Register for Supporters Direct conference June 12th-13th

Our friends at Supporters Direct – the not-for-profit agency that promotes supporter ownership and involvement in football governance – are holding their annual conference IET London: Savoy Place on Saturday, June 12th, and Sunday, June 13th. Looking for Eric director Ken Loach has been announced as their guest speaker and you can register online from this link.

Booking couldn’t be simpler and for the price of a round you can meet like-minded fans from up and down the country, get your lunch and refreshments, and a reception in the evening showing England v USA in the World Cup on a big screen.

Fans of all clubs are welcome and there’ll be debates on football finance and the future of football itself with club chairmen, leading activists from the supporters’ trust movement, and political thinkers all appearing.

The conference is being organised on the back of a growing political consensus about the potential for football fans to buy out their clubs by setting up co-operatives, similar to those that already own and run clubs like FC Barcelona and Hamburg SV. The new coalition government has pledged to support the creation of mutually-owned clubs in its “Programme for government”.

Saturday is themed “A Better Vision for Football” and will give fans the chance to find out more about the proposals under consideration. It will also allow fans to speak directly with politicians, club chairmen, bloggers and writers, as well as representatives of football clubs already owned by supporters’ trusts.

In addition, the keynote speaker on Saturday will be made by the award winning film director Ken Loach, responsible for the modern cult classic Looking for Eric, also responsible for a recent documentary about the response of football fans to their sense of alienation from the game. Co-operatives UK chief executive Ed Mayo will be addressing delegates on Sunday.

“We know all about the problems faced by fans and clubs, but now its time for a big push to bring some solutions,” said Dave Boyle, chief executive of Supporters Direct. “This conference is a rally for change in football – change in the way fans influence their clubs and change in the way the game is regulated.”

“In the last season, the efforts of fans at Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle built on the work done up and down the country by supporters trusts, and as a result politicians of all parties said they were concerned about the issues of fan involvement. The process of turning that concern into action starts now, and this conference is the first step.”

Click here for more details on timings and registrations.

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