BILLY BREMNER MEMORIAL JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN
Date: 24th April 2025
These are the results from a research project by Daniel Filogonio, a student volunteer with the SFSA from Edinburgh University. Daniel is studying community engagement by Scottish clubs for a dissertation, covering a wide range of different aspects of the ways in which clubs seek to communicate and engage with their fan-base. We offer no major commentary here, but there is clearly a considerable awareness of current community engagement and a desire for more. The results are as follows:
Are you aware of any community engagement activities organised by your club?
82% said yes, 10% said no and 8% were not sure.
What types of community engagement are you aware of? (Select all that apply)
| Option | Percentage |
| Charity fundraising events | 84% |
| Youth football coaching programmes | 82% |
| Disability-inclusive programmes | 60% |
| Food bank support | 74% |
| Mental health initiatives | 70% |
| Support for low-income families | 40% |
| Anti-racism or diversity campaigns | 65% |
| Environmental/sustainability projects | 25% |
| Other | 6% |
How did you find out about these activities? (Select all that apply)
| Option | Percentage |
| Club website | 65% |
| Social media | 82% |
| Matchday announcements | 38% |
| Word of mouth | 29% |
| Local news/media | 28% |
| I haven’t heard of them | 10% |
How important do you think community engagement is for football clubs? (1 = Not important, 5 = Very important)
| Option | Percentage |
| 1 | 1% |
| 2 | 1% |
| 3 | 4% |
| 4 | 19% |
| 5 | 75% |
Do you believe your club is doing enough for community engagement? (1 = Not at all, 5 = Absolutely)
| Option | Percentage |
| 1 | 2% |
| 2 | 4% |
| 3 | 22% |
| 4 | 40% |
| 5 | 31% |
Do you think the club’s community activities target the right groups?
70% said yes, 4% said no and 26% were not sure.
Which groups do you think need more focus from your club’s community programmes? (Select all that apply)
| Option | Percentage |
| Disabled individuals | 32% |
| Low-income families | 51% |
| Ethnic minorities | 25% |
| People experiencing homelessness | 33% |
| Youth development | 39% |
| Elderly individuals | 29% |
| Mental health support | 33% |
| Other | 4% |
| Not sure | 20% |
Have you ever participated in a community programme organised by your club?
44% said yes, 56% said no.
Would you be interested in participating in club-led community initiatives?
35% said yes, 15% said no, 51% said it depends on the circumstances.
What could your club do to improve its community engagement?
Where fans answered ‘no’ we’ve deleted those responses.
| Liaise better with their Community Trust |
| Increasing their scope of who they are reaching out to. |
| Think club are doing well with engagement |
| I believe Hearts are leading the way with their numerous initiatives |
| Not much, they are pretty good – most clubs are these days. |
| I don’t know enough about the effectiveness of the current programme to answer this. |
| Include the supporters more |
| Does pretty good at present |
| We have a successful programme, but perhaps could do more with disadvantaged families. |
| Current programme roll out us very impressive. Continually looking at improvements. |
| Cheaper match tickets for family’s |
| Work with the local grassroots clubs |
| Reach further afield beyond the city |
| Currently excellent work but always more to-do. Work with the elderly |
| Keep raising funds, continue to raise awareness of challenges people face in everyday life. |
| Involvement of disparate groups in the area |
| Nothing, they do loads already |
| Encourage more members/parents to become involved |
| Supporter survey asking what groups to support |
| Make more awareness of this across the fan base. |
| It’s already very good. |
| PUBLICISE IT MORE |
| More anti-racism work. More opportunities for young players to trial with clubs. |
| Stop pandering to ‘ultras’ and appreciate decent supporters |
| More inclusivity |
| More exposure through Club channels |
| More discounted ticket days- once a season hibs tend to do something like tickets for a tenner, these initiatives are good as more people engage with the club with these reduced ticket prices. They could do things like this maybe 3-4 times a season for smaller opposition games. |
| Do more for the youth to bring in the next generation of fans, will generate larger revenues in future |
| Increase engagement with schools and colleges. Young people are our future support. |
| Maybe hold some charitable events |
| More activities within Aberdeen that could give fans opportunities to meet players but also to help out in the community |
| To build stronger ties with local schools, youth clubs, and amateur teams, the club can host football clinics and tournaments. And/or Offer free or discounted tickets to young players can also help develop future fans. |
| Making it more known and allow lower prices to allow more people to attend |
| Improve stadium |
| Host more events throughout a year that cover a bigger variety of social groups |
| Reach out to the main fanbase |
| Employ more staff/volunteers to increase projects/participation |
| It’s pretty good at it in my opinion but more could be done on social media. |
| I think they are doing a good job |
| make match tickets more affordable for people that are less off |
| Improve engagement with fans regarding community events |
| More consistent activities |
| Promote more outside stadium |
| Develop better marketing skills to not only help others but profit from it |
| Wider distribution of the message |
| Donating to local community events/charities |
| Advertising more about community events |
| Possibly a sponsored walk/run to raise money for charities. |
| Make supporters more aware of the community side on the web site. |
| Wider school engagement. Further family support. Make old firm games safer |
| More forums |
| Hold the Council to account for failing to maintain areas used to gain access. |
| Employ a community development or CLD worker |
| Tell the truth and not what suits their narrative |
| Cheaper tickets |
| Target more of the smaller groups within the support. |
| More youth work |
| It’s fine as is |
| Hold more open events for feedback |
| It’s already fine |
| At present I think my club have a good range of activities / programs available |
| Have a volunteer group of supporters and club staff to collaborate on various community projects. at club |
| I think my club should do more for people with mental health problems as Dundee has the highest suicide rate in Scotland. |
| Youth Development |
| Club has excellent community engagement |
| Relaunch a wider strategy on it. |
| Listen to suggestions given by fans |
| Publicity |
| Liaise more with local residents |
| More participation from the actual club rather than just the Celtic Fc Foundation |
| A Better Matchday Experience For Fans Could CreateJobs & Regeneration For Local Communities |
| More player interactions |
| Promote the work the Foundation does more |
| They are doing a fantastic job |
| Have a Supporter Liaison Officer who responds to contact from all supporter groups, have an annual fan survey that it publishes a response to, has an action plan linked to it and reports to the support on how it is progressing, have a hemmed focus groups for specific fan demographics, including women supporters, lesbian and gay supporters, disabled supporters and BAME supporters. |
| Greater communication and possibly joining with local businesses to help spread participation |
| Be more open and transparent through club media and fan engagement. Have key community initiatives through the year for walking football through youth and schools initiatives. |
Do you have any additional comments or suggestions on how Scottish football clubs can better engage with their communities?
Where fans answered ‘no’ we’ve deleted those responses.
| Share ideas and resources | |
| Clamp down quicker and stricter on anti social behaviour especially all forms of bigotry. | |
| I have attended award days and been very impressed by the work done by most clubs. | |
| Need dedicated teams, volunteers, to engage with fans in each area. | |
| Cheapest tickets like in germany | |
| Have social clubs attached to the stadium | |
| I think using their position to raise awareness of key issues is probably one of the best things clubs can do. | |
| Non sectarianism | |
| Professional clubs and players do a lot for local communities, youngsters look up to them so the more involvement the better | |
| Work with the support currently in the community to ascertain what would be best fro them. | |
| Be more open | |
| Unknown | |
| Look at the examples of those clubs with good practice already. | |
| Provide speakers for organisations | |
| Stop treating fans like cash-cows. | |
| Clubs incentivised to prioritise CSR and their relationships with their Foundations | |
| More of these reduced tickets as mentioned would mean higher attendances across the league, with ticket prices as high as ever, a few of these sorts of days would help engagement over the season. | |
| Allow drinking back in (governments problem). Offer a much larger match day experience rather than just the game | |
| Support and be represented at events organised by the wider community. | |
| Allow drinking in stadiums | |
| Listen to community leaders and fans | |
| just overall make attending matches more affordable. i.e : match tickets, transport to match. | |
| Try and increase the ways in which fans voices are heard with regards community events. | |
| Make actions and activities more well known | |
| Attend schools and talk to students about how they became players and what they do in a day to day setting etc. The more of a bond the players build with fans the more support the club will receive. | |
| Stop calling old firm “fans” fans. Most only know football as a TV show this would start to shift perceptions on what a football fan actually is | |
| I believe Scottish clubs need to engage with supporters more regarding match day experience and community programs | |
| Scrap decisive DEI | |
| Listen and respond , approach engagement professionally and strategically and align to government and third sector priorities . Form Partnerships and collaborate with other agencies, community groups and orgs and governments | |
| Involve volunteers and not just people who are in it for the money | |
| I think all professional clubs in Scotland should have a sensory room for autistic fans. | |
| Have more dialogue with fans, smaller clubs I would suggest have more community engagement but the bigger the club the smaller the egagement. | |
| Ask their communities what they could do better | |
| Not aware | |
| Make them feel part of the Club, involve them | |
| Just Do It | |
| Advertise that football is on a large scale a happy inclusive enjoyable day | |
| Put resources into meaningful community engagement that recognises the diversity of the supporter base and doesn’t just cater to white blokes. | |
| Start, engage with people and groups where they are. The reach of football in Scotland is impressive and many want to be part of something positive in their communities and with their clubs. Align strategy with other clubs and activities that are in the community, compliment and add value and experiences. Provide purpose and inclusivity on match day experiences. |
Fans from the following clubs responded to this survey: Aberdeen, Airdrieonians, Albion Rovers, Annan Athletic, Arbroath, Ayr United, Celtic, Clachnacuddin, Cove Rangers, Dumbarton, Dundee, Dundee United, Dunfermline Athletic, Earlston Rhymers, Falkirk, Greenock Morton, Hamilton Accies, Hearts, Hibs, Kilmarnock, Lanark United, Livingston, Manchester City, Manchester United, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, Pollok, Queen’s Park, Raith Rovers, Rangers, Ross County, St Johnstone, St Mirren, Stenhousemuir.
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Tags: research