Groundbreaking report - The Social and Community Value of Football - now available

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 also download 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.

The aims of the research were to:

• Investigate ways in which we might measure or account for the social and community ‘value’ of football clubs
• Identify evidence of the added value alternative fan or community ownership structures might bring
• Outline how the community roles of football clubs relate to wider regulatory issues.

The project was focused on England but has relevance across football and indeed sport.

The research showed that football clubs deliver social value in a variety of ways and to a range of stakeholders. The value can be both intrinsic to the club and also enhanced by things such as community programmes and local purchasing schemes. It can also help people feel part of a locality and generate local pride; a sense of community can be derived from the club.

In the research, supporters spoke of the ‘social value’ of involvement and how it goes beyond instrumental relationships in a number of ways by becoming a ‘community’ and ‘family’ with shared experiences, with the value enhanced by the integration of social and environmental objectives into the core of the club and inclusive practice such as concessionary ticket prices.

The research suggests or confirms that football clubs are more than a business – call them social institutions. Therefore there is a strong case for supporters, as a key stakeholder of the club, to be involved in the operation or governance of a club.

The inclusion of stakeholders helps link a club to its community, integrating it into that community and vice versa. One comment in the report that reinforces this was “(it) helped make the club genuinely a community organisation” rather than “an organisation that delivered to the community” (page 10 of the summary); the inclusion of stakeholders such as supporters can help enhance a club’s social value.

Social value can also be hindered by a club’s action. For example insolvency can mean local suppliers being hurt financially, local jobs being lost and also a reduction in the pride a club can generate. The general financial instability in the industry means it is difficult for a club to buy locally, take account of its environmental impact etc as it may impact on the club financially, particularly in the short term. 

A key point from the social audit is that clubs tended not to take account of the areas measured in the social audit even though it would not be difficult or costly to do. There may even be a business case for taking account of these areas, though all clubs needed to do better in this area.

“As such this section of the case studies has demonstrated that there is a need for change in both culture and practice in football across both supporter-owned and non-supporter-owned clubs. Triple bottom line reporting and the accounting for social impacts is becoming commonplace in business and, while reporting the impacts of community trusts and charities is improving in football, our research suggests that this is not the case with regard to football clubs themselves. The reputational advantage of football’s community outreach work has been considerable, both within local communities and more broadly.

“If football wants to improve its standing, argue its case with policymakers at local, national and European levels and create further reputational advantage across the game, then the areas suggested in this element of the case studies need addressing. Supporters Direct has already lead the way in commissioning this research, and they as well as supporters trusts can play a leading role in pushing this agenda within the game. That will require addressing the regulatory framework in which football operates, an issue to which we now turn.” (page 69, full report).

For more you can access the full papers. If you want to discuss the report further, please contact Tom Hall - tel: 0044 (0)20 7273 1657

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