Liverpool launch new supporters board – with backing from fans

Liverpool have launched a new supporters board which they say will deliver meaningful fan representation on strategic issues – and the move has been backed by the vast majority of Liverpool fans.

The supporters board comes after consultation between the club and representatives from FSA-affiliates Spirit of Shankly (SoS), the major fan group on the red half of Merseyside.

SoS members demonstrated their support for the supporters board with 98.94% voting in favour of the new engagement model – which gives fans “the right to give consent or not” over issues “such as a ground move or ground share, or defection to a breakaway league.”

Following the backlash against the club’s disastrous involvement in the failed European Super League project in April, Liverpool agreed to open discussions with their fans.

The club’s chief executive Bill Hogan said in the spring that “meaningful change had to occur” following the debacle and that the club would work to “restore good faith” in its supporter engagement.

After the collapse of the European Super League, Spirit of Shankly members said that supporters must have representation at board level.

Chair of Spirit of Shankly, Joe Blott, said: “We’ve been working really hard as a union to work alongside the club, to hold the club to account but at the same time to work in harmony to try and get the best for supporters.

“We’ve come such a long way from the challenges of the past, and it was critically important to make sure the supporter voice is heard. I think what we have now is a real synergy and organisational approach that ensures stronger representation and greater engagement.”

Liverpool’s new supporters board will be made up of a group of supporters that represent the club’s diverse fanbase. Responsibility for running the supporters board will lie with the supporters trust, Spirit of Shankly, who will liaise with affiliates groups and the whole fanbase to ensure wider representation.

Regular meetings will be held between the club and the supporters board, and its chair will be invited to attend the club’s main board meetings.

The make-up of the Supporters Board will consist of 10 Spirit Of Shankly committee members, plus six other representatives drawn from other fan organisations including Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association, Kop Outs, Spion Kop 1906, Official Liverpool Supporters Clubs, Liverpool Women’s Supporters Committee and faith and ethnic groups.

Hogan said: “This has been a healthy process with a lot of engagement, and ultimately we’re really proud of where we’ve ended up.

“We think the supporters board concept is a really good one and it allows us to engage in a really meaningful way. I do just want to say a huge thank you to all the different groups that we’ve engaged with to get to this point.”