Scottish Football Supporters Survey Results

This season's survey results are now available for supporters, clubs and the governing bodies to review at www.scottishsupporters.net/survey

We continue to be encouraged by the enthusiasm with which supporters wish to make their views on all aspects of Scottish football known. Once again, we have been able to engage a broad cross section of supporters from across the country in shaping our recommendations to clubs and the football authorities.

Supporters have identified clearly what they like and do not like, and we delve deeper each year to understand the things that will make a difference to them. Our understanding of these issues is reinforced and refined with each of these surveys, and the patterns are clear. Supporters are looking for better value for money – but this is about more than just ticket prices. Perceptions of value extend to how we are treated by the clubs we visit, and the variety and quality of products on offer.

Scottish football is seen to be an inclusive place for people of all backgrounds, but we still have problems with discrimination. These may not always be widespread, but they are unacceptable. Levels of sectarian and racist abuse remain very high and have increased slightly, but most worrying are sharp rises in sexism and homophobia in recent years. There is a growing acknowledgement that there is no place for these behaviours in Scottish football, but action needs to keep up with these changing attitudes.

We are keen to work with clubs to help them understand the data from their own fans, what visiting supporters say about their experience of them, and also how they can apply some of the best practices from elsewhere. Competition is fierce within the field of play, but by collaborating and learning from each other in the stands, offices and boardrooms we can all work together to strengthen Scottish football.

Download the 2019/20 results presentation here:

Explore the survey results - how do the views of your club's supporters compare with others?

UEFA Coefficient Boosted By Europa League Progress

As things stand, Scotland will be represented in European competition by 5 clubs in 2021/22 due to the successes of Celtic and Rangers in this season's Europa League. The coefficient is calculated by the performances of a nation's clubs over a five-year period - so it is not only the positive results this season that matter, but the poor results from 2015/16 no longer being included in the calculation after next season!

Congratulations and good luck to both teams in the knockout phase - make your country proud.

Euro 2020 Ticket Touting Ban Introduced

The Scottish Parliament unanimously passed the UEFA European Championship Bill last month, and this piece of legislation will be in place for the entirety of 2020 as Hampden Park hosts three games in the European Championships (hopefully featuring the Scotland men’s national team).

The legislation, which ensures that each host nation meets minimum standards required by UEFA, covers areas such as ticket touting, street trading and advertising. As part of the Scottish Government’s consultation for this legislation, we were invited to provide the supporters’ perspective. The legislation will be followed by regulations, to be introduced in the first months of 2020, to extend and provide clarity on the scope of the Bill, and we will continue to engage with the Scottish Government to ensure that supporters’ rights and concerns are given proper consideration – and to ensure that the legislation and regulations are clearly communicated to supporters.

Ticket Touting

The legislation intends to protect the rights of supporters to see games at a fair price. The focus of the legislation is on preventing individuals or companies selling tickets for a profit, and there are exceptions to allow tickets to be used as prizes for charity auctions. UEFA will operate a re-sale mechanism for ticket holders to sell tickets at face value – so if your circumstances have changed since buying your tickets there will be a legal route for you to allow others to enjoy the games in your place. We will share details of the re-sale platform when it is available, and provide guidance on your rights as a ticket holder, or as someone wishing to see the games who was unable to purchase tickets in the initial sale period.

Street Trading

Unauthorised street trading will be prohibited in the immediate surroundings of Hampden Park. We understand that exceptions to these restrictions may be made to allow charity collections and busking.

Advertising

The intent of the legislation is to prevent ‘ambush marketing’ by companies who do not have an official partnership with UEFA. One area of concern is that in previous competitions this type of rule has been used to prevent supporters making political statements. We believe it is important that the rights of supporters to free speech are protected. These championships are a celebration of 60 years of European competition, and at a time when Brexit is likely to still be dominating our lives it is inevitable that supporters will have something to say about it. We do not wish to see this legislation be used to force the removal of banners, except of course in cases where they are offensive or disrespectful to others, and will push for exceptions to be made in the regulations being developed.

National Seminar on Football Stadia Safety

We recently took part in a seminar organised by COSLA, discussing issues of stadium safety with local authorities and other stakeholders. It is important that football supporters' voices are heard in these conversations, and that we work together to ensure that we are all safe every time we go to a match.

The seminar was part of COSLA's repsonse to the Independent Review of Football Policing which was published earlier in the year, and identified inconsistencies across the country in terms of the approach to stadium safety.

We have been given assurances that all stadia in Scotland are safe, but would like more transparency about the processes by which this is assessed, and an easy way for supporters to raise concerns about safety. Safety is essential and non-negotiable, but beyond this the standard of facilities is very prominent in your responses to our survey each year. Improving the level of comfort is an important way for clubs to improve the supporter experience and boost attendances.

And finally...

Articles, podcasts and videos from the archive

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 recent months.

1. Kids Shouldn’t Head The Ball
2. Are Scotland’s Striking Options Starting To Look Up?
3. Scottish Football Should Continue To Hold Off On VAR
4. Let’s Support The Lower Leagues This January
5. It’s All To Play For In The Scottish Premiership And I Love it!
6. Let’s Hope Scott McTominay Can Boss Scotland’s Midfield Like He Bosses Man Utd’s
7. Raith Rovers Hitting Right Notes On Social Media
8. Scotland Should Welcome Back Scott Brown If They Qualify For Euros
9. Scotland Starting To Make Progress Under Steve Clarke
10. Can Scott McKenna Become The Solid Centre Back Scotland Need?
11. Celebrating A Great European Night For Scottish Football
12. Scotland’s Midfield Need To Start Stepping Up And Bossing Games

"Behind The Goals" is back! After a longer-than-planned hiatus, we returned with a General Election special, looking at each political party's manifesto promises for football, sport and community ownership. Now it's time to hold them to account...

We'll be back with more podcasts soon! In the meantime you can check out our back catalogue of podcast episodes and subscribe to Behind The Goals using your favoured ‘podcatcher’ here.

Review Of The Year 2019

A quick round-up of our year in video. Watch closely and you'll see a pretty special overhead kick...

Recent Videos

We paid Cumnock Juniors a visit to hear about their work in the community.

In this short video we explore ways in which football clubs can help the environment and also help themselves.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more!

Supporters Direct Scotland and our partners at FansBet are committed to helping football supporters enjoy responsible gambling; for many this is an integral part of their match day experience.

We have selected GamCare as our recommended support service for the prevention and treatment of problem gambling. GamCare operate the National Gambling Helpline (whose advisers are available on 0808 8020 133 or via web chat at www.gamcare.org), provide treatment for problem gamblers and their families, create awareness about responsible gambling and treatment, and encourage an effective approach to responsible gambling within the gambling industry.