A BRIEF HISTORY

 

The image of English football supporters has undergone a revolution since the dark days of early to mid 1985 which culminated in the Heysel disaster. Like all the best revolutions, it was conceived, nurtured and executed by the proletariat - the fans themselves. At the forefront has been the Football Supporters Association. Formed a few weeks after the tragedy, the FSA was designed as a sort of consumer body for the sport's followers.

Its founders were tired of soccer tearing itself apart and just as fed up with those running the game as they were with the troublemakers. They believed that true football supporters were the victims of hooliganism, squeezed between the violent minority and the authorities' repressive measures to combat them. They argued it was ridiculous that the views of supporters, whose financial input into most clubs far outweighs that from any other source, were ignored when it came to matters affecting their welfare and safety. For instance, if asked, it's unlikely that Liverpool and Juventus fans would have chosen to play their European Cup Final in a stadium as inadequate as Heysel.

Unlike the traditional supporters club, membership of the FSA is based on where you live rather than who you support. Therefore, each of the Association's branches comprises fans of many clubs, a structure ensuring that parochial loyalties do not undermine the organisation's effectiveness and credibility.

 

Since its formation, the FSA has gone from strength to strength, establishing for itself three distinct roles:
  • Firstly as a campaigning organisation, involved in everything from small, club-based issues to the Government's football policy.

    It helped fight successful campaigns against club mergers and led opposition to the now abandoned ID card scheme, helping collect a 250,000 signature petition in the process.

    As a result of the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee's report into policing of football, to which the FSA had a major input, the all-seater stadium regulations recommended by Lord Justice Taylor were relaxed for lower division teams. With the principle now established that terracing is not inherently unsafe, the FSA remains opposed to the compulsory imposition of all-seater stadia, arguing that clubs should be free to provide safe terracing if that is what is wanted by the fans of that team.

    For many years the FSA has argued that the vast majority of tickets for FA Cup Finals should go to supporters of the competing teams, a view which is now starting to be reflected in the respective allocations.

    Recently the FSA campaigned for fair treatment of away fans, specifically in terms of ticket allocations, pricing and availability of concessions. It was a major victory for the organisation when the Premier League adopted these proposals, despite self-interested opposition from one or two of its member clubs.

  • Secondly, in changing attitudes towards supporters.

    Before 1985 fans were rarely consulted. Today it is commonplace. The FSA seeks representation on the game's governing bodies. Consequently it now meets and talks regularly with the FA, Premier League, Football League, Football Trust, MP's, ACPO and many individual clubs and police forces. And, while the FSA is seriously concerned about the effect of satellite TV on the game, we maintain good working relationships with Sky TV.

    The media is a key area of influence for the FSA in helping to promote a positive image of football and its followers, and it is encouraging to see that alleged instances of football violence are now investigated and reported with more balance than has been the case in the past.

    A year before the Hillsborough disaster the Association called for the removal of perimeter fencing, arguing that it could endanger supporters' safety. Subsequently it was fully represented at the Lord Justice Taylor inquiry and was widely considered to have provided a powerful and articulate voice for supporters, both immediately and after the tragedy, and in the follow up investigations.

    More recently, an FSA initiative has led to the setting up of consultative 'Supporter Panels' at each Premier League club.

  • The FSA's third function is to protect the interests of supporters, encourage others to do the same and increase fans' awareness of their responsibilities to both the game and their fellow supporters.

    It is committed to helping improve facilities for women and the disabled, has mounted a vigorous campaign against racism, in association with the PFA and CRE, and encourages clubs to become more community conscious. In addition, the FSA takes up legitimate complaints with the police both locally and nationally and has recently established a network of solicitors experienced in handling cases involving football fans.

 

1990 saw the FSA expand its horizons, with the World Cup providing the focus. In Sardinia, and again in other cities where England played, the FSA ran Football Embassies - advice and assistance centres for fans. This service was repeated at the 1992 European Championship in Sweden, where our premises included a converted bus in Copenhagen, a city where many England fans were staying. Thousands of supporters and hundreds of press and officials have visited these temporary offices where the organisation acted as a link between the authorities (particularly travel organisations and the police) and the English fans. The FSA ran an expanded version of this service for the 1996 European Championship in England, including an Embassy in each of the host cities. The embassies continued in France for the 1998 World Cup.

The FSA is still a relatively young organisation, but already its expertise is courted by a plethora of media organisations, researchers, individuals and associations involved in all aspects of the game. Its raison d'etre is to give fans a say in the running of football at all levels - ie the democratisation of the people's game. Where once football's followers were seen as a threat, and solely as a security and containment problem, today they are often recognised as valuable partners able to contribute to the sport's revival. We are now beginning to see genuine supporter representation within the game. It's a state of affairs that the FSA can take much credit for.