The Football Supporters Association Annual General Meeting took place on Saturday 6 June at King’s College’s Bush House in London. Football supporters from all over the country and all tiers of the game, both men’s and women’s, were present.

Members of the Blues Trust Board attended, as did representatives of other Blues independent fan groups, namely Blues4All and Birmingham City Women Supporters Group.

The event was hosted by Lynsey Hooper from Sky Sports.

The morning session consisted of talks by two keynote speakers:

• David Riley from the Independent Football Regulator’s General Counsel who explained the IFR’s history, it’s purpose, current status and future plans;
• Paul Watson, a football writer and podcaster. Paul is the author of “Up Pohnpei: Leading The Ultimate Football Underdogs To Glory”. And, more recently, “Around the World in 80 Clubs”, an explanation of his experiences travelling around the world and seeing how football interacts and adapts to different cultures.

After lunch, the formal Annual General Meeting took place, where the minutes of last year’s AGM, the years financial accounts and auditor reappointment were approved.

Seven other motions had been submitted for approval by the meeting:

1. Fans to be consulted on changes to competition structures such as the recent decision by EFL to revise the Championship playoffs format;
2. Integrate the Fans for Diversity (FFD)/FSA LGBTQ+ Hub within the Fans for Diversity campaign;
3. FSA to raise the inconsistency of rules regarding abandoned games with the FA;
4. FSA to call upon governing bodies for teams below Tier 5 to introduce governance procedures that mirror those set out by the Independent Financial Regulator;
5. FSA mandates all members to encourage clubs to meet their legal obligations regarding display of food allergy information at catering outlets;
6. Football Fans should not be discriminated against and should receive equal legal treatment compared with attendees at other events. The statistics used for reporting of offences by football fans should be consistent and not misleading when compared with any other groups of the population;
7. Equal status for fan representatives on local authority football Safety Advisory Groups.

Motions 1-5 were approved unanimously. The proposer for Motions 6 and 7 agreed to remit the motions to the FSA National Council because, whilst supporting the spirit of the motions, it was felt that they required some wording changes to make them acceptable going forward.

The afternoon continued with eight breakout groups covering various subjects

1. Football and social media, and how to communicate your goals;
2. The Independent Football Regulator and supporter engagement, and specifically the Regulator’s remit;
3. LGBTQ+ Hub and how to get involved;
4. Multi-club ownership and how fans might be affected by such structures;
5. Safety Advisory Groups and the role of a fan representative on a SAG;
6. Ticket pricing and atmospheres and are traditions and club cultures being eroded by corporate greed? How can supporters challenge this?;
7. Young supporter activists, identifying what issues affect younger supporters and how can we gauge their views;
8. Pledgeball, looking closely at football and sustainability and, in particular, how to improve environmentally sustainable travel for football fans.

The event was both enjoyable and informative, and Blues Trust will continue to share information about the issues raised and their potential implications for our own club.

The FSA is the national, democratic and representative body for football supporters in England and Wales. It works with supporters, governing bodies, leagues and clubs to drive positive change in football through supporter engagement at every level of the game.

Individual supporters as well as supporter groups can join the FSA, and membership is free.

Blues Trust