Football Supporters' Association

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The FSA
The Football Supporters' Association
Founded2018
Location
Members
500,000+
Key people
Kevin Miles, Chief executive
Malcolm Clarke, Chair
Tom Greatrex, Vice-chair
AffiliationsFSE, The FA
Websitewww.thefsa.org.uk/

The Football Supporters' Association (The FSA) is the national, democratic, representative body for football supporters in England and Wales. They are the leading advocates for supporter ownership, better fan engagement, cheaper ticket prices, the choice to stand at the match (safe standing), protecting fan rights, good governance, diversity, and all types of supporter empowerment across both the men's and women's game.

The FSA's chair is Malcolm Clarke, and its vice-chair is Tom Greatrex, both of whom sit as supporters' representatives on The FA Council. [1]

Founding and membership[edit]

The organisation was formed after the merger of two national football supporters' organisations, the Football Supporters' Federation and Supporters Direct, was agreed to on 22 November 2018.[2] The name of the new organisation was announced on 6 June 2019.[3]

The FSA represents more than 500,000 members made up of individual fans and more than 300 affiliated and associated supporters' organisations from every club in the professional game and many more throughout the whole footballing pyramid.[4] Membership of the FSA is free to all fans, providing they promote the cause of diversity, oppose discrimination, reject violence and promote a positive culture of fair play and goodwill between all football supporters.[5]

Work with stakeholders[edit]

The FSA regularly meets with the football authorities and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to discuss a wide range of issues relating to the concerns of football supporters.

They are the structured dialogue partners of the Premier League, EFL and the National League, facilitating dialogue between those organisations and supporters. They also partner with football's anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out on the Fans for Diversity campaign,[6][7] and with The FA, the Football Association of Wales and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on fans' embassies for England and Wales matches overseas.

They have regular dialogue with other groups, including the Professional Footballers' Association, the Independent Football Ombudsman and Police Match Commanders, among others, and are founder-members of Football Supporters Europe (FSE), working with other national and trans-national organisations as dialogue partners with UEFA. The FSA's chief executive, Kevin Miles, is an elected committee member of FSE.

The FSA is also secretariat to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Football Supporters.[8]

Campaigns and other work[edit]

The FSA promotes the value of supporter and community engagement and helps supporters' trusts to secure influence and become a constructive voice in how their club is run. There are around 50 clubs owned by their supporters including the first ever supporter-owned football club in the United Kingdom, AFC Wimbledon, Exeter City, and Newport County,[9] as well as clubs part-owned in partnership with supporters' trusts such as Swansea City.

The Stand Up For Choice campaign, previously known as the Safe Standing campaign, has received widespread political backing. At the 2019 UK general election all three major English political parties included a commitment to move towards safe standing in their manifestos.[10] Work on pilots of standing areas in the top flight which were to be explored after the publication of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Rapid Evidence Assessment into the all-seater policy[11] in 2019 were halted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom and the subsequent restrictions on supporters attending matches.

In 2020, partly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the game but also as a result of long-standing finance and governance issues, the FSA launched the Sustain the Game! campaign. It calls for urgent action from the authorities to protect clubs throughout the country, for greater transparency and independent financial controls, and for the Government to deliver on its manifesto commitment of a 'fan-led review of football governance'.[12] The campaign received cross-party political support, as well as backing from hundreds of supporter organisations and football industry figures such as Jamie Carragher and Henry Winter.[13] The campaign launch came two months ahead of the divisive and unpopular 'Project Big Picture' proposals,[14] which would have seen sweeping changes to the organisation of English football and which were ultimately unanimously rejected.[15]

At its 2020 AGM the organisation formalised the creation of a network to represent supporters in the women's game,[16] on the back of work over the preceding 18 months which saw the creation of more than 25 supporter groups throughout the top four divisions of women's football.[17]

In 2022, local football supporters in Bury, Greater Manchester were urged to vote in a poll, facilitated by the FSA, regarding a potential merger of the supporters groups of Bury F.C. and Bury A.F.C. The FSA said there was no "viable and sustainable alternative to the merger", which, if approved, could potentially see the eventual return of professional football to the town's Gigg Lane stadium following Bury F.C.'s expulsion from the EFL in August 2019.[18][19]

FSA Awards[edit]

The Football Supporters’ Association Player of the Year is an annual award, presented at the FSA Awards ceremony in association with 'BeGambleAware', given to the player who is adjudged to have had the best year in all of the divisions of Welsh and English football. The award has been presented since 2013, when the inaugural winner was Liverpool striker Luis Suárez.

The most recent winners of the award are Frida Maanum of Arsenal and Mohamed Salah of Liverpool. Winners are selected by public vote following a nominations process.[20]

The table indicates where the winning player also won one or more of the other major "player of the year" awards in English football, namely the Professional Footballers' Association's Players' Player of the Year award (PPY),[21][22][23] the Football Writers' Association's Footballer of the Year award (FWA),[24] the PFA Fans' Player of the Year award (FPY),[25] the Premier League Player of the Season award (PPS),[26] and the PFA Young Player of the Year award (YPY).[22][23][27]

Year Female Player Club Also won Notes
2016 Netherlands Sari van Veenendaal Arsenal [28]
2017 England Jill Scott Manchester City [28]
2018 England Beth Mead Arsenal [29]
2019 Netherlands Vivianne Miedema Arsenal PFA [30]
2020 Netherlands Vivianne Miedema (2) Arsenal FWA, LFA [31]
2021 Netherlands Vivianne Miedema (3) Arsenal BBC, PFA [31]
2022 England Beth Mead (2) Arsenal BBC [32]
2023 Norway Frida Maanum Arsenal PFA [33]
Year Male Player Club Also won Notes
2013 Uruguay Luis Suárez† Liverpool FWA, PPY Inaugural winner of the award[34]
2014 Argentina Sergio Agüero† Manchester City [35]
2015 Chile Alexis Sánchez† Arsenal FPY [36]
2016 Brazil Philippe Coutinho† Liverpool [37]
2017 England Harry Kane† Tottenham Hotspur [38]
2018 Egypt Mohamed Salah† Liverpool FWA, PPY, FPY, PPS, FSF [39]
2019 Netherlands Virgil van Dijk Liverpool PPY, PPS [40]
2020 Portugal Bruno Fernandes Manchester United [41]
2021 Egypt Mohamed Salah (2) Liverpool FPY, FSF [42]
2022 Belgium Kevin De Bruyne Manchester City PPS [43]
2023 Egypt Mohamed Salah (3) Liverpool [44]
† Indicates the award was previous the Football Supporters' Federation (FSF) Player of the Year Award.

Awards are issued in a variety of other categories, including pundits, podcasters, writers and other football media.[45]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "FA Council Membership – 2020/2021". The FA. 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  2. ^ "The FSA Annual Review 2018-19". The FSA. 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  3. ^ "Introducing the Football Supporters' Association". The FSA. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Affiliates and associates". Football Supporters' Association.
  5. ^ "Join". Football Supporters' Association.
  6. ^ "Fans for Diversity". Football Supporters' Association.
  7. ^ "Fans For Diversity". Kick It Out.
  8. ^ "Register Of All-Party Parliamentary Groups [as at 24 February 2020]". Parliament.uk. 24 February 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  9. ^ "Supporter ownership". Football Supporters' Association.
  10. ^ "General Election 2019: what Conservatives, Labour & Liberal Democrats would do for football". When Saturday Comes. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  11. ^ "Standing at Football, A Rapid Evidence Assessment" (PDF). Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  12. ^ "The Conservative and Unionist Party Manifesto" (PDF). The Conservative and Unionist Party. 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  13. ^ "Sustain The Game!". Football Supporters' Association.
  14. ^ "Project Big Picture Q&A: All you need to know about Premier League shake-up proposal". Sky Sports. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  15. ^ "Project Big Picture 'unanimously' rejected by Premier League and FA". Goal.com. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  16. ^ "FSA AGM 2020 round-up". Football Supporters' Association. 5 January 2021.
  17. ^ "Strength in unity: working to give fans of women's football a collective voice". The Guardian. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  18. ^ Oldman, Isabel (8 October 2022). "Bury AFC members can vote to change club's name to Bury Football Club". Bury Times. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  19. ^ Oldman, Isabel (12 October 2022). "Bury FC fans group urges members to vote in long-awaited merger". Bury Times. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  20. ^ "Nominations open for 2019 FSA Awards". Football Supporters' Association. 8 October 2019.
  21. ^ "Only here for the peers". BBC. 20 April 2001. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
  22. ^ a b "Gerrard named player of the year". BBC. 23 April 2006. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
  23. ^ a b "Ronaldo secures PFA awards double". BBC. 22 April 2007. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
  24. ^ "England – Players Awards". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 4 October 2007. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
  25. ^ "PFA's Official Fan's Player of the Year: Previous Winners". The Professional Footballers' Association. Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
  26. ^ "Premier League Awards, View Season–by-Season Stats". Premier League.com. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  27. ^ Keogh, Frank (20 April 2001). "Too much too young?". BBC. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  28. ^ a b Cummins, Garreth (21 November 2019). "FSA Women's Player of the Year 2019 nominees". Football Supporters' Association. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  29. ^ soladmin (3 December 2018). "Mohamed Salah and Beth Mead win supporters' accolades". Football Supporters' Association. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  30. ^ Thompson, Liam (17 December 2019). "Virgil Van Dijk named FSA Men's Player of the Year". Football Supporters' Association. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  31. ^ a b Thompson, Liam (29 November 2021). "FSA Awards 2021: Mohamed Salah wins Men's Player of the Year Award". Football Supporters' Association. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  32. ^ Thompson, Liam (15 November 2022). "FSA Awards 2022: De Bruyne & Mead win major supporter honours". Football Supporters' Association. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  33. ^ "Frida Maanum named FSA Women's Player of the Year". Frida Maanum named FSA Women’s Player of the Year. 23 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  34. ^ Winter, Henry (16 December 2013). "Liverpool's Luis Suarez a humble winner of FSF Player of the Year award". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  35. ^ "Manchester City's Sergio Aguero wins Player of the Year award in Football Supporters' Federation vote". Sky Sports.
  36. ^ "Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez wins Player of the Year award in Football Supporters' Federation vote". Sky Sports.
  37. ^ "Liverpool's Coutinho named Player of the Year at 2016 FSF Awards". Shoot. 8 December 2016.
  38. ^ "Harry Kane claims FSF Men's Player of the Year award". Tottenham Hotspur.
  39. ^ "Mohamed Salah wins FSF Men's Player of the Year award". Liverpool F.C. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  40. ^ "Virgil Van Dijk wins FSF Men's Player of the Year award". Liverpool F.C. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  41. ^ "FSA Awards in association with BeGambleAware". thefsa.org.uk. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  42. ^ "Mohamed Salah voted FSA Men's Player of the Year". Liverpool F.C. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  43. ^ "FSA Awards 2022: De Bruyne & Mead win major supporter honours". FSA. 15 November 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  44. ^ "Mohamed Salah wins FSA Men's Player of the Year prize for third time". Liverpool F.C. 4 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  45. ^ "Guardian wins FSA newspaper of the year award for seventh time in a row". The Guardian. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2021.

External links[edit]

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