucks Head, and Scarborough Athletic clinch the SD Shield by beating reborn Merthyr Town by the same scoreline.

If you want to relive the moment, head over to Telford's official site and Scarborough Athletic's homepage

You can also see the pics via A Seadog's Blog.

Scaroborough Manager Brian France (fifth from left) and players celebrate with former Boro Chair, Simon Cope (centre)

In March 2010, FC United of Manchester announced that it would be building its own ground and community facilities in Newton Heath, Manchester.

The ground will be a landmark development that truly embraces community needs as well as putting fans in control. With a 5000 capacity, large terraced end, community sports facilities and a multi-function community club house facility, the development should stand as a beacon of good practice that will show how football can be run in the interests of its fans and its communities.

National supporters’ organisation the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF) has announced that Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, will speak at their annual conference which takes place at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, July 24^th.

Runcorn Linnets FC are looking forward to their first ever game at the Millbank Linnets Stadium this coming Saturday, 17th July, when Witton Albion are the visitors. The building of the new stadium has been completed in around 5 months and the club is extremely grateful for the support of Halton Borough Council and the Football Stadia Improvement Fund in helping this project become reality. The club would also like to place on record its gratitude to the fans who contributed so much, both to the project fund, and in practical help.

Supporters Direct in Scotland, the collective voice of supporters' trusts, have passed on their congratulations and best wishes to their members, the Stirling Albion Supporters Trust, after the Forthbank fans agreed a deal to take ownership of the First Division club.

The Development Manager, James Proctor said, “The Stirling Albion Supporters' Trust are breaking new ground in taking the first club in Senior Scottish Football under supporters ownership. We congratulate them on that achievement and wish them well in the running of the club. They will no doubt look to the successes seen at Exeter City, Scarborough and Brentford among others in England for ideas and inspiration.”

Proctor added, “We have experience in Scotland in helping supporters re-establish Clydebank and Gretna as Football Clubs and I am sure the learnings from these cases will be of interest to the Stirling group as well.”

VeneziaUNITED, the newly formed supporters' trust of FC Unione Venezia was officially launched on 30 June; with the evening being declared an overwhelming success. Over 200 fans from a variety of backgrounds made effective use of their democratic rights by approving the trusts manifesto, its constitution, and voting in the members of the first board of directors.

Launch of Venezia United

Supporters Direct
Press Release: 29/06/2010
For immediate release

SD Shield to be inaugurated alongside annual SD Cup match at Telford United

Since 2002, clubs owned by their supporters' trust have been invited to play in the annual Supporters Direct Cup. This time round on 24^th July is no different, except this year will be the first time the new SD Shield will be competed for, allowing two more clubs to take part in the fun but traditionally highly competitive day.

Today saw the launch of the Social and Community Value of Football Report at Supporters Direct’s Annual Conference, A Better Vision for Football. You can download the Summary Report, and you can also download an interim pdf version of the full report.

The report shows the positive – and negative – affect that clubs and their attitude, actions and behaviour can have on football clubs.

The report, undertaken by researchers, was commissioned in 2008 because we identified a need to move from more ethical or moral arguments for increased supporter influence at clubs to ones based upon evidence. We also wanted to understand better exactly if and where the added value from supporter ownership is derived so we could use this in practical terms when supporting our supporter controlled clubs.

A national conference is to be held (12-13 June 2010) to allow football fans from across the country to offer their views on the Government's commitment to giving supporters a greater say in the running of their clubs.