Seasons Greetings from Supporters Direct Scotland!

With 2018 drawing to a close, planning is underway at Supporters Direct Scotland and the Scottish Supporters Network for 2019.

This time last year we incorporated locally in Scotland as an independent organisation, which means our first AGM is coming up, along with elections to the SD Scotland board. Only organisations who have signed up as members for the 2018/19 season, and individual members contributing via Patreon, will be eligible to take part in the election - so if this is still on your pre-Christmas to-do list please don't forget about it!

Supporter Groups' sign-up page

Individual Members' sign-up page

FansBet: Giving Back

As 2018 comes to a close FansBet, who have an exclusive sponsorship with the Scottish Supporters Network, have been travelling up and down the UK as part of their giving back campaign.

In the last newsletter it was announced that Elgin City were the first SPFL club to sign up, and one of our most recent partnerships in the last month has been with Scottish League Two team Edinburgh City FC.

The team have had a great season so far and are currently sitting at the top of their league. We are looking forward to working alongside the club and their supporters as we look towards ways in which we can help Edinburgh City continue to grow.

Throughout the year the FansBet team have been involved with numerous giving back stories.

From helping to fund Shrewsbury Town’s safe standing campaign, to working alongside Peterborough United FC’s Posh Supporters’ Trust funding their Smile Scheme which awards free match tickets to deserving people within their community, FansBet is committed to supporting as many projects as possible. You can view some of the projects supported so far in the FansBet blog.

With over 100 fan partners we will be looking to branch out even further in 2019 in order to continue making a difference as the only bookmaker committed to sharing 50% of our net profits as well as maintaining strong standards regarding responsible gambling. If you are involved in a supporters group and would like to discuss becoming a fan partner then you can get in touch at loyalty@fansbet.com

SD Europe AGM

Early December saw the beautiful city of Huelva and the oldest club in Spain - Recreativo de Huelva (founded by Scots!) - host the annual SD Europe AGM. The weekend was packed with panels, workshops, meetings, and of course football!

The weekend celebrated the achievements of member-run clubs PAC Omonia 1948, Schalke 04, Xerez Deportivo FC, Cork City FC, HFC Falke, AKS Zly, and Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem; and ended with Recreativo triumphing 2-1 against Sevilla II in their Segunda División B match.

National survey results due soon!

We're looking forward to releasing the results of the 2018/19 Scottish Football Supporters Survey. With this being the first year of a three-year benchmarking study, the analysis phase is more involved than in previous years, and we are currently working with the Scottish FA and SPFL, and representatives of several clubs, to review the findings and identify potential improvements to Scottish football.

We expect to publish the survey results at the end of January, and appreciate your patience.

Membership Renewals

Membership renewals are underway, with member trusts gradually signing up to our new Go Cardless membership system, at the reduced price of £50. We welcome new applications from democratic supporters groups (full criteria for membership are available on request).

A few trusts have notified us of difficulties signing up with Go Cardless, as they need two signatories on the direct debit form. If this is the case for you, when you visit the Go Cardless site, fill in your bank details, then select the option where more than one signature is required. This then allows you to download a mandate for signing and you can then take it into a bank branch. 

And for the first time, we are opening up our membership to individuals as well as supporter groups. If you would like to join as an Individual Member you can do so on a pay-as-you like basis via the Scottish Supporters Network Patreon page.

Group and individual members can attend our annual Supporters Summit free of charge, will receive news of all SDS work and publications, and can stand for election to the SDS board.

We are committed to keeping all of our work accessible to everyone, whether members or not. To keep up-to-date you can become an Affiliate Member by joining the Scottish Supporters Network free of charge.

Read more..

Behind The Goals Podcast

Each week we bring you a new episode looking at a different aspect of our game. In the last month, we've covered:

• Historian and writer Daniel Gray, who has published a number of books exploring the development of football in Scotland and further afield
• A conversation with Chris Smith who builds football stadiums from Lego and has set up FC Brickstand – a virtual team who compete in the Diorama Conference
• The 2018 Football Collective conference, a gathering of researchers working on football-related projects, who met at Hampden Park
• Former Kilmarnock manager Bobby Williamson, now plying his trade in African football

Check out all our previous episodes and subscribe to the podcast using your favoured ‘podcatcher’ here.

Round Up

As part of our objective to better connect fans, share best practice within Scottish sport, to promote supporter dialogue and promote sport clubs through which positive societal change can occur, here we share some relevant stories from the past month.

1. Can Ayr United Realise The Impossible Dream In 2019?
2. Can We Fit Kieran Tierney Into The Scotland Team?
3. Why Scotland Fans Should Be Excited For 2019!
4. Why We Still Need Campaigns Like Rainbow Laces!
5. Celebrating Scotland’s European Adventures This Season!
6. Ryan Christie Shows The Benefits Of Scottish Call-offs
7. Can Scottish Football Fans Afford Another Subscription?
8. Scottish Fans Need To Keep Money In Their Pockets

We also published an overview of our Club Development Scotland work on YouTube, and a summary of this year's highlights. Subscribe to our channel to see more!

Want to have your say? Contact us at info@supporters-direct.scot