Giving a voice to Bradford City Fans

NEWS

A Trust Perspective on the direction of our football club

18th April 2024

With the season more of less over, for fans, it is difficult to feel any sense of achievement for our Club. It has been one of the most difficult season campaigns to watch as the team have failed to find its’ form.

It has been said by many fans, as we have discussed in the pubs, and in football grounds, that fans have been losing faith and turning away from attending, after years of mediocrity. But it depends on who you speak to. Most with longer memories are familiar with it but at the younger end, many won’t stand for it.

But from whichever generation you speak to, the majority feels it has been bad, particularly at home. The inconsistency of a team that has never seemed to get going has be been peppered with some bursts of enterprise (?) and good effort. Reaching the semi final of the EFL Trophy, and then playing and losing what has been considered the best home game of the season at that semi final against Wycombe has been a key moment for those that were there, or watched it on Sky. From November through December we showed our best form, and then we won a few in February to early March before losing 4 in a row which included the 5 – 1 drubbing at home to Mansfield in March, making any hope that we could ever reach the Play Off’s extremely remote.

Each downturn as it did last season, brought on a meltdown on social media, but only this season, feelings about the state of the Club felt much worse.

Discontent and pressure for change

As we have commented on before, the bubbling discontent has been simmering for a few years now, and particularly in the last three or so those concerns with the team have brought cause for concern at the top – the ownership, control and management of the Club. But it is this season more than any one since the departure of Edin Rahich in 2018, where we have seen a demand for the owner Stefan Rupp to leave.

It’s clear that the primary motive for this demand is a lack of investment in the team by the owner, to increase our prospects of success, which then concludes a lack of knowhow about bringing the talent to the Club (managers and players alike) and knitting it together, by those that run the Club on a day to day basis.

Brought to the surface

There had been concerns about Stefan Rupp’s interest and lack of engagement with supporters and investment for some time. Indeed reflecting that, we, at the Trust have been requesting that he engages with us at our structured dialogue meetings with the Club for a number of years now, and certainly at a Supporters Board level, this has been raised.

Requests for supporter engagement and more investment from other groups have come largely in the form of letters and the threat of protest in particular, which became more real after the Mansfield defeat.

Stefan Rupp’s open letter response to fans was well written, and covered all ground, in particularly, investment to compete in the transfer market and in terms of his presence at the Club and his communication with the fans, although it is not clear how he will communicate with us. He did talk about the ground and the issue around the lease, and the possibility of buying it. He also made known his commitment to his ownership and his considerations to sell and ensure the Club sale to those with the best intentions to bring greater success to the Club. He also promised to add someone to assist in the football department – this has already come in the form of the recent appointment of David Sharpe, as the club’s head of football operations.

No doubt fan pressure has brought things forward. The protest that did take place before the Tranmere game was very real, and was a reflection of how bad things had got, and made on the regional news and had nation media attention. If Stefan Rupp was sitting on this statement for a while, it's a mystery why he didn't release it sooner - it would have helped to reassure fans and defused some of the discontent.

Fan group unity is important

Among the Bradford City fanbase there a number of supporter organisations, clubs, forums, media outlets, and all have a presence on social media. All these groups represent fans in different ways and some have specific remits for this.

On the ground, as fans, we all want the same thing, a successful winning Bradford City on the pitch, with the Club engaging and communicating very well with the fanbase. Many supporters are members of several groups.

Whilst there are differences within specific groups, the Trust feels it is imperative that groups should work together on things we can all identify with. For us, whilst we all worked in different ways, to the Club we must all sound remarkably similar.

The Supporters Board is an ideal forum that fans groups can be a part of. Historically it has been made up of a mix of individual supporters and supporters groups. The Trust and travel groups for example. Some groups meet the Club separately. There is the atmosphere group and diversity groups as well, so the aims vary, and some are more limited than others.

Although we are not currently on the Supporters Board we do have a direct channel of engagement with the Club. The Independent Supporters Group, who have been the most publically vocal in its criticism of the Club’s perceived lack of ambition, are a relatively new group and sit outside of any fan engagement with the Club.

Next season if stagnation continues to play out on the pitch, it cannot be ruled that protests will continue to be organized, demanding the ousting of the owner and its representatives charged with running the Club. Therefore it is important for the Trust and other groups to work together to encourage the Club and owner to improve their communications and engagements with supporters.

In 2017, the Government Expert Working Group (EWG) on Football Supporters Ownership and Engagement reported good progress with EFL and PL Clubs implementing their recommendation which was that club leaders (owners/senior executives) from every one of the 92 professional clubs meet with a representative group of supporters (including the Supporters’ Trust) from their club at least twice a season has been agreed by the Premier League and English Football League (EFL).

Today there is somewhat a mixed picture of how well clubs engage with supporters.

Supporters Boards are called many things these days, shadow boards, advisory boards and all have varying intricacies of how clubs engage with Supporters Trusts.

Six years from the Government EWG on fan engagement we now see the Football Governance Bill, and it still recommends that a Supporters Trust should be part of a supporter representative board.

The state of the game and what the Football Governance Bill is supposed to bring

Lets be clear, football cannot manage itself. As we’ve indicated in previous statement about the Football Governance Bill, the ‘greed is good’ Premier League wealth from its national and international TV deals has widened the gulf between the top half, or the ‘big six’ of the PL and the rest. It can’t even agree how much money it should distribute to the EFL and National League.

There is deep distrust of the football authorities and what the mainstream political parties have to offer on football let alone anything else.

The ‘let’s sack everyone’ voices are not exclusive to a layer of Bradford City supporters, when frustration reaches a certain height. It is linked to a state of alienation and anxiety caused by a lack of control football supporters feel when progress is not been made on the pitch, because everything is down to money. It is tough for clubs competing within the EFL when the wealth amongst all of them is so uneven.

What we are promised in the Bill

The key feature is that all aspects of governance including aspects of club heritage, as well as fan engagement, are that they will be licensed, in the same way that stadiums have to have a license today for safety. These licenses will be overseen by an independent regulator under the Bill.

*What the Football Governance Bill and the Independent Football Regulator will do

The legislation will strengthen the governance and financial resilience of football clubs and the link between clubs and their fans. The legislation will do this by:

Establishing a new independent regulator. The IFR will operate a licensing system, where all clubs in scope will need a licence to operate. It is intended that all clubs in the top five tiers of men’s English football will be in scope of the regulatory regime.
Establishing strengthened Owners’ and Directors’ Tests to make sure club custodians are suitable.
Enabling the use of targeted financial regulation to improve the financial resilience of individual clubs and the system more broadly.
Setting a minimum standard of fan engagement and requiring clubs to comply with club heritage protections.
Requiring clubs to seek IFR pre-approval for any sale of, or relocation from, their home ground.
Preventing English clubs from joining prohibited competitions that do not have the support of the fans or that threaten the heritage or sustainability of English football.
Giving the IFR targeted backstop powers to intervene in financial distributions if necessary and subject to certain thresholds being met, in order to ensure financial sustainability.
Establishing a ‘Football Club Corporate Governance Code’, requiring regulated clubs to report on how they are applying the code of practice.
Periodically prepare and publish a comprehensive ‘State of Game’ report, which will act as a market study for football and provide the IFR with a key evidence base.

*This is taken directly from the government website.

Cross party agreement

All three main establishment political parties support the Bill. What matters however is interpretation, and therefore its effectiveness. This will become more real once the Bill has finally gone through the parliamentary process of making it statute and of course, after we know which party is in power after the general election.

It is likely clubs will continue to slide into financial trouble, and continue to get points deducted or cease to exist after this legislation is passed, so it will be likely that there will be fan pressure to make these reforms work effectively.

The stadium

As mentioned earlier, Rupp did acknowledge the ground situation and the possibility of buying it, and as we have mentioned in a previous article we produced in March, we did apply for the stadium to be an Asset of Community Value.

“Assets of Community Value are designated under the 2011 Localism Act in recognition of provisions, services or buildings that occupy a key place in the hearts and minds of local communities. The Act was designed to provide an element of devolution of power to communities and community organisations.

As far as the Trust is concerned, the main advantage of listing Valley Parade as an ACV is that it would:

Grant Valley Parade the public recognition it deserves
Give City fans an undeniable voice in the future of the stadium
Prevent the owner from selling the asset from under our noses, without the knowledge of the fan base.”

The Trust as we are a community mutual benefit society, we are the only supporter organisation that can apply to the local authority for the stadium to be an ACV, as such, we can raise some serious amounts of money, and our rules allow us the potential to democratically own a football club or a stadium, or both.

We explained to the Club of our intention to apply for the ACV in Novembers meeting with them.

Burns Research Unit bucket collection volunteers appeal

9th April 2024

It is coming round to that time of year when we will all be coming together give our respects to those who tragically lost their lived in the Valley Parade fire, 39 years ago now.

This year, the season’s league fixtures finish slightly earlier than usual, but as always there will be a bucket collection at the last home game, this time when Newport County visit Valley Parade on the 27^th April.

The bucket collection is a way of allowing all supporters to help participate in raising vital funds for Bradford’s Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit (PSBRU). This collective practice helps adds to the impact of the remembrance as well as the one-minute silence we have just before Kick off.

If you would like to be involved in the bucket collection please contact us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

Last year the collection raised £2,455.11 with a handful of volunteers.

Hopefully with an earlier notice we can get a higher turn out of supporters that are willing to volunteer, which should transpire into raising more vital funds for something we all care deeply about.

We’ll be putting out more reminders in the run up to this last match of the season with details of the time and where to meet to sign out the buckets from the Club for the collection.

Vote for your Young Player of the Year

7th April 2024

It is that time of year again, as Bantams Supporters’ Trust Members you have the opportunity to vote for the 2023-24 Bradford City Young Player of the Year.

This season has been probably one of the most difficult to watch in years as the Bantams have floundered around mid table in a season that never really got going, but with a few exceptions.

This season, from the first team we have 5 young players making an appearance as defenders and forwards.

Daniel Oyegoke, signed on loan from Premier League side Brentford in July last year until the end of the season. The London born defender has made 19 league and 1 League Cup appearances this season.

Jonathon Tomkinson, signed on loan from Norwich in September last year until the end of the season. The US born defender has made 19 league appearances and 5 EFL Trophy appearances this season.

Bobby Pointon, signed again in July last year for 1 season after securing a professional contract in 2022. He is one of our own, as the chant goes and has made 19 appearances this season. As a forward, he is has scored 2 goals, including the one he scored against Tranmere where he got Man of the Match.

Jake Young, a forward, joined in the Summer of 2022 on a 3 year contract from Forrest Green. Since been recalled in January of this year from playing at Swindon Town on loan, he has made 4 appearances in the League and 1 appearance in the EFL Trophy.

Tyreik Wright, a forward from the Republic of Ireland, is a loanee that joined in January of this year, from Plymouth for a second time. He was on loan under Mark Hughes a year earlier. He has made 9 appearances for City this season.

All five candidates eligible for the Bradford City Young Player of the Year 2022-23 have made valuable contributions, but who has been your stand out performer?

Daniel Oyegoke (Defender)
Jonathon Tomkinson (Defender)
Bobby Pointon (Forward)
Jake Young (Forward)
Tyreik Wright (Forward)

Voting starts today, Monday April 8^th and end Friday 12th April. The Player Of The Year Dinner and results announcements will be on Tuesday, 23^rd April 2024.

To vote, simply email us your number 1 Young player at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

You can also let us know via our Facebook Group and Likes page as well as our Twitter page.

Football Governance Bill Introduced

28th March 2024

On Tuesday 19th March The Government introduced the Football Governance Bill to parliament and it has been well publicized in the press.

The reason why campaigners and football needs this Bill is because we know that Football cannot regulate itself.

The Premier League was created with the help of TV money when 20 League clubs resigned from the Football League to sign up for it in May 1992. Since then, the financial chasm between the richest clubs and those at National League level further down the pyramid has widened. The enormous disparity between the wealthiest and the less well-off mirrors the increasing inequality within society as a whole.

The scale of the PL’s bigger and bigger national and international global TV rights packages has piled pressure on all the clubs beneath the PL. Club owners have been tempted to overspend in order to compete, to turn to crooked behaviour, to profiteer for themselves or to gamble too much on club success. We know that this has caused many clubs to go out of business, or to be in danger of going out of business.

It is this continuing financial danger faced by smaller clubs in the EFL that has created the perceived need and the political pressure to introduce legislation that will protect football clubs and help to sustain their identities and the communities they serve.

Fan-led Review

The fan-led review, conducted by Tracey Crouch MP, consulted with supporters group through the Football Supporters Association {FSA) and she concluded her Football Governance Report in November 2021.

It was the storm created domestically by the threat of the European Super League, with the PL’s big six announcing their intention to break way in April 2021, that finally pushed the government into action.

The central proposal of the fan-led review was to introduce statutory independent regulation of the game, and now it is here, in the form of the Independent Regulator for Football (IREF).

As well as blocking clubs from joining a breakaway league the regulator provides an opportunity to stop clubs being run into the ground, it protects the heritage of clubs and give supporters a much bigger voice in the running of the game.

The FSA’s response

Kevin Miles, CEO of the FSA, the organization to which we are affiliated, says, “The FSA warmly welcomes the tabling – at last! – of the Football Governance Bill arising from the 2021 Fan Led Review, and particularly its central proposal to introduce statutory independent regulation of the game.

“The regulator must be given the power to impose a financial settlement in the interests of the sustainability of the game as a whole; it’s far too important to be left to the squabbling between the vested interests of the richest club owners.” His full quote can be found here.

The EFL Statement is certainly more favourable to the introduction to the bill, compared to the PL’s more apprehensive response.

Below are some of the FSA’s key recommendations that went to the Fan-led Review:

To ensure financial sustainability of the professional game, IREF should oversee financial regulation in football which should be based upon prudential regulation in other industries recognising that football is obviously sport but also now big business.  
New owners’ and directors’ tests for clubs should be established by IREF replacing the three existing tests to ensure that only good custodians and qualified directors can run these vitally important community and cultural assets.
There should be a new corporate governance code to support a long-term  sustainable future of the game. This should be mandatory for all professional  clubs with common requirements tailored to different leagues.  
Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) plans should be mandatory for all clubs  with EDI action plans regularly assessed by IREF.  
As every club’s most important stakeholder, supporters, should be properly consulted by their clubs in taking key decisions by means of a shadow board. Effective supporter engagement should be a licence condition and overseen by IREF.  
There should be additional protection for key elements of club heritage through a “golden share” requiring supporter consent and overseen by IREF.

How could the Football Governance Bill help Bradford City?

Ownership - there should be regular owner’ and directors ‘ tests as well as for new owners overseen by an independent regulator.

Fan engagement – The Government report, ‘A Sustainable Future –Reforming Football Club Governance’, February 2023, recommends that Supporters / Shadow Boards, ‘should at least include a club’s Supporters’ Trust and adequate representation for the women’s team if the club has one affiliated’, as well as other representative groups of fans.

The ‘Golden Share’ - should be held by a Community Benefit Society (CBS) such as a Supporters Trust which would act as extra protection on ‘heritage’ issues such as:

The sale of a Club stadium; The re-location of a Club; The Club joining a new competition; Club badge; Club home colours; Club name.

Any changes to the above would require consent of Trust members. The Government doesn’t object to Clubs using the Golden Share model but prefers giving the independent regulator further powers to protect these heritage issues.

Greater financial distribution of wealth

Key to the whole desire to protect and sustain the game is seeing a greater redistribution of wealth from the top of the English football pyramid to the bottom. The Premier League cannot agree among its member clubs how an overall sum of around £900m over 6 years, partly tied to future TV revenues, would be paid. It should be those clubs with the biggest profits who can afford to pay more that should fund most of it.

The football governance bill is supposed to include new backstop powers around financial distributions between the Premier League and the EFL, so that if the two parties continue to fail to agree on a 'new deal', the regulator can ensure a settlement is reached.

Concluding remarks

The Bill has not been debated in parliament so it is not yet enacted, but eventually when it becomes law, football governance's big moving feast will no doubt need constant tweaks to tighten up the many moving regulatory parts, and to beef up the powers of the independent regulator.

The debate and pressure from below – from the fans in particular, will continue to attract public attention if clubs continue to slide into financial trouble, continue to get points deducted or cease to exist after this legislation is passed. The campaigning work of supporters certainly doesn’t rest once the Bill gets over the line.

Report of meeting with BCAFC

26th March 2024

Bantams Supporters Trust met with the Club on Monday 26^th February. It was a useful and productive meeting.

So much has happened since the last meeting. On the pitch we have seen improvement and the game against Wycombe in the semi-final of the EFL Trophy, despite losing, was widely seen as the best home performance this season so far. However, progress on the pitch has been halted due to the weather more than once this year.

Much of our discussion goes over our recent survey findings, and the survey itself covers some of the national picture as well, and the topics are regular features of what we discuss in these meetings. So, without further ado lets dive into it.

Report of the Meeting

Survey

The Trust reported that over 160 supporters took part in the survey and explained that 60% were non-members, and 40% were members of the Trust, and that the majority taking part were of an older age group, predominantly white male living in Bradford and west Yorkshire area, and 17% identified as Women.

Season tickets

The survey covers last season as well as the take up for this year, so, most supporters who took advantage of the early bird offer renewed in this way this season, and there was a slight increase on this seasons.

Digital

We also explained most pay in one go and most were satisfied with the process of purchasing season tickets. Breaking that down further, the levels of satisfaction are lower when it comes to digital ticketing over a physical card. It is likely that this is an age preference.

Matchday tickets

The vast majority, 87% strongly agree that they represent good value. 45% strongly agree with an online discount, whilst 41% strongly agree that £20 is a fair price for a matchday ticket, and 46% strongly agree that £15 is a fair price for the advance online ticket price.

The Club were clear that matchday prices were not going to become cheaper.

Bantams Membership Scheme

We explained that 70% of our participants were not members of the scheme. This may have been an age thing. 58% said that as a season ticket holder they felt they were Club members. And 49% said the benefits we not worth the price.

Of those that were members, there was no overall majority in terms of what enticed them. 54% said it was the loyalty points, 52% felt they wanted to contribute more to the Club and 4% said they were induced by the special offers.

Loyalty Points

There was no overall majority. Most people at 33% felt they didn’t have enough points to buy the away tickets they wanted. 25% said they had enough loyalty points to purchase all they wanted and 23% said they couldn’t buy any at all due to not having any points.

The Club found it hard to believe that some couldn’t buy any for not having enough points as most away tickets ended up being made available to season ticket holders and many went on general sale.

Perhaps there is a layer of supporters not constantly looking when away tickets come out with the perception they are not going to be able to get one because they don’t think they have enough points.

It was asked about whether the times of ticket release have changed as sometimes they’ve gone on sale at mid-day. It was said that they do sometimes resale in less than 24hr hours.

It was pointed out that if the team vastly improves on the pitch, the demand will be greater.

A point was made that smaller grounds with limited away capacity was a constant issue in the lower leagues.

It was pointed out that the loyalty point scheme was still fairer than the priority card. It was said that the Priority card didn’t work as it was taking money off supporters on the premise they’d get a ticket.

It was suggested from the Trust that the Bantam Membership Scheme acts in a similar way to the old priority card as it costs and the 100 loyalty points is an incentive in a competition to get more in order to buy away match tickets.

The programme

There was no overall majority view on this. No, probably not like to see it back won out at 37%. 27% did definitely want to see it back, and yes probably came in at 19%. And 15% said definitely not. So, it is likely that certainly the older age bracket would’ve liked to see it back but there is a wider reluctant acceptance that it won’t return.

The Club definitely said it was not cost effective to produce, and even the sponsors were not bothered about it as not many were actually bought. Colchester’s free programme was mentioned but theirs was run at a loss.

It was said that it was not only waste in money, and cost club money, but had an environmental impact. There was a lot of waste.

The Club were committed to souvenir programmes – if we are in a glamour cup tie for example. This was felt to be a good concession.

Kiosks and bars

35% visit them every game and 20% rarely / occasional, 16% never, and 13% most games.

Value for money

The majority answer was ‘adequate’ at 37%. The second highest answer was poor at 27%. Very poor scored as much as 19%, whilst ‘good’ got over 19%, with ‘very good’ receiving over 1%.

Many popular additions to catering options Tiffins can’t do for the moment. Most supporters who took part in the survey want chips, 60%. Everything else was inconclusive. Gravy and mushy peas both scored 15%. Bitter / ale scored 18%, vegetarian alternatives scored 17% and both Bhajis and Samosas scored 21% and 20% respectively.

Other suggestions to improve in-stadium offerings reflected a dissatisfaction. Better quality of service, food and cheaper prices were all suggestions. Less queuing, cash sales, opening more kiosks pointed to the need to improve the services.

It was said that takings on the catering were on the up, and requests for things like gluten free products or vegetarian options for example were not done in general because the demand for them was not enough.

It had been said by Doug, the Manager of Tiffins catering that food requests could be emailed in. However, it was said that supporters who had arranged for something to be brought in would have to pick it up at a bar /kiosk.

Indicating levels of agreement on a range of statements/topics

The Trust doing a good job in representing supporters

Almost 24% strongly agreed, almost 37% somewhat agreed, and over 32% sat on the fence saying they neither agree or disagree, while nearly 5% somewhat disagreed and over 1% strongly disagreed.

The Supporters Board do a good job in representing supporters

15% strongly agreed, with 36% somewhat agreeing. 39% neither agreed nor disagreed, and 4% somewhat disagreed while nearly 5% strongly disagreed

Feeling that Bradford City’s supporter engagement is good

Over 15% said they strongly agreed, and over 46% somewhat agreed, and over 29% neither agreed nor disagreed. Only 6% at the time somewhat disagreed and over 1% strongly disagreed.

The Club felt quite pleased with this.

Feeling that Bradford City cares about you and your views

Only 8% strongly agreed with that statement. 40% somewhat agreed, and almost 32% neither disagreed nor agreed. Nearly 14% somewhat disagreed with over 5% strongly disagreeing with that statement.

Swearing and bad language is part of watching football

Over 13% strongly agree, with over 30% somewhat agreeing. Slightly less, 27% neither agreed nor disagreed with over 17% somewhat disagreed and nearly 11% strongly disagreed. There was no overall strong opinion about this.

We agreed with the Club on this one that swearing and bad language is widely accepted at football, and it is a society problem, and if we are trying to make football more inclusive to wider, diverse groups, then it needs to improve.

Importance retaining the 3pm blackout to protect lower league clubs

There was a stronger opinion felt about this one. 41% strongly agreed with this, and just over 26% somewhat agreed, with over 19% of you sat on the fence. Only 8% somewhat disagreed, and only 3% strongly disagreed.

This is in line with the national view of football fans.

The Club’s opinion was that football would be better if it was removed, saying that if fans couldn’t get to a game they should be able to have a choice of watching it on TV. They didn’t feel that smaller clubs would lose their regular footfall. They feel there is a fear that supporters may choose to be sitting at home over coming to the game.

It’s right to ban fans from drinking within sight of the pitch

There was no really strong view about this one. Although nearly 28% of you strongly agree and 24% somewhat agree. Just 16% sat on the fence on this with the same percentage somewhat disagreeing. Almost 13% of supporters strongly disagree.

It was said that fans on the continent drink on the terraces. The Club thinks it is a draconian law. The club felt current ban means that people are more likely to binge drink before a game, rather than drink slower during a game. The Trust felt it was a justifiable point.

Football is doing enough to encourage diversity and welcome Women, LGBTQ people and ethnic minorities to the game.

There was no strong majority opinion on this. Almost 15% strongly agree and over 35% somewhat agree. 34% are on the fence on this one, whilst only 6% somewhat disagree and 4% strongly disagreeing.

There should be an independent football regulator to ensure football clubs are run sustainably.

There is a stronger opinion felt about what you think this. Over 47% strongly agree that there should be an independent regulator. Over 34% somewhat agree whilst over 10% are sat on the fence. Over 4% somewhat disagree and just over 2% strongly disagree.

It was pointed out that time is running out before the end of parliament and it is difficult to see the White Paper (Fan-Led Review Report) being voted on at this stage

TV companies having too much sway in deciding kick-off times/schedules

There is definitely strength of feeling on this. Over 64% strongly agree with this whilst 28% somewhat agree. Nearly 7% are sat on the fence and only 1% strongly disagrees.

The Club believe this is the direction of travel for football, but at the same time there is a concern supporters could be over saturated by the power of the broadcasters.

We know that there is a heavy reliance on the expected income of TV broadcasting deals that can help clubs competing in the transfer market, but if broadcasters are dropped or fail to make a profits this could affect the continuity of expectation from club, which in turn may increase the likelihood of financial concerns.

Purchasing a season ticket TV package that exclusively shows all Bradford City’s away matches.

30% strongly agreed whilst 28% somewhat agreed. 23% were on the fence, and 5% somewhat disagreed while 9% strongly disagreed.

The difficulty with this one is in the lower leagues Clubs will always prefer bums on seats, and of course there are of course issues around the 3pm blackout which would mean none of our Saturday away fixtures would be at 3pm.

The bigger clubs can always not worry about bums on seats as they pretty much sell out away ends, and not worry about teatime or evening weekend kick offs as demand for tickets nearly always exceeds capacity.

The Club strongly agreed with wanting this. They referred to the 3pm ban saying that we have been living with the ban for so long that people have got used to it, and there is a fear of removing it because smaller clubs feel they will lose out to the armchair fan.

I consider myself a supporter of the Bradford City Women’s team

Only, nearly 8% strongly identified with it. 18% somewhat agree, and 44% where not that really bothered one way or another. 12% somewhat disagreed and 10% strongly disagreed.

It shows that despite the razzmatazz around the national women’s team and the bigger brand clubs, it has not had that transformative effect with our support base, and it is probably the case at many other clubs in League 1 and 2.

The Club agreed that the Womens’ game hasn’t really hit beyond some of the leading Premier League clubs.

Of the various initiatives supporters would like the Trust to focus its campaigns and communications on:

Improving the atmosphere came out top with 47%;
Linked to that was safe standing / railed seating at 34%;
Registering Valley Parade as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) received 38%;
33% selected Working to lower ticket pricing/reciprocal deals with other clubs;
28% opted for Supporting diversity initiatives such as Kick it Out and Fans for Diversity campaigns;
Nearly 27% want to see us working to improve the policing and stewarding at home games;
and 26% want to see us work with the Club and police to improve away travel and matchday experience;
and 24% of you want us to support local community initiatives.

Other suggestions were: disabled parking, catering, events, the steps up to the pavement behind the Kop get too congested and there's ample space to widen them.

The Club said regarding widening the steps to the pavement from the kop, that the road is the responsibility of the Council.

Liaison Officer developments

It was reported that they now have taken on three volunteers for the disability SLO role, and Marco Townson overseas the different SLO areas.

Season ticket prices and special offers for next season

It was reported that the Club hadn’t yet decided on their options, and whilst freezing the price at £198 was an option, over the last 3 seasons it had stayed the same price, but the cost of running the Club operations have increased, their overheads have increased by 32% and they may have to look at increasing cost.

Railed Seating

The Trust suggested using this opportunity to raise the £70 - £80 estimated cost to fund the implementation of railed seating for those wanting to create the atmosphere and who would like the choice to stand in a designated area through marketing a specific area of the ground through season tickets. So for example, the Trust suggested, if everyone paid an extra £3 over two seasons for two railed seated areas of 2,000 it would pay for itself.

It was explained however that the Club had more immediate pressures in maintaining fixtures and fittings within the stadium. Roof repairs was cited as an example.

Premier League Proposals

This largely refers to offers to the EFL from the PL money to be cascaded down where there is no agreement yet. An element of this is linked to the PL’s deal with TV Broadcasters, and linked with the TV package is FA Cup proposals which would mean no replays and rescheduling. Semi final and final ticket pricing among other things are also been discussed.

Improving our Structures Dialogue with the Club

It was explained that the Trust felt whilst there is much gained with the Club in terms of it’s ongoing discussion and debate through our structured dialogue, the Trust has not been on a same level playing field as the Supporters Board (SB). A Trust aim is working with the Club on projects. For example, consultation about the season tickets for next season could’ve involved both the Trust and SB. Club publicity of its structured dialogue with the Trust is another example raised.

At some clubs they publicise jointly agreed reports of meetings is another good practice example.

The Trust feels it is fantastic that the Club gives the amount of time it gives us, and we discuss things that are national as well as all things Bradford City in a way that is not done with the SB.

We meet three times a season with the Club, which is well within the recommendations for structured dialogue.

It is true that as we are an independent organization it is important to maintain that independence, however, building a partnership for example, being involved in any consultation exercises, being involved in a process, a community partnership, a diversity or inclusion campaign, joint work on policing and stewarding of away matches, and being part of something which raises the profile of a specific project and the Trust’s profile is something that many other Trusts have achieved and we have achieved in the past.

In many ways, the Trust feels that it has made progress in being able to have this structured dialogue with the Club that it hasn’t had before, however, it is always good practice for both the Trust and Club to be jointly looking at ways of improving in building on the good relationship we have.

Finance

Commercially the Club is growing, on the ticketing side the Club is down, and catering the Club is doing better.

Paperwork will be published for all to see when the accounts are done.

Ownership

It was asked about Stefan Rupp coming to attend. It was suggested that he didn’t have to physically attend, it could be on a Zoom call and it was suggested with both the Supporters Board and ourselves.

The Trust applies to list Valley Parade as an Asset of Community Value

25th March 2024

Bantams Supporters Trust are pleased to inform our members and the wider City supporter base that we applied to the Local Authority on 21^st March 2024 to list the stadium at Valley Parade as an Asset of Community Value (ACV).

We are taking this step because we feel that Valley Parade deserves to be recognised publicly for the role it plays in the lives of City supporters and the wider community of Bradford. For 120 years, the stadium has brought the community together with a shared focus of activity that reaches into many corners of the Bradford District's collective life.

Assets of Community Value are designated under the 2011 Localism Act in recognition of provisions, services or buildings that occupy a key place in the hearts and minds of local communities. The Act was designed to provide an element of devolution of power to communities and community organisations.

As far as the Trust is concerned, the main advantage of listing Valley Parade as an ACV is that it would:

Grant Valley Parade the public recognition it deserves
Give City fans an undeniable voice in the future of the stadium
Prevent the owner from selling the asset from under our noses, without the knowledge of the fan base.

The procedure for listing Valley Parade as an ACV is now under way at City Hall. Council Officers must first satisfy themselves that the application conforms with the requirements of the Localism Act - it must be put forward by a recognised community organisation, such as BST, for example. Once the Council Officers approve the application, it goes to a meeting of Full Council for decision.

We hope that the application process goes through smoothly, and that Councillors from all political parties will feel able to support the initiative. The Club has indicated to the Trust that it will not stand in the way of an ACV listing for Valley Parade.

The Council will inform the owner of the asset - the Gordon Gibb Family Pension Fund - as part of the procedure. Once a decision has been taken by the Council to list the asset as an ACV, there are certain limited rights of appeal, but these are designed to be time-limited, so that the listing cannot be held up indefinitely by legal process.

The main powers assigned by the Localism Act come into play at the moment that the owner of the asset declares an intention to sell. If that were to happen with Valley Parade, the Trust would have six weeks to decide if it wished to make a bid to buy the ground. If it was decided within that period that a bid was on the cards, BST would have a further six months to raise the cash in order to put in the bid. The owner is not however obliged to accept the bid from the community organisation in those circumstances - market principles apply, and the owner might still sell elsewhere.

Listing as an ACV does not give us a right to buy the asset, but it does give us the right to know about a potential sale, and the right to bid. These rights provide important safeguards on the future of the stadium.

There are many other clubs, who’s grounds are listed as an ACV. Elland Road, The Madjeski Stadium, and the Hawthorns are 3 of them.

The Trust's plan to apply for the listing of Valley Parade has been in the pipeline for some time, but it comes now at a moment when there is widespread concern about the future direction of the Club.

We hope that City fans can unify around this initiative as a testament to the deep attachment we feel for Bradford City, with our home at Valley Parade, and as a positive statement for future developments at the Club.

We will keep members and the wider City fanbase posted in due course about the progress of the application.

The state of our Club

20th March 2024

On Saturday 16^th the Bradford City team had a real chance to bounce back from a banana skin losing to Forest Green Rovers on the Tuesday night.

Instead City fans witnessed probably the worst home match of the season, failing to cope with high flying, top of the table Mansfield Town.

It felt like the season had quickly come to an end already, just at a time when the Club had done a deal with Ticketmaster, which has caused some issues unfavourable with supporters and the new season ticket was launched with much less sparkle than previous seasons.

Most fans were aware Stefan Rupp was present at the Mansfield game, and he must feel a certain amount of pressure and responsibility for the team’s inability to do well at home consistently.

The re arranged home fixture on the 19^th March against Notts County also saw City lose by 3-0. Most fans are shocked, apoplectic or resigned.

The team is running out of time to impress and it must be a concern to the Club if season tickets take a tumble in sales.

There has definitely been fewer highs to celebrate this season and there have been lots of questions put to the Club this season bubbling underneath the surface, mainly about accountability of it’s owner and the sustainability of our Club going forward. And with the lease of the ground coming up to renewal time in 2028, the stadium too is much talked about, especially with the amount of rainfall it’s had over the last couple of months.

Season tickets

The £50 increase in the Early Bird price has not come at the right time especially when the cost of living is so high and affects all of us in our lives, and whilst it is a modest increase, £249 is the second cheapest in the EFL, it is the prevailing mood about the team that will be weighed up before renewing above most other things. And at this moment in time fans are feeling exasperated.

Asset of Community Value (ACV)

Bantams Supporters Trust has made some steps to assist particularly on the stadium; we have let the Club aware of our intention to make an application to Bradford City Council to allow it to be an ACV. In last Novembers Structured Dialogue with the Club, they said they would not stand in our way. The longevity of an ACV is five years, and can be renewed. It also lets all parties know who is bidding for the ground and gives community groups such as the Trust, the right to put a bid in to buys the ground. If we did put in a bid, it would be seen as a ‘Community bid’ – in other words a ‘fans’ bid’ to own the ground. We will have more on this very soon.

Accountability and Sustainability

In our meetings with the Club we have always been asking about the ownership situation, whether Rupp can engage in discussions with us. The response has always been that he’ll be asked. We have also asked if Rupp will cover any losses made this season and we were reassured about this – See our November 23 Structured Dialogue with the Club.

We like many of you supporters would like the Club to be run as a sustainable model, and the concern around these matters can only grow as log as the team cannot find a consistent formula that gets the team back to winning ways.

The Football Governance Bill

Over the last two years, following the recommendations of the Fan Led Review, there has been a campaign from the FSA, EFL and others to push the Government to enact the Fan-led Review to be enshrined in law.

On Monday 18^th March, the Bill got introduced to Parliament. It needs to be debated and voted on before the end of the closure of Parliament for Summer Reses before it becomes legislation.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Press Release’ key headlines are:

‘Independent Football Regulator’ to be enshrined in law that will give fans a greater voice in the running of their clubs
Regulator will promote financial sustainability and will have the ability to fine clubs up to 10% of turnover for non-compliance
Breakaway closed-shop competitions such as the European Super League to be blocked under new legislation
Regulator will implement strengthened owners’ and directors’ tests and be equipped with backstop powers to impose a ‘new deal’ on financial distributions.

We will have a fuller article with more info about the Football Governance Bill and how it can work to benefit football as a whole as well as our Club.

Bantams Supporters Trust Rule Changes

7th March 2024

The AGM is the focal point in the Trust calendar that allows us to demonstrate what we have done in the year, including providing our financial accounts, voting on nominations for prospective Board Members (volunteer directors), and giving the Trust an opportunity to review its policies and procedures.

Last year, we used the AGM to authorise selective changes to the Trust Rules, and the minutes of the AGM have now been approved. As we are obliged to do by law, we have provided the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with our accounts, AGM minutes and updated policies for the year and they have now been registered and approved.

Our updated policies take into account the latest set of Model Rules provided by the

Football Supporters Association (FSA), from 2022. These offer guidance about what our own Rules should contain, including what we are about, what constitutes being a member, any shares, rights of members, the functions of volunteer directors, how our meetings are conducted, how the Board is constituted, elections, general meetings and the Annual General Meeting, disciplinary procedures, disputes, financial arrangement and much more.

What we have updated and added

It has always been a requirement that members must obtain a share in the Trust, but over the years we have changed the amount that members pay for their share. In the recent past, the amount had been set at 1p, in order to accommodate free annual membership. This was consistent with the Model Rules originally supplied by Supporters Direct but is against the advice of the FSA Model Rules from 2022, which set a minimum annual membership subscription of £1. We have simply changed our Rules in line with these new Model Rules. This means that there will be an annual subscription of at least £1. The first £1 of any new member's first subscription will then be used to purchase a share in the Trust. The requirement for the rule changes agreed at the AGM are covered by Membership, Point 13 and Ordinary Share Provisions point 19 in the FSA Model Rules.

Where we publish these documents

These documents are published on our website in the Board and Constitution

section here.

It is within our Rules to give members a minimum of 2 weeks to voice any objections to what has been agreed at last years AGM, and you can do this by emailing us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk until 21st March 2024.

Railed seating comes to Oakwell: Standing revolution continues

27th February 2024

In early February, Barnsley signalled their intention to introduce rail seats at their famous old Oakwell ground – becoming the latest EFL club to offer their supporters real choice.

The League One club has applied to the Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA) for a safe standing section in Oakwell’s south stand, following their first ever fan advisory group meeting.

Barnsley’s interim chief executive office Jon Flatman said: “Completion of the recently announced lease with Barnsley Council has accelerated plans to implement safe standing at Oakwell, the club have now submitted an application to the SGSA for rail seating (safe standing).

“There are several steps in the process including council support, Safety Advisory Group approval and it is subject to structural surveys, however we believe it will create a safer and better environment for fans.”

Progress across the EFL and Premier League

Clubs are now free to apply to the SGSA for licensed standing areas and Barnsley join a raft of clubs in the EFL and Premier League that have decided to press ahead with rail seating in their grounds since it was given Government approval in 2022.

Barnsley’s application for safe standing shows that choice is possible in even the oldest of grounds – Oakwell, built in 1888, proves that fitting rail seats retroactively isn’t just an option for modern grounds or new builds.

Clubs with similar older grounds, like Luton Town, have also been able to make the switch. The Hatters announced plans to introduce rail seats at Kenilworth Road in January and are aiming to have the standing option available in both home and away ends later this month.

They join the likes of Brentford, QPR, Wolves, Cardiff City, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur who have adopted rail seating in home and away ends.

Safe standing tracker

Stand United, a supporter campaign group pushing for safe standing at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane, have produced a safe standing tracker showing all the EFL and Premier League clubs who opted to pursue a safe standing option at their grounds.

“Since Stand United launched, we have aimed to raise awareness of and support for rail seating and safe standing among Sheffield United fans, and to engage fans on their own preferences on how this might look at Bramall Lane,” they said.

“We have also engaged with existing fan groups such as Rainbow Blades and the Official Supporters Club as part of this process. At every stage, there has been a clear appetite for bringing safe standing in.”

Read more: Check out the Stand United – safe standing tracker…

Rail industry seeks fans' views on train travel

26th February 2024

The FSA, our national organisation that all Supporters Trusts are affiliated to, has partnered with key rail industry stakeholders the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) to help them understand the issues that matchgoers face when travelling by rail throughout the season.

If you ever travel by rail to games, complete the survey here

While the survey has an away fan focus we are also encouraging “home” matchgoers who travel longer distances by rail to complete the survey, as they face many of the same issues as away supporters.

Who are the Rail Delivery Group? The RDG was established in 2011 by the major passenger and freight train operator groups and Network Rail to take responsibility for coordinating and leading on initiatives across the whole rail industry. In matters which relate to football, they include stakeholders such as the police, the Premier League and FA, as well as the FSA, in their discussions.

This survey is part of their work to better understand the motivations of fans travelling by rail, the issues they face, and the improvements they would like to see made to ticketing and the rail network more generally on matchdays.

If you ever travel by rail to games, complete the survey here

The responses are anonymous and the survey only takes around five minutes to complete, and the data will be be useful to the train operating companies who are looking at various ways of improving rail travel for football fans.

Womens' game supporters survey launched

13th February 2024

Very recently, the FSA (Football Supporters Association) to which we are affiliated to, launched a survey which will document the attitudes and experiences of fans of women’s football across a wide range of issues throughout the women’s game. The survey is open to anyone who supports a team in the women’s game.

The survey, which builds on their survey first conducted in 2022, will capture a comprehensive picture on everything from your matchday experiences to thoughts on TV broadcasting; your views on how your club engages with its fanbase to on-the-pitch issues and competition structure, and everything in between. You can complete the survey here (10-15 mins)

The data will not only be used by the FSA but shared in their meetings with the major stakeholders in the women’s game, and be made available to member supporter groups such as ours to help our work at a local level.

The survey is open to anyone who supports a team in the women’s game, from the Super League to the National League and beyond, as well as those who are followers of the women’s game in general.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a season-ticket holder, someone who just goes to the occasional game or watches on TV, or just someone who roots for the women’s equivalent your men’s team; we want the views of all types of fans from the women’s game to make this the most comprehensive set of data possible.

The FSA’s head of women’s football Deborah Dilworth said: “We are excited to launch the second edition of the women’s game supporters survey to get a feel for what matters to fans at all levels of the game.

“We are keen for as many supporters up and down the pyramid as possible to complete it, to get the most comprehensive picture possible of supporters views on a whole range of topics.”

See the report of the FSA 2022 Women’s Game survey here.

Trust Fans' Survey Findings

2nd February 2024

In a recent Trust survey Supporters tell us their views from a broad range of questions we have asked.

Last year, we ran a survey from the September to the end of November, on a range of topics from how you bought your season tickets in 202/23, match day ticket prices, the Bantams Membership scheme and loyalty points, the programme, food and drink choices at the kiosks, Club supporter engagement, your opinions on national issues such as the 3pm blackout, and the Fan-led Review, and much more.

Over 160 supporters filled out the survey, of which nearly 60% were not members of the Trust, while over 40% were.

Age, where you live, equality and diversity

First of all, the survey broadly reflects that the majority of our fanbase is white male living in the Bradford and West Yorkshire area. Only 17% identified as women, and 1 regarded themselves as LGBT. It does reflect a lack of diversity of which the Club struggles to encourage. In terms of age, the majority are the 65’s and over filling out the survey – 30%. 27% are 55-64. And 18% are 45-54.

There was however 15% who consider themselves to have a disability completing the survey.

Season tickets

Most of you did have a season ticket last season, 87%, and those that renewed/bought one for this season increased slightly (91%).

Over 60% attended 20 or all home matches last season, with over 8% watching all home matches on iFollow. Nearly 27% watched some on iFollow, whilst over 36% didn’t watch any on iFollow.

98% of you took advantage of the Early Bird price freeze, with 75% buying online. And 65% of you paid it all in one go. Again over 70% of you were satisfied with the process of purchasing your season tickets, but breaking that down in terms of satisfaction when it comes to moving to online digital ticketing rather than a physical card, the levels of satisfaction are lower. Almost 33% were very satisfied with over 9% were very dissatisfied. These findings may be linked to the higher age ranges taking part in the survey.

When it comes to match day ticket prices at City, an 87% majority strongly agree that they represent good value for money. Over 15% strongly agree there should be more special offers in the season, 45% strongly agree with an online discount prior to the match, whilst nearly 41% strongly agree that £20 is a fair price for a match ticket, and perhaps more surprising is that 46% strongly agree that £15 is a fair price for the advance online ticket price.

We are the Bantams membership scheme

The scheme is still a topic of debate it seems. 70% of you said you were not a member, but surprisingly, for those that are members, there was no overall majority for what enticed you to join. 54% said it was the loyalty points and 52% wanted to show a desire to support the Club, and only 4% were induced by special offers and discounts.

For those of you who haven’t bought into the membership scheme, more than 58% said I am a season ticket holder and so felt like a club member already and 49% of you said that I didn't believe the benefits were worth the price.

Loyalty points/City points

In terms of the loyalty /City points scheme and to find out how easy it is fans can buy away tickets, there was no overall majority in the answers you provided. 33% said you didn’t have enough loyalty points to buy the tickets you wanted, and that was what most of you said, and closely behind was 25% saying you had enough loyalty points to purchase all the away tickets you wanted. And 23% couldn’t buy any at all due to not having any.

Satisfaction with Club content and newsletters

Somewhat satisfied and neither satisfied or dissatisfied got the highest percentages of how you feel from the range of options we gave to choose from, 32% and 30% respectively.

‘Somewhat dissatisfied’, 16% pipped ‘very satisfied’, 14%, and 6% were very dissatisfied.

The Programme

Surprisingly, those of you who definitely would like to see it back did not win out, 27%, but 19% of you opted for ‘yes probably’. In fact, ‘No, probably not’ was the most favoured option by you, at 37%. 15% of you said ‘definitely not’. It does show that ‘probably not’ is a sign that there is an acceptance of not seeing it back in print, although older supporters would be perhaps more happy to see it back if it could be done.

Kiosks and Bars

35% of you told us that you visit the kiosks or bars every game and then 20% of you rarely / occasional games, and 16% never use them. 13% of you visit them most games and some games.

What you typically buy from them

Most of you buy hot drinks 26%, then it’s pies 23%, and then it’s pies 23% and then cold soft drinks at 7%, sweet and savoury snacks such as chocolate and crisps at 6%. Burgers scored low (nearly 4%) and several buy a range at one time whilst 1 put down pizza Twists.

Value for money

In this section, the majority answer was ‘adequate’ at 37%, the second highest answer was poor at 27%. Very poor scored as much as 19% and good got over 13% with ‘very good’ coming in at a very low 1.41%.

Additions to the match day catering options

Almost 60% of you want chips – an overall majority. For everything else, demand was inconclusive. Bhajis and samosas scored 21% and 20% respectively. Bitter / ale scored 18%, vegetarian alternatives 17%. Gravy and mushy peas both scored 15%.

Other individual comments were currywurst, black tea, pizza, and gluten free food.

Your suggestions in improving in-stadium catering offerings

Many of these comments reflected the dissatisfaction in value for money as well as the quality of food, drink, and overall quality of service. Cheaper prices was suggested many times. Better service, less queuing were common themes, having cash sales as well, opening more kiosks; all these suggestions point to an improved service. Better selection of sweets and snacks, pot noodle, getting in real ale, having vegetarian options all covered improved variety. Well-cooked pies was another suggestion.

Indicating your level of agreement on a range of statements/topics

The Trust doing a good job in representing supporters

Almost 24% strongly agree, almost 37% somewhat agree, and over 32% sat on the fence saying they neither agree or disagree / not sure, while nearly 5% somewhat disagreed and over 1% strongly disagreed.

The Supporters Board do a good job in representing supporters

15% strongly agreed, with 36 somewhat agreeing. 39 neither agreed nor disagreed, and 4% somewhat disagreed while nearly 5% strongly disagreed

Feeling that Bradford City’s supporter engagement is good

Over 15% said they strongly agreed, and over 46% somewhat agreed, and over 29% neither agreed nor disagreed. Only 6% at the time somewhat disagreed and over 1% strongly disagreed. Remember this survey ran through September and October of 2023.

Feeling that Bradford City cares about you and your views

Only 8.16% strongly agreed with that statement. 40.14% somewhat agreed, and almost 32% neither disagreed or agreed. Nearly 14% somewhat disagreed with over 5% strongly disagreeing with that statement. 4% somewhat disagreed and nearly 5% strongly disagreed.

Swearing and bad language is part of watching football

Importance retaining the 3pm blackout to protect lower league clubs

It’s right to ban fans from drinking within sight of the pitch

There was no really strong view about this one. Although nearly 28% of you strongly agree and 24% somewhat agree. Just 16% of you sit on the fence on this with the same percentage of you somewhat disagreeing. Almost 13% of you strongly disagree.

Football is doing enough to encourage diversity and welcome Women, LGBTQ people and ethnic minorities to the game.

There was no strong majority opinion on this. Almost 15% strongly agree and over 35% somewhat agree.34% are on the fence on this one, whilst only 6% somewhat disagree and 4% strongly disagreeing.

There should be an independent football regulator to ensure football clubs are run sustainably.

TV companies having too much sway in deciding kick-off times/schedules

There is definitely strength of feeling on this. Over 64% strongly agree with this whilst 28% somewhat agree. Nearly 7% are sat on the fence and only 1% strongly disagrees.

Purchasing a season ticket TV package that exclusively shows all Bradford City’s away matches.

30% strongly agreed whilst 28% somewhat agreed. 23% were on the fence, and 5% somewhat disagreed while 9% strongly disagreed. The difficulty with this one is in the lower leagues Cubs will always prefer bums on seats, and of course there are of course issues around the 3pm blackout which would mean none of our Saturday away fixtures would be at 3pm.

I consider myself a supporter of the Bradford City Women’s team

The statements drew no surprises. Only, nearly 8% strongly identified with it. 18% somewhat agree, and 44% where not that really bothered one way or another. 12% somewhat disagreed and 10% strongly disagreed.

Asked if you are a member of another Supporters Club / Group

Very few commented, but there was multiple members of Shipley Bantams, one of Bingley Bantams, one from City Away Days and there were multiple from the Disability Supporters Club. There were some that said they were members of multiple Facebook groups and one said they are on the Bantams Talk forum.

How you receive / read our regular communications

Most of you see our direct emails, 60%. 50% of you keep abreast of our articles via Facebook. Almost 17% of you keep in touch via Twitter / X, 14% of you regularly look at the website and 11% of you read our column in the City Gent. It’s likely some of you see a mixture of our communications through all our various channels of getting our info across.

If we could improve one aspect of our communications, what would it be?

Open-ended questions always bring out some interesting comments.

There weren’t many responses but some of them were really good.

Better social media pages and more regular posts to gain a better presence and following.
Didn't even know the trust existed until this survey, so definitely need to communicate more.
More information on the injuries of first team players how they are progressing
More emails.
Better use of TV.
If the programme existed, have a column in there.
‘This is a great example of good communication which I think could be done more frequently’, someone said.

Much of the above are very important suggestions, however, knocking out articles, putting them on the website, communicating them to members by email and social media is very time consuming. If we had a small group of people who could say be on You Tube and discuss the team and what fans want, that would really propel the Trust forward. More communicating and more articles require more dedicated hands that we don’t have at the moment.

There was a number of useful comments about finding out what fans want, asking members if there are any issues which they would like raised when engaging with the Club, and on the same lines, more regular meetings during the course of the season (we assume this means with the Club). Again these are really good suggestions, but would still require more dedicated hands on deck to do these things. We ideally need a small core group to work on our communications to have a presence on the many online channels that supporters use.

In terms of meetings with the Club, the Trust is regularly pushing for 4 meetings per year. We generally get 3. And we should really be on the Supporters Board that meets once a month as it is now individually based and not group representative based. One of the highlights of the Fan led review recommendations was that Supporters Trusts should have an automatic place on the Supporters Board. The Fan led review also calls for in independent regulator, which many of you show your support for on this survey. At this point in time we are expecting the report to be discussed in parliament for it to become a legislative piece of work that Clubs will have to accept.

Of the various initiatives you would like the Trust to focus its campaigns and communications on

Improving the atmosphere came out top with 47%. Linked to that was safe standing / railed seating at 34%. Registering Valley Parade as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) received 38%. 33% of you selected Working to lower ticket pricing/reciprocal deals with other clubs. 28% of you opted for Supporting diversity initiatives such as Kick it Out and Fans for Diversity campaigns. Nearly 27% of you want to see us working to improve the policing and stewarding at home games, and 26% of you want to see us work with the Club and police to improve away travel and matchday experience, and 24% of you want us to support local community initiatives.

Other suggestions were: disabled parking, catering, events, the steps up to the pavement behind the Kop get too congested and there's ample space to widen them.

The Trust is only as good as our volunteers, and we are always keen to get more people involved in all areas of our activity.

We asked If you would be interested in helping out, in however small a manner, to indicate the area(s) in which you would be interested and/or the skills you have to offer.

27% of you said you were interested in putting events on.

18% were interested in our media and communications`

9% said you were interested in Diversity issues, eg: LGBT, Anti-Racism, Women's football

9% also said you had other professional skills (eg: legal, accounting, design)

Quite a number left their emails indicating their interest in getting involved and we will email to you as soon as we can.

We would like to thank everyone who took part in this survey.

The Trust Annual Review 2022/23

16th January 2024

This is the Chairs’ Report, written in October, ahead of our November AGM, commenting on the managerial situation, the national picture as a backdrop and the Trust’s year engaging with the Club, and building the Trust to ensure its longevity by encouraging supporters to join and play leading role in ensuring we have a football club for generations to come.

On the Pitch

The pace of events at Bradford City never ceases to amaze us when we look back in a historical context. Looking back from the end of our financial year in May 21-22, Mark Hughes had been appointed in February to arrest the decline of our team under the previous and increasingly unpopular reign of Derek Adams. Under his tenure, the football was negatively defensive and poor, the crowd was on his back and we were 11^th in the table with 8 points off the play offs by the end. Under Hughes there was a definite improvement in results and some of the performances, and fans lived in hope that improvements would be made to ensure a big promotion push for the 22-23 season campaign.

Hughes's only full season was largely successful. The football on offer wasn’t always the best, but goals from leading goal scorer and Player of the Year for 2022-23, Andy Cook (31 goals in all competitions) kept us in the play off race. The team rode its’ luck, but under pressure, we failed to reach an automatic promotion spot. The play off semi-final was a huge disappointment, losing to Carlisle at Brunton Park. But still, fans lived in hope and by August 23 the Club had sold 15,000 season tickets.

This season, the pressure was really on Mark Hughes to do well. With all the unevenness in the team’s abilities, in our Chairs’ report last year we said that the team will be placed under intense scrutiny, and indeed in our article ‘What do we think of City’s prospects for this Season?’ we said that “watching Bradford City with great expectations can often lead to disappointment and frustration, which can affect the atmosphere that then the players pick up on which can be counter productive. It could be said that having no expectation at all and simply just hoping for the best, could be the healthier option."

However, ‘hoping for the best’ cannot last forever, and the pressure to deliver comes from all sides. We also said that, “we all know that football is big money. Success is rewarded with money. Being static – a lack of progress can cost money and fans know that only too well. Clubs financially banking on success have cost many a club back and Bradford City have been no exception.”

Above all, fans want a team that puts its collective effort into a game. Fans can value a team if it demonstrates a fighting spirit even in defeat.

Unfortunately for Mark Hughes’ team this season, it never got going. His type of football appeared too restrictive on the players. Had there been a fire in the team spirit even when results had been against us, he may have lasted beyond only managing 11 games this season, and on the 5^th October he left the Club.

The Trust offers our best wishes to the newly appointed interim management team, Kevin McDonald and Mark Trueman in their efforts while a search for a more permanent manager at the time of writing, goes on, and indeed, they have started brilliantly, as the Bantams are undefeated in 4 league and cup matches - 3 wins and a draw - the draw being at home to big promotion hopefuls, Wrexham.

Positive results will allow more time to hopefully make a good decision on a more permanent manager, but we will never see if it is a good decision until we see how those managerial skills are applied and tested to developing the strengths of the team. We can only hope the prospective manager will be given all the resources they will need to bring about more long term success than we have seen in recent years.

iFollow Streaming and TV rights

Earlier in March of this year the Football Supporters Association (FSA) put out a survey to see how supporters see the state of the game and almost 10,000 fans participated.

We reported in last year’s Chair’s report that the EFL are willing to consider scrapping the Saturday 3pm blackout as part of their new TV rights deal from 2024.

In the FSA survey, the majority of fans (59.1%) support the retention of the 3pm blackout to protect lower league clubs.

And also, with regarding to the EFL’s record TV deal with Sky from next season, worth £935m over a five-year period, there was strong support for an away price cap as there is in the Premier League to help keep football affordable – almost nine in ten (88.2%) were in favour of such a measure.

Around two thirds (63%) of fans favoured a direct-to-consumer Netflix-style app for watching Premier League games over subscribing to multiple broadcasters. It will be interesting as to how Sky will televise for EFL matches and if EFL continue with iFollow.

Fan-led Review

The FSA survey can reveal that Fans overwhelmingly back the introduction of an independent football regulator to ensure their clubs are run sustainably. Nine in ten fans (88.2%) agreed on the need for an independent regulator to ensure clubs are run sustainably.

FSA Chair Malcolm Clarke said: “Football has said for years that it can regulate itself. The findings from our survey show that it has become apparent to the overwhelming majority of fans that it can not, and that independent regulation is required to safeguard the future of our clubs, and the game itself.”

“Football clubs can’t continue to be allowed to mark their own homework, and so we will be pressing the Government to make sure that the regulator laid out in their White Paper becomes a reality.”

“The results also reveal the extent to which football fans, as with many millions of others up and down the country, are feeling the pinch due to the rising cost of living. We support any initiative which keeps football affordable and available to all.”

The near catastrophe we have seen at the Iron and the Shrimpers are just the latest in a long list of examples which show why an independent regulator is needed and needed now.

The Government recently reaffirmed its commitment to the Fan-led Review’s core ideas and we expect to see it included in November’s King Speech with legislation passing through Parliament in 2024.

The FSA have campaigned for stronger regulation of the game for many years and made sure supporters’ groups across all leagues were able to give their evidence – resulting in proposals which will include an independent regulator with powers to act before clubs are losing the plot financially.

That’s something we back 100% and it has to go alongside a much stronger Owners’ and Directors’ Test (aka the “fit and proper person test”) to make sure our clubs get the owners they deserve.

The years’ work

It has been a very demanding year of keeping on top of and improving on what we do best: keeping members informed via our emails and social media, about the news of the Trust, the wider issues of the game and campaigns lead by the FSA and other Trusts. We also update members continually on developments in our discussions with the Club and on their own programme of fan engagement through consultation exercises. During the season’s fixtures we physically engage with supporters, on stalls encouraging them to join and raising money with what we sell. Last but not least, we engage in a Structured Dialogue with the club. This is an absolute staple of what we do, informing the Club about what you, the fans, think, raising questions about the Club's plans and finances, about the owner and the ground, and work around community outreach, policing, stewarding and so on.

Commercial relationships

During the second season working with Paul Jago and his company Chablais Sport / WordRetro, the sales did drop off. Many of his plans for new products did not see the light of day. He is based in Poland and his business suffered from factors including Brexit and then the War in Ukraine. We weren’t confident the relationship was working.

As a result, we have taken a plunge with a UK based, ethically sourced company called Teemill, with a percentage of the money raised from sales coming to us. The link with Teemill provides us with our own store, and we have launched the website: https://bantams-supporters-trust.teemill.com/ where supporters can buy our products.

Our publicity and website

As we’ve mentioned earlier, we continue to regularly update our members (who have signed up to receive our emails) with news, sometimes posting emails highlighting multiple articles, usually when we are promoting a campaign of membership participation. And of late we have a lot of stand-in messages promoting membership offers and what’s to come in terms of articles. We continue to update our website, adding and making clear information about payment to the Trust and linking the join area to the membership payment area. We have also added more information about getting involved as well and how to contact us. If you don’t know already, we are contactable at the email, hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

There is also a conscious effort to project an image of the Trust to the wider City supporter base and again, our signature poster images with the claret and amber frame, most supporters are aware they belong to us when they are seen on social media.

Our email news, which we like to call the ‘magic button’, is received by members as a basic facility of free membership. It sent out to over 500 members and we know that at least 30% of recipients open these messages.

We no longer use ‘Hootsuite’ to share news on our social media platforms on Facebook and Twitter, and instead use the Facebook Meta Business Suite which allows us to post to our Likes Page, Instagram and as well as our Facebook Group. This allows us to post on two other Bradford City fans groups, giving us an even bigger reach to City supporters than we’ve enjoyed before. And we still post, of course, to our feed on Twitter, or ‘X’ as it is now known.

Our Facebook Group has 827 members, up by 111 and our ‘Likes’ Page has 1,553 people liking it, up by 118, and 1,572 people follow it, up by 118. Our Twitter account, https://twitter.com/bantamstrust has 382 Following, down 8, and 220 Followers, up by 81.

We are also on Instagram and we have 75 ‘followers’.

All in all, we have substantially increased the range and quality of our social media presence this year.

Concourse stalls in the Main Stand

The Trust is now in our third season running a stall on matchdays. We are in the main stand, usually setting up around 1.45/2pm on a Saturday, but it is difficult because we are not there every week due to work commitments, but even so, fans and our members in particular, engage with us on the stall and we continue raise some necessarily modest funds.

Last season’s presence went well and whilst not making a profit on things we probably raised a bit more income as we refine our technique, which is an ongoing thing. Also with the cost of living rising, it is a balancing act in terms of what supporters can spend and what we can bulk order as prices have gone up in every way, but the income we receive does add to our balance of around £2,000 in the Trust account.

Last season we invested in a card reader, which is enormously useful as we are all encouraged to use our bankcards these days and many supporters don’t carry cash. Our scarves are the best sellers. This season we encourage supporters that buy merchandise to sign up to join the Trust. This will cover the new £1 membership fee, if this is agreed at this year's AGM.

Membership survey

At the last AGM we discussed putting out a survey and we have been promising it all year. Finally we have it! We promoted the survey from the end of this September, and it covers the match day experience at Valley Parade including comfort and facilities in the ground, and covering loyalty points, the Bantams Membership and more.

Fan Engagement / Structured Dialogue

During the last Financial Year we have held three meetings with CEO Ryan Sparks: in June and October 22, and then March 23, attended by Marco Townson as the club's Supporter Liaison Officer (SLO). We have also had one since then, in August.

It is always work in progress and developments within the Club are always at pace, so we are often playing catch-up in what is always a movable feast.

The key themes running through these meetings are the matchday atmosphere, fanzone issues, railed seats, ticket offers and concessions, policing and stewarding. We’ve discussed the SLO role, the Club’s fan engagement and fans responses to surveys, also the national picture about EFL funding from the Premier League, and EFL / FSA national campaigns, such as on Love Football, Protect the Game, proposed legislation to have an independent regulator, diversity campaigns and community links. We bring to the table our knowledge of what other Clubs do through the work of other Trusts. We also ask the key questions that supporters’ want answered about the ownership and the ground.

We do feel these meeting are a very important part of our work, which like, so many other things, is work in progress, and we strive to forge a stronger link, and to do this we often need the advice from our colleagues at the FSA who are in regular dialogue the EFL and the All Party Parliamentary Group for Football Supporters. And we do feel there is improvement needed before we can get to achieve a Memorandum of Understanding, which is a formal agreement of cooperation between the Club and ourselves.

Supporters Board (SB)

In November of last year (2022) the SB changed its constitution to be individually represented rather than group lead, this means that the SB is made up of individuals not representing any groups. In some way nothing much has changed, but the original ethos of the SB was that the individuals on it were representing the groups they were part of.

The change in constitution meant that the Supporters Trust, representing perhaps the largest and diverse number of membership was no longer on it.

The prevailing view of the Trust Board is that this is a retrogressive step as the individuals on the SB would be at an advantage with the Trust’s involvement as it has a national insight to the wider developments of changes within the game. However, the counter argument is that the individually based SB maybe more successful in this way. What is clear is that the Club favour it in this new format and the SB has been promoted by the Club since.

The Trust still has a relationship with the SB and occasionally consults in the course of the year. And we still have our independent channel of communication with the club.

What is clear however is that if the recommendation of a ‘Shadow Board’ (which is essentially what an SB is) from the fan-lead government review on football governance becomes enshrined in law, we, the Supporters Trust, should be on it. If that happens, the history will have come full circle, because the example of Bradford City's Supporters Board, which was developed initially as a joint initiative between the club and the Trust, was one of the main influences behind the national legislation.

Membership Payment

The Trust Board has been debating over the last couple of years how to introduce a cost to membership and absorb the Patron membership scheme, a system we adopted at the time we made membership free around ten years ago. At that time to allow this change, we reduced the minimum cost from a £1 to 1 penny in the constitutional rules.

Over the last few AGM’s we have been adopting up to date policy documents in line with the FSA’s guidance since the Supporters Direct (SD), Football Supporters Federation (FSF) merger (2019). At that time the FSA were advising us to reverse the rule change we had adopted, because the £1 represented the value of a single share in the society.

We came up with a fundraising target of £5,000 whereby if we reach it, it could enable us to provide freebies and reductions in drinks and food prices in local bars and restaurant. It would allow us to set up a Membership fee of £5 where members would receive freebies like pens, water bottles, flask mugs, badges and so on, and Patrons would automatically get these.

The strategy was to choose one of the Paypal payment categories to make a one off donation, explaining that the more we raise the more we can donate to good causes and introduce these benefits. We still have this article advertised on our email messages to members.

We were advised to start the charging as soon as we could when we had an FSA officer attend one of our board meetings in January 23 (in the second half of our financial year). She advised we could still have a ‘free’ membership, but we needed to adopt a basic £1 membership to honour the constitutional policy as a minimum. The advice was that all other Trusts have a membership payment system, so we decided to bite the bullet and planned to adopt this policy after the financial year (May 31^st 23) and set it up in June 23 and seek the mandate for this from our members at this year's AGM, as you will see from Agenda Item 7 above.

Membership

We now have 961 contacts that we have on our InTouch database, an increase of 30 on last year, and the email membership figure now stands at 509, an increase of 9.

We have a total of 247 ‘suppressed’ contacts that we have to go through and identify – This list covers all contacts whose emails have bounced – this could be because they have changed their email addresses. It covers members who have unsubscribed or indeed members who have no contact details.

Whilst our membership is respectable, we still need to increase the membership in order to represent the fans of a Club that has quite a big mass base. It is encouraging that we are known now to a much bigger Bradford City supporter community than was the case even a couple of years ago.

We have been ploughing along, getting better at getting our news across, and engaging with the Club and supporters, and with more confidence about what we do, perhaps we gain some more admirers of our determination to progress, in what sometimes can be perceived as a thankless and at times hostile terrain.

The membership form itself needs improvement so that it becomes easier to fill in and send, as the confirmation to join button is not easy to see. This may be a hindrance to joining.

We also do need to find a way to encourage members to take out a subscription and pay for membership as it formally entitles members to a share of the Trust and participate in voting at our AGM’s, but we are confident that that will come as we seek to engage more with members, and as we try to publicise what the Trust is and it’s purpose through our news posts.

The Trust Board

Whilst we have been regularly meeting, which is important, it has been difficult getting everyone available to meet at the same time. This makes it more pressing that we need more people interested in the Trust and not only to become members but to get involved and playing a role on the board. With more board members we can reach out more and be a bigger influence.

We definitely do need more members to take an active involvement. We now have a what’s involved / playing a role guide up on our website to encourage this, and we ideally would like people from a diverse range of backgrounds and work/ community involvement experiences. You don’t have to live in Bradford to attend meetings (you can attend meetings on Skype or WhatsApp) or play a role but being a regular frequenter to Valley Parade would help as we need more hands to help out on matchdays. If you fancy it get in touch on at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

Looking to the future, our physical presence in the stadium on matchdays is paramount if we are to see a new generation of Trust activists replenishing the existing board, whom I would like to thank one and all for helping the Trust stay alive. I would like to give a special thanks to Board member Simon Hagerty, who has played a tremendous role in managing our website and getting our articles and documents out there, making them accessible to all.

The Trust is a democratic and independent organisation, and the only body of City fans that is part of a wider Supporters Trust movement on a national scale. We can act as a critical friend of the Club and as a collective campaigning force that can be organised into action. To realise this potential, we need more fans to join and get involved.

Football's Ownership Problem

19th December 2023

Derby County, Southend Utd, Scunthorpe, Oldham Athletic, Reading FC, Sheffield Wednesday and Morecambe FC are just a few clubs that are, or have recently had ownership and financial issues.

In September The Guardian ran an article about how to buy a football club based on tougher regulation changes that came into play I the EFL this season to stop them falling into the wrong hands.

The article that was published on the 14^th September, ‘How to buy a football club: new EFL guidance offers ‘clearance, not approval’’, summarizes the process of how a football club changes owners. The club in question informs the EFL of a proposed change of ownership. This triggers a three part process:

Ownership and Directors Test
Source and Sufficiency Funding
Future Financial Information

Prospective owners need to show eligibility via identity verification and evidence they are able to provide necessary funding to buy and then operate the club going forward.

The procedure can be simple or complex, based on factors such as the number of investors, structure and the origin of investment, beginning with a meeting between the EFL, the club, seller and purchaser and ends at the authorisation stage. After a sale, the club financial reporting unit (CFRU), (formed last year) in effect marks a club’s homework, ensuring they adhere to FFI, focusing on expenditure and income.

The key point is that the assessment is not to determine suitability, but eligibility.

The ‘EFL seal of approval’ carries with it a notion that the prospective buyer, once they have had their homework marked, and they get a lot of ticks, are deemed as suitable. In other words it is just a ‘clearance’ to take up the role, not wider approval. So, it’s not to say the EFL think they’ll be a decent owner. Only time will tell whether they are or not.

What has changed from previous years

The original 2004, ‘Fit and Proper Person’s Test, was later adopted by the Premier League. This summer, the EFL extended the list of disqualifying conditions to include the expulsion of clubs in other sports and takes in wider corporate insolvencies, not just those at football clubs as previously, and introduced a rule preventing clubs from announcing any change of ownership before EFL approval.

An independent Regulator

The collapse of Bury FC over four years ago prompted the change in the EFL’s regulations.

The Ownership and Directors Test evolves and reacts to circumstances the EFL have dealt with. It’s not set in stone as there is further work to be done in terms of integration with an independent regulator of football, when that comes.

The Football Supporters Association (FSA) has been pushing for an independent regulator for years ensuring hundreds of supporters’ groups were given the opportunity to take part in the Fan-led Review of Football Governance by giving evidence directly to the panel.

The Fan-led Review (aka the Crouch Review) published a powerful report calling for an independent regulator with oversight on financial sustainability and protection of our historic clubs via a stronger owners’ and directors’ test.

FSA also called for a better distribution of football’s wealth throughout the pyramid and grassroots football, and called for the women’s game to be given its own dedicated review.

The Fan-led Review led directly to the Government’s promise to establish an independent regulator.

But what powers will a regulator have and what does the legislation mean?

The legislation will introduce an independent regulator with a “tightly defined scope focused on four areas: financial resources, suitable owners, fan interests and approved competitions.”

If it passes through the Parliamentary process it means:

A strengthened owners’ and directors’ test to protect clubs and their fans from “careless owners”.

Giving fans a greater say in the running of their clubs with new supporter engagement models.

Enabling the regulator to block clubs from joining breakaway leagues, such as a European Super League.

Giving the regulator “fall-back powers over financial redistribution”.

Whilst reform like this is really positive, the problems of clubs suffering financially will continue as long as the financial disparity between the massively wealthy few clubs at the top of the Premier League and those that are competing to get into it in the EFL. The temptation to over reach is too easy in whichever league a club is in. That said it will be interesting to see how finances can be regulated to limit clubs from spending more than they can afford.

It should be noted however that almost all acts of legislation are so as a result of a crisis and, or campaigns for change.

It could be argued that there needs to be a huge effort of mass mobilisation to campaign for a huge redistribution of wealth from the super rich PL downwards.

As it is, the PL are reluctant to support even the modest reform of redistribution asked of them now through the government review on football government (White Paper), as there is not even a suggested amount.

Parking arrangements for visiting fans at The Prestfield Stadium

14th December 2023

We’ve had a message from Gillingham FC Supporters Club regarding parking arrangements upon visiting the Priestfield Stadium on Saturday

Hello,

With permit parking restrictions in place all around Priestfield Stadium, the Gillingham FC Supporters’ Club provide car parking for both home and away fans and we would like you invite your supporters to use this facility for your forthcoming match.

The car park is situated at Barnsole Road Primary School, the address being the junction of School Avenue and Barnsole Road, postcode ME7 2JG, and is around 5 to 10 minutes’ walk from Priestfield Stadium. The car park is clearly signposted. We have availability for approximately 50 cars, with an overflow area available for an extra 20 cars when required. The car park is gated and opening times are:-

· Saturday Fixtures (3.00pm Kick Off) - 1.00pm - 6.00pm

· Midweek Fixtures (7.45pm Kick Off) - 6.00pm - 10.30pm

Please note that the car park will be locked 10 minutes before kick-off. It will reopen approximately 10 minutes after the full-time whistle as the school require the car park to be secure when our attendant is not on site. A telephone number is available should anyone need to leave early in an emergency. The cost to park, cash only please, is just £5.00, which is the same for home supporters who are not Gillingham FC Supporters’ Club members.

Local takeaways can be found nearby in Sturdee Avenue and further down Barnsole Road at Livingstone Circus and on Gillingham Road.

For further information, including photos, maps and directions to Priestfield Stadium from the car park, please view: gfcsupportersclub and select the ‘parking’ tab.

Kind regards,

David

David Garth

Media Officer

Gillingham FC Supporters’ Club

Tel: 07527968631

Report of Meeting with BCAFC

13th December 2023

Bantams Supporters Trust met with the Club on Tuesday 28th November, and was very productive.

Since the last meeting in August much has changed on the football side of things and meeting reflected on some of anxiety / frustration of some of the fanbase linked to a lack of progress on the pitch. It also reflected some of the national developments as well as progress on some of our regular standing items. So, without further ado lets dive into it.

Report of the last meeting

It was asked about poor lighting but this was much nearer the stadium than previously thought on an evening – particularly around the Kop coming out towards the stairs to Cliffe Terrace. There was a commitment to look at that. It was asked if all exits were used as it is slow to get out of the stadium, and the answer was yes.

Matchday experiences

Catering was brought up, and in particularly at the Middlesborough League Cup match, where lots of food had ran out, but there had been no formal complaints brought to the Club about any catering issues regarding that evening.

Fanzone and Family Fanzone - There are no plans to do more with the fanzone by the Kop – at the moment it provides live music and beer. With regards to the Family Fanzone by the BEAP centre they are still at a stage of assessing what can be possible there for next Summer.

Atmosphere areas – It was asked if there was difficulty in the way of having two atmosphere areas, i.e. having one in the back of the Kop as well as the NW Corner, and it was explained there had been some security issues at the back of the Kop where there has been on going anti social behaviour and it was felt that having one well managed atmosphere area in the NW corner was enough.

Railed seating – It was asked about a feasibility study, and the Club said the Safety Advisory Group (SAG) – A group made up of the local authority, the police and the Club, had approved it, but what was holding the development was cost, as both a home and an away section would need to have it. Had we got promoted we may have had started with the work on it’s installation. It was suggested it could be a fundraising project from supporters. The cost estimate is between £70,000 and £80,000.

Stewarding home and away – The Trust raised this from observing various ways security and stewards manage grounds at Bradford City. The Middlesborough experience was brought to the Club’s attention were the Boro fans had taken all the Midland Road and there was a sizable chunk of seats blocked of to bring a bigger distance between home and away supporters. It was explained that each game is risk assessed and managed differently according to the risks.

Season Ticket prices and special offers – It was too early to say whether season ticket prices would change was the position of the Club. The Trust Reported there had been a discussion on the FSA Network about proposals for the EFL have an away cap on away tickets, although in the past the EFL did not not in agree. The proposal, similar to the PL away ticket cap of £30, the Championship would also have the same value cap and both League 1 and League two would have a £29 away ticket price cap. The Trust would’ve preferred £20. It was said that Bradford City would not have any of their tickets go up to that price. We think the Club has a very reasonable pricing policy but we went back to the proposal of asking for an unemployed price. AFC Wimbledon has an away concession / unemployed / benefits price of £17. The Trust said there aren’t many Clubs that have a pricing policy for unemployed supporters but it would be very commendable. Their home one varies pending where you sit. The Club would look at it they said. It was raised that there is a rising cost to keeping supporters safe in the stadium.

We looked at various other offers for disadvantaged families. Morrison’s give away 6,000 tickets per season through their community charity scheme. The Community Foundation gives away between 150 to 500 tickets per game.

Also the First Bus sponsorship with plans for bringing supporters to and from the game will be good value for supporters and is something to support and promote that is environmentally friendly.

The Trust feel that the Club is doing well in providing an opportunity for disadvantaged families in a cost of living crisis an opportunity to watch football.

Planet League and Pledgeball – Environmentally Sustainable football issues we agreed to take to the Governance meeting.

EFL All Club Meeting – PL Proposals – The Trust reported on this whereby the Premier League were proposing to offer a significant amount of money to the EFL and were not prepared to abolish parachute payments to relegated clubs in the EFL. These payments generally distort the Leagues and cause all clubs to increase their player budget salaries to compete against each other. Championship playing budgets reach 150% of their turnover which reverberates down the pyramid.

The key proposals are around solidarity payments which split more equally.

Current Solidarity payments are:

Champ - 80%

L1 - 12%

L2 - 8%

Proposed arrangements:

Champ – 75%

L1 - 15%

L2 - 10%

The Club agreed with the accuracy of what was said but they are proposals and nothing has been decided. The PL will come back to the EFL with a decision. It was brought to member clubs in September. The Club would vote with the collective.

The Football Governance Bill – The Trust reported on how it had developed, in the form of the Fan-Led Review, now recently read out in the King’s speech among a list of bills the government intend to legislate next year before the general election.

Key aspects of the Bill:

The creation of an independent regulator with licensing powers to ensure:

Financial stability
Beefed up new owners and directors test
Fan engagement requirements

The EFL welcomes the Governance report.

The Club need to see the detail before it can comment on it.

There is the Football Governance White Paper that will give Clubs and supporters alike an idea – a bit of bedtime reading!

The FSA hope that the final wording in the legislation will be flexible to suit changes in a way that makes football clubs financially sustainable for the future.

Improving our Structured Dialogue with the Club - The Trust believes we have a good relationship with the Club built on Trust over recent years. However some improvements such as ensuring our engagements are fixed a little better will go a long way in getting a greater number of colleagues from both sides to the meeting, and we do understand that it is not always easy. For example, finding a new Manager was priority number just a few weeks ago.

We also recommended the Club promote the Trust in a similar way it promotes the Supporters Board, saying that the Club have met with the Trust etc. in their news items. Some Clubs take their own minutes of the meeting and put them on their websites.

All these things make the fan engagement process more meaningful and gets us a step closer to signing a Memorandum of Understanding and gives a certain qualitative assurance that our EFL Club is behind the Fan Engagement process that the EFL wants to promote.

Governance Meetings – In the last couple of months, both the Trust and Supporters Board had been invited to these meetings, which are in effect some Club Officers, Community Foundation officers and representatives of other agencies involved in running aspects of the Clubs’ facilities such as catering for example. These meeting reflect the day to day running of the Club and its commitments environmental sustainability, women’s football, equality and diversity campaigns and developing its community arm.

The Trust feels that these meetings are really useful to understanding how the Club is run, and demonstrates transparency and accountability.

We, as in the Trust, didn’t feel that these meetings were the best vehicle for getting into great detail in specific matters, they facilitated short report backs on progress been made on items raised from the agenda.

More broadly however the Trust feels that on matchdays, in particularly the lead up to the match, there is a community feel, of staff coming together to run the match operation and there is so much to think about and cover to ensure managing the operation to ensure supporters can enjoy themselves whether in the suites, the bars, the concourse or in the stands – everything bar what’s going on the pitch. It’s a mammoth task and responsibility to get it all right and a lot of dedication.

Recent Club Sanctions Policy update – We were informed that has now been completed and is up on the Club website.

Asked about varying forms of restorative practice for supporters who have not acted responsibly at matches, it was suggested that we see Jonathan Heaton, who works on that.

The Trust also suggested inviting the Dedicated Football Officer (DFO) from West Yorkshire Police to the SB meetings where Trust Board reps are invited for when the DFO can attend. It was explained that the DFO for Bradford City had in past years attended Club meetings with SB reps. This would be looked into.

Safety Advisory Group (SAG) - It was asked about fan representation to it.

Based on experiences from colleagues in other Trusts on the FSA’s EFL Network, the agencies that make up a SAG are the Emergency Services, transport public services, the Transport Police, Council services and contractor agencies.

But there are not many supporter representatives on them, however, the Sports Ground Safety Authority (a national body set up by the government that gives licences to football grounds) recommends fan representation on local bodies of it in the form of SAGs. The Sports Ground Safety Authority have specific requirements for providing licences to football stadia contained in the ‘Green Guide’. Local authorities provide safety certificates with the advice of SAGs.

It would be looked into.

Regarding building our community links with the Club, we, the Trust suggested Club and stadium grants from the PL Community Fans Fund from EFL Fans Funds which can be applied for club and supporter community projects and the EFL would love a good community story with supporters groups involved.

It was explained that the Club already use some grant funding for disability facilities within the stadium.

There is also Fans For Diversity for community promotion of supporters from different backgrounds and cultures and a small amount of funding to promote these things.

Ownership – It was explained about fans anxieties over the frustration of poor results and see the Club stuck in League Two where blame is heaped towards those running the club and Stefan Rupp who owns the Club.

It was asked if the Rupp would cover losses on players or on season ticket losses. The Club’s answer was yes he would cover any loses that the Club may incur, if necessary.

The Trust was assured that Club’s strategy in running the business hasn’t changed and if anything the Club has slightly improved in this.

Asked about a fans forum it was explained that one would take place during the course of the season, or after it, as per last season.

It was asked if Stefan Rupp would attend a meeting with the Trust / SB, and that question will be put to him.

The Stadium – We raised the issue of the Asset of Community Value, which has been raised at these meetings before, and explained that the Trust is intending to apply for the stadium to be an ACV through the Council.

It was explained that all concerned would be notified. The Trust felt that the only time the Council could reject it is if the stadium had not been in use for several years. It would give a right to the Trust to bid but not a right to buy. The ACV can protect the stadium but cannot prevent the tenants from leaving it.

It would keep everyone informed of any bid and the ACV would last 5 years before renewal.

It was also said that the application for the ACV could be appealed.

Win Free Matchday Travel with Pledgeball

8th December 2023

The FSA, who all supporters Trusts are affiliated to, including Bantams Supporters Trust, partnered, with Pledgeball in 2022 as they encourage football to help tackle the climate crisis – and you can do your bit with prizes to be won.

The Pledgeball League gives individual fans and supporter groups the opportunity to make positive environmental pledges with clubs ranked by the most commitments.

Pledges can be pretty simple but meaningful too – using public transport to games, taking reusable water bottles or eating more meat-free meals all count.

Every fan who pledges will enter a draw to win free away train travel (up to £1,000) for next season – and the more times you pledge, the more you’re entered into the draw.

Enter the draw and make your pledges here…

Pledgeball & Trainsplit Competition T&Cs here.

In addition the top men’s and women’s clubs will each win £15,000 worth of sustainability advice from Pledgeball’s expert partners RSK – helping any club minimise their environmental impact.

Find out more about the aims of Pledgeball and more here.

The Premier League TV Deal & it's Proposals to the EFL

7th December 2023

On Monday 4^th December, The Premier League had just secured a £6.7bn deal with Sky and TNT Sports for its domestic TV rights for 4 years that will run from 2025/26 to 2030.

While the BBC will continue its Match of the Day highlights package, the number of live games to be broadcast is set to grow substantially and it is argued it could test the 3pm blackout, which has been sacrosanct in order to maximize attendances, however, with more matches to be selected for mid week broadcasts it is likely that there will be less fixtures played in the traditional 3pm Saturday slot.

In a Football Supporters Association (FSA) survey that ran through March, the majority of fans (59.1%) support the retention of the 3pm blackout to protect lower league clubs.

The Guardian (4^th Dec) wrote, “This expansion of available content, and extension of the terms of the contract (with deals previously agreed over three-year periods), have enabled the Premier League to achieve what it calls “the largest sports media rights deal ever concluded in the UK”.”

There is a good article in The Athletic, which looks at how football has sold it’s soul to TV.

EFL All-Clubs Meeting

Knowing that a TV deal would be sown up to allow the cash to flow up until 2030, the Premier League address an EPL member club’s meeting in September to get thoughts on its proposals to them, offering the EFL a significant amount of additional money but, as you can imagine, there are negotiation still to complete.

Importantly, the PL have declined to abolish parachute payments to clubs relegated to the Championship. This is disappointing as such payments cause all club playing salaries to increase as clubs try to compete. These payments also distort the leagues.

In the Championship, playing budgets reach the dizzying height of 150% of turn-over which of course, reverberates down through the pyramid. It's important then that any additional income from the PL is not to be spent on playing budget since, as every club will be in receipt of the payments, nothing would change in terms of football sustainability.

The PL also wish to abolish FA Cup replays and have single leg EFL Cup semi-finals but, at the same time, want the 16 PL clubs invited to enter the EFL Trophy to play more games!

We think these requests should be opposed as they devalue these cup competitions. In particularly, the Premier League should never been allowed to enter 16 PL clubs into an EFL Trophy competition. What would happen if an under 21 PL club won the trophy? It would make a mockery of the competition.

Finally, at present solidarity payments, what all EFL clubs receive from the PL, is paid equally to all clubs in our league. The proposal suggests that the amount received by clubs will be based on league position.

Solidarity payments are currently split equally across all teams in the same league. At present monies are split:

Championship - 80%
League One - 12%
League 2 - 8%

Proposed payments will be split:

Championship - 75%
League One - 15%
League 2 - 10%

Colleagues on the FSA’s EFL Network feel that what the PL are offering isn’t enough but some of the Clubs that need the money most may well be thinking to accept what is already on the table. We feel that there should be a greater distribution of wealth from the Premier League to insure the sustainability of football for the future and good of the game.

The need for a greater redistribution share from the PL through the pyramid was discussed in the Fan-led review: The FSA’s recommendation to the Fan Led Review is:

· There is a strong case for additional contributions from the Premier League to further support the future of the football pyramid including a new solidarity transfer levy paid by top-flight on buying players from overseas or from other Premier League clubs. See more here.

Both ‘parachute’, and ‘solidarity’ payments are linked to the value of the PL’s broadcasting rights, but not exclusively.

We imagine these proposals will be linked to the new UK domestic broadcasting rights from 2025/26.

Glanford Park Secured

30th November 2023

A deal has been secured for Glanford Park for Iron supporters now and in the future.

On the 16^th November Scunthorpe United confirmed that contracts have been exchanged with its former owner Peter Swann for the ongoing purchase of the club’s home – Glanford Park.

Former board member and local businesswoman Michelle Harness took over the National League North side last month after David Hilton, who had bought the club from Swann in January, withdrew all funding.

There was uncertainty over where the Iron would be able to play their home matches before a deal was agreed with Swann.

Tony Gosling, Trust Chairman, said "The ACV has played a monumental role in helping the club negotiate a deal with former owner Mr Swann. We have worked with various parties and people to assist in this process, those include North Lincolnshire Council, The FSA and Mr Swann himself."

Over the recent period the Iron Supporters Trust had received a surge in new members, reaching a total of 780. The Iron Trust board had proposed to members that the Trust made a donation of £5000 to Scunthorpe United FC. The sum was to be made up from the joining fees for the recent new members and Trust reserves.

Members voted yes in that consultation, and those donations have now been sent to the club.

The Trust Board received the following message from Michelle Harness, the SUFC owner:

"I would like to thank your members of the Iron Trust for the support offered during this transition into buying back our home, Glanford Park. I also would like to confirm any donation from the Iron Trust will be converted into a share issue once this has been arranged."

Read more about the purpose of the use of the Asset of Community Value in the case of the Iron Trust and Scunthorpe United here.

Save the Date for our Meeting to Ratify our AGM

29th November 2023

First of all, a big Thank you to those who attended our recent AGM 0n the 22nd November. It was great see a couple members we haven’t seen in a while and a new faces on Skype.

Unfortunately, the numbers present did not make the meeting quorate. To ensure that we are quorate within our rules means we have to have a minimum of 20 in attendance to be able to carry out and agree the business of the meeting.

To remedy this, our rules allow us to provide you with another opportunity to attend our AGM meeting with a minimum 7 days notice so that we can ratify our AGM business.

The date for this meeting is Wed 6th December from 7pm at Jacobs Well near the Interchange and Hall Ings.

So, if you have been perhaps thinking of attending on Skype or maybe physically then here’s your second chance! It’s great when we get the opportunity to see you.

The Skype meeting details are here.

Asset of Community Value (ACV)

21st November 2023

We are sharing an Iron Trust statement that was originally published on October the 12^th, in order to highlight how the processes in applying for an ACV can work in favour of the community – in this instance, football supporters.

“In 2021 the Iron Trust (Scunthorpe United Supporters Society) applied to North Lincolnshire Council for the land then known as the Sands Venue Stadium, now known as Glanford Park, to be declared as an asset of community value (ACV). That request was granted and the land was registered as an ACV.

In early September the Trust was informed that Mr Swann intended to sell the land and the Trust was given until 11 October to decide if it intended to try to make a bid to purchase the asset (GP).

The Trust board has considered this and it was decided to trigger a second period where the Trust, working with others, could investigate putting a bid together. Whilst SUFC is now under new ownership we felt it was important to try to do everything possible to secure GP for future generations and to try do so in such a way that wouldn’t allow for the club and it’s land assets to be split again: ever.

The second “moratorium period” was triggered on the final day possible (11 October) and we felt that we had to take that action to try to enable the club to continue playing at GP. The Council has confirmed to us that this second period will end on 28 February. As the letter from the Council indicates “This period is intended to give the community group time to assemble a bid and if successful, complete the purchase. However, the owner is not obliged to sell to the community group.”

We will now investigate various fund raising options such as using Crowdfunder; a community share option or the Community Ownership Fund. We will also investigate various ownership options to ensure that if the bid is successful the land is owned by the community in perpetuity.

We are at a very early stage in this and when we have more to report we will do so.”

It is understood, however a deal has been struck between the Club and Peter Swann, a former club owner. The Trust’s main aim has always been for the Club and its ground to be as one entity.

We will have further confirmation by the end of the month.

The Mood of fans and Safeguarding the Future of Football

16th November 2023

So it wasn’t the newly installed gaffers luck on Saturday against Barrow. The Bantams huffed and puffed, but as fans have come to expect, the team failed to turn possession into enough goals to bring us 3 points to the good. It was certainly a rude awakening for Graham Alexander.

And at the end of the game were the predictable boos of dissatisfaction and weariness, although somewhat muted given that this was Alexander’s first game in charge.

It is that sense of dissatisfaction and weariness that we want to delve into and try and summarize, as lots of fans have been calling for and demanding many things.

The frustration stems from a lack of progress on the pitch, a stagnation if you will, of over many years stuck in League Two, and earlier, a failure to get out of League One and getting relegated back to League Two. We’ve had a succession of failed Managers and umpteen players come and go, and it is understandable to feel that those at the top that have made the decisions have a responsibility in making things right.

The quotes about Bradford City in the press from an interview in a recent ‘The Pilgrims Podcast’ with Derek Adams on the same day Graham Alexander was announced added to a bitter mood.

The difficulty with a ‘let’s get everyone out’ mood means the Club can do no good from right, because whatever decision they make will always be wrong by some.

Attempting to improve things

The Trust recognizes some of the comments made by Derek Adams, but we would like to help the Club improve the operation of running the football club as a business and to help it improve its transparency and accountability towards the fans.

For example, we have always advised that Stefan Rupp should attend meetings with both the Supporters Trust and Supporters Board and a Fans Forum. This would go some way to improving accountability and transparency, and cut across the mood of hostility towards him, as he would have to address the perceived lack of investment.

However, we understand there is a growing discontent with the structure of the Club and in the long term, there are limitations with the current ownership set up.

Fan Engagement and Structured Dialogue

Premier League and EFL clubs are mandated by their respective leagues to meet with fans twice per season, at a minimum, and no issue should be “off-the-table”. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) guidelines are in place and the leagues have incorporated versions of these into their rulebooks – you can see those rules here.

Bradford City go over and above the minimum of 2 meetings a year with the Supporters Trust and Supporters Board. We have approximately three meetings a year whilst with the Supporters Board, they are once a month. We have something called Structured dialogue. The Club have had Fan Forums at least once a season.

The purpose of a structured dialogue is to provide an effective, formalised means of communication between the leadership of clubs at board/senior executive level and democratically elected supporter representatives in order to ensure clear understanding on all sides of key issues of importance to the club and its supporters as long-term stakeholders. We have followed the guidance from the FSA about its purpose and how it can be used and for topics which can be found here.

Memorandum of Understanding

It is an education process for both elected supporter representatives and Club officials and we have made no secret about aiming to reach a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding or MoU, but for that to happen there needs to be more work to improve on how the Club delivers on topics, what can be publicly communicated and how the Club itself communicates its work with the Trust.

The Stadium

In terms of Valley Parade, obviously the 25 year-lease is renewable in 4 years’ time – 2028. The Trust has made it known to our members and the Club that we are in favour of the ground being secured as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), which gives it that status and protection over a five-year period. To have Valley Parade as an ACV, we, as a community benefit society, have to make an application to the Council.

An ACV means that the community group who holds it is offered an opportunity to bid for the asset when it becomes available and is given a time period to find the money to purchase this. It does not guarantee that our bid will be accepted by the owner of the ground. In our case it would be Gordon Gibb’s Pension Fund.

The council will have up to eight weeks to decide whether to list the asset. The Club and owner would be notified of an application and have the right to appeal, but it is not their decision to make.

The ground could be re-nominated and re-listed after 5 years subject to supporters’ interest and continued compliance with the definition of an asset of community value.

An ACV would prevent Valley Parade from being redeveloped. It protects the building, but it doesn't stop the club moving out of it. If the ground were to sit empty for a number of years, we would be unlikely to get the ACV renewed and it could be redeveloped at a later date. The ACV keeps us informed.

At the end of the day, the ground is down to the fans, and fans should be consulted if ever the Club wanted to move to a different development.

Safeguarding Football

Bantams Supporters Trust has always been in the loop when it comes to the Fan-led government review on football governance, through the Football Supporters Association (FSA). The FSA was heavily involved in shaping – supplying detailed policy ideas and ensuring 130+ of its member supporter organisations gave evidence.

This review was well overdue and was jolted into action back in June 2021 after in April that year, 6 Premier League clubs attempted to rip up more than a century of tradition by creating a stitched-up European Super League with a handful of other clubs across the continent.

The backlash was obviously huge with supporters across all leagues, including from those clubs behind the proposals, making their disgust clear. Soon enough Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur backed out.

Last year, the Fan-led review became a government Report, published last November, and since became a white paper – a policy documents produced by the Government that set out their proposals for future legislation. And more recently, these proposals among many others were read out in the King’s Speech. We believe that the detail of that legislation will be outlined in an upcoming Parliamentary bill in the new year ahead of a general election.

What this means is we will see an independent regulator of football as a necessary requirement become law to protect the game from rogue owners and directors. These reforms to improve the game will also strengthen the need for clubs to commit to meaningful fan engagement.

We know that football clubs have failed to regulate themselves and Government itself admits this. The promise of a football regulator remains, and it will be independent of government with a tight focus on financial sustainability as this is where there is clear evidence of market failure.

A call to all City supporters

The Trust recognises that often we as city fans question why we support our Club and keep going to the matches year after year. It is of course easy to get disillusioned with it all.

What the Trust seeks to offer may not please everyone, but we are linked to a much wider body of national organisation that other City supporting groups are not. We want to contribute something positive and help the Club see its difficulties and work with them to get them right. An independent regulator will be in our favour.

The FSA has over 130 supporters’ groups and organisations affiliated to it, so there is a wealth of collective experience, knowledge and guidance in this movement.

We don’t have a magic wand to put all the wrongs right, but what we do have is a commitment to try and improve things the best we can.

The more people that get actively involved in the Trust the more we can gain a wider audience and influence. The more that join, the better collective bargaining hand we have when we engage with the Club.

On the 22^nd of November we have our AGM, held this year at Jacob’s Well, from 7pm and hear for yourself what we are about. Supporters can join on the night.

Love Football Hate Racism

15th November 2023

Bantams Supporters Trust are delighted to support and work with the campaign charity Organisation, and they have kindly provided us with stickers, enamel Badges and T shirts and we'll be selling them along with our Teemill clothing, scarves and City badges on our stalls.

Love Football Hate Racism is a fan-engagement charity that strives to demonstrate that there is more in football that unites supporters than divides them.

Football should be a place where everyone is welcome, regardless of the colour of their skin, the religion they follow, their gender, sex, sexuality, whether they are able bodied or not.

Whilst there may be an emphasis on anti racism, the charity promotes greater equality across the whole, of what supporters sometimes refer to as, the ‘beautiful game’.

Love Football Hate Racism was borne out of desire to promote positive messaging in a sport, that is, or should be, for everyone to enjoy.

Football can unlock a passion within its supporters which produces an intense rivalry and a strong club loyalty.

This passion is what attracts many fans. It brings a uniqueness to football that other sports find difficult to replicate.

LFHR believe this passion can be used bring positive change to the game in contrast to groups that pop up from time-to-time sowing discord and hate.

Find out more here.

Save the Date for the Trust AGM 2023

31st October 2023

Our AGM is on Wednesday, 22nd November, from 7pm, at Jacobs Well, near Bradford Interchange.

This is your opportunity to make your voice be heard and contribute to making us stronger in terms of building the Trust membership and our finances, but we also want to influence the Club in securing it’s long term success and longevity, and bringing in supporter led initiatives along the way that improve the match day experience for all. You will get to hear about our achievements through our reports at the AGM.

The existing Trust Board would like to see new Trust Board Members that have new ideas and proposals that will broaden our reach.

Find out how you can play a role in the Trust here. If you would like to be a Board Member, please find a Board Member Nomination form for this year here. All Board Members are volunteers and we are a not for profit organisation.

The deadline for submitting your nominations is the 7^th November 2023. There is space for a candidate’s statement on the form, and a proposer and seconder need to be members. For any enquiries about being a Board Member please contact us here.

Members who receive our regular emails will be able to download our Draft Agenda and Papers for the evening.

For our AGM to be quorate, we need 20 Members in attendance. Only Members can vote.

The AGM will start at 7pm, so please arrive in good time to order a drink at the bar. We will be in the snug area of the pub and greet members at the bar from 6.30pm.

We understand that many of you will live across the country and further beyond, and therefore to encourage attendance we will have a hybrid meeting as in previous years, of members, in person, in the pub, or online video via Skype.

The Skype meeting can be joined by clicking here

Football unites to tackle racism, hate and discrimination

24th October 2023

English football stands united in its determination to tackle racism and remove all forms of discrimination from our game.

Throughout October and beyond, the FA, Premier League, EFL and Kick it Out will reinforce the message that hate and discrimination will not be tolerated at any level of football and action will be taken against perpetrators.

Alongside the PGMOL, Professional Footballers’ Association, League Managers Association and the Football Supporters’ Association, the football organisations are urging fans and participants to report discrimination wherever they see it or hear it, to help make football a safer place for everyone.

All organisations are actively working with clubs and authorities to ensure those who are found guilty of racist or discriminatory behaviour face strong consequences for their actions.

Sanctions include stadium bans, legal prosecutions and custodial sentences for those found guilty of discriminatory behaviour in either the stadium or online with additional potential points deductions for clubs within the grassroots game. Education and restorative justice initiatives will also be implemented where appropriate.

This builds on the ongoing work to address unacceptable, discriminatory and illegal behaviour across the game, under the football-wide “Love Football, Protect the Game” initiative, which aims to ensure that the actions of the minority do not spoil the game for all.

To find out more and how to report discriminatory abuse please click here.

To report any discriminatory behavior directly to Bradford City, be it racism, sexism, homophobia or anything else, please text 07949 814243, or you can email the Club at reportdiscrimination@bradfordcityafc.com.

Exeter Celebrate 20 Years of Being Supporter Owned

15th October 2023

In September, Exeter City Supporters’ Society Ltd celebrated 20 years of supporter ownership.

Nick Hawker, Chair of Exeter City Supporters Trust tells about its’ success to the Football Supporters Association (FSA),

“Success can be determined in so many ways – through financial performance, community engagement and above all else, performance on the pitch.

Whilst the trust are very clearly the legal majority shareholders of the club, the ownership model involves and requires a collaboration of people and organisations.

After years in League Two, during which we constructed a new grandstand, away end, and training facility, we have frequently been asked if the club, under its current ownership has reached its peak… the best answer to which is getting promoted, which we duly did in 2021-22.

The club and trust will continue to evolve and grow through dedicated volunteers, experts who give their skills free of charge for our benefit, and a steady stream of trustees, drawn from the membership who do not seek to run the club, but to guide and determine the ethos under which it is.

Community and supporters first, sustainability critical, and strong ethics at our core.”

Exeter City Supporters’ Trust has about 3,600 members, each of whom pay a minimum of £24 a year.

Gary Caldwell, the current manager at Exeter City since last October, tells The Guardian that “The supporters go over and above in terms of what they give to this club,”

“You always hear players at clubs say: ‘It’s a family club,’ but we’re owned by the family,” says lifelong fan and club president, Julian Tagg,

The club’s 20^th year anniversary status of being supporter owned has cause for celebration and has since prompted intrigue and praise in their model from rivals and government, says The Guardian.

The article describes a strong community spirit with a need to volunteer as a backbone to making the club what it is.

The newly revamped training facility at Cliff Hill, costing £3m, had its formal unveiling in August this year, is regarded as a quantum leap.

The words “We Own Our Football Club” proudly sit underneath the club name and crest. Inside the training facility there is a plaque in recognition of the £63,000 donated by fans to kit out the building with analysis screens, kitchen equipment and furniture. Upstairs, in the canteen, the manager and his staff eat lunch in front of a “virtual brick wall” decorated with messages from 200 supporters.

‘There is no “us and them” at play here’, The Guardian article continues, ‘on match days players are told to walk through the fan zone en route to the home changing room to engage with young supporters, and after every game a “gallant gang of volunteers”, as the Trust chair, Nick Hawker, puts it, stay behind to pick up coffee cups and crisp packets. In the past many also helped with providing ticketing support.’

Find out more about the FSA’s community-owned clubs…

The Departure of Mark Hughes

8th October 2023

It is with great frustration and sadness that yet another manager has gone after just 11 games and during the most difficult period for the manager so far and the team, clearly not in form.

It has come as no surprise that Hughes’s tenure at the Club has come to an end. After just about reaching the play offs and losing to Carlisle in the process, there was an expectation that just perhaps his selected acquisitions over the Summer would neatly settle into the team and the demand to play neat passing football would work, but the issues that were present in the previous season reappeared this season, and the team never really got going at all during this season’s campaign so far albeit with some exception.

It was never going to be easy

We warned however, just before this season kicked off that this season would not be easy. We knew there would be pressure from the off and the dividing lines of opinions between realism versus great expectation would form very quickly, but perhaps not as quickly as has developed. No one predicted such shocking displays of football within these 11 games so far. It is the manner in which the team has played up to now that has been so disappointing, and no fan of any football team enjoys watching their team play stripped of belief.

Underperforming football

It is the frustration of watching years of underperforming football from manager after manager, and Hughes was just another passenger who struggled to manage yet another crop of players failing to play well as a team and string a few results together. Fans have been asking how has an experienced manager like Mark Hughes and former successful striker at some of the world’s top clubs failed to understand the game at this level?

Fans want a team to believe in

Bradford City fans are some of the loyal and most passionate people, and don’t ask for much in the main. With some effort and determination in a team that is comfortable in going forward our supporters will roar them on. We want some hope and something to believe in. When we score we celebrate and cheer them on to score again. We want to be the 12^th man, but the team has to give us something for us to give back.

The cycle

Whilst we respect and understand the mood of many that Hughes had to go, we have to ask who will be given the big responsibility of taking up the mantle as the manager to sort the wheat from the chaff as they say and transform an underperforming team into a performing one, and just how long will they survive? We are sure that there will be many looking at Bradford City that will think they can.

Mark Hughes must be the 10^th manager since Parky left? As we have said before, a static team, staying in league 2 is costly for the Club, and the road to success is too unforgiving, cut throat and short sighted, and this is because there is so much wealth in the game. It’s always a gamble, and therein lies the fact that these periods, or regular cycles in City’s case, of pressure to getting rid are damaging to all clubs that go through it.

The land of milk and honey

The more managers we go through, the more pressure is then heaped on a club to do better. Not only that but supporters look towards the leadership of the club for answers about the ownership and the ground. No stone is unturned in the fans’ search for answers to questions as to why Bradford City cannot bring in a manager that can change the team and get us out of League Two, and into the league above – a step nearer to the Championship – the land where the EFL’s top clubs get the lion’s share of the Premier Leagues milk and honey, once they have had theirs.

Getting behind the team

The Trust offers our best wishes to the newly appointed interim management team, Kevin McDonald and Mark Trueman in their efforts to arrest the poor form of late, that started with a 1 – 0 win at VP against Swindon Town at the weekend. Bobby Pointon the scorer.

When we get a new permanent manager we hope that as a Bantams Family we can all get behind the whole team to see a much stronger collective effort develop that can put in a half decent promotion challenge this season.

Southend & Scunthorpe

5th October 2023

Southend and now Scunthorpe are in a financial mess and recently joined forces putting out a Joint Statement on the 2^nd of October.

In August Southend United were given a 10 point deduction by the National League for failing to pay an outstanding tax bill and were given a further 42 days to pay their tax bill by the High Court. Missing the initial deadline incurred the 10point deduction.

The Shrimpers Trust and other supporters groups at the time were urging Ron Martin, the owner to conclude the sale of the club.

Worried that Southend could go out of business and cease to exist after 117 years, earlier this year fans had a meeting to discuss the plight of the club and options to save the club, including exploring the possibility of starting a phoenix club should they be wound up in October.

The Shrimpers Trust have said, “we have made it abundantly clear to everybody we have spoken to that supporter involvement should be a key component of any new structure post-takeover.” For more info on the Shrimpers plight see here & here.

In a latest twist to the saga, the BBC learned that Ron Martin has finally sold the Club to a consortium led by Australian businessman Justin Rees. The deal came just before the Club was to end up in court with a wind up order on the 4^th October.

Scunthorpe

In a similar way, The Irons are also on the brink of collapse with no bills being paid, their last match to be played at Glanford Park, home since 1988, against Brackley Town on Saturday 7^th October, and the Club owner and chairman David Hilton has confirmed he is “actively seeking a way out”. He has ceased funding the Club and it is up to supporters now to keep it going.

‘Following the non-payment of staff wages for September, supporters across the country have raised over £60,000 to help assist those individuals. The generosity of football fans across the country proves how important each and every club is the footballing ecosystem’, taken from the Shrimpers and Irons Trust’s joint statement.

There will be a peaceful unity walk, encouraging fans from across the country to join together at 1.30pm, gathering at Al-murad Tiles, Scunthorpe, opposite the Berkeley roundabout, from where supporters will depart from 2pm to Glanford Park for one last time.

In the latest developments, it is understood that the Club have now been taken over by local businesswomen, Michelle Harness to end the troubled rein of former owner and alleged convicted criminal, David Hilton.

The Athletic reports that Harness, a former commercial manager and current director has negotiated a deal that sees Hilton severs any ties with Scunthorpe United without a fee.

Talks have taken place that should enable Scunthorpe to remain at Glanford Park beyond this weekend’s visit of Brackley Town, with the Iron Trust and North Lincolnshire Council also involved in the process.

An overdue six-figure sum owed to HMRC is also to be settled by the new ownership group.

A sustainable future for football

The plight of both clubs illustrates a complex web of complications that show separations between Club and stadium and irresponsible owners. It shows that the current ‘Owners and Directors test’ needs to be strengthened and an independent regulator to enforce it. See more here.

The Football Supporters Association has long campaigned for a fans’ led review of football governance – with an independent regulator at the heart of it, and we got one. The key has been giving it statutory powers by making it legal and it is likely to pass through parliament in 2024.

However, what we also need to see is a genuine, more equal redistribution of wealth through the leagues otherwise clubs will still be beset with problems of financial hardship.

Fill in our City Fans' Survey

29th September 2023

It covers your match day experiences: how you bought your season tickets, what you consider value for money on match day tickets and discounts, loyalty points, the membership scheme, programme, catering, Supporter representation and more!

Complete our survey here.

Save the Date for the Trust AGM 2023

27th September 2023

Members and none members are cordially invited to our Supporters’ Trust Annual General Meeting (AGM), to be held on Wednesday 22nd November, from 7pm, at Jacobs Well, near Bradford Interchange. We will also be on Skype if you live too far away.

Bantams Supporters Trust is just as relevant today as it was when it was founded over 20 years ago now, then when the Club was in crisis.

Today, thankfully, we are not with collection buckets to save the Club, and rather, we are part of a necessary mechanism of Club fan engagement called Structured Dialogue, a process where we can put across what our members and supporters are saying in response to an ever evolving moving feast of developments at our Club with the back drop of how national developments are taking place within football and society.

For those of you that are not aware, the Trust is a Mutual Benefit Society, which means that we are a cooperative – democratically owned and controlled by our members. Each member can have a share, which is at its minimum, is valued at £1.

The importance of the shares is that they could be used for buying a stake in the ground or the Club if members were to direct us into doing that.

At the AGM you will be able to hear about the work of the Trust throughout the year, and you will be able to hear about the purpose of its policy motions. We encourage questions, discussion and debate, but only members can vote.

Report of the Trust's meeting with Tiffin Catering managers from Tiffin at BCAFC

25th September 2023

On Monday 15^th May 23, the Trust met with Doug Stewart the Tiffin Stadium Catering Director.

At the time of writing Tiffin were in their second year of a 5 year contract at the Club and managed just the 18 kiosks around the concourses of the stadium.

The Club publicised that Tiffin were to take on the rest of the catering services in the bars and suites on the 16^th June. The catering in the suites were previously run by The Yorkshire Catering Company.

The Club article highlighting the new deal, says Tiffin Stadium Catering will “provide the entirety of Valley Parade’s catering for the next five years, having controlled the stadium’s kiosk operation for the past two seasons.”

The deal to run all of the Club’s catering services may change what they can and can’t offer. The following report of the meeting took place before the deal took place.

It was clear from our meeting that they care about fans and the service and food they offer, with everything focusing on quality and speed of service.

Regarding making sure they have enough choice of food and drink Doug said that they have got better at judging after making mistakes in their first year. They stock up more the most popular kiosks but the winter nights are a hard judge of attendances and how many will go to the kiosks.

Chips – Doug is aware that chips would be popular, however there are strict health and safety regulations with regards to commercial frying and there are very few locations within the stadium for this. There is a finite amount of physical space and they would need a commercial extraction fan for this too.

They are looking into alternatives and mushy peas and gravy maybe part of this alternative.

Alternative dietary requirements: such as ‘gluten free’, vegan and meat alternatives were raised. Doug said it is a difficult one, as they have to cater to what the majority want, which is what sells the most. They have tried veggie options but they’ve not sold well and many have been thrown away. People have requested specific foods but there is no guarantee they will get to a match and get one.

Doug suggested that supporters could request through their website 2 weeks in advance as an idea, and it would give enough time for the food to be brought in, but the customer would have to pick it up but the food would be cold.

With hot drinks, they currently sell Bovril, Tea with powder milk and black coffee with milk portions.

The still have the Balti pie as it is still as popular as ever. We asked if they would ever change supplier on pies from Pukka to something more local, but it was said many fans would be upset if they changed them.

Beer range: It was asked if they could have a better range, but it was explained that Tiiffin are tied to a brewery contract with Molson Coors so they can only have what the brewery offers. As well as Carling, Madri is another beer that is within the Molson Coors range and was put in after they invested a lot into the infrastructure of the beer lines and taps, which mean they throw away less beer.

They can do bottled beer and they will be offering Stowford Press cider in bottles. There is a limit to where they can store and cool bottled drinks though. Ale drinkers may have to wait a little while longer until they get what they wish for.

Doug said that as a result of government carbon reduction policies we may see a move away from plastic bottles. This may take some time.

Reduction of queues – There were a number of ideas suggested such as vending machines for drinks, such as coffee / tea, and snacks such as crisps, sweets etc.

Again, lack of physical space came up and also safety, free from potential damage to them is a risk. There is potentially the possibility of having tea rooms in the old betting areas on the concourses.

Using cash tills as well as card was asked, but that isn’t going to happen as Doug says, the kiosks demand quick turn-around, were the customer gets their product and pays on card. It would add two or three minutes accounting for operating tills and giving change back etc.

It was asked about the incident when they had to use cash after the Internet lines broke down. The Internet line was cut by accident due to workers outside who started a job a day earlier than planned and agreed.

There is now a back up Internet line now so there is no risk of that situation happening again

More staffing was another request. Doug said, they are always looking for new staff, and again, it is always hard to predict how many staff to put on for a match, and there are situations where they need emergency cover if someone is sick / fails to come in.

Affordability and the cost of living crisis

Doug reported that there were 3 price increases by the supplier for the beers during the season which Tiffin absorbed themselves as they promise not to make price increases during a season, but they won’t be able to continue absorbing them so inevitably they will be continuing with price increases each season.

And they will continue with popular meal deal offers that supporters can take advantage of, but they are aware that for some, matchday food is not affordable for everyone, which is why they allow supporters to bring their own food and drink in. Not all catering companies within stadiums do that, they said.

The Tiffin website.

We are sponsoring Sam Bentley this 2023-24 Campaign

19th September 2023

The Trust, proud to run the Young Player of the Year, has a good track record for sponsoring emerging talent.

This year we are sponsoring defender, Sam Bentley (18) who won last season’s, Academy Player of the year, and has recently signed a contract to keep him at Valley Parade until the end of the season.

During City’s pre season friendlies over the summer, Bentley featured in the squad against Park Avenue, however he has been playing at non-league Northern Premier side Brighouse Town on loan from the start of the season, rejoining fellow Bantams Academy teammate and midfielder, Jack Wilson (19), last season’s Trust sponsored player.

10 key barriers facing disabled fans

12th September 2023

Women’s football could improve the accessibility of the game for more than a quarter of disabled fans, simply by increasing the information available, says Level Playing Field. More than 1750 disabled fans of women’s football and other sports responded to their survey.

Results from the Level Playing Field survey on disabled supporters of women’s football, showed a ‘lack of information’ was a barrier for attending matches to a significantly higher proportion of fans (26%), than in last year’s annual fan survey across all sports (16%).

The ‘cost of attending’ and ‘difficulty purchasing tickets’ were both shown to be lesser barriers for disabled fans attending women’s football.

Communication is a key area highlighted for improvement, with 38% of respondents rating their club’s ‘communication and marketing when it comes to attracting disabled fans into watching women’s football’ as ‘poor’, ‘very poor’, or ‘non-existent’.

46% of fans listed ‘accessibility information’ as something which would help when planning for and travelling to women’s matches, with only accessible parking ranking higher.

‘Physical access at stadiums’ is the highest ranked barrier at 29% while ‘anxiety or lack of confidence’ (28%) and ‘attitudes of others’ (24%) also received high responses, which Level Playing Field says is in line with data from other sports.

The 10 biggest disability-related barriers fans face when attending live sport:

Physical access at stadiums
Anxiety or lack of confidence
Lack of information
Attitudes of others
Unable to travel to stadium
Difficulty purchasing tickets
“I don’t think stadiums are inclusive for disabled people”
Cost of attending
Stadium policies and rules
Lack of support from club staff

“Provisions must be improved”

Chair of Level Playing Field, Tony Taylor, said: “This important research will be highly valuable as we look to drive accessibility and inclusion in the women’s game, alongside its ongoing increases in attendances and revenue.

“The first-of-its-kind survey has developed our understanding of the unique landscape within women’s football meaning we are better placed to support fans, clubs, disabled supporters’ associations and governing bodies.

“Whilst many of the key areas of concern are comparable with wider sport, the need to improve accessibility information is a key outlier.

“This is something which we will proactively look to work on with governing bodies and clubs. I hope all parties see this as an opportunity to make immediate, simple and impactful improvements in the way they engage with disabled fans now and in the future.

“We hope to see the growth in the women’s game continue over the coming years and with that growth, provisions for disabled supporters must also be improved.”

Report

The full report on the results from Level Playing Field’s survey on disabled supporters of women’s football, is available here.

The 2023 Level Playing Field Annual Fan Survey received more than 1750 responses and was open to disabled fans of women’s football and all other sports. The results will be released later this year.

FSA National Supporters Survey stats

11th September 2023

Earlier this year, the FSA surveyed almost 10,000 football supporters (which we helped to promote) to get their thoughts on the state of the game – the biggest survey of fans by fans since our last census in 2017.

Some of the headline figures on support for an independent regulator and views on VAR have already been reported, you can see those here, and now we can release the results of the census in more detail. Take a look below…

9,675 fans filled in the survey, which ran online between 20th March and 18th April. Figures have been rounded to one decimal place, and certain questions allowed more than one response, or for respondents to prefer not to give an answer, so figures will not always add up to 100%.

Age breakdown

Under 18 – 1.4%
18 to 25 – 6.2%
26 to 35 – 12.8%
36 to 45 – 16%
46 to 55 – 18.8%
56 to 65 – 24.7%
Over 65 – 19.3%

Gender breakdown

Male – 83.8%
Female – 14.5%
Non-binary/other – 0.7%

Who do you support?

63.9% support only one men’s team
16.7% support more than one men’s team
4.2% support only one women’s team
2.6% support more than one women’s team
21% support both a men’s and women’s team
1.5% described themselves as general football fans without a particular team

Match attendance

60.4% attended at least 15 home matches last season, while 9.4% attended none
67.4% attended at least one away match last season, with 11.7% attending 15 or more.
65% held a season ticket (3.1% of whom shared it with friends/family)
11.1% of season ticket holders are either probably or definitely not renewing for 2023/24

Matchday and fan behaviour

Almost half of fans (48.6%) live within 15 miles of their home team’s stadium, while one in ten (10.8%) live more than 200 miles away.
Two thirds of fans (65.7% agreed with the statement that swearing and bad language was part of watching football.
Opinions on drinking within sight of the pitch are split – 39.2% are in favour of a ban, while 44.8% are opposed.
Roughly 1 in 5 fans have experienced either racist, homophobic or sexist language at the match, the same proportion as in our 2017 survey.
29.7% have heard other language they consider offensive from a supporter.
Two thirds (63.3%) were confident that their club would deal with a report of discrimination appropriately, up from 55.6% in 2017.
The numbers reporting having seen unfair/unnecessary treatment from police and stewards has almost halved since our 2012 survey. The proportion who have witnessed bad policing behaviour has fallen from 32.4% to just 16.7%, while for stewarding that number has fallen from 46.6% to 25% in the same timeframe.
A third of fans (33.1%) have been in the vicinity of a smoke bomb/flare being discharged, down from 37.3%.
There’s no consensus on whether fan behaviour is improving, however – 36.3% agreed that the standards of behaviour have deteriorated in the past few seasons, while 31.8% disagreed.

Women’s Game

Around a quarter of our respondents indicated that they supported a women’s team, and there were a number of topics that we were keen to get their opinions on when it comes to the women’s game.

Four in five (80.7%) agreed that more money should be distributed from the men’s game to support the growth of the women’s game
Just over a quarter (29.2%) agreed that women’s teams should be independent from their men’s equivalent
Support for VAR in the women’s game was less than half (45.5%), with a third (33.1%) against.
Almost half disagreed that there was sufficient coverage of the women’s game in the mainstream media/on national TV, with only a third (35.9%) agreeing that the coverage was adequate.
Three quarters (74.2%) agreed that women’s teams should be allowed to stream their games even during the 3pm blackout.
Only one in ten (10.4%) thought the women’s league cup had lost its relevance to fans.

Cost of living

16.1% of our respondents are attending more games in recent seasons, while a quarter (26%) say they are attending fewer.
Of those who are attending less, the main reasons cited were: work and family commitments (30.9%), high ticket prices (30.3%), inability to access tickets (22.8%), a change in financial circumstances (21.9%) and feeling disillusioned with football in general (17.9%).
Two in five (40%) fans said the rising cost of living has impacted on how much they are able to spend on football, and fans are overall spending less – 31.9% have reduced their typical matchday spend, as opposed to just 17.4% who say it has increased.
There was strong support for an away ticket price cap in the EFL – almost nine in ten (88.2%) were in favour, and similarly in the FA Cup with 83.3% in favour.
There was also majority support, however, for lower league sides being able to raise ticket prices for cup matches against top-flight opposition – 51.8% were in favour, with 21.9% against.

Competitions

36.2% of respondents believe the FA Cup has lost its relevance to fans, while that figure rises to half (50.7%) when asked about the League Cup.
There is no support for moving the FA Cup to midweek – only 7.1% of fans were in favour of a midweek competition.
There is still strong support for replays – 69.5% of fans believe they are an important aspect of the FA Cup, while only a third (38.8%) believe that if both clubs agree in advance that they should be allowed to avoid a replay and go straight to extra time and penalties.
Half of respondents (51%) were in favour of playing the League Cup semi-finals over one leg rather than two – a third (32.6%) preferred keeping the two legged format.
Only a quarter (26.1%) were in favour of abolishing replays in the FA Cup.

Other

The majority of fans (59.1%) support the retention of the 3pm blackout to protect lower league clubs.
Just under half of fans (46.9%) agreed with the statement that their club cares about them and their views.
Less than half of respondents (45.1%) agree that clubs value away fans and their impact on the game.
One in five (19.9%) fans believes that goal music helps the atmosphere at matches.
Three quarters (73.1%) are concerned about the amount of gambling advertising and sponsorship around football, and two thirds (66.2%) believe that gambling sponsorship in football should be banned.
Around two thirds (63%) of fans favoured a direct-to-consumer Netflix-style app for watching Premier League games over subscribing to multiple broadcasters.
Three quarters (75.4%) said that the supporters groups at their club do a good job of representing fans and their interests.
Only a quarter (26.6%) agreed their club was doing enough to cut down on the climate change impact of their activities.
Less than a quarter (22.9%) said that the standard of refereeing at games they watch is acceptable.
Half of respondents (52%) agreed there are not enough women in senior positions within football.
Almost a quarter (22.5%) agree that clubs competing in Europe should not enter the League Cup.
Only one in ten (11.5%) fans are in favour of the expansion of the men’s World Cup from 32 to 48 teams.

Pyro Guidance

7th September 2023

In almost every away game there is an incident of pyro usage, and it is becoming more frequently seen at Valley Parade too. The more regular they become, the greater risk someone may inadvertently get hurt. But what can be done about them?

Bradford City has posters dotted around the ground at matchday entry points promoting the campaign to ‘Love Football, Protect the Game’ warning supporters of the dangers of poor behavior, and more broadly, ‘high profile’ matches where there is a high risk of dangerous, illegal and unwelcome behaviour off the pitch, be it in the stands at increasingly high costs for clubs putting on extra police and security, and arrests are on the increase. But none of these are a deterrent.

Advice on what the law says on Pyro’s

Not all supporters realise how serious the consequences can be for those who break the law at the match – this isn’t always popular among those who want pyro legalized.

When individual supporters are charged with pitch invasions or pyro use we often pick up the pieces explaining that yes, it is against the law, and yes, it could have serious consequences for your employment and educational opportunities – and if you are banned it will affect when you can travel on holiday abroad.

We understand that many fans who use pyro might have positive intentions, to liven things up and help the atmosphere (as seen in some European matches), but the law doesn’t care about that, the law says you are committing a criminal offence:

If you are in possession of any pyro (ignited or not);
At any time during a match;
And you’re in any area where the match can be viewed (e.g. the stand).

The second pyro offence is if you are “entering or trying to enter” a football match. We have known fans who have been arrested well before the turnstiles on the basis they are suspected of ‘trying to enter’ the match.

We do think there’s a lack of understanding around pyro and the law in general. We see their use framed in a positive context at Glastonbury, and even in matchday programmes, so it’s understandable that some people might think their use is allowed. But it definitely isn’t.

There were 168 arrests in 2021-22 for this offence according to the Government’s stats and it’s worth noting the law doesn’t differentiate between flares, smoke bombs or fireworks.

Over the past decade the Football Supporters Association (FSA) have spoken to supporters themselves as well as distraught parents and anguished partners who fear jail time for their loved ones.

A prison sentence is rare, but it has happened before – the maximum sentence for these offences is 3 months imprisonment. Ending up in court with a criminal record, the risk of being in the press and in many cases, a football banning order, you have to ask, is it worth it?

What is a Football Banning Order?

Football Banning Orders (aka FBOs) were first introduced in 1989 by the Football Spectators Act and were originally intended to prevent violent and/or repeat offenders attending football matches here and abroad.

There’s an important distinction to be made between clubs bans and FBOs too. The former is, in effect, a private business banning you from their premises. A total waste of a season ticket, and you’ll not see your team in person for a while, but that’s more or less it.

FBOs are much, much more serious and can be imposed by a court following conviction. The minimum FBO is three years and up to five years for this offence. The minimum FBO for any fan sent to prison is six years up to ten years.

If you get a FBO you must surrender your passport when the England/Wales football team or your club play overseas. Most FBOs restrict your freedom of movement on matchdays and you can be banned from your team’s city centre.

Imagine not being able to go shopping on a Saturday or abroad for a holiday because you once ran onto the pitch? That’s how severely a FBO can impact your life.

Specialist legal advice

Sometimes specialist legal advice will be required, such as when a supporter is arrested, and we refer those cases to solicitors who have a track record going back many years, having represented hundreds of supporters during the time they have worked with the FSA.

Football Law Associates have had a long standing working relationship with the FSA since 2008, assisting countless supporters over the years.

Football Law Associates specialises in representing football supporters who require advice and assistance at the police station or court. Representation at the police station is free under the Legal Aid Advice & Assistance Scheme and some supporters will be eligible for free representation at court. They offer free initial phone consultations so fans can get advice on their case, with no obligation.

If you would like a confidential and free call with one of their solicitors please call 0333 939 0063 or contact via Football Law Associates.

We believe that supporters have a collective spirit to look after one another, and if need be, re-educate. We are all part of the Bantams family and we should all be on the same page in safeguarding the future of football

If all supporters where possible can help to explain to mates / people we know that the risk of carrying pyro’s to games and letting them off in football grounds isn’t worth getting caught, or alert stewards or police if necessary then we’ve done something worthwhile. Preventative measures always work best.

New Season, new record high ticket prices in the Premier League

4th September 2023

The majority of Bradford City Supporters are very fortunate to have had their season ticket prices frozen, and match day tickets are also frozen for this season too, with a commitment to continued discounts to get big crowds in at Valley Parade (see report of our last Structured Dialogue meeting with the Club).

Contrast this with ticket prices creeping up at many other clubs, and it is in the Premier League (PL) we are seeing them increase the sharpest – many of who can easily afford to drop prices as a result of their vast wealth due to the TV income they receive.

The most expensive season tickets in the Premier League are to be found in London at Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. At £3,000 Fulham now have the dearest, non-corporate season ticket in the country which are located in its newly-built riverside stand.

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur come in second and third with their highest non-corporate season tickets costing £2,025 and £1,783 respectively.

Additionally – Newcastle United, West Ham United, Manchester United and Manchester City all have some non-corporate season tickets passing the £1,000 mark.

The Football Supporters Association (FSA) PL network manager Thomas Concanon said: “We have seen a common trend of prices going up, some into the double digits, which immediately raises concerns.

“There’s a cost of living crisis, and football needs to remain affordable. We don’t want to price fans out of going to games, especially when football is awash with money from broadcasting and sponsorship.”

At Fulham, the issue of ticket prices has been of concern for successive seasons and supporter groups have been pushing back against the club’s attempts to continually push the limit on ticket pricing.

Fulham reported the second highest average season ticket price rise of 18%, behind Nottingham Forest’s 20%.

For those who can’t afford season tickets or are on a waiting list for one, matchday tickets are often the only way of seeing their team.

Sadly there’s little good news here too – for instance, while Tottenham Hotspur may have frozen season tickets, matchday prices have gone up significantly. See moe here.

And at Villa Park, season ticket pricing of its new Terrace View section costs a staggering £1,500, after 15% price hike all round the ground.

Aston Villa Supporters’ Trust say the club is handling renewals extremely poorly – delaying sales and renewals in cheaper areas of the ground to push supporters towards the more expensive, renovated Terrace View section.

Protests

Hundreds of Tottenham Hotspur supporters demonstrated their anger over the decision to increase matchday ticket price this season ahead of the club’s home match against Manchester United on the 19^th of August. See more here.

Earlier in August, West Ham United fans criticised their club for increasing the age for concessionary tickets for older fans to 66 and have launched a petition against the move. See more here.

Whilst in the EFL…

The FSA have been calling for reciprocal deals on matchday tickets for away fans and this season Leeds United have been on of the first to agree such an idea in the Championship. See more here.

The FSA fought a long campaign for a football-wide away ticket price cap which the Premier League eventually introduced at £30 in 2016 which culminated in a walk out of Liverpool fans at home organized by the Spirit of Shankly Union, involving as many as 10,000 supporters.

The FSA have also raised the possibility of a price cap with the EFL who insist that it’s up to each club to determine their own pricing strategy.

In Leagues One and Two, Trust representatives have been researching away match ticket pricing and discussing a strategy going forward.

Football unites to improve participant & fan behaviour - 2023-24

25th August 2023

Bradford City, whilst it has one of the largest fan bases in Leagues One and Two, it also has with it a layer of it that can give cause for concern and give the club a bad name. This is something that mostly all clubs have to contend with these days.

Now, The English football authorities are introducing a series of measures to help improve the behaviour of players, managers and coaches across the professional, National League system and grassroots game, as well as addressing the issue of football tragedy abuse.

New policies, procedures, and regulations have come into force at the start of this 2023-24 season, to address unacceptable conduct on the pitch, on the side-lines and in the stands, to ensure that the actions of the minority do not spoil the game for all.

This builds on the work carried out throughout last season to combat dangerous and illegal fan behaviour, supported by the ‘Love Football. Protect the Game’ football-wide campaign.

Participant behaviour – players & managers

As part of this reset, the FA, Premier League, EFL, Barclays Women’s Super League, Barclays Women’s Championship, National League System (Steps 1-4) and referees’ governing body PGMOL have collectively launched a new Participant Charter.

The charter which was developed in partnership with the League Managers Association (LMA) and Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) will see stronger measures for players, managers, coaches, support staff and club officials to adhere to on a matchday.

Under the new approach, match officials will be empowered to take more robust action alongside a consistent application of the existing measures when participant behaviour falls below expected standards, and the FA will apply stronger supplementary disciplinary action.

Captains are expected to take responsibility for their teammates encouraging them to play fairly and show respect towards the match officials and their decisions.

Where match officials are confronted, surrounded or their personal space invaded by multiple players, at least one player will receive a card. The FA could also take further action against the club.

New measures will include:

A new technical area code of conduct to require managers, coaches and other club staff members to behave in a responsible manner.
Increased financial penalties for serious and repeat offenders.
Academy scholars to undertake refereeing courses to improve players’ education into officiating.

For the grassroots game, the FA has announced new regulations from the start of the 2023-24 season, including point deductions for teams whose players or coaches commit repeated offences of serious misconduct.

The trial of bodycams for referees will continue into the 2023-24 season, while a new code of conduct will be introduced to set behavioural expectations and embed usage.

Fan Behaviour

To challenge the totally unacceptable presence of football tragedy abuse, for season 2023-24, regulation changes and tough new measures have been introduced which will see people who are found to have committed offences face stadium bans and potential criminal prosecution.

The issue is focused on offensive chanting, gesturing and displaying offensive messages based on football-related tragedies, which causes significant distress to the victims’ families, survivors and affected-club supporters. Football authorities, supporter groups and law enforcement organisations, including the police and Crown Prosecution Service, have united to crack down on fans who participate in this vile form of abuse.

In addition to bans and criminal sanctions, a range of in-stadium, in-classroom and online resources will be rolled out under the ‘Love Football Protect the Game’ banner, to educate adults and children alike about the hurt tragedy chanting causes.

Ground regulations have also been updated to incorporate references to tragedy chanting.

The game will also continue its efforts to combat dangerous, illegal and unwelcome behaviour off the pitch, be it in the stands or online. Last season a host of new measures were introduced by authorities which saw enhanced sanctions applied for people identified entering the pitch, using pyros, taking drugs to games, throwing objects or for discriminatory abuse.

Restorative justice pilot scheme

To support the rehabilitation of those identified as having engaged in negative matchday behaviour, a new pilot scheme is now in development phase which will refer young people to a restorative justice education programme that will seek to inform and educate about the impact of their behaviour on others.

The scheme is being run by the Premier League, EFL, Premier League Community Fund and the EFL Trust with support from local police forces and will be trialled at ten clubs across the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two.

National League (Steps 5 and 6) and the grassroots game

Applicable to addressing both unwanted spectator and participant behaviour, the FA, working alongside Kick It Out, have created a joint action plan to tackle serious misconduct across Steps 5 and 6 of the National League system and grassroots football. The plan focuses on three key areas: increasing awareness and knowledge of serious incidents and how to report them; enhancing reporting processes by making them clearer and more accessible; and a commitment to tackling ‘problem areas’ in the game where serious incidents are most prevalent.

The outputs from the action plan will be rolled out across the season.

In addition, specific to the grassroots game, the FA will look at ways to encourage positive spectator behaviour, with leagues supported to run silent support weekends, to highlight the impact side-line behaviour can have on players.

Comment from across the game

Speaking ahead of the new season’s kick off, leaders from across English football offered insight into the game’s renewed efforts to improve participant and fan behaviour:

Mark Bullingham, chief executive of the FA: “Football has the unique power to unite, inspire and improve the lives of all those that play and watch the game at any level. However, in recent years we have seen how this can be negatively impacted by a small minority of players, coaches and fans.

“This season, English football is coming together with a commitment to address this unacceptable behaviour within our game, on the pitch and on the side-lines. We understand that it will take time to adapt to these new measures – but we are confident that they will have a positive impact at all levels.

“We are also determined to address the rise in unacceptable behaviour from the stands. Incidents such as dangerous conduct, discrimination, and chanting about football-related tragedies have no place in our game – and can lead to football bans and potential criminal action. Passion, emotion and excitement are fundamental to football, however this must be shown in the right way. Everyone can play their part, so that together we can create a safe and enjoyable environment for all.”

Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League: “Football has an incredible power to inspire people of all ages, and the professional game sets an example to all those who play and watch the sport.

“We want players, managers and fans to continue showing their passion, but these new measures have been introduced to ensure that the line is not crossed when it comes to on-field and technical area behaviour.

“We also strongly believe there is no room for abhorrent tragedy abuse in football. Along with our clubs and the authorities, we are committed to sanctioning those found guilty and will also focus on educating fans of all ages so they understand why this abuse is so hurtful and unacceptable.”

Trevor Birch, chief executive of the EFL: “Players and managers are looked up to and whether on the pitch, on the touchline or in the stands, we all have a role to play in protecting our game and making it an enjoyable place for all to enjoy the matchday.

“With over 22 million attending EFL games last season, vibrant, lively stadiums and contests on the pitch make our game so great, but there is a line, and we must all do our bit to check, challenge and address behaviour that crosses the line. These measures build on the work of last season, and I hope they improve the matchday experience yet further in what is promising to be another memorable season.”

Howard Webb, chief refereeing officer at PGMOL: “Football has come together and recognised that it’s time to change. There is a collaborative desire from all corners of the game to tackle unacceptable behaviour and we know we must play our part in delivering that.

“Whatever your role or connection with football, that pride and passion for the English game is there for us all and are key reasons why we love it, but the power of example is strong – what’s seen in the professional game is replicated at grassroots level. We have a collective duty to set new standards and leave a legacy for the benefit of the game’s future.”

Jack Pearce, FA vice-chair and chair of the National League: “It is vital that football comes together and acts now, to reset the culture within our game. Unfortunately, the game has normalised unacceptable behaviour in recent seasons and the message is clear; we will not allow this to continue. The National League System fully supports this approach and looks forward to seeing the impact it has across our leagues, ahead of what should be another thrilling season for us all”.

Douglas Mackay, deputy chief Crown prosecutor and sports national lead prosecutor: “The CPS continues to work closely with the football authorities including the Premier League, Football Association, English Football League, Women’s Super League, Women’s Championship, National League, police, clubs, and charities to look to stamp out these appalling and horrendous incidents of tragedy chanting and gesturing. We want supporters to enjoy and be passionate in following their teams but not cross the line into criminality. The CPS takes this offending extremely seriously as seen in our recent prosecutions of Zakir Hussain, James White and Kieron Darlow.

“We are sending a clear message that we call on so called fans to stop this vile behaviour of a minority which has a terrible impact on the bereaved and communities. If they do not then they face the risk of being excluded from the game they claim to love.”

Joe Blott, FSA National Council member: “The FSA welcomes the work that has been done to address the growing concern about football tragedy abuse. Vital to its success will be education and the role supporters have in developing empathy and understanding, talking about the negative and harmful impacts, but so too is recognition of consequences for supporters who continue to participate in such behaviour.

“Supporters have a long track record of policing ourselves so it’s vital that we show real leadership and demonstrate our opposition to tragedy chants, gestures and slurs at all grounds and on social media. Lets Keep the passion and lose the poison.”

Report of meeting with BCAFC

24th August 2023

Bantams Supporters Trust met with the Club on Monday 21^st August, and was a much needed catch up since March.

The backdrop to this meeting reflected the progressive developments since both parties met 5 months ago, and so there will be a lot of reference to last season.

Matchday experiences - First up was the outcome of the Trust’s meeting with Doug Stewart in May, which was a very fruitful discussion predominantly about what the kiosks were offering, scope for improvements and prices. Since then Tiffins has taken over all of the Clubs catering facilities. We hope to put out a report of the meeting as soon as we can.

Railed seating – It was asked about a feasibility study, and the Club said this was on-going work with the Safety Advisory Group (SAG) – A group made up of the local authority, the police and the Club. It was asked about fan representation as it was explained that the Sports Ground Safety Authority (a national body set up by the government that gives licences to football grounds) recommends fan representation on local bodies of it in the form of SAGs. The Sports Ground Safety Authority have specific requirements for providing licences to football stadia contained in the ‘Green Guide’. Local authorities provide safety certificates with the advice of SAGs.

It was advised to speak to the Club’s Director of Operations, Paula Watson about this request.

Lighting around exits of the stadium – it was said that some of the areas of the ground are quite dark on exiting the ground around the ground, around the stairs and exits of the kop where supporters walk through the school leading to Rock Terrace. There have been additional lighting improvements, but it was suggested to approach the Council about lighting on the public pathways.

Stewarding home and away – The Trust raised this from experiences away, where we have only been allocated one end, that there have been situations, where some of our fans have struggled to find seats to sit down or sit in their allocated seat if seats are reserved with seat numbers. At home where we see less numbers of away fans making the visit to Valley Parade generally, we did seen the away areas filled by Grimsby and Carlisle supporters, and it was observed there were similar problems.

The discussion moved to anti social behaviour, and the Club’s response was that whilst there have been some high profile games at home with added security at a cost, that included sniffer dogs, there was a feeling that the Club and football in general cannot stop fans intent on creating public nuisance, disorder or criminal behaviour in stadiums such as throwing flairs onto the pitch. There are many preventative measures but those fans intent on causing trouble will simply circumvent them, and all steward, security and Police can do is simply try and contain it.

Last season there were 15 banning orders of City fans and currently we are looking at one or two arrests each week and the Club believe that the issue is one of society, rather than something football clubs can manage itself.

The Trust agree that it is a societal problem, however, there is a challenge that football authorities needs to work together with supporters groups to find solutions.

Education and Restorative Justice practices can have a place as part of addressing underlying reasons of displaying poor behaviour for some individuals and their families as part of finding ways of reducing incidents.

The English football authorities are introducing a series of measures to help improve the behaviour of players, managers and coaches across the professional, National League system and grassroots game, as well as addressing the issue of football tragedy abuse.

These new policies, procedures, and regulations came into force to address unacceptable conduct on the pitch, on the side-lines and in the stands, to ensure that the actions of the minority do not spoil the game for all. You can find out more on an FSA article, ‘Football unites to improve participant & fan behaviour – 2023-24’ published ahead of this season here.

The Trust commended the Club on the improved signage around the stadium, especially the posters, ‘Love Football, Protect The Game’ from the football authorities and FSA.

Plans to improve the Supporter Liaison Officer (SLO) team – It was said that the Cub are recruiting for a paid lead role, and there would be volunteer roles in the long term as well. It is hoped that the new SLO will start to organise / develop new match day experience plans.

Loyalty Points Survey findings – The Trust felt that the findings weren’t a surprise. With less than 2,000 responding, the Club said it was the lowest uptake of a survey since these fan engagement surveys were initiated, which suggested they are not as big an issue as is widely perceived.

It was added by the Trust that perhaps the majority of those filling in the survey were supporters that didn’t have an issue, but equally it could be said that the low participation reflected a certain amount of cynicism, widespread in society about whether surveys, or anything else can effect change.

It was re emphasised that the Loyalty points system rewards supporters that go to the games, and there will never be a system that will please everyone.

Season Ticket prices and special offers – The Trust were delighted that the season ticket prices and matchday prices were once again frozen at a time that they are on the rise, especially the further up the pyramid. The Trust reported that within the FSA networks we have been conducting research on away ticket prices, and within the Premier League there have already been lobbies and protests organised against season ticket and match day hikes for home supporters.

EFL & FSA Match Experience Fans’ Forum Review - The Club’s representatives attended the EFL Fans forum online as did many other Club reps and supporters. The studio had a panel of supporters and EFL heads and Club representatives as well as Kevin Miles, CEO of the FSA, and hosted by Sky Sports’ David Prutton.

Just to recap on it, the Forum which took place on 29^th March, was predominantly about how the football authorities, namely the EFL, clubs and police can work together with fans groups, via the FSA and Supporter Club / Trust organisations and equality and diversity fans groups to all play a positive role in improving the atmosphere and challenge the poor behaviour that has beset the game, and there was good anecdotal examples of how schemes and initiatives have had successful outcomes.

The Club response was it came across very genuinely and many aspects of Club work and routine, challenges and limitations came across. The Trust commented on how similar the language of senior staff within football clubs came across when explaining aims and objectives in running a club when compared to ours during fan engagement.

Recent Club Sanctions Policy update – In December last year The Trust met the Director of Operations, Paula Watson, and Safety Officer, Jonathon Heaton, and the Trust had been keen for the Club to adopt a more detailed sanctions policy that shows the severity of the sanction to the offense and show the process of stages a bit more clearly, such as showing the Club has a ‘sanction panel’ and an ‘appeals process’ for example. It was shortly after The EFL had introduced its’ new supporter sanctioning guide, developed with the FSA (Football Supporters Association), to assist its 72 clubs in dealing with supporter behaviour issues. You can find out more here.

We assisted with a drafting the new Banning and Ejections policy which is now up on the website here.

Her Game Too, Fans For Diversity and Kick It Out campaigns - The Trust reported it was pleased to see a visible campaign of this within the concourse of the main stand at a fixture towards the end of last season. The Trust would like to see more of this and reflecting other diversity campaigns like this with the stadium more often. The Club said that they have a flag representing Her Game Too, at the side of the stadium where the LGBT pride Flag is. The campaign is also now advertised on the Club website.

Regarding building our community links with the Club we raised the idea of a Community Day prior to the start of the season which would be like an ‘open day for kids seeing the players, 5 aside activities and a stall event in the suites. Prior to 2012 the Trust were involved in doing these things. The Club reported that would be a role for the new SLO to be organising and were happy for the Trust to follow this up with Paula Watson.

The Trust raised about a steering group of existing diversity groups at the Club and asked if the Trust could be involved to be more in the Community. We were in it some years ago but weren’t aware of anything at this moment in time. The Club reported that such a group still exists and we could approach Paula Watson about it.

Plans for the next Fans Forum – The Club had recently had one at the end of last season and they said it had gone reasonably well with lots of questions from the floor. The Trust added that it probably helped that the team had made it to the Play-Offs, and although we didn’t reach the final, the build up produced a big feel good factor. The Club said they remained committed to having the forums once a season, but there are no plans as yet to arrange another one.

Financial performance – The Club explained they are operating at a loss as a result of missing out on promotion through the play offs. The financial records that are published every year are always 9 months behind. The most recent financial report was published on the Club website on the 6^th April, this year, and the accounts reflected the previous year.

The Trust asked about financial investment in the team and ownership investment. It was said that much of the Club’s income is used in investment in the players’ budget, but there is no financial investment in the Club from Stefan Rupp, the owner. Asked about the interview, it was said it is three months old and the published financial figures always show there has been no investment from the owner.

A point was made that the Club, whilst operates on a deficit budget, the Club’s turnover of £8.51m was the highest in the Clubs’ history last year and highest outside of the Championship.

The Trust asked if promotion to the Championship would increase the staff size and there was definitely an affirmative on that, and an ability to get more done as a business and do more fan engagement.

The money received by clubs from the Premier League to the EFL broadly flows like this:

League 2 - £1.1m

League 1 - £1.6m

Championship - £8 – 9m

So the difference is massive getting to the Championship.

The Trust’s Structured Dialogue wish list – The Trust cited these meetings working well and that we are able to publish our reports of these meetings to our members on our media channels, however it would be great id the Club could report they have engaged with the Trust on it’s own website and media channels, and equally mention us publically as part of it’s commitment to fan engagement as well as the Supporters Board. It was suggested we could discuss with the Media Manager, Lewis Redmond about these things.

What do we think of City's prospects for this Season?

4th August 2023

This question is on everyone’s lips at the time of writing, just a few days before we kick off the campaign at creepy Crawley.

If anything this season’s roller coaster will be filled with more anticipation than most after Mark Hughes’ first full season as the manger where we saw some real improvement on the pitch both home and away, albeit more away than at home it has to be said, and for the first time in some seasons, certainly an element of luck was on our side more often than not in the main. As a result, there were more occasions where fans left Valley Parade smiling.

Many of the performances we not great, but more often we got a result, which increased our chances of climbing further up the table, but inconsistency, injuries, team selections, formations and pressure caused the team on many occasion not to play their best.

The results brought an increase in attendances the following matches, only to throw those games away. Other teams know our game plan.

Getting to the Play Offs was a success in itself but done the hard way and matches with Carlisle were an anti-climax.

This season marks our 120^th season, and much will be made of the teams that have graced Valley Parade making history over the course of the year.

Hughes will be under pressure to do so much better, but playing another season in League Two will no doubt be tough, especially with Wrexham getting promoted from the National League and we still have promotion contenders Salford and Wimbledon to contend with as well as newly relegated MK Dons who will be looking to bounce back up. And with City being a big fish in a small pond; with the biggest attendances home and away, every team will want to take points off us.

We will have to see how the Club’s transfer market dealing come off as the new signings develop themselves into the team as they take on the teams in the coming weeks.

Getting behind the team matters

It can often be divisive, but watching Bradford City with great expectations can often lead to disappointment and frustration, which can affect the atmosphere that then the players pick up on which can be counter productive. It could be said that having no expectation at all and simply just hoping for the best, could be the healthier option. Of course, all football fans want their teams to do well, however, our history shows we’ve had more success than all in our division and therefore there is a tendency to expect that this League should be a cake walk, but the reality is that it won’t, and it will be difficult. If we can watch matches with a view that on the pitch, without the history and big stadium and the thousands of fans in it, we are in fact more on a level playing field with the sides fielded by the opposition clubs, the expectation level would be perhaps more realistic. A glass half full kind of optimism – if we win that’s great! And if we lose, it’s not the end of the world, that would help us get behind the team more and take the pressure off a little and that could have a positive effect on the players.

But of course, we all know that football is big money. Success is rewarded with money. Being static – a lack of progress can cost money and fans know that only too well. Clubs financially banking on success have cost many a club back and Bradford City have been no exception. It may be an impossible ask to try and take away the great successes from our minds, but we can still have a more realistic appraisal of what we have as a competing team in League Two compared the others, and therefore a more realistic appraisal of our chances. Hopefully at best, we get automatic, if not, we go up via the play offs, but if we don’t do either, and we are still in League Two come May 2024 even if we are after getting to the Play-off final, or semi final, then hopefully that scenario shouldn’t have to cost Mark Hughes’ job. If it does, the road to success is too unforgiving, cut throat and short sighted. The old adage ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ comes to mind, and it becomes a costly process of finding another manager and they then take on developing another new squad with another strategy and system that inevitably will be analyzed and dissected upon by supporters. No manager has a magic wand. To date, sacking managers has only delayed our prospects of successfully getting out of this league and at the same time created an even greater impatience and pressure to get out of it.

Season Tickets

Over 14,000 supporters took advantage of the Early Bird price, which stayed the same as last years’ Early Bird, but if you are paying over direct debit, the payment schedule is two months shorter than a full 12 months as was last year, increasing monthly cost of payment from £16.50 to £19.50. At the time of writing the Club are close to 15,000 season tickets sold. It is a massive achievement that we can sell this many at such an affordable value.

Match day tickets

Also match day prices are also frozen which is commendable from the Club and we hope there are lots of opportunities for even cheaper offers for both home and away fans this season which will invite a greater atmosphere and spectacle at Valley Parade during the course of this 120^th anniversary season.

The price freeze comes at a time when many other clubs especially in the EPL and EFL Championship are raising theirs. Now there is something called a reciprocal deal scheme that some Clubs have agreed to adopt, where clubs offer that offer cheap match day prices to the away Club, the same offer is reciprocated by the opposition Club for when they play the return fixture. This practice is common when there are good fan engagement relations with supporters trusts.

Leeds United have conceded offering reciprocal deals to other EFL Championship clubs at a time when they have originally set prices for away fans in the West Stand £45 for category B matches and £47 for category A matches for this season.

And it was recently announced that Leeds will charge Cardiff fans £21 who come to Elland road for the opener of the season, and Leeds United’s travelling supporters will be offered £21 tickets for the return game in January 2024.

The FSA (Who the Trust is affiliated with) fought a long campaign for a football-wide away ticket price cap which the Premier League eventually introduced at £30 in 2016. FSA have also raised the possibility of a price cap with the EFL who insist that it’s up to each club to determine their own pricing strategy.

FSA is encouraging all our supporters’ groups in the Championship to lobby their clubs to set up a deal with Leeds United – there’s nothing wrong with individual fans contacting their club to make this point either. And it is to be encouraged for reciprocal deals at all clubs.

FSA’s EFL League One and Two Network drew interested Trust colleagues to discuss at a meeting recently how a campaign can be built to encourage League One and Two Clubs to adopt such a policy. We will update on how this will be taken when the minutes come out.

Loyalty Points Survey results

The Club revealed its’ survey findings on the 12th June. They put out the survey on the 7th May, just before the last fixture of the season, and it was out for a week.

The survey saw 1,821 City fans take part, that represented most of those that travel to most games, however, it was surprisingly not more than that considering the amount of discussion and debate the scheme raised over the course of last season.

It also reflects a certain amount of cynicism widespread in society about whether surveys, or anything else can effect change, or improvements, something not impervious to organisations such as ours.

Some of the key findings were not a surprise, that stand out, such as over 97% were aware of the scheme, or 72% who opposed the scheme being used for other products such as food, drink, matchday hospitality, the Club shop or suite upgrades.

The low percentage, just over 4%, that couldn’t get tickets, but yet had enough loyalty points was no surprise, but perhaps there should’ve been a question for those who struggled to maintain enough loyalty points to buy those away tickets that were in high demand. Maybe that would’ve produced a significant number.

There was no overall majority that said they were happy with the scheme, as it is the combined 22.41% saying no and the 32% who were uncertain, that were more than the 45.59 saying yes. Perhaps finding out why people said no or who were uncertain may have led to a better understanding of why not everyone was happy about the scheme.

The percentages around the value of the loyalty points for the various types of tickets reflected on average, an accurate viewpoints as well.

The Club will not be doing any changes to the scheme other than renaming the points to ‘City’ points.

Structured Dialogue meetings with Ryan Sparks

The Trust is due to meet with Ryan Sparks and hopefully other representatives of the Club’s Senior Leadership Team on Monday 21^st August. It is coming to 5 months since we last met. You can see the last meeting we had from the 15^th March here.

We would like to see a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Club. An MoU is a document representing a voluntary agreement between a club and supporters trust and helps formalise the relationship between the parties. It represents a qualitative step forward, however, getting there is a collective journey in itself, and developing a regular fixture of meetings is an important step towards it.

Love Football, Protect the Game

Ahead of the new season, we have seen it, on City’s and the FSA’s website news, that the English football authorities are introducing a series of measures to help improve the behaviour of players, managers and coaches across the professional, National League system and grassroots game, as well as addressing the issue of football tragedy abuse.

New policies, procedures, and regulations will come into force from the start of the 2023-24 season, to address unacceptable conduct on the pitch, on the side-lines and in the stands, to ensure that the actions of the minority do not spoil the game for all.

This builds on the work carried out throughout last season to combat dangerous and illegal fan behaviour, supported by the ‘Love Football. Protect the Game’ football-wide campaign. We have worked with the Club on this last season.

We will put out the fuller article explaining it at a later date.

And finally… The Extensive Trust Survey is on its way

It has taken a very long time to produce and covers experiences from last season, such as attending home and away games, iFollow and so on; the catering at the tea bars, season tickets – how you’ve purchased them for this season, the loyalty / City points, Club fan engagement and so on as well as issues about the wider game. It has been streamlined a bit so it will be less time consuming to get through, but it’s not quite with us yet. It is expected to be ready in September.

Don't forget to add your comments to the Dale Trust Rochdale Guide

31st July 2023

The City result and performance wasn’t exactly what everyone wanted but many City fans went to watch and went for your pre and post match drinks in and around Rochdale.

How was your experience? You can leave a comment or two about your journey, parking, the away ends, drinking or eating in Rochdale and more found on the Dale Trust’s Ground Guide here. You can then click on the relevant guide descriptions.

Some of the guide descriptions need to be added but throughout the guide you can still click on the links to a survey where you add your comments.

"Happy Tears" - Bury FC return to Gigg Lane this Saturday

27th July 2023

This coming Saturday marks the long awaited return of Bury FC to Gigg Lane – four years since mismanagement by their previous owner saw them kicked out of the EFL in August 2019.

More than a thousand Bantams fans celebrated their home coming with Shakers supporters in very welcomed friendly on the 8^th July where City hammered their side 6 nil.

A phoenix club, Bury AFC, was set up which played its games in neighbouring Radcliffe while others sought to continue at Gigg Lane. In May this year an agreement to merge was signed and Bury FC will once again play at its spiritual home.

Glossop North End will be their first opponents in the North West Counties Premier League and it’s sure to be an emotional occasion.

Whilst the non-league Step 5 game is a far cry from the heady days of League One in 2019-20, a season curtailed following the club’s fall into administration, it will nevertheless be a memorable day for all involved.

A Bury spokesperson said: “It’s been a long four years for Bury supporters, but we are sure there will be plenty of happy tears flowing at 3pm this Saturday as men’s competitive football resumes on the hallowed turf.”

“It was hard to galvanise a way forward, with a strong sense of feeling from a majority. But the agony of this period, and the hard work put into turning this around, makes it all worth it.”

The FSA sends its congratulations to Bury FC and the club’s supporters – here’s to a bright future. Bantams Supporters Trust and indeed all Supporters Trusts and football supporters will join in the well wishing for the success of the Club and their supporters.

Rochdale Ground Guide

27th July 2023

We are almost approaching the roller coaster of the new 20203/24 season, and after some mixed fortunes of results in this Summers’ friendlies, the Bantams face their last one this Saturday with a trip to Spotland (29th July).

Our colleagues from the Dale Trust are launching a Ground Guide for away fans for this season and have written to us to ask if all you City fans intending to go, to road test it for them.

Throughout the guide, comments are written for each section and away supporters can write their own views by clicking on the links provided, giving it a Trip Advisor feel to it.

There are still some bits that need tidying up, such as the ‘Eating at the Ground’ image, will be updated after this weekend’s game, but all should be ready by the start of the official new campaign.

City fans going to Spotland are asked to write their comments after the game and we’ll drop a friendly reminder to encourage this.

Check out the Dale Trust’s Ground Guide here.

MP's urge Government to bring forward football's Independent regulator, but what about the role of fans?

14th July 2023

MPs are urging the Government to bring forward its plans for an independent regulator to impose a financial deal on the EFL and Premier League – as the two leagues predictably cannot reach an agreement over the distribution of wealth from the Premier League down the pyramid.

As a result, MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee are calling for intervention from a new independent regulator.

The Select Committee’s report on football governance, to which the FSA gave evidence alongside the chair of the Fan-led Review Tracey Crouch MP, warns that if there is no solution soon to the deadlock between the Premier League and EFL, more clubs will be put at risk of collapse.

It also recommends that the deal should not include an increase in the current level of parachute payments from the Premier League.

Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, chair of the CMS Committee, said: “Unless the football authorities get their act together soon on agreeing a fairer share of revenue down the pyramid, we risk more clubs collapsing, with the devastating impact that can have on local communities.

“It’s in the best interests of all involved to get this sorted quickly. If the stalemate continues, the Government should step in to ensure the planned independent regulator is in place with the legal powers to impose a deal to safeguard clubs for the future and ensure the long-term financial stability of the national game.”

It is a shame however the Select Committee limits its’ recommendation to the current levels of parachute payments from the Premier League especially when the so called ‘big six’ within the Premier League have amassed so much wealth for themselves. There is enough money in the game to financially transform the whole of the pyramid to make it much more of a level playing field ensuring no club should go bust.

The Select Committee report rightly identifies significant failure of self-regulation in football and endorses the need for an independent regulator – which should, they say, be set up in shadow form by the end of the year.

An independent regulator should also impose mandatory standards for fan engagement as part of its licensing conditions, the report states, as well as the power to mandate action plans on equality and diversity.

Earlier in June, at the European Football Fans Congress, sports minister Stuart Andrew repeated the Government’s commitment to delivering the recommendations of the Fan-led Review and the White Paper that would create an independent regulator for football.

FSA chief executive Kevin Miles said: “We’d like to thank the Select Committee for their work on this report and taking the time to listen to supporters.

“We’re particularly pleased to see the Committee endorse the importance of fan engagement and recommend high standards that go above and beyond what clubs and leagues have offered up so far.

“If you look across the pyramid today, there are a number of football clubs that are lurching towards crisis and urgently need the reforms contained in the White Paper. This report will keep up the pressure to ensure those changes are delivered by Government as soon as possible.”

FSA should be appealing to supporters to campaign for a fairer redistribution of wealth by putting our partisan colours aside and uniting together to demand that the Premier League do this in the interests of preserving the heritage of the game. We shouldn’t leave it solely to the powers that be to be calling the shots. The Premier League and their Clubs, especially the richer ones should be feeling the organised hot breath of supporters. Without the pressure from below the richer clubs will still feel too powerful to do what they want.

Loyalty Points Survey Results

15th June 2023

The Club revealed its’ survey findings on the 12^th June. They put out the survey on the 7^th May, just before the last fixture of the season, and it was out for a week.

It also reflects a certain amount of cynicism, widespread in society about whether surveys, or anything else can effect change, or improvements, something not impervious to organisations such as ours.

Some of the key findings were not a surprise, that stand out, such as over 97% were aware of the scheme, or 72% who were opposed to the scheme used for other products such as food and drink, matchday hospitality, the Club shop or suite upgrades.

There was no overall majority that said they were happy with the scheme as it is as the combined 22.41% saying no and the 32% who were uncertain, were more than the 45.59 saying yes. Perhaps finding out why people said no or were uncertain may have led to a better understanding not everyone was happy about the scheme.

The percentages around the value of the loyalty points for the various types of tickets reflected on average, we think reflect accurate viewpoints as well.

We await to see await to see what the newly named ‘City Supporters Scheme’ will look like at the end of the month.

As part of our in depth survey we will be bringing out in July / August time we include the Loyalty points scheme, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Total Amount Raised from Bucket Collection

14th June 2023

On the 8^th June the Club released on social media the total amount raised from the bucket collection before the last game of the season against Leyton Orient.

The Supporters Trust played the lead role in organising the collection by getting the volunteers at very short notice. There were six of us in total that between us raised a total of £2,455.11.

It is a fantastic amount raised by those dedicated to help out in the inclement weather dotted around the ground that day. It is something that has traditionally been done every year since the fateful tragedy and should be continued as way of paying our respects to those who we should always remember.

The Trust would like to give a special thank you to all involved in the collection that day.

Meeting with the club and outcomes

30th May 2023

The Trust meets with representatives of the Club on a regular basis when availability suits both parties over the course of a year.

Through something called ‘structured dialogue’ which is based on a model agenda guide developed in a way that the Trust can benefit most from in informing the Club about what supporters want, what we think the Club may benefit from and getting a balance in getting the right information to deliver back to members.

It is always work in progress and developments within the Club are always at pace, so we are often playing catch-up in what is always a moving feast.

Over the last two years we have been meeting mainly with the CEO, Ryan Sparks, broadly, every 3 months, and more recently, with Marco Townson, who is the lead Supporter Liaison Officer.

We met with the Director of Operations, Paula Watson in December last year to discuss and develop the Sanctions policy, which was a very good piece of work in development that brought about a revised policy that we look to catch up on.

More recently on the 15^th May, we met with Douglas, the Director at Tiffins Stadium Catering about what you would like to see. We have a report of it that we can put out shortly.

Structured Dialogue and a Memorandum of Understanding

In our last meeting with Ryan Sparks and Marco Townson on the 15^th March this year, we reviewed where we were at and we felt, as we do, that these meetings are very productive and we asked if we could have a more formal approach to the meetings, where both sides bring more people and we see the Club’s Senior Leadership Team that should reflect all departments, which would benefit in discussing some more detailed aspects such as finance. This was agreed. This would bring us closer to both parties signing a non-legal binding, Memorandum of Understanding. The other part of that is increasing these meetings to 4 a year, which is something we can try and is work in progress. Perhaps the icing on the cake would be some form of relationship and understanding with the owner, Stafan Rupp.

Our next Structured Dialogue meeting is on Monday 3^rd July.

Reports in Shorts

In the last Structured Dialogue Meeting with Ryan and Marco we discussed:

Railed Seating - We know there is intention to trial a few seats in two ends of the ground, one in the North West Corner and the other will be for away supporters, and talks with the Safety Advisory Group, and we raised the need for supporter representation on there. We will see how much has developed since the last meeting.

The other issue discussed has been a bit of a hot potato over the course of the season, has been the Membership Scheme and Loyalty points. The Club promised to put out a survey on loyalty points at the time of our last meeting and they did, and it would be interesting to see the outcome of it and how they see loyalty points taking shape for the forthcoming season following the outcome of the survey results.

The Trust will ask for members views on loyalty points and the Membership scheme in its own major survey still to come.

Stewarding home and away as well as flairs, policing and arrests were also discussed and the Club have one of the highest policing bills in Leagues One and Two. As part of the Clubs’ response to flairs we asked about match day preventative measures to reduce them - they have had drug and pyro detector dogs also for some high profile games for both home and away supporters.

We raised that on many occasions at away games, especially where there are no official areas to stand, there are issues where fans ‘sit’ anywhere blocking sightlines by standing for most of the game.

These were the key issues perhaps most fans maybe interested in. You can find all the things that were discussed at the last meeting here.

If there are any issues you would like to raise, or you want to point out where the Club has done well, drop us an email at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

Historic EFL and former-PL clubs in crisis

30th May 2023

Fans maybe aware, there is an on-going crises at two historic EFL and former-Premier League clubs; West Bromwich Albion and Wigan Athletic. It shows just how urgent the need to reform to football’s governance is.

On the 26^th May, Wigan Athletic received a second four point deduction from the EFL for financial mismanagement, after initially being issued a four point penalty for failing to pay its staff and players in March and May.

The EFL said: “The EFL has spent the past 48 hours in dialogue with the Club in an attempt to find a positive outcome to the issue but as of 9am Friday morning the required funds have not been deposited.”

A conglomerate of Wigan Athletic supporters, including FSA affiliates the Wigan Athletic Supporters Club, have called for immediate and decisive action to be taken at board and ownership level.

“With the players due to be paid twice during June, and other bills stacking up, we worry for the future of our club,” they said.

“Our confidence in the current board was already damaged by previous events.

“And we fear the small faith we had in their ability to return the club to a stable footing, and deliver on their promises to supporters, has now gone.”

Wigan, who finished bottom of the Championship table, will begin next season in League One on -8 points.

Trouble at the Hawthorns

Supporters at West Bromwich Albion have expressed serious concerns about the financial future of the club as they prepare for life after the end of their Premier League parachute payments next season and £20m loan to service.

Questions have been raised about the club’s ownership by Action for Albion, a supporter-led group pushing for answers. West Brom are owned by Group Ltd which has a sole director, Xu Ke – and at time of publishing has refused to meet with fan representatives or answer any questions from supporters (even minority shareholders).

Action for Albion said: “We are extremely disappointed at this decision, however in the wake of the refusal to answer any of the 38 questions that Shareholders 4 Albion submitted, we are not surprised in this stance.

“We are extremely frustrated that the sole Director of West Bromwich Albion Group will not discuss these issues with the fanbase we represent, and we do not accept that this is the correct way to deal with fans who ultimately have a real fear what is happening to the football club we love.”

The ongoing crises at Wigan Athletic and West Bromwich Albion are in addition to the existential threats posed to Southend United, who have been close to going out of business multiple times this season – but received a stay of execution at their last court appearance over a £2m funding gap.

Find out what the FSA thinks here.

Campaign for Membership and raising Trust funds

29th May 2023

Two years ago we set an ambitious target of raising a stable income of £5,000 per year. For a Supporters Trust our size with over 500 members, this is a modest target.

The supporter base for Bradford City is absolutely massive and our aim should be to have a membership of well over 1,000. Our profile is increasing due to our stalls in the stadium, allowing us to meet and greet and sign up people as well as sell Trust merchandise, chiefly our badges and scarves. We also have increased visibility on social media as well, so everything is going in the right direction, broadly speaking.

Membership and Patrons

Up to now we do not have a paid membership, and what we offer instead is a voluntary Patron system we have had since the late naughtees at least. We did this by changing the rules of the Society we are.

We are indeed a ‘mutual benefit’ society, which means that we are a voluntary community organization, to help Bradford City and it’s supporter community, and what a membership payment symbolizes is a member having a share in this society.

The minimum payment a member has to pay is £1, but we have continually changed this minimum payment to 1 penny as we have updated the Model Rules through the years, therefore allowing us to be free. The rational for this change was, post fundraising to save the Club, membership started to fall. To compensate, by keeping the membership up we allowed it to be free, but this came at a price of gradually falling income.

We have always felt that the free membership was temporary, and the reason for doing everything to encourage membership growth is that we believe that our membership should be our collective bargaining power alike to a trade union for example, when engaging with the Club seeking the best deal possible for supporters.

Board Membership

Our intention is to continue to reach more City fans to join us with a view to being on the look out to get more people involved in the Trust. We know there is a vast range of skills and experience of work and community based activities to add to the Trust Board. With more people involved willing to do things, we can have more of a presence that will in turn encourage even more supporters to join.

Time for paid Membership

In the last 2 years on the back of an improved relationship with the Club we have seen an improved growth in our income thanks to our improved profile. However, as said, this is primarily due to merchandise sales included in these sales is income from our retro shirts range bought from or commercial partner World Retro / Chablaise Sport, and for April we have over £2,000 in our account which is fantastic, but as well as raising money in this way, we also have to demonstrate the value of being a paid up member.

Trust Governance Audit

Being a paid up member brings formal voting rights at the AGM or an EGM and it is something the Football Supporters Association (FSA), our affiliated national body who develop our model rules want us to have. They have provided us with a Governance Audit looking at all aspects of our organization, including Trust Board. For the Trust Board they provide some skills development training.

The audit recommends that we revert back to the original unchanged Model Rules 2022 and reintroduce the minimum recommendation of £1 and from that we can have a sliding scale of amounts payable to the Trust. Existing Patrons would continue to be so under a new format and there will still be a free email membership available as many Trusts do have that option, but if the link to pay is on the membership form it will hopefully encourage more people to commit to that.

Flexibility with Voting Rights

The AGM that we have every year was successful last year on Skype as it was the first time in years we were quorate – exceeding 20 members in attendance during the event. How many paid up patrons attending is always difficult to tell so we can still allow some flexibility around this, as the priority is to get over the line with 20 members attending. When we do get an increase in paid membership it will be easier to honour the voting rights.

Why should members pay a membership fee?

Firstly, the Trust is a mutual benefit society and what you are paying for is a share in the society and every year you renew that obligation.

Secondly, the Trust in theory could buy a sizeable share or stake in the football club. The model rules of the society are legally written so that we could even potentially buy a football club so that as supporters, we can collectively own it.

That is not to say that is our current intention, but having a sizeable amount of funds in our account could also help with many community initiatives that would bring Bradford City and the Community Foundation closer to us.

Having a sustainable income from members can also bring members’ benefits, such as a membership card, freebies, and reductions from local pubs and café’s /restaurants etc. Two years ago we suggested this as a possibility with a target of raising a regular income of £5,000. It was agreed a minimum regular payment of £5 a year would retain these benefits, and patrons would automatically benefit from them.

In the future there is potential to run supporters coaches to away matches from local West Yorkshire areas where there isn’t anything established for example too.

We currently sponsor a player every year and continue to hold the Young Player of the Year Award.

What to expect

What we are proposing is to bring in this annual minimum payment of £1 during these summer months as our year formally ends in May. Our rules say we have to have our AGM within 6 months after our year ends so we usually have this in November and hope to have your agreement formally at this years’ AGM.

In summary we encourage every member to pay a minimum of £1 every year. Existing Patrons can continue paying as you are. There will still be a free email membership, which constitutes most members at the moment.

There will be some changes to the website membership form and membership page to reflect these changes.

EFL sign a 5 year deal with Sky

17th May 2023

As you may have read recently on Bradford City’s website or elsewhere, the EFL have signed a new broadcasting rights deal with Sky starting from next year which will have an increase overall in the amount of televised matches, but what does that mean for ordinary supporters?

Here’s the deal

Each season, Sky Sports will broadcast a minimum of:

328 Sky Bet Championship matches
248 Sky Bet League One matches
248 Sky Bet League Two matches
All 15 Play-Off matches
All 93 Carabao Cup matches
All 127 EFL Trophy matches

Each League weekend fixture round will see 10 live EFL fixtures shown; five from the Sky Bet Championship and five from the Sky Bet League One and League Two. Every match from the Carabao Cup and EFL Trophy will also be available.

All opening, final day, and midweek fixtures in the Sky Bet EFL will be shown live as will all games played on Bank Holidays including Easter, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day alongside the matches played in Sky Bet League One & Two during international breaks.

This will see a substantial increase in the number of games moved from Saturday 3:00 pm. Every weekend, 5 out of every 12 Championship games will now be moved from that 3:00 pm slot for TV as well as 5 League 1 & 2 games. A total of 10 in total.

There are approximately 32 weekend fixture rounds per season, Easter and Christmas dates notwithstanding, which would equate to 300+ games being moved from Saturday at 3:00pm. It's a massive increase as the BBC reported, the last deal was 138 EFL games per season including midweek fixtures.

There will be a big media income increase from £595m for 5 years to £935m over the same time period.

The EFL say there will be "increased notice for fans" but they don't define what that is; copy and pasting the Premier League notice period would be an improvement but we don't think the Premier League's is good enough and we would like the EFL to go further. It will also be interested to know if Sky will broadcast Championship games against its Premier League coverage. If not, delays to the Premier League TV picks will cascade down to EFL.

The statement references a new EFL/Sky streaming service to replace the iFollow/red button services, but no details have been announced. It can only be hoped that any future provision is an improvement on the current offering.

Concerns

TV scheduling remains a threat to the traditions of the game and Saturday afternoon as the primary and predictable timing for the majority of matches, with Tuesdays for midweek matches where necessary. The notice period of when changes to the fixtures are made and the selected matches for televised evening mid week kick offs without consideration to travel mileage, as well as how this may affect attendances will be key concerns for fans.

What do you think?

We would like to here what members think. Please drop us an email at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

The FSA will be looking to speak to the EFL about this as a matter of urgency and the broadcast deal is already an agenda item for the FSA’s forthcoming EFL structured dialogue meeting.

BBC Football Campaign

16th May 2023

The BBC want to feature unique supporters with interesting stories to tell about being a fan from across the land in a BBC Football campaign this Summer. They have written to us in their bid to find someone. Could it be you?

Dear Supporters,

I’m a researcher from the BBC and we’re trying to find football fans from across the nation to feature in a BBC Football Campaign this summer.

We’re trying to find a mix of devoted and passionate football fans from all across the country who have interesting stories about how they became a fan, how they support their team and any unique traditions or superstitions they have.

I’d like to share some details of the campaign with as many Bradford City supporters as possible, could you recommend the place for me to post the following or would you be happy to post it on your socials?

Many thanks

Edward

(what we’d like to share below)

We’re launching a new BBC Sport Football campaign this summer. BBC Creative are looking for football fans of all ages and backgrounds, We’re especially interested in unexpected fans, or those with engaging stories. This is an exciting opportunity to feature across the BBC.

Applicants should have good availability early June.

If you would like to hear more, please send your:

Name
Age
Location
Telephone number
Some information about your experience as a football fan: why you love the game, who you support and why, how you support, how long you’ve been a fan, any traditions or superstitions etc.

+ a recent photograph to bbccreativecasting@bbc.co.uk

–––––––––––––––––––––

BBC Creative

Edward Hobson

Researcher

bbc.co.uk/bbccreative

–––––––––––––––––––––

The Trust Always Remembers

11th May 2023

Remembering the 54 Bradford City supporters and two Lincoln City supporters who went to watch a game of football but never returned home.

We stand with everyone today at the Memorial Service in Centenary Square and those that join us from all parts of the UK and the world to mark the 38th anniversary of the Valley Parade Fire Disaster.

Bucket Collection Thank You

9th May 2023

We would like to thank all of you who participated in the Bucket Collection on Monday at Valley Parade, our last fixture of the season.

Those volunteer participants were: Adam Baker, Manny Dominguez, Phillip Marshall and his sister, Chris Patterson who travelled all the way from Bedfordshire, and Richard Wardell.

A big thank you to all of you volunteers committed in making it happen.

We don’t yet know how much we raised for the Burns Unit as yet, but we will let you know as soon as we find out.

How we remember the events of 38 years ago

10th May 2023

An article written two years ago, aimed at perhaps a younger audience of football fans, who may not be aware of the terrible tragedy witnessed at Valley Parade 38 years ago now, is a valuable educational resource.

Written by Simon Lloyd of the online magazine www.joe.co.uk, he interviews Mohammed Ibrahim, who recalls his experience of the events of May 11^th, 1985. Simon Lloyd also interviews the Chair of Bantams Supporters Trust, Manny Dominguez how he remembers it too.

The article features a short documentary called ‘Unheard Voices’, which is a series of interviews with Humayun Islam from Bangla Bantams, and others, predominantly from the Bangladeshi community who live in the locality around Valley Parade and how they remember too.

You can see the article here.

Neil Matthews: 1966-2023

9th May 2023

It is with great sadness to hear of the sad news that Neil Matthews, the Coach for the Academy has passed away aged 56, following his battle with cancer.

We would like to give our condolences to his family, his friends and colleagues and all that new him.

Continue reading about him here.

The winner of the Young Player of the Year is...

5th May 2023

We would like to thank all of you who voted for the Supporters Trusts’ Young Player of the Year 2022/23.

What an unbelievable season it has been and it is not over yet! It has certainly been a rollercoaster ride with a nail biting finishes in the last few games. Northampton away being one of the highest points of the season and away at Crewe the lowest, but at least this season under Mark Hughes first full season here has given us something to cheer about.

And congratulations to the very much in form Andy Cook picking up the Player of the Year Award and Harry Lewis who has kept us in so many games this season for his herculean efforts too. Indeed Cooky picked up an award in being named as one of 11 players in the EFL’s League Two Team of the Season, alongside colleagues from across the division.

However, as well as producing outstanding individuals, football is a team effort, and so congratulations is in order to the whole first to for getting us this far in the season but Bradford City wouldn’t be Bradford City without taking the prospect of a place in the Play Off’s right down to the last game. We have to get a result against the O’s to guarantee our place.

Young Player of the Year

The winner of the Trust’s Young Player of the year is of course, Scott Banks! There was no competition! We would also like to give a special thanks to Manny Dominguez, representing the Trust, who gave the award to Scott Banks.

We would like to congratulate Andy Cook again for picking up Player of the Year for Bingley Bantams and East Bierley Bantams. And also Shipley Bantams members voted Harry Lewis as their Player of the Year so well done Harry.

The Supporters Board’s Unsung Hero award went out to the Club’s Mental Health Supporters’ Group Head, Robert Cranmer.

The Academy Player of the Year was Sam Bentley.

To see all the winning categories please click here.

Once again, thank you for all of you for taking part. You know who you are and we very much appreciate your involvement in this event and making it a success.

Burns Research Unit Bucket Collection Volunteers Appeal

4th May 2023

It is coming round to that time of year when we will all be coming together give our respects to those who tragically lost their lived in the Valley Parade fire, 38 years ago now.

As has always been regular feature of our remembrance, there will be a bucket collection at the last home game of the season against Leyton Orient, this year on Bank holiday Monday, 8^th May, helping to raise vital funds for Bradford’s Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit (PSBRU).

Kick off is at 12.30, so, as a volunteer bucket collector, you will need to arrive at the WD Gate entrance - the large gates opposite the club shop, for around 10.30 and collect a bucket and stand outside the various entrance points around the ground.

Turnstiles open at 11am.

If you would like to be involved in the bucket collection please contact us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk, and / or ring or text 07833390902. It will be good to identify a number of volunteers we are expecting with the Club over this weekend.

We hope we can get a successful turn out of supporters that are willing to get in the community spirit of raising money for something we all care deeply about.

Memorial Service

There will also be a Service at Centenary Park on Thursday 11^th May, from 11am in Centenary Square where Prof David Sharpe OBE and Jockel Reisner - two respected figures with close ties to the tragedy who died recently will be also remembered.

City Women to host Magpies at Valley Parade this Sunday 30th April

26th April 2023

Watch Bradford City Women take on Newcastle United Women in their final game of the season - Tickets available online only and prices rising by £1 on matchday!

Love Football, Protect the Game

26th April 2023

Who would’ve guessed that we would have a real opportunity of getting in the play offs or having a fighting chance of achieving an automatic promotion at the turn of the year? The future success of the Club is very much in the team’s hands, and with it comes the buzz of excitement in the last few matches.

In all the excitement and display of passion, pride and emotion, we want everyone to enjoy the spectacle and drama on the pitch played out before us. This is why we publish the joint statement from the football authorities and the FSA.

Joint statement from the FA, Premier League, EFL and FSA:

As we approach the closing stages of another exciting season across the Premier League, EFL, Women’s Super League and FA Cup, there remains plenty to play for in all competitions, with titles, silverware, promotion, European qualification, play-off and relegation places all at stake.

The passionate support of fans is a vital part of what makes football so special in this country. It is completely understandable that emotions run high, particularly at this stage of the season when there is so much to play for.

However, we must remind supporters that in the interests of safety and wellbeing for everyone inside our stadiums, the pitch is for players, managers and officials, while the stands are there for fans to support their team.

At the end of last season, we witnessed some unwelcome scenes when fans entered the field of play without permission at several grounds. Even if this is done in celebratory fashion, any supporter who comes onto the pitch is breaking the law and putting the welfare of players, coaches, club staff and fellow fans at risk.

We know that this unacceptable behaviour is carried out by a minority of fans, and their actions do not represent most supporters, but they risk ruining the fantastic experience of a football match for everyone.

At the start of this season, the Premier League, EFL, National League and the FA, worked with the FSA to introduce new measures and stronger sanctions to tackle anti-social and criminal behaviours, such as entering the pitch and the use of pyrotechnics.

This includes automatic club bans and police action, and we have seen cases this season which have led to fans receiving criminal records. This can impact employment and education prospects, restrict ability to travel overseas, and could result in a prison sentence. Club bans can also extend to accompanying parents or guardians of children who take part in this activity.

As we reach the exciting culmination of another thrilling football season, we want fans to continue to show their positive support as this can make all the difference to a team’s fortunes.

But our message is clear: fans must stay in the stands and avoid any unnecessary disruption at such a crucial point of the season.

Love Football, Protect the Game.

Jack Pearce, Chair of The FA Alliance Committee
Kelly Simmons, Director of the Women’s Professional Game
Kevin Miles, FSA Chief Executive
Mark Bullingham, FA Chief Executive
Richard Masters, Premier League Chief Executive
Rick Parry, EFL Chairman

Flare Play: Pyro and the Law

26th April 2023

One of the most noticeable features about following City especially away from home is an increase in the use of flares particularly amongst younger fans. Mansfield and Rochdale come to mind.

Below is an extract from an FSA article put out at the end of last year (18th May 2022) that acknowledges their popularity and sensitively explains the law around the use of flairs or pyro’s. We are republishing this as we are reaching the climax of the season and there will be great expectations and hopefully cheer, so it is a timely reminder to help encourage those that may use flares to think twice:

There is no denying the fact that many supporters, particularly younger fans, feel that they add to the atmosphere and spectacle – and TV directors certainly seem to agree.

This article isn’t an analysis of the rights or wrongs, dangers or not, of bringing smoke bombs and flares into football stadiums. But it is an honest assessment of our experience of dealing with supporters who have been caught using smoke bombs or flares in stadiums.

And we use the word “caught” deliberately – most fans who use pyro might have positive intentions, to liven things up, but whether you agree with that or not possession of pyro remains a criminal offence and supporters are prosecuted.

This is something we’re not sure all fans know, so we want the message to be clear.

Prosecution

You don’t have to let off a flare inside a stadium for it to be a criminal offence. Possession of a smoke bomb or flare is itself a crime if you even attempt to enter a stadium – and that can include possession en route to the match. The law doesn’t actually distinguish between smoke bombs, flares or fireworks either.

Such is the normalisation of flares at events – whether that’s seeing them waved in the crowds at Glastonbury or during organised post-match celebrations on the pitch – it isn’t inconceivable that some supporters might not fully understand the potential consequences. So what are they?

FSA caseworker Amanda Jacks regularly hears from fans who have been prosecuted in court, then given three year Football Banning Orders, as well as bans handed out by the clubs themselves.

“Supporters who let off pyro inside stadiums might want to improve the atmosphere but they’re putting themselves at risk of lengthy club bans and criminal prosecution,” Amanda says.

“Over the past decade we’ve spoken to lots of fans who’ve been prosecuted, and even jailed, for letting off flares or smoke bombs in stadiums.” – Amanda Jacks (FSA)

“It isn’t worth it and can harm your current or future employment, university or college applications, travel, insurance premiums and even housing options.”

Amanda has spoken to distraught mothers and anguished partners who fear their loved ones will be sent to prison if found guilty. And they might be. Is it worth it for a few minutes of coloured smoke?

Barrister Alison Gurden specialises in football-related legislation, and has acted for supporters in court for more than a decade. We’d encourage supporters to listen to her advice.

“If you are thinking about it, or you hear your mates talking about taking a smoke bomb, flare or firework to a game, just remind them what the consequence of doing so may be. We can help with legal advice, but we can’t always pick up the pieces afterwards,” says Alison.

Need help?

Amanda Jacks has recently moved on to pastures new but the FSA is still here to help fans with matchday issues relating to policing and stewarding. Contact Football Law Associates or ITN Solicitors if you have been arrested or are subject to legal proceedings. If it’s a club-related matter contact the FSA.

Safe Standing is to come to City

19th April 2023

In the season 2007/8, about 15 years ago, a campaign for the choice to sit or stand began at Bradford City in the form of a paper petition, and then with the support of the then Football Supporters Federation, they helped with the building of an online petition campalgn called Stand Up for the Bantams. The campaign had a combined paper and online petition saw more than 1500 signatures.

Chair of the Trust Manny Dominguez, who recalls; “Colin Hendrie from the FSF who led the campaign nationally for a while, supported the campaign with little business card sized information cards that pointed to the online petition and supported me in visiting the Club. Speaking to David Baldwin, the then ‘Head of Operation’ was quite sympathetic but said that the Club were not prepared to do anything until the political landscape around it became more favourable.”

It was just around that time that fans in Britain were beginning to notice the ‘Utras movement’ in Europe, and especially Germany. From that, developed the ‘City Gents’, around a group of supporters who wanted to make some noise, bang a drum and create some atmosphere. This coincided with the opening of the ‘Bradford End’ of the second tier, and the group remained there for about 5 seasons, and then were allowed space in the K Block of the Kop in the top tier, and the group became known as the ‘K Block Bantams. By then, atmosphere ends at English grounds had become commonplace as the principle of railed seating/safe standing became widely understood among fans, clubs and the authorities.

Meanwhile, to keep the campaign to legalize safestanding in the consciousness of the Club and supporters, Manny made a giant banner that surfaced around 2017/18.

It had several appearances on the Kop and a handful of away matches. Port Vale, Fleetwood and Bury come to mind.

The Stand Up For The Bantams campaign had proposed the idea of supporters paying a little extra for improved safe standing railed seats, among other things.

In 2020, the Club housed the atmosphere group in the North West Corner, and the group became known as the North West Kollektive.

On the 12^th of April this year, Bradford City confirmed it is applying for a license to install railed seating at Valley Parade for the North West Corner. See the Club article in full here. The Trust has known of the Club’s intention since they officially trialled an atmosphere section in the North West Corner in 2020.

It is a major breakthrough that the Club is doing this, and the Trust is delighted that the Club have come out publically with its intentions. The Trust now wants to work with the Club to see its implementation a success. We have raised and discussed this issue with the Club for a long time and finally it feels real.

Trust Comment on the Club's Financial Report 2022

14th April 2023

Bradford City’s financial report by Alan Biggin, published on the club’s website on the 6^th April is very insightful.

The report underlines how important the Club is to the community it serves, “…the football club is a major unifying entity within its local community. Its successes and travails are the lifeblood which bonds people together. It is much more than a corporate structure reporting results and answering to its shareholders.”

We share this opinion of how a Football Club should see itself. Alan continues to talk about openness and understanding, which gives reason to explain more detail summarizing additional context to the Club’s finances.

The Report, with figures based on achievements last season, makes comparisons with the previous season (2020/21) – the Covid lock-down period when we watched all the games at home.

Last season, whilst the Club did well generally, the report was open in saying it did not see coming the early departure of Derek Adams and its inevitable costs incurred with his contract termination, “and additional costs on players and staff in our efforts to maintain the dynamic and the season’s objectives”.

Redistribution of wealth

The report refers to income distribution several times, and links the affordable season tickets with this wealth distribution, but it also links to possible change in the way the Premier League agrees to change the way it trickles down it’s wealth from the top to the grassroots. This could be a reference to the Premier League’s £5.1billion television deal, that runs until the end of 2024-25 campaign, or the Government White Paper on Football Governance which we think maybe discussed in Parliament in the Autumn. This was known as a Fan-led Review where, all the Football Supporter Association networks were consulted in 2021. It is a significant piece of reform for the good that will attempt to address fans concerns about rogue owners, improve transparency, give supporters a greater voice and hopefully bridge the wealth gap from the Premier League to the rest of the pyramid to ensure greater financial equality and therefore fairer competition within the game. The Premier League are lukewarm about it, and maintain they provide £1.6billion in financial support to the wider game in this current three-year cycle.

Alan Biggin definitely refers to the EFL’s support for the Government’s Football Governance White Paper indirectly when he says that, “the EFL has stepped up its campaign to receive a larger share of Premier League revenues”. The EFL do indeed supports the idea of an independent regulator and greater wealth distribution from the top, but views are mixed with some of its larger member clubs.

Players Wages

Again, in season 21/22, players’ and Management team wages are a significant cost for the club. £2.9m to be exact, up from the previous years’ £2.7m. The report refers again to a spending constraints framework referred to the ‘Salary Cost Management Protocol’ (SCMP) “which links clubs’ spending in Sky Bet League Two to 55% of their turnover”. The Report explains the definition of ‘turnover’ is broader than within EFL rules and allows donations and injections of equity. The Club notes however that our Club doesn’t need to do this, and further notes that the Directors Loan Account has remained at the same level for the last four years, £1.76m. It is explained that this relates entirely to the funding requirement of 2018/19 season – where a loss of near £1.9m was recorded.

The Stadium, commercial, ticketing and the future

It has been noted in the report that there has been ‘modest expenditure on ground improvement and it acknowledges the fact that the Club doesn’t own the ground.

It talks about it’s current liability position marginally deteriorating over the season, and the strategy therefore is to grow the commercial side of the of the business and create new income streams to offset those losses.

Revenue from increased season ticket sales and overall attendance increases as well increasing numbers of fans watching City on iFollow have improved.

The Club are only too aware that nothing is certain in todays world and any great financial success can only be gained if the team can climb out of the fourth tier of English football and beyond, and all the while, the Club can maintain good house keeping and demonstrating effective budgeting control whilst setting itself up carefully for that success to be realised whilst keeping fans on board.

Financial Transparency and our Structured Dialogue with the Club

The Trust believes that financial transparency and openness are key components in developing a strong structure dialogue relationship. In our last meeting with Ryan Sparks and Marco Townson we discussed how the meetings have improved in terms of trust and what gets discussed and what we can tell our member. We do feel however, in order for us to feel confident we are making strides in all areas of areas of discussion, we feel a more formal approach to the meetings with more representatives of the Club’s Senior Leadership Team are present as well as someone who can give use quarterly explanations of financial matters, and then we will be in a greater position to inform and educate members / supporters on factors and decisions where the official Club publicity channels may not.

Supporters Trust's Fundraiser Success

14th April 2023

First of all we would like to thank all our members who attended our social / fundraiser after the Sutton 3 -1 victory on the Bank Holiday Monday (10^th April) at Jacobs Well, and indeed those that bid for the signed (by all the first team players), training shirt specially produced for the Football Club’s staff ‘Claret & Amber Ramble’ to Spotland from City, that set off on the morning of 14^th April.

The Club have now exceeded its £10k target. We raised a modest but respectable £128 from its fundraising collecting social, which includes a winning bid of £75. The successful bidder is a Trust member and as been notified.

We thank the Club for giving us a signed shirt and once again thank our members that made our efforts a success.

You can now support the Claret and Amber Ramble by donating here

Not Long now to Renew your Season Ticket

13th April 2023

Roll up! Roll up! City fans, don’t forget to renew your season tickets for next season! The deadline to reserve your seat and renew are looming large!

Freezing the season tickets this season keeps football affordable in the City as the rising cost of living affects us all in a myriad of ways, and allowing fans to pay direct debit allows us all to budget better from month to month so we don’t have to burn a hole in our pockets all at once.

This time round it also gives fans some preparation time until June before we start paying over 10 months.

We hope the Club can maintain it’s affordable ‘Early bird’ season tickets for future seasons that includes a direct debit payment plan spread in the most effectible way for fans as possible – we believe to be over a 12 month period especially as the future economic period looks uncertain for ordinary people.

Season tickets will still be on sale at the frozen rate until 11.59pm Sunday April 23.

Sunday April 16 is the deadline for existing season ticket holders who would like to guarantee they are sat in the same seat for 2023/24, as they currently are this season.

To purchase your 2023/24 season ticket please CLICK HERE, or head to the ticket office in the Club shop. To make any enquiries on 2023/24 season tickets please email ticketingsupport@bradfordcityafc.com, phone 01274 770012 or Tweet @bcafchelp.

Trust Social & Fundraiser for the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation

4th April 2023

Bantams Supporters Trust are helping to support Bradford City in its challenge to raise £10k for it’s sponsored ramble to Rochdale on the 14th April.

The Trust is hoping to raise money to help the Club reach its target by having a social and auction a signed amber training shirt that carries the Claret and Amber Ramble branding. There will hopefully be a guest player appearance as well.

All this will be happening on Easter Bank Holiday Monday, 10^th April after the home game versus Sutton United from 5.30pm onwards at the Jacobs Well Pub, near Bradford Interchange, so come on down and join us then.

There is a car park on Neal Street.

Pleased support by coming to the event and, or submitting a bid for the shirt. You can submit your bids to this great cause and possibly win the signed shirt, by emailing the Trust at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk. You can also submit via our Facebook Group and Likes page.

We recommend the starting bid should be from £150.

Best of luck!

Vote for the Young Player of the Year Award

31st March 2023

It is that time of year again, as Bantams Supporters’ Trust Members you have the opportunity to vote for the 2022-23 Bradford City Young Player of the Year.

This season has been the most progressive campaign in years as the Bantams have found themselves, quite remarkably, hanging about in the play offs area of the table, under big name manager, Mark Hughes.

But as we know from experience, as long suffering City fans, the Bantams won’t make an easy job of getting to the finals – that is assuming we get there of course, but make no doubt about it, we, the City faithful will be crossing fingers and toes and encouraging the ball into the back of the net to ensure we can make a success of this season.

This season, from the first team we have 4 young players making an appearance as midfielders and forwards.

Attacking midfielder, Scott Banks, is a Scottish under 21’s International, on loan from Chrystal Palace, joined City on loan until the end of the season in August last year. Banks has played in 20 games and recently sealed the winner at home to Colchester United, and has scored a total of 4 goals for the Bantams, and has had 17 shots on target.

Thiery Nevers, signed on loan in January of this year from West Ham, and has made 5 appearances with us this season. An attacking midfielder, he is yet to get on the score sheet with City.

Jake Young, a forward, joined last year in the Summer on a 3 year contract from Guisley’s Academy, before joining Sheffield United’s Academy in 2019. He joined the Bantams from Forrest Green and has made 17 appearances for City, chalking 2 goals. He is currently on loan to Barrow.

Dara Costello, a forward from the Republic of Ireland, is another loanee that joined in January of this year, this time from Burnley until the end of this season. He’s been looking promising in front of goal in recent games, but he hasn’t yet broken his duck. He has made 9 appearances and has had 6 shots on target.

All five candidates eligible for the Bradford City Young Player of the Year 2022-23 have made valuable contributions, but who has been your stand out performer?

Scott Banks (Midfielder)
Thierry Nevers (Midfielder)
Jake Young (Forward)
Dara Costello (Forward)

Voting starts today, Friday March 31st March and end Tuesday 20th April. The Player Of The Year Dinner and results announcements will be on Thursday, 4th May 2023.

To vote, simply email us your number 1 Young player at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

You can also let us know via our Facebook Group and Likes page as well as our Twitter page.

Trust Social & Fundraiser for the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation

30th March 2023

Bantams Supporters Trust are helping to support Bradford City in its challenge to raise £10k for it’s sponsored ramble to Rochdale on the 14th April.

There is a car park on Neal Street.

FSA National Survey 2023

24th March 2023

The FSA the national Supporter-led organization we are affiliated to has launched its comprehensive 2023 National Supporters Survey.

The last time they carried out a state of the nation survey was in 2017 and they had over 8,000 participants. It would be great if the survey could match, or even surpass, that number this time around.

There are so many pivotal things in football at the moment; the FLR, VAR, TV, Streaming, Governance, Finance. Not forgetting, actually following your team and all the joys and challenges that brings. It is a good time for football fans to be heard.

Despite being a comprehensive survey covering a range of topics, it should take the average user only around ten minutes to complete.

The results of the survey will be published at the end of season.

We encourage all City fans to participate and be represented.

Take part now: complete the 2023 National Fans Survey

See the headlines from our 2017 survey here, with further findings here.

Report of Meeting with BCAFC

23rd March 2023

Bantams Supporters Trust meeting with the Club took place on Wednesday March 15th and was very constructive for both parties.

Matchday experiences

Diving straight into it then, we first of all discussed match day experiences, where we touched base on food choices and quality of service from the kiosks. Halal and a wider variety of other choices generally at affordable prices were raised. Alcoholic beverages, plant-based vegetarian meat alternative ranges, chips and mushy peas for example. It was explained that above all ‘commercial viability’ was the priority when looking into choices. The Trust was welcome to talk to the head of the club’s stadium catering team, Tiffin, to discuss in more detail about these things.

When it came to water stations the club were still thinking about them, but suggested they could give out free water on exceptionally hot days - as they have done in the past.

Atmosphere

The Trust asked about concern of those that like to create an atmosphere in the Kop and wanting a drum etc. It was suggested from the Trust that they could possibly steward it themselves. The Clubs’ position was that there is only to be one official atmosphere end, which is the NW corner.

The special atmosphere as a result of the last minute victory against Colchester and how the whole of Valley Parade looked in those moments was commented on.

It was encouraged by the Club, that the more supporters get active in the atmosphere end, the more impressive it will look.

It was commented by the Trust, that the difference between UK and European club atmosphere culture is that in Europe atmosphere creation more often, is participated by thousands for the whole duration of a game, but over here supporters tend to only join in during the moments of great excitement, and certainly when we are winning.

Railed seating – It was asked about a feasibility study, and the club said there will be one presented to the Safety Advisary Group – A group made up of the local authority, the police and the Club. There will only be a trial of a few rows first, which is a requirement.

Post match exiting up the stairs to Burlington Street – it was asked if all possible exits are open as it is so slow to get out of Valley Parade and there are so many people on those stairs going up to Burlington Terrace, and it was asked about a risk assessment, The response was yes definitely to having a risk assessment as they said they have to do a risk assessment for everything. It was added that there will be more signage around the ground for best exiting.

It was also asked about the yellow markings on staircases and that some of the markings had come off quite considerably. It was pointed out that the stairs where they are well tread, are painted at the end of every season, but where markings continue to show well, it is every year.

Stewarding home and away – The Trust raised that from experiences away, where we have only been allocated one end, that there have been situations, where some of our fans have struggled to find seats to sit down or sit in their allocated seat if seats are reserved with seat numbers. The Club response was that those situations show stewards should have more control of the situation.

It was asked if away supporters (at Valley Parade) have the same problems on certain occasions. The Club’s response was no, we don’t have unreserved seating at home as that reduces our capacity to make room to allow that to happen.

It was asked about policing games, fan searches and amnesty table – giving up items supporters cannot take in (banned items). It was said that City’s cost to police some home matches are the highest in the League One and Two this season

It was reported that they have had drug and pyro detector dogs also for some high profile games for both home and away supporters.

The Club will be attending the free, online EFL Match Experience Fan Forum, which takes place on Tuesday 28th March (6.30pm-8pm) and will be hosted by Sky Sports’ David Prutton with a panel of supporters and football industry figures.

The EFL says: “Working in collaboration with the Football Supporters’ Association, the event will be an opportunity to listen to supporters, to discuss progress, and identify potential areas of future work that will help play a positive part in matchday planning and delivery.”

The sessions will explore the measures adopted ahead of the 2022/23 season to combat anti-social and illegal behaviour within stadia on matchdays and, importantly, will look at how fans, clubs and other stakeholders can work together to create a positive matchday experience across EFL matches.

Update on plans to improve Supporter Liaison Officer’s (SLO) team - It was said that there are currently 5 people assisting with different aspects of the role which Marco Townson leads, and that the Club website will be updated shortly.

When considering the role to of a visable known person - a Club ‘ambassador’ on match days, they do hope that it to be a volunteer role and that the Supporters Board could potentially be in a position to find that person.

The Trust was delighted with that as a volunteer role in the FSA’s best practice guidance is to have someone who is more public facing on matchdays, so this fulfils what we’ve been asking for.

The Club went onto say that last season the Club won the EFL ‘Bronze’ family excellence award for the first time in 10 years, and they aim to pick up Gold by 2025.

The EFL’s Family Excellence Scheme, launched during the 2006/07 season to reward Clubs in their efforts to deliver an outstanding match-day family experience.

See more about the scheme here.

The Club Membership Scheme

The Trust asked if Season Ticket holders are considered members of the Club, which they say we are, and asked whether the scheme is a replacement for the loss of the priority scheme, to which the Club said no.

They say that a lot of clubs operate a membership scheme such as the one that started in November this season and is subcontracted to a specialist sporting club membership company that runs other ones, that work to offer loyalty points, ticket price reductions, gifts, competitions and more to keep them successful and bring the Club revenue.

It was said by the Trust that the scheme could skew loyalty point earnings in favour towards those who buy into the Membership scheme.

It was said by the Club that they will put out a survey about loyalty points before the season ends.

The Green Football Weekend and further plans to reduce carbon footprint

The Clubs said they promoted the event that took place between the 3^rd and 5^thFebruary – when we entertained Mansfield Town at home. The Event, the first of many, was about taking the issue of tackling climate change to football supporters.

The Trust asked about a charity behind the Green Football Weekend called Pledge Ball that asks fans to pledge some commitment to support their club by their reducing carbon footprint, and the Bradford City are aware of it. It is 107 position in its’ Pledgeball league table. The club, is, however, ranked 17th our of 72 EFL clubs in the Combined EFL Sustainability Table - 4th in League Two.

We asked about being part of a ‘sustainability’ Working Group that may involve other stakeholder partners such as the Local Authority and supporters, and we were encouraged to enquire with Paula Watson, the Director of Operations about that.

The Trust raised that some of our members were concerned about bus route timings on a weeknight and that they presented issues for getting home towards Shipley and Bingley. This was asked at a previous Supporters Board meeting. The Club response was that it would talk to First Bus.

The Trust mentioned that one of our members had come forward about setting up an Indian supporters football group similar to that of Bangla Bantams, which the Club welcomed.

We also raised the idea of supporting the Darby Rimmer Foundation sponsored ramble to Rochdale by having a social of our own on April the 10^th, and getting a framed signed shirt to help with proceedings. This was supported.

Review of Trust / Club structured Dialogue

We briefly reviewed the relationship of both parties and overall, it is a positive felt by both. From the Trust’s point of view we are a lot more confident in asking the questions and it is in a positive atmosphere.

It was discussed and agreed that the Trust could bring more colleagues and it would be good for the Trust to see more of the Clubs’ Senior Leadership team. It would give it a more formal dimension.

We looked at a non-legally binding model draft Memorandom of Understanding and looked to some of the requirements such as keeping to our timely arrangements. The document is something to work towards and something we are hoping both parties will sign in the near future.

Consultation us something to work towards, and we have been consulted with this season. The badge is a good example where many fans have been consulted and where fans have given the time to respond.

Whilst it is always appreciate what time and commitment the Club can give us, or the Supporters Board, or indeed any supporter-led organisations the best outcomes of consultation are realized when consultation comes at a very early stage of an idea.

The Trust recognizes that football business is always a moving feast throughout any season, and It is often difficult to seize the timing of when something is going to come out, and asking the questions before it’s been set.

That said, we have been able to have some influence perhaps. What has been pleasing is recognition of our support with our eyes on the Club’s Sanctioning policy at a time when the EFL put out it’s new guidance recommendations.

Financially it was reported that the Club this season anticipates a turnover of more than £8.2m. This is a record high figure in the club’s 120-year history, while operating in the fourth - and third - divisions. The Trust asked if we could discuss with the person responsible for finance, and the Club were happy to provide contact. It was suggested they could be present at future structured dialogue meetings.

Season tickets was raised lastly, and at the time of the meeting on the 15th March, over 4,000 had bought their season tickets with a considerable amount of new supporters purchasing - around 9%. The Trust think it was only right to freeze the tickets, and that the direct debit system of paying every month is good for supporters and their families, rather than paying all at once, although the period of monthly payments is broken down over 10 months instead of 12. Although it was said that if it was over 12 there would be overlap and 10 months prevents supporters paying more in the first two months.

Almost in the in the same breath as season tickets, the £5 matchday ticket offers were mentioned, and we commended the Club on this for the Colchester game and we said, we thought the Club took the reciprocal deal with them and marketed it in their own way - creating the biggest-ever attendance at a fourth-division game in the club’s history. City fans benefited from the drinks offer away in the early part of the season and Colchester fans benefited traveling to Valley Parade in one of the longest journeys of this season.

EFL Match Experience Fan Forum

21st March 2023

The EFL has invited all supporters to an upcoming Fans Forum which will look at the current match experience – the free event takes place on Tuesday 28th March (6.30pm-8pm) and will be hosted by Sky Sports’ David Prutton with a panel of supporters and football industry figures.

When & where? Online on Tuesday 28th March (6.30pm-8pm) – register here…

15 Years of Fair Cop

7th March 2023

Amanda Jacks has been a full time Casework Officer for Football Supporters’ Association and it’s predecessor, Football Supporters Federation (FSF), before its merger with Supporters Direct (SD).

As a Case Worker, she was involved in supporting individual supporters who had found themselves in bother with the police and often facing banning orders, offering legal advice.

Her interest in policing and stewarding issues brought to her attention such a variety of situations that needed addressing in football.

Amanda was shocked at how few fans bothered with legal advice let alone representation. One of her biggest pieces of advice is if you’re arrested or asked in for a police interview, always, always secure legal representation, which is free of charge at the police station.

Amanda, first got involved in football campaign work around the campaign for safe standing at her Club West Ham, and that’s when our Chair, Manny Dominguez, remembers her.

“I turned up to a meeting above a pub in Birmingham of a group called ‘Stand Up Sit Down’ which was initially a fans forum and turned into real people doing something, and I heard her speak, and thought to myself, she has a real fighting determination that one.”

And she has. She became aware of the FSF’s Safe Standing campaign, and then got elected onto the National Council. Her route to full time paid work was through starting out as a volunteer for the organisation.

Amanda was involved in organising a protest against ‘bubble matches’ that are games where all away supporters must travel on designated transport, usually club coaches, from specific pick up points. In this case it was Hull City fans traveling up to Huddersfield and it was West Yorkshire Police that enforced the ‘bubble match back in 2013.

She was involved in the ‘Away Fans Matter’ campaign, which raised the infrequent issue of inferior treatment of traveling fans. The campaign was used to raise the issue of fairer ticket prices of away supporters too and the idea of reciprocal deals was also picked up to discuss with Clubs.

'The Trust would like to thank her for her sterling work fighting for the rights of football fans. She has recently accepted a new job, still in the world of football, and we wish her all the best in her future career.'

Read more about the casework she’s been involved with, here.

Need help?

The FSA is still here to help fans with matchday issues relating to policing and stewarding. Contact Football Law Associates or ITN Solicitors if you have been arrested or are subject to legal proceedings. If it’s a club-related matter contact the FSA.

And don’t forget to join the FSA for free if you’re not already a member.

Match Day Ticket Offers

28th February 2023

Below is an excerpt from the Trust’s last structured Dialogue meeting with the Club, last October.

Reciprocal Deals – The Trust reported that they spoke to two Supporters groups for Swindon Town, as well as Colchester United Supporters Trust and all said that their Club Chairmen where not quite convinced of the reciprocal deals and that it was still work in progress. Just to add, the Trust had sighted Swindon and Colchester as the longest journeys this season in the League fixture calendar.

Ryan reported they too weren’t convinced of them, though understood the concept. The Trust asked about the £4 off voucher availability for City fans with tickets and it was City who had paid for that deal. The Trust commended the Club on that one.

Unemployed concessions – The Trust welcomed the Club offering free tickets to refugees and people who are homeless this season. Marco and Ryan said it would be difficult to prove (unemployed concessions). Ryan pointed out that Morrisons already give away 5,000 tickets per season, and the Club will be going into partnership with Mind, the mental health charity.

The Club felt they already do the cheapest tickets and there wasn’t going to be any further reductions. They have done some very good cup match ticket offers and are selling FA Cup 1^st round tickets for the Harrogate home tie for £10.

See the Trust’s last structured Dialogue with the Club in full here.

The Trust think that a very affordable Club £5 offer for this weekend’s home match is an excellent way of getting more fans through the turntstiles for both home and away supporters in advance of the matchday itself. With such great timing, let’s hope Colchester bring a decent following and a good atmosphere can be generated as there is a lot at stake for both teams.

The Trust are due to meet the Club again very soon.

The Long-awaited Government 'White Paper' on Football Governance is finally here

24th February 2023

The proposals to be tabled and voted on in Parliament calling for an independent regulator of football have been long overdue and were published on Thursday, 23^rd February 2023.

The Trust feels that football supporters will see these proposals, which will eventually be debated in Parliament, as a significant piece of reform for the good that will attempt to address fans concerns about rogue owners, improve transparency, give supporters a greater voice and hopefully bridge the wealth gap from the Premier League to the rest of the pyramid to ensure greater financial equality and therefore fairer competition within the game.

Over the next few weeks there will be lots of debate in the media and there will be a 12 week consultation period of all stakeholders and as football supporters, the FSA and its’ affiliate members will be part of that consultation process.

As the FSA, the national organisation for football supporters for England and Wales says in its’ initial response,

“Almost two years ago six clubs from the Premier League tried to smash more than a century of footballing tradition by forming an invitation-only European Super League….

“The Government then started its Fan-led Review of Football Governance and invited all of football to commit to the process, which was chaired by Tracey Crouch MP.

“The FSA engaged enthusiastically, producing detailed evidence and ensuring 130+ of our member supporter organisations, across all levels, appeared in front of the review.”

You can see press statements from EFL, the PL, and the Government, and indeed the Government’s White Paper: A sustainable future – reforming football club governance.

Atmosphere and Safe Standing / Railed Seating

15th February 2023

Licensed standing at football grounds subject to the Government’s all-seater policy is now permitted, following an announcement by the Sports Minister, Nigel Huddleston.

The roll out of licensed standing follows a successful trial at five early adopter grounds – Cardiff City FC, Chelsea FC, Manchester City FC, Manchester United FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC – between 1 January and 1 June 2022. The trial was independently evaluated by CFE Research, with the final evaluation report provided to Government to inform its decision to change policy.

The above was taken from the Sports Ground Safety Authority on the issue.

Taken from the Trust’s last structured Dialogue meeting with the Club, last October.

The Trust made the point that whilst the official atmosphere is in the North West Corner, supporters have voted with their feet to go back to the Kop.

The atmosphere at Valley Parade has improved, largely as progress on the field of play has much improved and that is something to sing about.

The Trust asked about the plans to have railed seating as we had discussed this at a previous structured dialogue meeting previously, and the plan still is to install in the North West Corner.

The ‘North West KolleKtive’ as they like to be known had chosen that end last season as the atmosphere had been dying prior to that, but that reflected the poor football on offer to a large degree. At the same time however, the Club had put the time and effort to house the atmosphere in the North West Corner to trial it for safe standing – or railed seating for up to 800 railed seats. This may help fans understand why it is still the ‘official’ atmosphere end. You can find them on Twitter as North West Kollektive, @NWK_BFD.

The Trust asked if we could meet with Paula Watson, Director of Operations who would no more about the detail of how the railed seating would be implemented. This agreed.

See the Trust’s last structured Dialogue with the Club in full here.

The Trust and the FSA nationally have campaigned for this to happen for many years, and now we are confident it will just be a matter of time at City.

Please see YouTube link for Safe standing roll out at Stamford Bridge here and at Loftus Road here.

EFL's Campaign on disorder and arrests and the Club's Sanctions & Banning Order Policy

6th February 2023

Football banning orders issued rise by 230 per cent and online hate allegations up 53 per cent, say police in the first 6 months of the current season.

The number of football banning orders issued by UK courts has risen by 230 per cent, while online hate allegations within the sport are up 53 per cent, say police; the number of criminal incidents at UK football matches has dropped but arrests have still increased. Taken from Sky News, 12^th January 2023.

In the Trust’s last structured Dialogue meeting with the Club, last October, we gave a brief overview of the EFL’s campaign, citing the name FFS (For Football’s Sake), but Ryan nor Marco liked the name.

The Trust reported that at the FSA’s Structured Dialogue meeting with the heads of the EFL and the EFL agreed with promoting restorative practice – education programmes and initiatives that can possibly change the behaviour of some supporters.

The FSA have been supporting elements of the EFL’s campaign, such as on pitch invasions and pyros with advice, and the Trust has been sharing that. See our most recent article from the beginning of this season here.

The Trust raised a good podcast program called The Anfield Wrap, and in this episode, it was about encouraging young lads who are drawn into lifestyles around football that include violence, drug and alcohol abuse and regular brushes with the law, to rethink that path from supporters involved in it. It’s on Spotify, called, ‘Paying The Price’. You can listen to it here.

Looking back at the Clubs’ own sanctions policies, and the Trust requested to see colleagues with the knowledge of these, and this was agreed. See here for more details of the Trust’s meeting with the Club about this on 16^th December 22.

It was advised that if supporters see or experience incidents of poor behaviour during, before or after game at the ground, please report it to the hotline when you see it on the confidential matchday helpline, 07949814243. This is only a texting service.

To follow up with the SLO team the dedicated email address is helpdesk@bradfordcityafc.com, and if you use the Bradford City AFC App and click the message icon in the bottom right, this has direct access to all of these resources as well as the ‘Kick It Out’ campaign.

Taken from the Trust’s last Structured Dialogue meeting with the Club on 31^st

October 22.

On pyro’s you may find this FSA fact sheet (written by Alison Gurden, a barrister who has often represented fans in court) useful. Because smoke bombs in particular are so common now in all sorts of environments and are used without consequence it isn't unreasonable to assume they're legal at football.

Independent Regulator plans leak to press

5th February 2023

A big announcement on reform to football governance - including an independent regulator - has been imminent for some time and last week details were leaked to the press. More info is expected shortly.

FSA chief exec Kevin Miles said: "The reports indicate that many of our ideas are included in the White Paper – stronger tests on potential club owners, more supporter engagement, blocks on breakaway competitions like the European Super League and the establishment of an independent regulator."

You can see more on the FSA’s website here.

Trust Sponsors Jack Wilson

31st January 2023

Bantams Supporters Trust proudly sponsors Academy player Jack Wilson for this season 2022/23.

As the Trust runs the vote for Young Player of the Year Award it is fitting that we sponsor a player available from the Club’s Academy.

Jack is currently in the Club’s under 19’s squad and has been out on loan to Ossett United.

Report of Trust Meeting with BCAFC on the Club Supporter Sanctioning Policy

31st January 2023

The Trust met with the Club’s Director of Operations, Paula Watson, and the Club’s Safety Officer, Jonathan Heaton on Friday 16^th December, after The EFL had introduced its’ new supporter sanctioning guide, developed with the FSA (Football Supporters Association), to assist its 72 clubs in dealing with supporter behaviour issues. You can see the EFL sanctioning Guidance here and the Executive Summary here.

The new EFL guidance for club sanctioning policies – for when supporters fall foul of ground regulations, is encouraging a change of culture, by way of introducing new sanctions and solutions away from the traditional over-reliance on club bans. And these are around educational and restorative justice programmes.

The Trust has been keen for the Club to adopt a more detailed sanctions policy that shows the severity of the sanction to the offense and show the process of stages a bit more clearly, such as showing the Club has a ‘sanction panel’ and an ‘appeals process’ for example. Paula explained that banning has always been a last resort, and it is a deterrent, and they had wanted to keep the policy vague as the Club wanted the flexibility to see what sanction they had as appropriate following investigations.

She also said that they follow the key principles of the advised processes such having as a 'sanctions panel', that supporters have a right of appeal, and that they have an 'ABC Yellow card' system which is an Acceptable behaviour Agreement, they have model club letters for different situations and they also do some restorative Justice work where it's practicable. The Trust advised it would be great to adopt these points in any improved sanctions and banning policy.

They said they knew that the EFL Guidance was coming so they didn't want to amend their policy until it came through, and that the Club would need to have a Senior Leadership Team meeting to update and sign off the policy and that they would contact the Trust when this happens. It was suggested they send any changes to the policy before it gets signed off in case the Trust wanted to make any additional comment/discussion and this was agreed.

The Trust was very encouraged by the progress of the meeting.

You can see more about the purpose of the EFL Sanction Guidance, why, it has been brought out and more about the purposes for change and the work of the FSA with the football authorities on this here.

Green Football Weekend

30th January 2023

The Green Football Weekend, which is supported by the FSA, is taking place on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th February. 80+ clubs (see them all here) have committed to action and Bradford City is one of them.

The FSA are encouraging Trusts and supporters groups to work with their clubs to promote the concept and commit to actions / develop local initiatives.

Green Football Weekend have also put together a fans toolkit which provides a few ideas for how supporters’ groups can get involved / lobby their club to take a few actions that are very fan-friendly anyway e.g. more public transport / bike rack provision, vegetarian options etc.

Support Liaison Officer (SLO) at Bradford City

24th January 2023

A good SLO can build bridges between the club and its fans and its more art form than science. They can help facilitate fan engagement structures, advocate for the fans’ voice within a club, and liaise with stewards, police, and counterparts at opposition clubs.

They are a point of contact for supporters both home and away and can be club employees or volunteers – some clubs even have a mixture of both. The FSA believe they should be active and available on matchdays.

Taken from The FSA’s website.

Below is an extract from the Trust’s last meeting with the Club on the 31^st Oct 2022

Marco Townson, (the Clubs’ lead SLO) correctly made the point that the recommendations are only that and are non-binding. The Trust ideally believes that it should be independent and a volunteer role for supporters, but he disagreed with it being so, putting the case forward that an SLO needs to know all aspects of the Club’s departments to give fans the answers to their questions.

The Trust asked of his opinion about the importance of having a visual presence. At present the Club is not able to do this but Marco is extending his team of SLO’s and for the moment all the names of the SLO’s are on the Club website and there is a supporter services are on the website as well as email address.

It is work in progress and the Trust and SLO’s can work to develop its role.

You can see the FSA’s SLO best practice guidance here.

The Trust explained that every year at the FSA Awards, the Supporter Liaison Officer of the Year is celebrated through an award that aims to promote the best supporter liaison work that goes on around the country.

Trust Retro shirts and more remain at 2022 prices

17th January 2023

Paul Jago, owner of online sportswear company World-Retro.com, whom we have a partnership with has committed to keeping his prices the same until the end of our season.

This is of course largely depends on whether the cost of materials do not rise much further, but he will do his best to keep prices as they are until our season ends.

He is also continuing the special offer of get £5 off any two items or get £10 off any three.

A key reason why we maintain our partnership with Word-Retro.com is because they deliver a small donation from your purchase to us, and as football supporters, they have relationships with other Trusts. See their Values Statement.

So when Trust members and City fans alike buy our Trust retro wear, you are helping the Trust financially.

Take advantage of the prices and the special offers whilst they are still available and stand out of the crowd with our merchandise and help build Bantams Supporters Trust. Order one of our World-Retro items today!

Food & Drink Available on the Concourse Bars

10th January 2023

It was noted that that Tiffin Stadium Catering, who the Club are in the second year of a 5-year contract with, have brought out paninis and pizza twists: The latter got a positive review on ‘Footy Scran’. See here.

Fanzones

There will be some more of a range available in the summer.

Water stations

They are something the Club are taking away to think about, however the Club did offer free water bottles and offer refills when we had the really hot weather.

Taken from Report of the Trust’s meeting with BCAFC on 31^st October 22.

The Trust's Annual Review

3rd January 2023

This is an updated summary of the Trust’s Chair’s report (originally written mid October) for the Trust’s 2022 AGM which took place on the 9^th of November 22.

This updated summary covers up to early December and it was published in The City Gent, issue 236.

The AGM

The Trusts AGM usually takes place within 6 months after our year-end, which is May 31^st. It was a hybrid meeting held at the Jacob’s Well Pub and online.

The Trust would like to thank everyone who attended (mostly online) and we are pleased to inform members that for the first time in years, we achieved quoracy with having 22 attending on Skype.

There were always going to be some technological gremlins with using a free online video platform but we got there, and we had to battle with the background sounds in the pub, including dramatic music to Alan Carling’s Finance report!

We got through the proceedings, which took less than an hour, and the key things to report are that we have now updated and amended our policy document (our rules) to the FSA’s Model Rules 2022, from the Supporters Direct (SD) Model Rules 2016.

The SD and FSF (Football Supporters Federation) merged in 2019 to become one body, the Football Supporters Association. SD was all about setting up Supporters Trusts, Rules, Supporter Ownership and Structured Dialogue. FSF was always about fan-initiated campaigns, generally to improve the matchday experience, - and now they are one.

The amendments to the rules presented to the Annual General meeting represent temporary changes that accommodate the size of the Trust Board and membership arrangement as well as our accounts.

The AGM approved the current Board, however, the overall emphasis of the meeting was that we need more members involved with the running of the Trust.

It is custom and practice to approve the minutes of this years meeting at next years AGM. The paperwork has been returned to the Financial Conduct Authority for approval.

The national picture affecting football over the year:

iFollow Streaming and TV rights

The EFL’s current five-year TV deal with pay per view broadcaster Sky expires at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, and we know within our FSA Network that a recent EFL meeting tested out what it’s member clubs felt about ending the 3pm black out. We know that as well as the TV companies, the larger clubs with bigger attendances and higher demand for tickets home or away within the EFL have being lobbying the EFL to drop the 3pm black out since it temporarily removed. City’s CEO, Ryan Sparks has publically been in favour of it. iFollow (started at the outbreak of the Covid lockdown) does continue to stream mid week matches and some Saturdays when internationals are on, including Bank Holidays, at a cost of £10 to supporters.

The blackout is in place, really for the protection of the smaller club attendances, as the EFL has a commitment to look out for, and support all it’s member clubs. The FSA’s position has long been in favour of this. However it has been widely reported that the EFL are willing to consider scrapping the Saturday 3pm blackout as part of their new TV rights deal from 2024.

At our October FSA EFL Network meeting we discussed this and the notion that fans’ attitudes may have also changed, and that we as a national body could put out a form of survey about it which may affect our national position.

Fan-led Review

It’s not a very sexy subject we know, but it has been over a year since the Fan-led Review has come into play which culminated in a series of consultations with all FSA’s Networks covering all it’s reform proposals, including individual supporters giving evidence in terms of their relations with their clubs.

The Government, earlier this year announced that it would endorse the findings of the Fan-led Review and implement all of its recommendations – including the establishment of an independent regulator. This was in April, and the Government at that time said it is now committed to “fundamental reform” of the game’s governance. No exact timeframe was given for implementation, however a ‘white paper was expected over the Summer. Much has changed in the dynamics within the Government since then. In September, an FSA delegation featuring fan reps from Blackpool and Charlton Athletic, who both have had experience of malevolent ownership and the frustrations in securing action from the football authorities, met the new sports minister, Stuart Andrew, to apply some pressure on the Government on its commitment to legislate the Government review on football governance.

At the October FSA EFL Network meeting, there was a mood to keep a campaign going to keep the FLR in the public domain. Tony Wilkinson, of Blackpool Supporters Trust informed the network of Blackpool Supporters Trust’s letter to local MP’s. Here is an extract:

“We hope you will bring your own pressure to bear on Mr. Andrew and other Ministers to make sure that this commitment to reform continues. The health of the English pyramid remains under threat; at least one Premier League club remains in danger of a breach of financial rules, at least three Championship clubs are facing difficulties of various kinds, We are also aware of one club in the National League where the owner is threatening to put it into administration, while another has staff who are working to rule, such is their concern about late payment of salaries. Finally, and closer to home, League One club Morecambe may well be affected by the failure of Rugby Union club Worcester Warriors, as both are owned by the same business group.”

In November, the FSA’s new publication ‘The Fan Led Review: One Year On’ became available to download and is essentially a condensed version of the Fan-led Review with a review of where it stands now. Whilst we know that the elite Clubs still oppose it, the message is that it shows how football would benefit from its recommendations – which have still not been implemented 12 months on.

On November 15^th there was a Parliamentary FSA organised event to launch the publication. It was well attended, with around 15 representatives of FSA-affiliated fan groups, while Tracey Crouch MP chaired and Sports Minister Stuart Andrew attended and answered questions from MPs, fans and journalists. The Guardian and Press Association were there, alongside Sky Sports News who interviewed the FSA’s CEO, Kevin Miles outside a rainy Parliament.

The chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Football Supporters, Ian Mearns MP has written to the new secretary of state, Michelle Donelan, responsible for football urging the Government to deliver on the recommendations of the Fan-led Review. See more here.

The Trust’s years’ work

This has been another very challenging year of keeping on top of maintaining a presence in the public domain of City fans; running the campaign stall and getting the news out onto our website and communicating them via our members’ emails and promoting the articles on social media about what is affecting supporters, what we are saying about key decisions coming out of the Club and our engagement with them. This is as well as co-ordinating and running our Trust board meetings and attending and giving input to Supporters Board meetings.

Chablais Sport / World Retro

Having established a good working relationship with Paul Jago, who runs the World Retro online business, he is promoting £5 off two items of merchandise or £10 off three items over Christmas, although by the time you read this most probably, Christmas maybe almost over. He may well extend the offer all year round. He has also written a mission statement about the ethos of supporting football supporter organisations through his sales, which help us when people buy from him.

You can take a look at the Bantams Trust page on the world Retro website here.

Our publicity and website

We continue to regularly update our members (who have signed up to receive our emails) with news, and we are continually changing the way we send it out.

We have also added regular links to new things we’ve added to the website, such as minutes of board meetings, links to the comments dialogue box on the website, our historical article that Alan Carling brought up to date to celebrate our 20^th anniversary, our members handbook and a new website feature that explains what it means to get involve and shows the names how many directors there are. It gives a more exclusive feel for just members and we have developed a house style which is also reflected through the website articles and across the website with the new features mentioned since our last AGM. We are contactable at the email, hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

Almost 500 members receive our email news, which we like to call the ‘magic button’, as basic requirement of a free membership, and, like last year, approximately 30% of that figure opens them.

We use ‘Hootsuite’ to share news on our social media platforms on Facebook and Twitter.

Our Facebook Group has 716 members, and our ‘Likes’ Page has 1,435 people liking it, and 1,454 people follow it. Our Twitter account, has 390 Following and 139 Followers.

Since the November 2021 AGM, the Trust completed its first full season having a presence at the stadium since 2012, which is an amazing feat in itself. We are in the main stand, usually setting up around 1.45/2pm on a Saturday.

At the time of writing we have had 2 stalls in September and one at the end of October. Due to the way the fixture computer has set forth the season’s campaign, combined with my one weekend on one weekend off work shift patterns, most of our stalls are set for the New Year, and we’ll have twelve stall appearances in total this season.

20^th Anniversary Social

This year is the 20^th year of our existence, and we celebrated this in September after the Stevenage game. It was a real success after a bit of in trepidation. Over 20 members turned up to make worth a great evening of catching up with friends and colleagues. See more in our website article.

Surveys

The Covid Survey we put out in mid-March 2021, had more members fill it in than in previous season, and we plan to do another one around the same time next year themed around the match day experience at Valley Parade including comfort and facilities in the ground, and covering loyalty points, the Bantams Membership and away fan experiences.

Incidentally, since writing this, we have recently conducted a badge survey as we perused the developments of the Club’s crest redesign surveys. We’ll have more on this in the next City Gent publication.

As well as using surveys to engage with members, we would like to supplement them by holding members meetings, which can be online where possible.

Fan Engagement / Structured Dialogue

At the time of writing, we have now had 3 meetings this year since the last AGM. March, June, and most recently October 31^st.

March

Was the first time we met since last October 2021, and was the earliest opportunity we got to discuss the ‘Have Your Say’ about the branding of the badge.

We also discussed and agreed a prototype agenda for a Memorandum of Understanding – a form of collective agreement with union and employer or ‘gentleman’s agreement’ if you will.

These are now added to the discussion as part of a trial before we go about signing a Memorandum of Understanding.

There was a wider range of issues discussed in our report in full here.

June

One of the key thing we discussed were, disorder and arrests and reviewing the sanctions & banning orders policy with a view to improving it as we thought it was a little law and order heavy, and there could be improvements in making ours more clearer, giving points to what is considered a sanction relating to severity, giving the right of appeal, and offering representation. It was suggested that we could talk to others within the Club staff team more familiar with this subject area. Up to press, this has been followed up, and we will be able to report on any progress in the New Year.

You can read more about the many issues discussed here.

October

The salient talking points were: The Supporter Liaison Officer role, the EFL’s campaign on disorder and arrests, Atmosphere and safe standing / railed seating, Reciprocal Deals, the kick off times survey and the new Membership scheme and loyalty points, and the Club badge. At that point the final Club badge survey was about to drop, where in the end the Club’s existing logo prevailed. Also discussed was the Fan-Led Review over the last 3 meetings.

You can read more about what was discussed here.

Supporters Board

Since the relaunch of the Supporters Board (SB), it has continued to raise issues with representatives of the Club, in particularly with Ryan Sparks. In more recent meetings we have lead SLO, Marco Townson also present. The number of individual and group reps have reduced since, but we will be looking to review our constitution at this time, and look to increase the number of representatives with a view to be as diverse as possible, and therefore we are approaching that time again to elect colleagues to the various positions. The SB continues to ask questions to the Club that reflect the concerns of ordinary supporters, most recently it has been about the loyalty points

Club led Fan Engagement’ such as Supporters Boards are a minimum form of fan engagement expected by the Government Expert Working Group.

Supporters Direct (SD), (now FSA) produced a guidance document in approximately 2017/18 called ‘Engage! How Football Clubs Can Win With Football Supporters’, and our Supporters Board was a case study, pg 13.

Membership

We now have 931 contacts that we have on our InTouch database. We have 65 Patrons approximately - a number of members that pay. The money raised from Patrons is essentially our main source of income for the society. Those that receive emails, including patrons, are considered our core membership. The email membership figure now stands at 497.

Membership Review

The membership review is ongoing. We still aim to introduce a membership fee in return for membership benefits. Our patron members would also be included in the benefit scheme that would enable members to receive a membership card and be able to receive discounts from bars, café’s and other retail outlets

To finance this, the Trust Board believes we need a regular income of £5,000, so we decided to set that figure as an ambitious target.

Our continued work with Chablais Sport / World Retro in extending our range of merchandise will hopefully benefit the Trust considerably, as well as, we hope, our fundraising and donations from our Trust Awareness stalls where we continue to see an increase in membership from.

We are pleased to say that as a result of the small increase in Patrons, the campaign stalls and sales in World Retro products we have made a small profit in this years’ Accounts.

We continue to grow the membership, and in doing so, replenish lost ones.

We have a total of 230 ‘suppressed’ contacts that remain on our database we have to go through and identify – This list covers all contacts whose emails have bounced – this could be because they have changed their email addresses. It covers members who have unsubscribed or indeed members who have no contact details. There will be some members who have joined twice with different contact details, members who have passed away and there will be of course a number of postal members who we have lost touch with or have moved and can no longer be contacted.

The Trust Board

Whilst we have been regularly meeting, it has been difficult in getting everyone available at the same time to meet. This makes it more pressing that we need more people interested in the Trust and not only to become members but see the need to get involved and playing a role on the board. With more board members we can reach out more and be a bigger influence.

We have had some interest this year, which is great but we need more new and existing members to engage and discuss with us. We have for the most part of this year been publicizing our minutes on our website.

Looking to the future, our physical presence in the stadium on matchdays is paramount if we are to see a new generation of Trust activists replenishing the existing board, of who the Chair would like to thank every one of them for helping the Trust stay alive.

The Chair would like to give a special thanks to Board member, Simon Hagerty, who has played a tremendous role in managing our website and getting our article and documents on there, and making them accessible to everyone.

The Trust is the only democratic and independent organisation that is part of a wider Supporters Trust movement, that can, not only be a critical friend of the Club, but also, it can be a collective campaigning force that can be organised into action. To realise this potential, it needs more fans to join and get involved. Get involved by contacting us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

Trust Members Crest Survey Findings

14th December 2022

Apologies for the lateness in this getting out, but it is better late than never as they say. Many thanks for all members that took part in this survey.

Nineteen members took part, and considering the objective factors which were that the Club put out two surveys in close proximity to each other and then ourselves attempting to create two of our own surveys around that time period where we experienced some technical delay, then that number of participants presents itself as very good indeed.

The result was that the existing crest won by an overwhelming majority – 95%.

However, the uniqueness of our survey was in the comments – a snapshot of our members’ views. Most thought the branding exercise was a waste of time and money, but if there had to be any changes, then minor tweaks could’ve been made to what was perceived by most as a historical badge.

The other concern was the short period of consultation time around the finished designs and that more consultation time could’ve been given to digest the proposals.

This was an exercise worth doing and the views and shows that the views of our members are broadly in line with the Trust Board.

We would like to thank all our members that took part in this survey.

City Gent gets shortlisted for FSA Fanzine of the Year

13th December 2022

This year the City Gent got shortlisted for the 6 best fanzines before the winner was drawn on the night.

The fanzine last won the award in 2015 before the merger of Football Supporters Federation and Supporters Direct (2019).

And it is with no small thanks to the fanzine contributors it can receive such accolades.

The Trust would like to congratulate Mike Harrison, the editor, and Phil Littlewood the layout man on his narrow boat, who have spent many hours in putting together all the efforts of its’ contributors for many a year. It is great to see the fanzine being amongst 6 of the best.

This year The City Gent was up against stiff opposition to WBR – Watford, United We Stand – Manchester United, Trevor Francis Tracksuits, and Dogma – Brighton & Hove Albion, and it was in fact ModMag, the fanzine of Charlton Athletic that won, and somehow disappeared from the cartoon image above! But congratulations to them for winning the top prize!

This year’s categories for the awards were: Climate Action Award, Club Podcast of the Year, Commentator of the Year, Fans for Diversity Award, Fan Media of the Year, Fanzine of the Year, Men’s Player of the Year, Newspaper of the Year, Non-League Community Award, Online Media of the Year, Podcast of the Year, TV/Radio Pundit of the Year, Radio Show of the Year, Special Achievement, Supporter Engagement Award, Supporter Liaison Officer of the Year, Women’s Player of the Year and Writer of the Year. To find out who won in all the categories and more click here.

The Fan Led Review - One Year On

26th November 2022

The FSA have been busy promoting the work of the Fan-led review...

Their new publication The Fan Led Review: One Year On is available to download and is essentially a condensed version of the Fan-led Review with a review of where it stands now. Whilst we know that the elite Clubs still oppose it, the message is that it shows how football would benefit from its recommendations – which have still not been implemented 12 months on.

There was a Parliamentary event the FSA ran to launch the publication that took place on the 15^th November. It was well attended, with around 15 representatives of FSA-affiliated fan groups, while Tracey Crouch MP chaired and Sports Minister Stuart Andrew attended and answered questions from MPs, fans and journalists. The Guardian and Press Association were there, alongside Sky Sports News who interviewed the FSA’s CEO, Kevin Miles outside a rainy Parliament.

The FSA’s press release of the launch of the new publication is here, while Tracey Crouch’s Forward included in the document is here.

The Club Badge Survey

12th November 2022

The result of the Clubs’ survey is now widely known, that we are keeping the current Crest. The result of the survey can be seen here.

It was always going to be an ambitious plan to streamline the crest to fit into the current trends of global marketing consumption, which was what the ‘Have Your Say’ project was always about.

The Trust believes that the outcome reflects the majority of the Clubs’ supporters’ preference, and goes back to Trusts’ thinking that the crest, as it has been the official badge for the longest time in our modern history, is now part of the Clubs’ heritage, as is the home colours and name. Hats off to the Club though for honouring the result and consulting supporters.

The Trust brought out it’s own survey, because we feel that it is important to consult our valued members on such an emotive topic that all the generations of the Club’s support base, both young and old. And on the big subject matters such as the Club’s heritage issues, and including the location of the ground – Valley Parade, or the sale of the Club, Trust members, ideally, should be part of any clubs’ consultation process.

We were unfortunately a bit late in the day when we were able to release our survey as the last survey with the 3 crests was only open for less than a week and closed hours before we were able to get ours out. However, we would say it is still a good idea to fill it in as it also includes a comments section. Here you can put your thoughts about the process, the questions and so on. The survey is only open to members through the regular emails they receive, so if you are not a member, you can join here.

New members, shall receive the survey after completing the online membership form, but the survey will only be open for another week.

We will only share our findings with the Club if a significant amount of members take part. And we thank members who have already taken the time to complete it.

The AGM 2022 Brief Report

11th November 2022

The Trust would like to thank everyone who attended (mostly online) and we are pleased to inform members that for the first time in years, we achieved quoracy with having 22 attending on Skype, and in some cases there were two members in one attendees video.

The amendments to the rules presented to the Annual General meeting represent temporary changes that accommodate the size of the Trust Board and membership arrangement as well as accounts.

We also approved the current Board, however, the overall emphasis of the AGM was that we need more people involved with the running of the Trust.

It is custom and practice to approve the minutes of this years meeting at next years AGM. The paperwork will now be returned to the Financial Conduct Authority for approval.

We thank, once again, all of you who attended on Wednesday evening

Report of the Trust's meeting with BCAFC

10th November 2022

On Monday 31^st October 22, The Trust met with Ryan Sparks. The meeting was also attended by lead Supporter Liaison Officer (SLO), Marco Townson. Again as in June, the last time we met, the meeting was quite positive and constructive; The Trust gaining a better understanding of the club operations as a business and the Club’s insight to the Trusts interconnections with other Trusts and its affiliation to the FSA, the leading national organization for football supporters.

Diving straight into it we discussed issues relating to the match day experiences of fans at VP:

Fanzones – Food and drink choices available for purchase update: There will be some more of a range available in the summer.

Food and drink available on the concourse bars - it was noted that that Tiffin Stadium Catering, who the Club are in the second year of a 5-year contract with, have brought out paninis and pizza twists: The latter got a positive review on ‘Footy Scran’. See here.

The Trust raised that some of the food and drink available at smaller grounds was better; hot dogs at Harrogate and real ale at Barrow and Colchester, and they could be a unique selling point for a big club in this league, but the response was that it wasn’t ‘commercially viable’ at this time.

Water stations - are something the Club are taking away to think about, however the Club did offer free water bottles and offer refills when we had the really hot weather.

Supporter Liaison Officer (SLO) role – Marco correctly made the point that the recommendations are only that and are non-binding. The Trust ideally believes that it should be independent and a volunteer role for supporters, but he disagreed with it being so, putting the case forward that an SLO needs to know all aspects of the Club’s departments to give fans the answers to their questions.

It is work in progress and the Trust and SLO’s can work to develop its role.

You can see the FSA’s SLO best practice guidance here.

EFL’s campaign on disorder and arrests and the Club’s Sanctions & Banning Order Policy – The Trust gave a brief overview of the EFL’s campaign, citing the name FFS (For Football’s Sake), but Ryan nor Marco liked the name.

Looking back at the Clubs’ own sanctions policies, and the Trust requested to see colleagues with the knowledge of these, and this was agreed.

Atmosphere and safe standing / railed seating – The Trust made the point that whilst the official atmosphere is in the North West Corner, supporters have voted with their feet to go back to the Kop.

The atmosphere at Valley Parade has improved, largely as progress on the field of play has much improved and that is something to sing about.

The Trust asked about the plans to have railed seating as we had discussed this at a previous structured dialogue meeting previously, and the plan still is to install in the North West Corner.

The Trust asked if we could meet with Paula Watson, Director of Operations who would no more about the detail of how the railed seating would be implemented. This agreed.

The Club Badge – The Trust position is that we feel it is one of these key heritage features the Club shouldn’t touch such as the colours and the name. However we do except modernization for the purposes of publicity, print on merchandise etc. but we didn’t think that any new design would be too far off the original. The Trust board also felt, regarding the previous design offered could’ve been far stronger if not similar to our current one, and looked a bit Americanised.

Ryan reported that there would be 3 crests to vote on: a completely new one, and edited version of the proposal, and the current one, which would be dropped imminently.

Of course, that survey has now been and gone, with over 5,000 taking part, the results were revealed around tea time on Tuesday 8^th November with option C - the current crest winning the majority vote, with 61%, followed by option B, the halfway house with 26%. And lastly option A was the improved original proposal with only 13% of the vote.

The outcome, from the Trust’s point of view, reflects the majority of the Clubs’ supporters’ preference, and goes back to Trusts’ thinking that the crest, as it has been the official badge for the longest time in our modern history, is now part of the Clubs’ heritage, as is the home colours and name. And it is great the Club honours this result. The result of the survey can be seen here.

EFL AGM and the Fan-Led Review – No further update. Ryan went to the EFL AGM and has no further better understanding of it.

We are expecting to see the government ‘white paper’ of the Review’s recommendations in November, but the Government has been pre-occupied with its internal affairs to be thinking of wider topics such as football.

Financial Performance – impact of energy cost on the short and medium term – We can report that energy costs have put the Club under pressure but it is still relatively comfortable and always strives for sustainability. First financial quarter performance was as expected and in line with budget.

The survey regarding changing the Saturday Kick Off time to 1pm – The Trust felt the vote of 67% /33% in favour of bringing it to 1pm was because fans wanted to help ensure energy prices don’t impact too greatly and that fans would really prefer 3pm as it would be more cost effective for the Club – greater chance of supporters making long distance trips to Valley Parade, and so on.

4,800 took part in the survey but the Club felt an earlier KO time would not be viable.

Provision of information - Financial figures to support discussion – There was no evidence of figures provided.

The Trust felt it may help to understand the Club finances by showing the core funding figures provided on the EPL (English Premier League) website that break them down into three sections for every EFL League Club. Ryan didn’t have an issue with this. The figures available are from 2019/20. Here is an explanation of how the EPL supports EFL Clubs. And here is the breakdown our Club receives.

Ownership – We asked if there were any long term plans such as buying the ground back or any changes to the lease. Ryan reported that the lease runs out in 2028 and there are no plans or changes to the agreement.

There was reference to the Odsal ambitious plans. The Club are watching but nothing appears to be confirmed about them.

It was asked if there were any plans to the stadium such as widening stairs coming up to Burlington Road from the kop as it becomes quite a bottleneck when exiting the stadium post match. Not at the moment as there is no extra money coming in was the response. It was raised that there have been issues within the main stand in terms of narrower legroom within the seat rows in block E, but this has been reportedly fixed now.

It was also asked what his view about ownership regulations within the German Bundesliga as it is something that has inspired the Golden Share that is included in the Fan-Led Government Review of Football Governance. In the Bundesliga Clubs are owned 50% plus one by the fans. Although there is a loophole in this rule which could undermine this. Ryan agreed to pass this question on.

AOB

Membership and Loyalty Points - The Trust pulled a couple of points from the Supporters Board Minutes that reported that:

“The Club is still going through a learning Curve and is determined to engage with supporters.

The Loyalty Scheme is not an away travel and ticketing scheme but has gone from nothing to something.”

But the Trust felt that to a lot of supporters that is what it has become and there has been a lot of disquiet about it, and many have not taken up the Membership scheme.

The Trust was reminded that every single away ticket has been available to season ticket holders after the limitations within the points categories, and over 1,000 have bought into the loyalty scheme already.

It was agreed that it would’ve created less upset if the Membership Scheme was ready and available before the start of the season. It was said that that was the intention but it got delayed due to technical reasons.

The Trust felt it was good that discussion with the Supporters Board, brought about the concession of awarding an extra 10 more loyalty points were awarded to away tickets, shortly after the membership announcement.

Fans Forum – It was asked if there were any plans to have one in January, and the response was it more likely to be before.

Trust AGM 2022 Reminder

31st October 2022

Our AGM is on Wednesday, 9th November, from 7pm, at Jacobs Well, near Bradford Interchange.

The existing Trust Board would like to see new Trust Board Members that have new ideas and proposals that will broaden our reach.

Members who receive our regular emails will be able to download our Draft Agenda and Papers for the evening. Members interested in joining the Trust board can also download our nomination form via our regular emails.

For our AGM to be quorate, we need 20 Members in attendance. Only Members can vote. Become a Member and receive our regular emails, and support us financially by being a Patron Member. Supporters can join to be a member on the night.

The AGM will start at 7pm, so please arrive in good time to order a drink at the bar. We will be in the snug area of the pub and greet members at the bar from 6.30pm.

The Skype meeting can be joined by clicking here

Save the date - AGM 2022

24th October 2022

You are cordially invited to our Supporters’ Trust Annual General Meeting, to be held on Wednesday 9th November, from 7pm, at Jacobs Well, near Bradford Interchange

If you would like to submit any Agenda items for the AGM or the Trust Board nomination form, the deadline for submissions is at the end of Wednesday 2^nd of November.

For our AGM to be quorate, we need 20 Members in attendance. Only Members can vote. Supporters can join to be a member on the night.

The AGM will start at 7pm, so please arrive in good time to order a drink at the bar. We will be in the snug area of the pub and greet members at the bar from 6.30pm.

The Skype meeting details is: https://join.skype.com/BRWtU4Jqthzh

The Proposed New Bantams Logo

6th October 2022

When Trust Board Colleagues found out there were plans to streamline the badge, we believed it wasn’t going to look too different to what we have now, perhaps with a slicker look, after all 90% of those that took part in the ‘Have Your Say’ survey last year said they wanted to keep the logo as it is.

The Supporters Board (SB), of which we are part of, brought it up as part of its regular dialogue with the Club. We were then invited to a preview of the final version of the logo.

Not all SB colleagues could attend the preview but there was unanimity in the understanding of why it needed some modernizing, and we were shown examples of other club badges that had gone through this process, often with no consultation at all, and we were satisfied that there would be a survey of the fan base when the Club would go public with its finished design.

Our initial reaction was one of surprise as it was such a departure from the one we have, and we were shown all the slides and video that is in the Supporters Pack and indeed when the logo was visualized on merchandise there was agreement it could work, however there was some questions about the design.

Our current badge is 30 years old. A generation of fans have been born into it. We’ve been through unbelievable highs and the really disappointing lows with our badge. It’s part of our identity and heritage.

The Trust’s Board feels perhaps it should’ve resembled what we have a lot more, or if it was different, perhaps a bit stronger as a logo, but what do you think? We would like to know what you think and we are inviting members to take part in our own survey. This will be emailed to members as soon as we can.

The Trust will be having its structured dialogue meeting at the end of this month.

Trust Has Successful 20th Anniversary Social

20th September 2022

On Saturday the 17^th of September the Trust had its 20^th Anniversary Social After the win over Stevenage.

Over 20 members dropped into the Jacob’s Well pub in Bradford to show their support, and it was a great evening of catching up with friends and colleagues, some of who have not been seen by the current number of activists for many years, and certainly not in this way.

There were inevitably some apologies for the event, but there was a general feeling that we should meet up again.

It was great to catch up with everyone and to remember key periods in the Trust’s history, namely the fundraising to save the Club and relationships with the Club and the local press at the time. There was a feeling of retelling some of those stories at some point in the near future. Long standing active member, Alan Carling, has done a great job in retelling our history that brings us up to date, but there is a lot of detail missed out that should be told it was felt.

So watch this space for more socials and more anecdotal accounts of the Trust's past.

Many thanks to all that attended, it is greatly appreciated.

Supporters Board Help Win Improvements to Club’s Loyalty Point Scheme Following The Launch Of Club’s Official Membership

19th September 2022

The Club’s Official Membership was launched on Friday 16^th and it saw some criticism by supporters mainly around the 100 loyalty points awarded for the £35 cost of membership.

The Supporters Board at teatime on the same day released a statement on its Facebook group and Twitter, saying that it wanted to provide reassurance to supporters as an independent body that it would be raising the concerns voiced in relation to the allocation of loyalty points as part of the scheme. See here for the full statement.

The Statement also wanted to clear up some popular misconceptions about the Supporters Board’s links to the Club and our collective input into this decision.

The Trust agrees that, as the statement says, ‘It is worth clarifying that whilst the club do involve the board as a sounding board for many ideas and initiatives the criteria of this membership scheme wasn’t one of the topics discussed.’

And we agree that, ‘the Club has greatly improved its approach to communication and involvement with fans over the last few years so we are sure that the issues raised will be received and responded to.’

On Sunday 18^th the Club confirmed changes to the Loyalty Scheme, see here, which means that that points for away matches from our away fixture to Salford on Saturday October 15^th will increase from 10 points to 20, which will equal home match points, and that points will also be added retrospectively for all away fixtures so far this season.

The Club have demonstrated that they have taken supporters feedback seriously and from the Trust’s point of view this is a very positive achievement, which is shared by the Supporters Board. In the Club’s Loyalty Scheme Update, Ryan Sparks, the Clubs Chief Executive mentions the Supporters Board, bringing concerns and queries to the Club’s attention, and, adds that these changes come ahead of a survey that will be out later this year, which again, both the Supporters Board and ourselves welcome.

The trust welcomes the further Supporters Board statement prior to the Club putting out its update, saying, ‘We have since had some really helpful discussions with the club about these concerns and they understand the views raised.’

It continued, ‘we are pleased this has evolved into another example of the fans and club working together. As a Supporters Board we welcome these changes and also the spirit in which they have been achieved.’ For the statement in full, see here.

Whilst this isn’t perfect as there are still issues around the Official Membership, predominantly around the 100 points, we think the concession of doubling the away match loyalty points to 20 and back dating all the points for all the away tickets bought from the start of the season is the best that can be achieved at this point in time and we can air out issues of the Official Membership at the next Supporters Board meeting we have with the Club.

The Trust Reaches Out to Develop Its Community Links

16th September 2022

In the morning of September 3rd, the day we beat Walsall, a Finnish freelance reporter, came to Bradford to write a lengthy report on Bradford City, the Trust and Bangla Bantams.

Based in Manchester, Pauli Loukola, interviewed Humayun Islam, who runs Bangla Bantams to get a brief interview. Pauli was writing his piece for a Sports newspaper called Urheilulehti.

Humayun, the CEO of BEAP Community Partnership, which is a community centre for the local area, predominantly for the Bangladeshi community, providing a wide variety of services on the doorstep of Bradford City, first set up Bangla Bantams in 2015 with the help of Anwar Uddin of Fans For Diversity and the FSA, and now is able to put on regular community days and football tournaments at the Club.

Humayun explained that the new complex that was built earlier this year cost £1.1m and was funded by Football Foundation, Power to Change, Sport England and Bradford Council and has been lead by BEAP Community Partnership.

We saw Humayun running the five-aside tournament that was taking place when we arrived.

He also explained that there will soon be a Family Fanzone on the new complex and discussion with the Club are taking place. The Trust wants to help out in any way it can.

Later in the Sparrow, when interviewed Manny Dominguez explained the historical development of the Trust, out of our Club in financial crisis and the necessity for Trusts in developing ‘structured dialogue’ and how all Trusts are part of a wider movement through the FSA. Before getting to his seat in the media area of the ground, Pauli helped out setting up the stall on the concourse in the main stand.

The Trust met with Qasim Akhtar on 12^th September, and he is the General Manager of Bradford City Women’s Football Club and works for the Bradford City Community Foundation. He explained that the Community Foundation is a self-funded charity arm of the Club. It does receive funding from the EPL, EFL, PFA, The FA and others as well.

Its mission is “to provide a safe, fun & inclusive environment to inspire, educate and enable the citizens of our city to achieve their goals. Our programmes and opportunities are open to everyone of all ages & backgrounds, whether you are a fan of 50 years, a football loving child or someone with no connections to football at all.”

It runs a lot of Community Engagement initiatives, often engaging with predominantly young people in deprived communities in Bradford. They run initiatives such as foodbanks, free school meals, Premier League Kicks and more.

Find out more about what the Community Foundation is about and what it does here.

Qasim says that through it’s charity partner Human Relief Foundation, founded in Bradford 30 years ago, they aim to run food banks on match days which is something we could help get involved with. We already support Bradford Central Foodbank, which is part of a number of foodbanks in Bradford linked to the Trussell Trust.

Earlier this year Exeter City Supporters Trust raised £14,786, from the FA Cup 1^st round second replay we had in November last year, which enabled foodbanks in Exeter and Bradford to receive £7,393 each! See our news item here.

At the moment Qasim said that the Community Foundation is raising funds to open a community cafe. The 'City Hub' will be a cafe and a social space from where they can run community projects. They are putting on a Charity ball, which was going to be on the 17^th of September, but because of the Queen’s funeral, it was felt to move it to the 19^th November, when City are at home to Northampton Town.

Find out more here.

In light of increased poor behavior on matchdays, on a national scale, and at City, particularly on regional derbies on the road and, it was asked if there is any scope to run any educational activities for young people, and or community relations building for young people who are at that juncture in their lives when temptation to get involved with the wrong crowd is strong. It was said that ideas like that have been thought about and Qasim referred to a meeting with the Club and Humayun Islam about planning activities for the Family Fanzone at the new facilities at the BEAP Community Partnership.

Reminder - Trust’s 20^th Anniversary Social This Saturday After The Match

14th September 2022

The Trust has its 20^th Anniversary Social this Saturday on the 17^th September after the match. All Trust members and their friends and families are welcome.

It is 20 years since initial formation, out of our Club being in Crisis, and thankfully since those heady days of rallying the supporters in 2004 to rise money to save our Club, it has more financially stable foundations, for now that is.

To mark 20 years of our formation, we think it is high time for a reunion of Trust board members and supporters of the Trust over the years.

We know there have been many volunteer Trustees, supporters, and well wishers over the years and we would like to invite as many Trust members and supporters new and experienced hands as possible to come down to Jacobs Well, a well known pub for its real ale, on the 17^th of September, straight after the Stevenage home game, to come and meet up for the first time or catch up and maybe relive some tails, whilst raising a glass to our continued existence.

If you are in touch with others who have been active within the Trust, please let them and their families know about this.

It will be fantastic if you can make it.

To read about the history of the Trust please see here.

With best wishes,

From the Trust Board

Crowd Disorder and Pyro's

30th August 2022

It has been the topic of debate in the media and across all levels of football, after the first half of last season saw a rise in arrests and incidents of football related crime.

The pitch invasions at some of the play-off matches at the end of the season sparked the debate again. For many seasoned football fans, we know that hooliganism had never gone away, it just got better at hiding itself away from football grounds, but, since Covid restrictions lifted, there has been a more public expression of poor behavior from. For well-travelled Bradford fans, it has never been completely hidden from view, and increased incidents, and banning orders have moved the Club to put out a statement about it on the 19^th July.

The debate about what to do about crowd disorder has been a topic of discussion at our FSA EFL Supporter Network meetings. At the most recent one in May, an issue of poor recruitment and retention of stewards was raise as well as pyrotechnics, persistent standing in seated areas and drug taking were frequent issues. It was said that clubs introducing safe standing areas could significantly reduce persistent standing issues. Minors not accompanied by adults on coaches was another potential issue raised. Also, looking at positive sanctions and education programmes with clubs was raised as a potential way of attempting to reduce incidents.

The Trust has raised issues with our Club’s Banning and Ejections Policy. See our last meeting with the Club on 6^th June, citing Spurs, Man Utd and Liverpool as to having the most positive example.

Discussing disorder at football

At the EFL/FSA Supporter Engagement Meeting, held in 14^th June, when discussing issues around disorder, the EFL had reported it had been on the Agenda at their AGM and Clubs have acknowledged their role to work with their local Safety Advisory Groups (SAG’s) on a holistic approach that implements change and drives improvements. They are also working to launch a new stewards training package to improve standards and minimise police involvement at games. And they have worked with clubs to encourage fans to behave responsibly, more recently launching a ‘For Football’s Sake ‘ campaign, with the core message of reinforcing the potential repercussions of anti-social behavior, was delivered across all 72 EFL Clubs.

They say Clubs will allocate resources to address incidents using education, and rehabilitation as well as a range of sanctions, and said they want to inform and educate to protect the collective reputation of the League and their member clubs, and that discussions have started with the EFL Trust to work with the League, it’s clubs and club community organisations.

The FSA’s response was they were generally supportive of messaging to address poor behaviour, and promote positive behaviour, and will work with the EFL to amplify those messages.

They reported an increase in anecdotal reports of poor behaviour at non-league games, traditionally not seen, suggesting this reflects a change in society generally. It was also suggested that some individuals believe they are reinforcing their identity through anti-social actions.

The role social media can play in driving these negative behaviours must be considered when seeking solutions. It was noted that, clubs will only be able to have an impact on behaviour at a local level with their fans if they have a positive relationship in place. Collaborative work between fans and clubs at Blackpool, Hull and Sunderland were all outlined.

Delving into human side of football disorder

There is a very interesting and important audio documentary by the Anfield Wrap, that may encourage young lads who are drawn into lifestyles around football that include violence, drug and alcohol abuse and regular brushes with the law, to rethink that path. The documentary, on Spotify is called, ‘Paying The Price For Passion’.

Pyros, pitch invasions and new measures to deter disorder

Last May, the FSA put out some information about pyro’s and the law to help supporters think about the consequences of their potential actions before taking them to a stadium. More recently, they have put out guidance for fans to be aware of the risk of invading the pitch – the stands are for supporters and the pitch is for the players.

It is worth noting, that there is an unwritten behavioural pact that we all benefit from – stay off the pitch and crowd management restrictions will be much lighter touch. If that pact breaks down football will be worse for us all as rules will tighten.

There is also a Joint Statement from the FA, Premier League, EFL and FSA. This joint statement explains that the football authorities have brought in tighter measures ahead of this 22/23 season that includes stronger sanctions to tackle the increased anti-social and criminal behaviours recently seen within football grounds and underline the importance of a safe matchday environment.

The Trust's 20th Anniversary Social

24th August 2022

To mark 20 years of our formation, we think it is high time for a reunion of Trust board members and supporters of the Trust over the years.

If you are in touch with others who have been active within the Trust, please let them and their families know about this.

Please get in touch with us here or by email to hello@bantamstrust.co.uk if you can make it so we can get an idea for the pub how many will be coming, as it will be busy post match. It will be fantastic if you can make it.

To read about the history of the Trust please see here.

With best wishes,

From the Trust Board

Crypto Currency in Football

22nd August 2022

It’s been hard not to notice the explosion of crypto currency deals across football, as club execs and commercial departments chase football’s latest gold rush.

In December 2021, our Club rejected an offer from WAGMI United who now own Crawley Town.

Reflecting the increase in crypto interest in football, the FSA’s AGM 2022 , passed a motion on it proposed by West Ham United Supporters Trust and backed by many other Trusts, including Bantams Supporters Trust.

The FSA has put together a guide to the key crypto terms here.

Background

Crypto currencies involved in football promote ‘fan token’ as a route to fan ownership.

Socios.com have been the biggest players in the fan token space in European football, signing deals with multiple Premier League and European clubs and even UEFA itself.

They first entered English football in 2019, when they struck up an ill-fated partnership with West Ham United. Supporters pushed back against the deal, with a coalition of fan groups launching the “Don’t pay to have a say” campaign – arguing that supporter engagement should not be monetised at all, let alone through a then unregulated crypto currency recruitment scheme.

Supporter protests caused the club to end the partnership early, without a single fan token (the ‘digital asset’ supporters could buy to vote on issues and events) ever being issued.

Despite that setback, Socios.com re-emerged in the summer of 2021 signing deals with multiple Premier League clubs – arguing they offered clubs and supporters a novel way to engage with each other: supporters download their app, buy some fan tokens with the crypto currency Chiliz and use those tokens to vote on polls at their clubs.

Supporter groups have been less than impressed – criticising their clubs over the lack of consultation before signing up, and pushing out misleading marketing to members about the schemes.

So far these votes held via Socios.com tokens have been restricted to actions such as renaming training pitches or picking a player for an Instagram takeover. Take up of Socios.com’s fan tokens at Premier League clubs has been extremely low and participation in its votes has been underwhelming – with tokens bought mostly by external crypto-investors rather than ordinary fans.

Unsurprisingly the value of all of these Premier League clubs’ tokens on the crypto market has crashed since their launch.

It seems crypto-based fan token partnerships are either trying to monetise trivial matters that could easily be done without the blockchain on the one hand or they are inserting financial barriers into genuine supporter engagement on the other. Neither is a good look.

Crypto takeovers

As we know crypto firm WAGMI United took over Crawley Town in April after interest in Bradford City turned sour for them, becoming the first of the 92 professional clubs in the country to be owned outright by a crypto group.

WAGMI United, an acronym of “we’re all gonna make it”, have since raised £3m for the League Two club by launching their own non-fungible token (NFT) in collaboration with Adidas – selling 9,000 of the digital assets which were priced around £350 each at the time of the initial launch.

The price of the NFT has since fallen to roughly £230-250.

Crawley co-chairman Johnson told a Twitter live chat: “We’re going to offer via this technology unprecedented access into the way a club functions day to day, week to week.

“Whether it’s deciding what position we put funds towards in the transfer window or where we’re putting funds for events.

“If you have this NFT you’re going to have a say in all the big-picture items for a football club that’s trying to tell a story to get to the Premier League.”

At the time of writing NFT holders have contributed to one significant decision already – which position Crawley Town should target for summer recruitment. 52.4% of NFT holders voted to target the recruitment of a midfielder. No breakdown of how many NFT holders voted, or where the voting power lies, has been published by WAGMI United.

This is the first instance we can recall of an allegedly supporter-owned club directly consulting fans about strategic on-field matters. It is not the norm for community-owned clubs.

WAGMI United say that NFT holders will get special input and voting on the future of Crawley Town, but have not published a detailed framework on how and when these votes are to take place.

Currently these decisions are done on the fly via WAGMI United’s Discord server and the NFTs do not grant an ownership stake as you would see with membership of a traditional supporter-owned club.

So is it fan ownership?

When we talk about supporter and community ownership we require:

· A minimum of 50% +1 of the voting rights of the club to be controlled collectively by a democratic entity which has an open and inclusive membership based on one member, one vote with no substantial barriers to participation as a voting member.

· Profits are reinvested back into the club as opposed to being distributed to shareholders.

· The club is committed to running as a sustainable business.

WAGMI United’s model would not qualify Crawley Town as supporter-owned in our eyes.

What next for fans?

On the back of FSA members passing the motion at their AGM in July, they will be writing to the major football authorities – the FA, EFL and Premier League – for their thoughts on the possible introduction of regulatory standards of crypto currency in football.

The FSA will also begin a political lobbying campaign, raising the issue with MPs and legislators starting with the APPG for Football Supporters.

Beyond that, the FSA will be developing an awareness campaign to help fans understand the issues at play – including resources that supporter groups can take to their members.

Trust Close Season Update

28th July 2022

On the eve of the new 2022/23 season, Bradford City is in a strong / positive position. On the field, the Club have signed 14 new players, predominantly on free transfers. Jamie Walker, from Hearts, was first signed on loan, and now re-signed with City as a free transfer for at least 2 seasons. Other significant newbies to the Club are Richard Smallwood, from Hull City, Harry Chapman, Blackburn, and goalkeeper Harry Lewis from Southampton. Also, two loanee’s from Huddersfield Town, Kian Harratt and Romoney Krichlow may be worth looking out for. We wish all the Club’s new signings to do well, and wish those that have departed, including three times winner of the Trust Young Player of the Year, Elliot Watt all the best in their future careers.

With a Club record in League Two of 14,000 plus season-ticket holders coming through the turnstiles, lets hope Mark Hughes and his coaching staff can get the best out of his side and keep fans entertained.

Off the pitch, the Mark Hughes factor has seen an increase in sponsorship for the Club and has seen record home shirt sales, produced by Macron, that came out on the 17^th June following a ‘lucrative’ six-year deal with the Italian shirt manufacturer in May. Perhaps, the unconventional black and white striped away shirt will not have won over all fans, came out more recently.

Activities of the Trust

Concourse stalls

We will continue to have a presence on the concourse of the main stand and will do about 11 stalls on Saturdays ahead of the 3pm Kick Offs including Good Friday. We will be ready with resources to sell, including new retro adult and baby scarves as well as new button and enamel badges. Our first stall will be at home to Walsall on September 3^rd. With larger numbers of supporter set to attend this season we will always be looking to engage with new people to explain what we are about and recruit with the aid of leaflets and merchandise, of which sales can help improve our financial resources. And of course we are there for supporters and existing supporters, whether you are making an enquiry or just catching up and showing your support, which many of you did last season.

Retro shirt sales

Earlier this year following agreeing a working Partnership with Chablais Sport / World Retro, we agreed to broaden our range in products, see here if you haven’t seen them yet. We are ordering a new set of Trust info/join leaflets to give out with the current up to date advert for them which you can see on our website. And we have given these leaflets a bit of revamp.

The Trust Board

We are always looking to develop the Trust Board to extend our activities and accomplish more things. One of the ways we are hoping to encourage this is by inviting members to a Board meeting to be acquainted with us, and get a feel for what we do in person. We have done this on two occasions and will continue inform members of the meetings in advance of them coming round through our regular emails members receive.

Our AGM 2022

We have set the date to Wednesday September 9^th, from 7pm. Venue to be arranged. You can formally nominate yourself to be a Supporters Trust Board member by filling in this years’ form, here.

Sponsorship

We have also agreed to sponsor an Academy player as well as a player from the Women’s team. Details will be out shortly.

Bradford City Community Foundation

Bradford City Women AFC are looked-after by Bradford City Community Foundation, and the Chair person of the Club is Qasim Akhtar. Qasim is very much involved in the Community Foundation and the Trust will be meeting him in September to hopefully be able to work jointly on community projects.

20 years since the Trust was founded

Yes, it was around this time in 2002 since the Trust was formed after we reached the dizzy heights of the Premier League under Geoffrey Richmond, when his overspending came home to roost shortly after the collapse of ITV digital. We were formed after a public meeting organised at the Playhouse where a spokesperson for Supporters Direct, then the lead organization for the development of Supporters Trusts successfully encouraged a number of willing volunteers to found a Supporters Trust for Bradford City fans, modeled on a co-operative society that still exists today. Our longest serving Trust Board member, now serving as our Treasurer, Alan Carling wrote an article recently for our website tracing our beginnings, charting our historical progress whilst at the same time plotting the Clubs’ struggles, stability, moments of brilliance on the pitch, setbacks and challenges up to the present. You can read it here.

Reason to celebrate

We think 20 years of existence is a good reason to celebrate and we would like to contact as many Trust friends and colleagues who have played a role in our organization over the years to see if we can all have a get together somewhere in Bradford. The social would be open to all members and will be hopefully organized before the end of 2022.

Structured Dialogue meetings with Ryan Sparks & reciprocal deals

The Trust is due to meet with Ryan Sparks on Monday 19^th September. The Trust has been looking at the possibility of ‘reciprocal deals’ for one off cheaper match day prices for both sets of traveling fans that match day ticket buying home supporters can benefit from too. At the last meeting we had, on June 6th, see here, Ryan thought those long distance journeys from fans traveling to West Yorkshire on a Tuesday night would be more justified to gain from any one off cheap deal, and was happy for us to research this within our FSA, EFL Leagues One and Two Network.

We have 7 long distance trips south bound this season, but Swindon Town came out top where both fixtures are on Tuesday nights. For our fixture with Colchester United, we travel there on a Tuesday but they come up here on a Saturday. We have made contact with representative supporter organisations for both Swindon and Colchester. Swindon Town Supporters groups are approaching their club and Colchester United Supporters Association have advised us to email a couple of named contact at their club directly, and we have. This is where it is at for the moment. We travel to Colchester on Tuesday 16^th August, which doesn’t leave much time and the return fixture is in March. Swindon Town make the trip up north on Tuesday 25^th October and our return trip up is in April.

With the cost of living going up, many supporters would take advantage of the occasional reciprocal deal ticket prices of £10 to £15 to watch a league game, or FA Cup match.

The FSA and it’s affiliated Supporters Trusts have a history of campaigning for more affordable match day ticket prices, through the Twenty’s Plenty campaign and through reciprocal deals particularly in the Championship where match day tickets are more expensive than Leagues One and Two.

City offer free tickets to Refugees

Staying with tickets we are pleased to see that the Club have taken the initiative to offer free tickets to refugees during this coming season – as part of Refugee Week, see more here. The war in Ukraine has been dominating the media invoking a humanitarian response from ordinary people, however, there is conflict and crisis across the world and we feel this is a positive initiative across Bradford’s diverse communities that will make them feel welcome.

Crowd disorder

It has been the topic of debate in the media and across all levels of football, after the first half of last season saw a rise in arrests and incidents of football related crime. The pitch invasions at some of the play-off matches at the end of the season sparked the debate again. For many seasoned football fans, we know that hooliganism had never gone away, it just got better at hiding itself away from football grounds, but since Covid restrictions lifted, there has been a more public expression of poor behavior. For well-travelled Bradford fans, it has never been completely hidden from view, and increased incidents, and banning orders have moved the Club to put out a statement about it.

The FSA’s response was they were generally supportive of messaging to address poor behaviour, and promote positive behaviour, and will work with the EFL to amplify.

FSA AGM 16^th July 2022

This year it was held at AFC Wimbledon’s relatively new Plough Lane ground.

One of the motions we supported was submitted from West Ham United Supporters Trust on ‘Cryptocurrency in Football’. As we all know, our Club rejected an offer from WAGMI United in December 2021, who now own Crawley Town. The motion calls on the FSA is to develop a plan of action to address the proliferation of these schemes across football. It notes that cryptocurrencies are a high-risk investment product not currently regulated in the UK, and basically wants them monitored and regulated.

The motion was carried unanimously.

There were 3 other motions passed unanimously. They were on:

Transgender athletes
Participation of young people
Merger of Football Supporters Europe & Supporters Direct Europe

You can find out more of the detail of the crypto currency motion and the other three, as well as the details of the FSA elections to positions within the organization and the Networks here.

If you like what you’ve read and would like to join, simply click here, or if you’d like to get involved, you can by email us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

Government has confirmed approval for EPL and EFL Championship Clubs can introduce standing for 2022/23

13th July 2022

Newcastle United, Peterborough United, Brentford, QPR and Wolves will join Cardiff City, Chelsea, Man City, Man United and Tottenham in offering licensed safe standing areas for both home and away fans.

Wembley Stadium will also offer a “small licensed standing area” for fans at domestic games this coming season.

The initial five clubs had already taken part in an ‘early adopters’ trial that began in January of this year where the Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA) carried out research.

The SGSA said the latest stadiums had been selected following an application process which was open to all grounds covered by the all-seater policy.

“Strict conditions have been met, including enhanced use of CCTV, improved steward training and fans being strictly limited to ‘one person, one space’. Clubs have also engaged with fans as part of their application process,” said the SGSA.

Positive impact

A final report on last season’s Government-commissioned trial concluded that the installation of barriers or rails in areas of persistent standing in seated areas delivered a positive impact on spectator safety and improved fans’ matchday experience in both home and away sections.

The report recommended that clubs should be given the opportunity to implement licensed standing areas as soon as possible.

The research also found that “there is no evidence to date that the introduction of licensed standing areas has led to an increase in standing elsewhere in stadia” – backing the argument that standing areas increase choice and can benefit all fans.

What does the FSA and Trust think?

Match-going supporters know the benefits of safe standing are enormous, with better atmospheres and more choice for fans, whether they prefer to sit or stand.

We’ve always made the case that football clubs should be able to talk to their fanbase and work together to find the ideal mix of seating and standing at every club.

That’s now possible and it’s no surprise at all that more clubs are already looking to join last season’s early adopters and install their own standing areas.

We’ve been campaigning for safe standing areas for decades now – this is a huge victory for supporters’ groups and all the activists who made it happen.

Report of the Trust's meeting with BCAFC

14th June 2022

On Monday 6^th June 22, The Trust met with Ryan Sparks. It was quite informative for both parties. The Trust is quite positive that we can assist with work that can benefit the Club from experiences of other Supporters Trusts within our network, with additional help from our colleagues at FSA towers.

Diving straight into it we discussed:

Fanzones – Of the one situated by the Kop, it was said that there will be improvements on what will be on offer in terms of snacks, food and drink, but nothing specific was revealed.

From the start of the new season, it is expected a family orientated fanzone will be ready at the BEAP Community Partnership Sport Centre very near the Hollywell Ash Lane.

Location of the atmosphere area this coming season – This will continue where it is. It was agreed that last season, the atmosphere, in terms of the singing, chanting etc. had never really been tested except on few occasions, and it was commented by the Trust, that providing we see success on the field, we will see it rivaled by the upper tier of the Kop. Ryan was asked if he had seen a petition for the atmosphere area to be in the Kop that had been on social media. He hadn’t seen it.

Disorder and arrests this season / Sanctions & Banning Order Policy – Ryan reported that disorder and arrests had been a significant problem home and away last season and there were up to a dozen supporters banned. He continued that it is a continuing problem – citing some of the pitch invasions over the course of the play-offs. Ryan doesn’t believe City supporters would ever act in such a way and is confident that flares would never be used by home supporters, given the club’s history and the impact that would have on thousands of fans.

It is worth noting that this issue has been discussed amongst trusts at recent FSA EFL Network meetings. Bantams Supporters Trust had conducted some independent research on ways to improve the Club’s Sanctions and Banning Order Policy in a way that makes the sanctions and the process of our Club’s policy clearer. We said the policy presented itself like the Club does have a problem with disorder and it is a little law and order heavy. We cited Spurs, Man Utd and Liverpool as to having the best example templates.

It was requested that we send these examples to him citing brief points on what the Club needs to improve on its own policies.

Match day experience of fans home and away – It was asked from the Clubs’ surveys, how supporters felt about the match day experience at home and what they thought of the services available, such as concourse catering for example. Ryan reported that the Club had achieved EFL Family Excellence, one of 65 clubs to receive it for Season 21/22 – improving the match day experience for youngsters and their families. Ryan also pointed to the fan engagement index for the season 20/21 for the Clubs’ climb up the table to 28 points, from 86^th place two seasons ago, referring to as well a relatively new Club website supporter services, that fans can access.

Ryan also said of the catering on the concourse, they are in their 1^st year of a 6 year contract and there have been some teething issues but they are conducting a review with a view to further improving the range of offers in terms of food and drink.

Also, with regards to accessing tickets during the week, fans will be able to buy, pick up and collect at the shop on Valley Parade. On match days, supporters will be able to access the box office on Burlington Street.

He said in terms of away fans experience there wasn’t any info collated but said that fans do send in their experiences, albeit usually when it has been bad.

Supporter Liaison Officer (SLO) role – The Trust explained broadly what the FSA’s recommended best practice of what the role should be like; that chiefly, an SLO should be the fans’ point of contact for both home and away match days, having a visible presence on match days with stewards with police briefed on their role, being the conduits between Club and fans, be familiar with all fans groups and the fan-base in general, and have an understanding of life as a match-going fan. It was also cited to have a clear job description – that includes the reporting process and where SLO’s fit into the organisational structure / chart.

The Trust agreed to pass on the information to the Club.

Ryan reported that Marco Townson, the SLO at the Club will be leading a small team of SLO’s in the forthcoming season, and he has been present at a recent Supporters Board meeting. He is accessible on the Club website and social media channels and home matches, which is a positive start.

The FSA host the largest supporter-led awards night in the UK and one of the categories every year is the best SLO.

Away match tickets – In this segment a suggestion about a ticketing exchange system could be used if fans had bought tickets and maybe couldn’t go but wanted to sell it on. Ryan felt that this would only be beneficial if the Club were selling out so that demand was outstripping the available number of seats.

Home match day tickets - special offers discounts and concessions – The Trust raised the EFL’s regulations on promotions and discounts of tickets, citing there can be up to a maximum of 4 discounted or special promotion matches in one promotion made available to supporters of the home club, and they must also be available to on a similar basis to visiting supporters.

The Club did a 3 for two matches offer for over Christmas last season where 450 took up the offer, and the Club may look at that again. Ryan explained the Club had asked if the opposite number clubs wanted to run this scheme with their own supporters, but they declined and they were happy to have our Club operate the offer on their own.

The Trust asked whether reciprocal deals would be available for both home and away supporters for single match day prices at a cheaper rate to what the match day prices are now. Ryan suggested this might be beneficial for away fans on long distance journeys on a Tuesday night perhaps. The Trust was in acceptance of this suggestion. Ryan pointed out however that too many cheap ‘quid a game’ matches could undermine the affordable season ticket offer.

There maybe scope for some work then trialing out maybe two or three cheap match day ticket offers. The Trust is in a good position to find receptive fellow Trusts that would be willing to encourage their clubs to participate in reciprocal deals of this nature.

Fan Led-Review – An Independent Regulator of English Football – The Trust led off on this one with the Independent Regulator of English Football (IREF) angle.

As part of the recommendations of the Government, Fan-led Review into Football Governance, the Government is establish a new independent regulator (IREF) based upon specialist business regulations adapted to suit the football industry – this would come in the form of an array of selected people from different commercial and legal backgrounds and would involve supporter representatives.

The IREF would operate a licensing system for the professional men’s game.

Although the IREF would underpin every aspect of the game, here are some of the key areas you would expect it to be involved in, providing a licensed:

Financial regulation
New ownership and directors tests
New corporate governance code to support long-term future of the game
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion action plans
Supporter Engagement would be a licensed condition whereby Clubs consult with their key stakeholders – the supporters and key decisions taken through a Shadow Board – we have an embryo of this in the form of the Supporters Board
There is a strong case for additional financial contributions from the Premier League (PL) to support the future of the football pyramid. A proposal recommended is by creating a ‘Solidarity Transfer Levy paid by the top-flight on players from overseas or other PL Clubs
Women’s football – equal parity to the men’s game, and give own dedicated review guaranteeing its future
Players’ welfare – needs to be better protected. Provision of mental health, care and support

We are expecting a government ‘white paper’ of the Review’s recommendations produced this summer, and we may see these recommendations voted in parliament next year.

There was a discussion about the recommendations, especially the PL’s financial contributions to this, if indeed there will be any, as Ryan had reservations about this aspect of it, in a sense that he feels that if the PL offered more money than they do already, it would be likely that clubs dependent on owners pockets in the lower leagues would spend it on players in the race to catch up with spenders that have a sounder financial footing and risk endangering themselves. This may well be what would happen now, as football is run today, however, the Trusts response to this theory would be that the independent regulator role would be to ensure that struggling clubs would spend wisely and support them make sound business plans and that part of any future redistribution of wealth would ensure a healthier competition with a reduced financial disparity between the richest and the poorest, which is where we are at the moment. It is not a level playing field, which is why the review of football governance has taken place.

The last lap of the meeting covered key standing items:

Financial Performance – There was no new information to report other than what is in the publicized financial statement. The Trust noted it welcomed the report produced by the Club’s Director and Chartered Accountant, Alan Biggin and we put out a Statement promoting the report earlier in the year.

Provision of information - financial figures to support discussion eg: EFL /EPL financial support during Covid – Ryan did report that the EFL /PL had provided the Club with £600,000 as Covid Support when the Club suffered £800,000 loses.

Ownership – There was no new developments with Gordon Gibb relating to the stadium

Ownership / Club structure – There is no new change to the ownership and in terms of the Club structure Ryan as the CEO heads his staff team developing the Club strategies whilst representing the interests of the owner, Stefan Rupp, whom he is in regular discusses with, but there is no change here either.

Government to support expansion of licensed standing areas next season

7th June 2022

The sports minister on the 24^th May announced that the Government is “minded to support the wider roll-out of licensed standing areas” for the start of next season.

Since January, five clubs – Cardiff City, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – have been operating licensed standing areas in designated rail-seated and seated sections for home and away fans.

The Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston said that number would expand with a wider roll-out of licensed standing that would allow Premier League and Championship clubs who have met strict conditions to introduce standing areas from the start of the 2022-23 season.

Huddleston’s statement to Parliament explained that the Sports Ground Safety Authority’s (SGSA) report into the early-adopters shows many benefits to standing sections and the positive safety impact. Read more about that initial report here.

There is a further research study from 2019-20 looking at The Safe Management of Persistent Standing in Seated Areas at Football Stadia published by the SGSA (2021) here.

It is actually five years since the prospect of safe standing being introduced at English football grounds moved closer, after the government body responsible for ground safety SGSA, granted a request from the EFL to permit rail seating in 21 grounds that are not subject to all-seater requirements.

A letter was sent by the EFL’s then chief executive, Shaun Harvey, to clubs, which, revealed that the SGSA has agreed “to establish a process” whereby rail seating such as the type used in Germany’s Bundesliga and at Celtic Park can be introduced, essentially relaxing the regulations for Leagues One and Two to be able to adopt railed seating. Shrewsbury was the first EFL league club to adopt this in 2018.

It’s pretty much, now up to each club, in conjunction with its local Safety Advisory Group (SAG), to decide what facilities suit their needs. The FSA believes that fans should be part of that process and represented on local SAGs. The SGSA also supports the FSA’s call for such supporter engagement at a local level.

Don't miss out on getting your 2022/23 affordable season ticket

2nd June 2022

The Frozen early-bird ticket offer of £198 for another season still represents good value when everything else is going up. Ensure you guarantee your place at Valley Parade to hopefully (touch wood) enjoy a rollercoaster ride of excitement throughout the season’s 22/23 campaign.

But be quick! The days are counting down until the club's early-bird offer ends.

You have until 11.59PM ON SUNDAY JUNE 19.

GET YOURS HERE

The Minute Silence at Valley Parade - May 7, 2022

20th May 2022

Bantams Supporters Trust got in touch with our Trust colleagues from Carlisle Official Supporters Club, recently about the actions of a minority of the Carlisle United Supporters during the minute silence at our last home match of the season.

They sent us this statement below, which was part of their communications to their members.

"CUOSC condemn any actions to deliberately disrupt the minutes' silence at Valley Parade on May 7.

There have been reports of a Carlisle fan chanting during the silence but the exact circumstances are disputed.

We would remind any supporter that if the tragic fire on May 11, 1985 had taken place at Brunton Park, we would expect visiting fans to respect a minute's silence under those circumstances."

Our colleagues have also said that they would follow up with the club via their board representatives to see what, if any action is being taken to identify the perpetrators.

The winner of the Young Player Award is

13th May 2022

We would like to thank all of you who voted for the Supporters Trusts’ Young Player of the Year 2021/22.

The winner was of course, Elliot Watt, and he was your top young player last season as well. We would also like to give a special thanks to Justin Brett, representing the Trust, who gave the award to young Watt.

As we are a part of the Supporters Board, this year, we were in that category of awards along with East Bierley Bantams, Bingley Bantams and Shipley Bantams.

Paudie O’ Connor picked up the Player of the Year Award for the second year running, and also picked up the award for East Bierley Bantams Player of the Year, and Yan Songo picked up awards from both Bingley Bantams and Shipley Bantams.

The Academy Player of the Year was Bobby Pointon.

You can check out the key categories on the Clubs' Facebook and Twitter feeds, and also a more detailed list of winners on the Clubs' website.

Once again, thank you for all of you for taking part. You know who you are and we very much appreciate your involvement in this event and making it a success.

Thank you for your Participation in the Bucket Collection

11th May 2022

We would like to thank all of you who participated in the Bucket Collection on Saturday at Valley Parade, and of course all you volunteers who made it happen.

A fantastic total of £2,595.62 raised for @BradfoBurnsUnit on Saturday.

A physical memorial service, the first since 2019 following two years of online activity as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be held today at Centenary Square, in conjunction with Bradford Metropolitan Council, beginning at 11am.

Remembering the 54 Bradford City supporters and two Lincoln City supporters who went to watch a game of football but never returned home.

How we remember the events of 37 years ago

10th May 2022

An article written last year, aimed at perhaps a younger audience of football fans, who may not be aware of the terrible tragedy witnessed at Valley Parade 37 years ago now, is a valuable educational resource.

You can see the article here.

Burns Research Unit bucket collection volunteers appeal

3rd May 2022

The Trust, as part of a broader Supporters Board initiative is appealing for members / supporters to volunteer to help with the annual bucket collection at the last home game of the season against Carlisle United on Saturday 7^th May.

This season will be the first time we will all be together to have the bucket collection post lock down, helping to raise vital funds for Bradford’s Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit (PSBRU).

As a volunteer bucket collector, you will need to arrive at the WD Gate entrance - the large gates opposite the club shop for around 1.30 and collect a bucket and stand outside the various entrance points around the ground.

If you would like to be involved in the bucket collection please contact us at hello@bantamstrust.org.uk.

We hope we can get a successful turn out of supporters that are willing to get in the community spirit of raising money for something we all care deeply about.

Vote for your Young Player of the Year

14th April 2022

It is that time of year again, as Bantams Supporters’ Trust Members have the opportunity to vote for the 2021-22 Bradford City Young Player of the Year.

It has been another difficult period watching the Bantams. Although this time post lock down, watching from the stands, it has been under an unpopular manager for the most part of this season.

Now under Mark Hughes and his coaching staff, we are seeing the team enjoy a bit more freedom to try some new things and have some more oomph.

Out of three coming through the ranks of the Academy, Reece Staunton, Kian Scales and Fin Cousin-Dawson, it is Fin Cousin Dawson who has earned more first team appearances this season showing some dynamism in defence.

Midfielder, Matty Daly, on loan until the end of the season, signed in January from West Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield has definitely shown an attacking flair, netting 3 goals with his first being against Walsall away on January 25^th.

Elliot Watt, signed up from Wolves in 2020, is enjoying his second season with the Bantams in midfield. An ever-present, reliable player, Watt is a strong contender.

The first of seven recruits signed in January, Watford born, midfield player Dion Pereira, on loan from Luton, has had injury problems causing a late start for the Bantams, but has made 6 appearances and has shown some promise getting on the score sheet against Bristol Rovers away.

All six candidates eligible for the Bradford City Young Player of the Year 2021-22 have made valuable contributions, but who has been your stand out performer?

Reece Staunton
Kian Scales
Fin Cousin-Dawson
Matty Daly
Elliot Watt
Dion Pereira

Voting starts today, Thursday 14th April and will end on Tuesday 26th April. The Player Of The Year event will be on Sunday, 8th May 2022.

To vote, simply email us your number 1 Young player at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

Bradford City's Financial Report

12th April 2022

Bradford City’s financial report by Alan Biggin, published on the club’s website on the 4^th April is very refreshing. The Trust knew in advance that there would be more detail ahead of its’ publication, see our last meeting with Ryan Sparks for reference, but we are more than pleased as to the reason behind it’s fuller explanation.

It is the Clubs greater commitment to transparency and it’s open understanding of the idea that a football club, or more specifically this Club, “is more than the sum of its shareholders, directors, and officers. It is an important community asset - always reflecting those exquisite highs and despondent lows of that shared experience.”

The fact that the custodians that run the Club believe our football club is a community asset is more inclined to the Trusts’ way of thinking and is a great step forward.

Furthermore, the report is very frank in its’ explanations of the losses, predominantly due to Covid, and the Government money they got to ameliorate those Covid related loses. It would be interesting to see the exact amount figures from the EFL / EPL.

Players Wages

It won’t be a surprise to anyone that players’ wagers are a significant cost for the club. And it is important that they have been held at £2.7, a reduction of £3k on the previous year. The report also refers to spending on players’ wages being constrained to ‘Salary Cost Management Protocol (SCMP)’ framework, which limits spending on player wages to a percentage of club Turnover. In League 1, clubs can spend a maximum of 60% of their turnover on wages. In League 2, that limit is 55%. There are no restrictions (in themselves) on the amount a club can lose or spend on transfer fees. See more on SCMP here.

Definition of turnover

As the Report explains, the term used for EFL purposes, is broader than it is under SCMP. Crucially, for the EFL, turnover includes donations from the owners to the club and injections of equity. For further examples and info see here.

Deficit budget planning

By this the club must mean it starts from a minimalist financial position to allow all aspects of the Club’s financial activity to out perform its’ starting figures.

Next seasons on the field campaign potential success is key to improving all areas of the clubs’ infrastructure.

Season Tickets

We welcome the club’s continued commitment to keeping season tickets low, and freezing them for another season despite the financial squeeze on incomes. This demonstrates the clubs’ awareness that we have a low wage economy in Bradford. The affordable season tickets have worked for many seasons in driving up attendances, and they are most probably the envy of many other clubs and supporters.

Financial Transparency and our Structured Dialogue with the Club

The Trust believes that financial transparency is a key component in developing a strong structure dialogue relationship. In our last meeting with Ryan Sparks it was agreed that the provision of finances would be a regular item on the agenda and therefore we should be in a position to provide extra inform and educate members / supporters on factors and decisions where the official Club publicity channels may not.

FSA meet with Forest Green's CEO - A Good News Story

6th April 2022

After several supporters of various League Clubs raised concerns about their visits to Forest Green Rovers this season, in particularly the distance from the ground supporters have to walk from the car park to the ground, Senior FSA Colleagues, Amanda Jacks, Jane Hughes, Ashley Brown, recently held a zoom call with the CEO, Henry Staelens, and their newly appointed Fan Experience Officer, Thomas Jones.

It was a very positive meeting and Forest Green Rovers are keen to improve the away fan experience. They have recently opened an away Fan Zone, which they are looking to develop further in the future.

With regards to the parking situation, even home fans can’t park on site as it’s reserved for officials, staff, players & hospitality, and the Club intend to move to a new ground, 7 miles out of the area which is said to be ready by the 2025/26 season. In a survey carried out by Forest Green Rovers Supporters Club, over 90% said they were in favour. Many feel the ground is cramped for space & struggles to get enough water & even power on a match day. Moreover, Club and supporters are aware of lack of facilities for away fans & the congestion on match days is very inconvenient for home owners in the residential area around the current stadium.

Disabled Supporters

For future reference, if any fans require a wheelchair space, it is worth noting that this is currently accommodated in the home end and individual away fans must contact FGR prior to their visit to book a place, even if the ticket is purchased through the visiting club. Enquiries can be made at reception@fgr.co.uk.

How was your experience this season?

Email us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk

Clubs in Crisis

2nd April 2022

This is the first in a series of articles about football clubs getting into financial trouble. The first one focuses on one of the 12 founder member clubs that formed the Football League in 1888.

Derby County

The Rams have been in administration since September 2021 as a result of former Chairman and local businessman, Mel Morris, who gambled and lost an attempt to return Derby County back to the big time in 2019.

The Club is currently in ‘crucial and confidential talks’ with their advisors and their prospective purchasers, according to their administrator, Quantuma, and they say that Funding is available to see the Club complete the season. See more of Quantuma’s statement here.

These talks are continuing in order to ensure a suitable bid can be accepted that satisfies the necessary criteria to fulfill the EFL’s requirements and insolvency law.

Derby County also had the added complication of Middlesborough and Wycombe Wanderers threatening legal action, and they have been considering their claims should be protected under the terms of the Insolvency Policy.

Prior to the confirmation of funding (See Quantuma’s statement) to see them through to the end of the season, the EFL on the 27^th January had given a 4 week extended deadline for the provision of funding plans.

Furthermore the EFL state that the maximum period for any Club to remain in administration is 18 months and no Club is allowed to start more than one season in administration.

The EFL deducted 12 points as consequence of the Club itself appointing Administrators. A further 9 points were agreed with the Club, by way of an Agreed Decision after the Club admitted to breaches of the EFL’s rules. See more of EFL’s Statement here.

The Fan-Led Review of Football Governance, commissioned by the Government, and undertaken by Tracey Crouch MP contains proposals directly addressing how to prevent clubs ending up in such difficult financial situations. And the primary recommendation of the review is that football requires a strong, independent regulator to secure the future of our national game.

The Government welcomed the report at Prime Minister’s Questions, 24^th March reiterating their intention to put an independent regulator in place – all eyes are now on the forthcoming Queen’s Speech to see how urgently that commitment will be kept. See more here.

How can fans help? Do your bit… Fans can fix football

Supporters should contact their MP and ask their MP to show their backing for the Fan-led Review by writing to Nadine Dorries, the secretary of state for DCMS. MPs should ask the minister for a firm commitment that legislation supporting the full implementation of the Fan-led Review will definitely be in the Queen’s Speech. Everyone can make a difference by showing their support for the review.

For a step-by-step guide to contacting your MP, see more here.

Trust Stall this Saturday

24th March 2022

This stall will be the last one before our Easter home fixture on Good Friday.

We raised a modest amount of £15.30 from scarf and badge sales last week before the Port Vale game.

We do have a very small amount of our original enamel badges (£3.50) left, and some button badges (£2) that have also sold well. We will be getting some new enamel badges with our current logo design as well as more button badges shortly.

City fans can sign up to be members on our sign up sheet and if you have a QR scanner app on your phone, you’ll be able to be scan our QR code and find our link to our join form to fill out.

We also have 2 copies left of the ‘Stand Up Sit Down – A Choice to watch Football’, by Peter Caton, priced £10, and we also have some scarves (pictured) at £10, that have contributed most to our fundraising on these stalls.

If you would like to help out on a future stall please email us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

Bantams Supporters Trust supporting Ukranian Refugees

23rd March 2022

Our commercial partners Chablais Sport / WorldRetro that sell our retro shirts and other Trust wear are based in Poland and Ukraine and have been involved in excellent work in helping Ukrainian people escape their war torn home.

They have been working closely with Southend United Supporters Trust to produce a Ukraine Refugee Travel scarf that includes the Trust logo as well as the Ukrainian national emblem. Every scarf sold means one refugee reaching relatives in the UK without any payment by them.

Bantams Supporters Trust has also joined in showing our support of this humanitarian effort.

How it works

World Retro have worked astonishingly hard to focus on making the transportation process for those eligible to come to the UK work by devising a plan to move them from the Ukrainian border to a Polish airport, working with airline Wizz Air to provide seats to fly them to the UK, and then for the new arrivals to be greeted and taken to their new homes over here. All of this work is done by volunteers and funded for by them aside from the relatively modest cost of the flight.

Fans can buy a scarf for £20 from our Retro Shirts link and for EVERY scarf purchased YOU are helping to bring ONE person to a place of safety away from the horrors of the war that is ravaging through their country.

We cannot do everything, but we can do something. So please, if you can, purchase a scarf and show your support.

Fan Reps meet EFL Executives

22nd March 2022

Fan representatives from the EFL’s three divisions met online with the competition’s senior officials at the end of February to discuss ongoing issues across the leagues.

It was part of a series of Structured Dialogue meetings, as part of the EFL’s commitment to Fan Engagement and meet bi-annually with supporters groups from the FSA’s network.

The supporter groups representing clubs in the Championship, League One, and League Two were drawn from the FSA’s network of democratically affiliated and associated fan groups, fanzines and activists.

The meeting discussed fixture postponements, the Fan-Led Review, Fan Behavior / Stadium Safety, the EFL’s Supporter Survey 2022, and in the Any Other Business, the FSA asked the EFL to clarify its position, or that of its clubs, on entering partnerships with entities using crypto-currencies.

The minutes can be found here.

Fill in the EFL’s Supporter Survey 2022 before it disappears here.

Trust stall this Saturday

16th March 2022

This will be the seventh occasion we will be having our stall on the concourse in the main stand, which has been a success in itself in having a presence and being able to regularly meet our members.

So we will be at our usual spot before kick off ahead of our home fixture against Port Vale.

We will be putting out our button badges (£2) and stickers out on Saturday alongside our leaflets that we will be giving out that summarise what we are about, what we do, and how to get involved.

City fans can sign up to be members on our sign up sheet and if you have a QR scanner app on your phone, you’ll be able to be scan our QR code and find our link to our join form to fill out.

We still have a small amount of pin badges that we have left from when we last produced them with our old square quartered BCST logo, priced at £3.50 each. We will be ordering some new ones soon. We also have 2 copies left of the ‘Stand Up Sit Down – A Choice to watch Football’, by Peter Caton, priced £10. We also have some scarves (pictured) at £10.

We raised £43.50 before the last home game versus Swindon Town!

If you would like to help out on a future stall please email us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

Brentford announce plans for standing at new ground

15th March 2022

Brentford have confirmed plans to install barrier seats at the Brentford Community stadium for the start of the 2022-23 season.

The entirety of the new ground’s west stand and 1,700 seats in the away end will be converted to licensed standing areas next season, it was reported towards the end of February.

Brentford moved to their new all-seater ground back in September 2020 having been at Griffin Park since 1904, which was one of the few grounds with a traditional terrace still in place.

When the Bees were promoted to the Championship back in 2014, after a record-breaking promotion season in League One, they were then the only club with purpose-built standing areas in the division – their situation highlighted the illogical nature of outmoded all-seater legislation.

In January this year the Government announced the first cohort of early adopters to run licensed standing areas in Premier League and Championship.

In total five clubs – Cardiff City, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – were the first in the top two tiers of football to have licensed safe standing in designated rail-seated and seated areas for home and away fans, as the Government works towards fulfilling its manifesto commitment.

Report of the Trust's meeting with Ryan Sparks

9th March 2022

On Monday 7^th March 22, The Trust met with Ryan Sparks, and was indeed very constructive, and informative. It was also a plan to move forward and build trust between the Supporters Trust and the football club.

Before going into detail of that we had a brief catch up with developments since the Trust’s last meeting in October 21 and since the Fans’ Forum, chiefly that Derek Adams has departed and Mark Hughes has come to take on the task of lifting the team and giving a sense of renewed optimism after quite a turbulent season so far.

Developments since we last met

Fanzones – there will be a trial area towards the rear of the kop to allow drinking this season. There will be more of a family orientated fanzone expected to be ready at the start of next season at the BEAP Community Partnership Sport Centre very near the Hollywell Ash Lane.

Finance – is stable. During Covid, the 20-21 season, the Club made a loss, and for this season, 21-22, the Club could break even despite ticket and revenue being down in the recent period. Ryan also said that the Club will publicise a more detailed breakdown of the accounts this year than last year.

iFollow Update – Manny Dominguez representing the trust, made the point that he hoped it was asked within the FSA’s structured dialogue with EFL last month whether concessions for watching iFollow for those who are still isolating due to other health difficulties, that include weakened immune systems for example, or suffering directly from Covid. This doesn’t look likely due to UAFA’s article 48 relating to the Saturday 3pm blackout Ryan believed.

Academy facilities – Ryan said that this aspect of the Club has seen huge improvement and is an important asset that they want to develop.

The stadium – No development here but Ryan has developed a strong relationship with Gordon Gibb, which hasn’t been done prior to Ryan being at City.

Season Tickets – will go on sale in mid April. He said more will be revealed in the near future. Ryan was sympathetic to the impact of the rise in the cost of living on supporters, and will be encouraging more to go on direct debit. Currently 3,300 pay in this way.

Branding – More than 4,000 supporters engaged in the survey that was carried out before Christmas and results and analysis will be revealed in due course. When it comes to branding on shirts, the current one appears to be unchanged the longest at least in the modern era – not since 1991, which the Trust believes is a good thing.

Government Fan-led Review - The Golden Share

Recommendation 28, Chapter 8, page 99

Manny, outlined very briefly what it is; that it is part of the wider Fan-Led Review Report written by Tracey Crouch MP to safeguard the future of football which calls for an independent regulator to asses all aspects of the game in consultation with key stakeholders of the game and in this aspect it is something that allows fans groups such as a Supporters Trust (which are Community Benefit Societies) a say in key decision that cover:

The sale of the stadium

Relocation of Club

Club joining a new competition

Club badge

First team home Club colours

Club name

Members of a Trust would be involved in a consultation process where fans would be able to vote.

You can see more of summary of the Golden Share here.

Key bullet point recommendations of the Fan-led Review can be found here.

The Fan-Led Review Report in its entirety can be found here.

He explained it was similar to the 50% plus 1 model of ownership, which exists in Germany. Whilst the Golden Share is not necessarily ownership, it does in theory allow fans a real say in certain aspects of the Club.

He further explained that the FSA and Tracey Crouch are keen to get the EFL and EPL to fully endorse as much of the Fan-Led Review as possible before it gets any legal status. And the question about it to the EFL in their Structured Dialogue meeting with the FSA was how will Clubs be made aware and encouraged to support such an initiative

Indeed the EFL showed it’s initial support back in November of last year after the final report came out. See here.

The key thing about the report is that it is made up of a series of recommended reforms about cleaning up the image of the game by making it more transparent and accountable, ensuring policies and procedures are put in place to prevent football clubs going bust.

Ryan’s response was that he would be interested to see how that will be passed on to Clubs because he hasn’t seen anything yet.

Structured Dialogue

Firstly, Manny had said that the working relationship with the Ryan and the Club, from the Trust’s point of view had come along way in developing trust.

We discussed the new Fan Index table. This shows where clubs stand according to the fan consultancy firm ‘Think Fan Engagement’ in terms of a clubs progress on:

Dialogue: engagement with fans and fans groups.

Governance: what underpins those relationships – supporters’ charter, formal agreements with supporters’ groups etc.

Transparency: what a club publishes in relation to its dialogue with fans / fans groups such as financial reports, minutes reports of meetings etc.

Points are awarded for each category and totted up, and in the figures just out for 2020- 21, the Club have leapt 15 places from 43rd the previous season to 28^th. See here.

Ryan said that the points increase is mainly due to their new twitter help channel but also more recently creating another supporter service channel through the website.

In introducing his structured dialogue proposal to develop it further, Manny explained that the Trust would like to see the format develop where we work together in a way that helps us understand much more about the thinking behind our particular view points so that on occasions we can meet in the middle, and that the Trust can help to communicate decisions a club makes to fans, especially during more challenging times.

Our proposed key areas of developing our structured dialogue are in the main adding 3 main tenants to a running agenda apart from the momentary issues of the time. These are a commitment to discussing:

Financial Performance – headline income and expenditure, debt, sources of income

The provision of information - reports ahead of and during meetings etc.

Ownership – an opportunity to discuss the existing structure / owners’ commitment / future plans, and an opportunity to discuss the potential of the Trust’s stake in the Club.

Broadly speaking, Ryan was happy to accept these and we very much hope that with these added items for discussion we can trial how this works before we go about signing a Memorandum of Understanding.

See more about Structured Dialogue and a Memorandum of Understanding here.

Trust has a stall on Saturday versus Swindon Town

4th March 2022

Bantams Supporters Trust will be in it’s usual spot, on the concourse of the main stand between 1.30 and K.O. to raise our profile and encourage a more active involvement in the Trust.

City fans can sign up to be members on our sign up sheet and if you have a QR scanner app on your phone, you’ll be able to be scan our QR code and find our link to our join form to fill out.

We will be putting out our button badges (£2) and stickers out on Saturday. The leaflets and donations tin go without saying. Donations are always welcome. We still have plenty of leaflets to give out which includes info on how to get involved on the inside pages. The leaflet also has an advert for our retro shirts, including new prices and more choice from WorldRetro / Chablais Sport.

We still have a small amount of pin badges that we have left from when we last produced them with our old square quartered BCST logo, priced at £3.50 each. We also have 3 copies left of the ‘Stand Up Sit Down – A Choice to watch Football’, by Peter Caton, priced £10. We also have some scarves (pictured) at £10.

You will be very welcome to help on our stall! Thank you to those that came to the stall for a chat last week. We had two more join and raised £29. See you there!

If you would like to help out on a future stall please email us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

Bantams Supporters Trust joint work with WorldRetro/Chablais Sport

2nd March 2022

As many of you know, just over a year ago we have been working together with WorldRetro /Chabais Sport to sell retro shirts whereby £8 from every shirt sold goes to the Trust and we are then able to give a financial contribution to Bradford Central Foodbank from these sales.

World Retro / Chablais Sport are football fans and also support other Supporters Trusts in this way. In fact they provide support to membership-based groups and clubs involved in other sports, including cycling, athletics, rowing, bowls, rugby, and even archery.

As of January this year, WorldRetro / Chablais Sport had to put it’s prices up because of additional border costs and VAT pressures, with production based in Europe, but they still sell them at reasonable competitive prices. So, an adult price shirt has gone up from £35 to £39.99, and Junior /babygrows are up from £31 to £35.99. This is with absorbing about half of the cost increases while continuing their £8 donation to the Trust.

It is difficult to get good modern-quality retro shirts these days without paying over the odds. WorldRetro / Chablais Sport were set up to offer any shirt for any club and any season at a competitive price. They make any design subject to copyright, from baby grow to 7XL.

The Trust has also worked with WorldRetro / Chablais Sport to increase our range, selling the Bantams Supporters Trust branded products. See online.

If you recommend the Trust branded clothing by WorldRetro / Chablais Sport for any club items, including full team kits, they will be supplied with specifically designed quality kit at a very competitive price. AND WorldRetro / Chabais Sport will donate to the Trust 10% of all ex-VAT sales.

If there are any products that you would like in the Bantams Trust brand, let us know at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk or fans@chablais-sport.com.

The Appointment of Mark Hughes & Glyn Hodges

1st March 2022

It blew everyone away when the news was revealed on Thursday 24^th February that Mark Hughes, was appointed as the new City Manager. There’ll be many fans of a certain age who will remember his playing career, especially at Manchester United.

The reception he got on Saturday at Valley Parade against Mansfield Town was a spectacle to see. The excitement of the occasion was almost tangible, as many season ticket holders who had drifted away during Derek Adams’ tenure, had returned for the occasion that Hughes as our Manager could inspire a fighting spirit from our current struggling crop.

Mark Hughes and all the City faithful were all in for a rude awakening and Hughes and his Assistant, Glyn Hodges who joined on the 25^th, have the arduous task of lifting the team and getting the best out of what they have to work with.

Of course the Supporters Trust welcomes both Hughes and Hodges, but fans and Club have to be patient with progress, and any progress has to be better than what we have been accustomed to under Adams. Many fans want something to believe in again in order to commit to renewing season tickets.

Fans, naturally will be expecting better quality signings in the summer. Both Hughes and Hodges are football veterans and will have contacts across Europe.

We certainly hope that we are not in a similar position in another 6 months. Hopefully, the Club have got it right and that these managerial acquisitions are a sign of real commitment from the owner.

The Trust’s work

The Trust will continue plugging away at engaging with the Club through ‘Structured Dialogue’, seeking to representing our members, by working together with Club representatives and work towards communicate decisions in order to educate supporters and the wider community on factors that lead to a decision being made.

We are in reality at the beginning of such a process and building a working relationship will take time. As we build a trust, it is hoped that both Club and Trust get an understanding from the Trust’s viewpoint - our ethos about involving fans more in club initiatives, and from the Clubs perspective, how it operates as a business, and establish some common ground where shared ideas can be beneficial for the Club and Trust.

We are working towards a voluntary agreement known as a Memorandum of Understanding, otherwise known as an MoU.

See more about Structured Dialogue and a Memorandum of Understanding here.

Strength comes in numbers – Join the Trust Today

Become a member and get involved. It’s FREE! As fans we all share the same concerns, and want long-term success for our Club. We are only as effective as the numbers involved in it allow it to be. It is not possible to improve the Trust from being outside of it.

Join here. If you want to get involved email us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk

The Trust has a Stall at the Mansfield game

24th February 2022

Bantams Supporters Trust will be in it’s usual spot, on the concourse of the main stand between 1.30 and K.O. to raise our profile and encourage a more active involvement in the Trust.

City fans can sign up to be members on our sign up sheet and if you have a QR scanner app on your phone, you’ll be able to be scan our QR code and find our link to our join form to fill out.

You will be very welcome to help on our stall! Thank you to those that came to the stall for a chat a couple of weeks ago and we signed someone up, as well as raising £28.50. See you there!

If you would like to help out on a future stall please email us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

The Departure of Derek Adams

18th February 2022

On the 15^th February, the Club had parted ways with Derek Adams, giving cause for celebration amongst much of the City faithful. His brand of football was frustrating and difficult to watch, his choice of formations, chopping and changing of the team, his post match interviews and his ego did nothing to ingratiate himself with anyone. There will be a lift in the mood at Boundary Park amongst supporters there at Oldham, which will hopefully transcend to Mark Truman and the players on Saturday to give us what we’ll all be craving for, a win! And we’ll be still within a chance.

However, this whole situation is sad, sad because it is yet another failed manager story at this Club, after all the hyperbole about Adams getting us up. With his record of getting teams up, there were few that were doubters. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but now we are back on the managerial merry-go-round, and the hardest job will be finding someone who will fit, someone who will be right, in building a team and is able to get onside with Club and fans. How much time will we give him to do what we all want? A team that will win itself out of League Two, and see players prepared to run through brick walls, giving their all as a team. Of course we all know that is easier said than done, and at this stage there are a lot of unknowns.

The option of keeping Adams was full of risk too, risk of further alienating fans and risking losing that essential footfall at Valley Parade especially with season ticket sales and renewals just round the corner.

The Trust wants more than ever for Club to have stability and continuity, and for us to succeed. This cannot be solely built on short-term immediate success. We know there is accumulated disappointment and frustration amongst supporters, because that immediate success has still not come by us, and we see the number of ex managers grow as a result. Nothing is automatic, and success won’t just happen because we think we deserve it. We have to be prepared for it to take some time, and be patient for things to come together with whoever is appointed.

Ownership issues

With the accumulated frustration with a lack of progress on the field out of League Two, invariably comes the scrutiny and criticism about ownership and leadership of the Club. This cannot be ignored. It is a widely held view that Stefan Rupp is not passionate of the Club he owns due to a lack of investment and lacking his physical presence of addressing the fans. This came across at the Fans Forum earlier this year. Ryan Sparks has also faced criticism, some of it unnecessarily abusive. Please see the Supporters Board Statement here.

The Trust’s role

Bantams Supporters Trust has always set out to engage with the Club through ‘Structured Dialogue’ directly with the Club, and also through the Supporters Board, which had in October last year re-launched itself.

We believe that Ryan Sparks is committed to fan engagement, and whilst the Trust has had 2 meetings with him so far last year, we are due another one.

We do however want our engagement with the Club to be a part of a meaningful consultation of shared ideas and a commitment to share information. It has to be much more than just raising issues, and information announcements.

As a Trust, representing our members, we would like to be in a position to be working together with Club representatives and communicate decisions in order to educate supporters and the wider community on factors that lead to a decision being made, and building a working relationship will take time.

We are working towards a voluntary agreement known as a Memorandum of Understanding, otherwise known as an MoU.

There are 3 key areas we would like to build trust around working with the Club:

Finances – an opportunity to understand the detail behind the figures, and build on the understanding of why the club operates as it does.

Disclosure of information/Transparency – A commitment to share information and clarification to alleviate concerns and explain any items drawn to supporters’ attention.

Ownership – an opportunity to ask questions about the existing ownership structure, owner commitment, ownership plans and potential opportunities for supporters groups to have a stake in the club.

See more about Structured Dialogue and a Memorandum of Understanding here.

Strength comes in numbers – Join the Trust Today

Getting involved as a Trust Board member will:

Give you a say in how the Trust is run. Every member has a say – It is a democratic organization based on the principle of one member, one vote.
If you have ideas, which we know everyone has, you will have the opportunity to have your say at our regular board meetings.
If you have any skills, experience and confidence in working as part of a team, being an accountant, chairing meetings, raising money, putting on events, being articulate and writing articles, have experience of coordinating activities, representing others, advising, recruiting and campaigning and more, then we’d love you to get involved.
You will have opportunities for training and development, learning and understanding more about the wider football supporters movement, be part of a much larger network of fans of other clubs and why it is there to provide support for football fans, building support and awareness of the viability for clubs to be more fan orientated, whilst promoting principles of co-operation and fan-ownership.

Join here. If you want to get involved email us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk

We'll be having a Presence at the Exeter Game

9th February 2022

Bantams Supporters Trust will be in it’s usual spot, doing its fourth awareness stall this season on the concourse of the main stand between 1.30 and K.O. to raise the profile of the Trust and encourage involvement.

City fans can sign up to be members on our sign up sheet and if you have a QR scanner app on your phone, you’ll be able to be scan our QR code and find our link to our join form to fill out.

We will be putting out our button badges (£2) and stickers out on Saturday. The leaflets and donations tin go without saying. Donations are always welcome. The new leaflets we have printed includes info on how to get involved on the inside pages. The leaflet also has a new advert for our retro shirts, including new prices and more choice form WorldRetro/Chablais Sport.

You will be very welcome to help on our stall! See you there!

Proceeds Received from FA Cup Reschedule with Exeter City

7th February 2022

Despite bowing out of the FA Cup in the first round, two good things did happen from that rescheduled replay that took place on the 30^th of November last year: one was that City fans who went to the original replay had free entry to it, and the other was that Exeter Supporters Trust who own Exeter City agreed that their Club didn’t take their share of the profits, and instead give their share to charity.

After Consulting with us, it was agreed that both Trusts would share that profit through donating it to their preferred charities, and it turned out that both wanted it to go to our respective local foodbanks.

After contacting the Club about this news, whilst requesting permission to announce the news, and present a publicity cheque at a home game, the Club asked if we were available on the 15^th of January. Adam Baker, from the Trust presented the cheque to Josie Barlow, the Bradford Central Foodbank Manager at half time when we were host to Salford. The total amount sent to Bradford Central foodbank was £7,393.

Josie, thanked everyone involved, saying, “Wow what a great day!!! Thank you so, so, much again for the very generous huge donation. It was so great being in the heart of City on the pitch!”

A photo of the presentation is on the Bradford Central Foodbank Facebook site, here. £3,000 of that money was also given to 3 other foodbanks in the city.

The picture has been featured in the Grecian’s programme Trust page ahead of their match versus the Monkey Hangers on the 29^th January when they presented their cheque to Exeter Foodbank.

It is only because Bantams Supporters Trust is in such a unique position of being part of a wider movement of supporters’ trusts that we are able to work together in joint initiatives such as this.

We hope this presentation event and the opportunity we had to provide this amount of money to a local foodbank leads to more joint cooperation with Bradford City to do more to support Bradford Central foodbank in the near future.

Policies & Procedures after last years AGM

31st January 2022

We hope you have all enjoyed a good festive break even if results and performances on the pitch up to now have not given confidence to a good promotion push even if our position in the table suggests we are still within a shout of a play-off place.

Last year the Trust had its Annual General Meeting (AGM), and we thank members once again who made the effort to turn up in person and online on Zoom. The AGM is the focal point in the Trust calendar that allows us demonstrate what we have done in the year including providing our financial accounts, offer nominations for prospective Board Members (volunteer directors), and gives the Trust an opportunity to review its policies and procedures.

We have now approved the minutes of the AGM and provided the Financial Conduct Authority FCA our accounts, AGM minutes and updated policies for the year and they have now been registered and approved.

Our updated policies take into account the latest set of policies provided by Supporters Direct (SD) from 2016. Supporters Direct merged with the Football Supporters Federation (FSF) in 2019 to become one body, the Football Supporters Association (FSA).

Prior to this, Supporters Direct was the organisation that Supporters Trusts came out of and have been nurtured with guidance rules to make them transparent and fit for purpose, as well as providing volunteer directors training, guidance and support about improving relations with respective football clubs, and support for when things go wrong. SD were always about supporting the Trusts and supporting fans create new ones and FSF were always about the campaigns initiated by fans. Now they have merged the FSA can help us with all things Trust and campaigns.

What we have updated and added

The SD Model Rules for 2016 – (Updated from the 2014 version) these contain our general rules that cover what we are about, what constitutes being a member, any shares, rights of members, the functions of volunteer directors, how our meetings are conducted, how the Board is constituted, elections, general meetings and the Annual General Meeting, disciplinary procedures, disputes, financial arrangement and much more.

We also have updated 6 existing side policies, which are more in depth in their specific aspects, than what is contained in the general SD Model Rules.

These are:

Election Policy

Standing Orders For Society Board Meetings

Standing Orders For General Meetings

Board Membership And Conduct Policy

Disciplinary Policy

New Side Policies that we have added from the FSA are:

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy

Social Media Use Policy

Where we publish these documents

These documents are published on our website in the Board and Constitution section here.

We also agreed at our AGM to send every member, through our database system, a Trust Members’ Handbook, which covers what we are about, our structure, members’ requirements, meetings and motions, elections and more. All the things that feature in our model rules but in bite size. This is also now up on our website in the Board and Constitution section.

Further reference points for guidance on Trust policies and more can be found here.

It is within our rules to give members the opportunity to give a minimum of 2 weeks to voice any objections to any of the policy updates and any policy additions. You can do this by emailing us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk and you have until 16th February 2022 to do this.

The Fans' Forum and a cause for Optimism?

25th January 2022

First of all we would like to wish you all a belated Happy New Year, and keeping with a positive feel despite many of us who went to Spotland at the weekend, feeling frustrated after watching a performance devoid of any real conviction and confidence to have a real go, we welcome four new loan signings we have until the end of the season; Jamie Walker, from Hearts, who has had 2 recent appearances for us, Matty Daly, from Huddersfield, who has had one appearance, Dion Pereira, from Luton, who is yet to make an appearance and most recently, Alex Bass, a new goalie from Portsmouth. We wish them well in the team.

200 supporters turned up to the Fans’ Forum on the 11^th January, hot on the heels of the desperately disappointing team performance in Cumbria, had the anticipation of being a real grilling of Ryan Sparks and Derek Adams.

Ryan Sparks opened up his contribution by saying that City is the closest to having a ‘fan owned’ club in our division, which was very perplexing to say the least as we are clearly not run on that model, but it was refreshing at least to have a fans’ forum that did not have any pre-planned questions and was steered by the variety of questions from the floor.

They were all questions you might expect, such as, why have we have not had a winning team for so long, why can’t players play for the shirt anymore, where is the investment in the team and structure of building a winning team, where is Stefan Rupp, is there any take over looming, what about the stadium lease to Gordon Gibbs’ Pension Fund.

From the questions about the team; players and the need for quality, fans’ expectations etc., Adams started off being quite defensive by saying he is the Manager, and he knows best. One of his responses was, that times change, society changes, and sometimes not for the better and that we are always now wishing our lives away when it comes to work, and that we can no longer expect players that want to run through brick walls anymore. But that is debatable. It has certainly been the case for the industrial masses though, even with shift in the changing landscape from manufacturing to the service sector but football is not the same. If your fortunate to get a playing career in the professional sport, it is a chosen career about dedication and ability that pays relatively well even in our league today, and whilst there isn’t a great deal of difference sometimes in this league, what stands those clubs out who are in the chasing pack and certainly at the top of the league is precisely a team effort, and confidence in the player ability of the team, and that is certainly more than what we have at the moment. The notion of team and collective effort must be drilled into our players as we sometimes look like a collection of individuals who still don’t know each other. Adams batted off much the criticism by reaffirming his intention was get the Club promoted. Ryan also said that it was his job to ensure there is as much money for the manager and that he felt the frustration we all feel as supporters.

For Ryan Sparks, he was asked about the WAGMI offer and if there was any talks with them on-going, and he made a point of separating himself from ownership, underlining his role as a CEO saying he was running the Club on a sound business footing, and that he is in regular dialogue with Stefan, often daily, and refused to be pinned down to comment on the WAGMI offer.

There was a doubt that Stefan Rupp may not be entirely committed to the Club and there questions about him taking any money from the Club as he did loan the Club £1.76m during the lock down period of 2020, and a desire for him to see supporters at events like this. Ryan denied that Stefan was taking money out of the Club and reiterated the Stefan was committed and the fact that the Club was in a financially sustainable footing and that we may well see Stefan in the future.

Asked about the ground and the lease, Ryan’s response was that they are building a relationship with Gordon Gibb, where previously this had not been built, and there were talks currently about future arrangements as the lease renewal deadline comes around in 2028 and it appeared by implication that a possible deal is being discussed.

There were questions about transparency, the publication of the accounts, the branding and season tickets, and it has to be said there has been an improvement in the way the Club engages with fans, predominantly through a series of online surveys, but also engaging with the Supporters Board and ourselves.

Ryan talked publishing the figures and said the supporter base drives the finances and that this is your club. He also said that the results of the branding survey will be revealed very soon. And with regards to season tickets he said getting the season tickets early shows signs that the club wants the income as soon as possible and that is not a good sign, but there are plans to improve the season ticket offer and facilities at the ground.

The Trust meeting with Ryan Sparks

The Trust are to meet with Ryan on February 7^th. It was originally scheduled for early December, and we are keen to hear more with regards to the ground and any potential new facilities as well as the outcome of the branding exercise.

Whilst we have only had two meetings with him last year, and broadly speaking they have largely been positive, we need to establish a form consultation, which is not simply about information that we all receive, where the decisions will not be changed by what is discussed. We want to get to a level of understanding whereby the Club and the Trust can work together to decide the areas that are most important, and make a commitment to follow a process in order to build trust. A ‘Structured Dialogue’ if you will. We believe there is a commitment to follow a process from the Club.

For example, it is far better for clubs and supporters, represented by a Trust to work together and communicate decisions in order to educate supporters and the wider community on factors that lead to a decision being made – not knowing or understanding something leads to negative feedback on social media.

We are working towards a voluntary agreement called a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU.

In 2012, a government enquiry into Football Governance sought that, ‘Clubs will be required under league regulations to set out in a structured format the ways in which they will consult and engage with different supporters interests and groups’. The government’s Expert Working Group made up of football authorities and supporters groups put forward a series of recommendations in 2014, adopted by the FA PL, EPL and National League. We were part of the consultation process that resulted in these findings.

There are 3 key areas to establish trust around working with the clubs:

Finances – an opportunity to understand the detail behind the figures, and build on the understanding of why the club operates as it does.

Disclosure of information/Transparency – A commitment to share information and clarification to alleviate concerns and explain any items drawn to supporters’ attention.

Ownership – an opportunity to ask questions about the existing ownership structure, owner commitment, ownership plans and potential opportunities for supporters groups to take a stake in the club. See more about Structured Dialogue and a Memorandum of Understanding here.

Of course there are other things to consult on such as the ‘protected characteristics’ of a Golden Share such as club heritage, which covers club colours, and the badge, as well as the ground and other related issues. These are part of last years’ ‘Fan-led Review’ - a series of reforms of football to make the game more accountable to supporters by seeking legal redress. See more about the Fan-Led Review here.

Strength comes in numbers – Join the Trust Today

Getting involved as a Trust Board member will:

Give you a say in how the Trust is run. Every member has a say – It is a democratic organization based on the principle of one member, one vote.
If you have ideas, which we know everyone has, you will have the opportunity to have your say at our regular board meetings.
If you have any skills, experience and confidence in working as part of a team, being an accountant, chairing meetings, raising money, putting on events, being articulate and writing articles, have experience of co-ordinating activities, representing others, advising, recruiting and campaigning and more, then we’d love you to get involved.
You will have opportunities for training and development, learning and understanding more about the wider football supporters movement, be part of a much larger network of fans of other clubs and why it is there to provide support for football fans, building support and awareness of the viability for clubs to be more fan orientated, whilst promoting principles of co-operation and fan-ownership.

Join here. Email us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk

Trust Statement on the possible US Crypto Currency group WAGMI United buy out of Bradford City

23rd December 2021

Bantams Supporters Trust was deeply concerned at reports that an offer has been made by a US cryptocurrency outfit to buy Bradford City football club.

It had been a bit of a whirlwind of activity by the end of last week from the moment this went public in the Washington Post, 16^th December, then statements coming from the Clubs saying Stefan Rupp had seen an email offer from them and that it has now been rejected, to WAGMI United’s further response which appeared to imply there had been more going on behind the scenes than appeared at first sight.

On the ‘Twitter space’ on 16^th December, the WAGMI group demonstrated a lack of awareness of the Clubs meaning, history and even its assets. A different model is nothing without those things.

We understand the crypto currency and NFT market can be volatile and unpredictable.

We had some concerns about the motives of WAGMI Utd, but would need to look at any detailed serious proposals. Having said that, the Trust is wary of any speculative investment that can potentially involve a high risk of loss.

The Trust is finding out more about the offer through the Club,

The Government’s Fan-Led review was set up to curb this kind of external intervention into the affairs of football clubs, and the *Golden Share provisions may offer an opportunity for fans to control an untoward development.

The Trust invites comment from all Bantam’s fans, and requests that the Bradford City owner Stefan Rupp consults directly with the Trust before any decisions on any sale are taken. You can email your comments to hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

*A Golden Share is something which is included within a football clubs’ articles of association, and the Fan-Led Government Review recommends that all licensed clubs would allow a Cooperative Benefit Society, such as a Supporters’ Trust to be the holder of this ‘golden share’ which will give legal protection to club heritage, whereby clubs would need the democratic consent of the Trust to carry anything through where heritage is concerned. This means, clubs would allow Trusts to veto any attempt to change the club’s name, badge, Club home colours, sell the Club or stadium or join a breakaway Super League.

View / download the Government Fan-led Review final Report here.

FA Cup replay brings huge boost to Exeter and Bradford foodbanks

20th December 2021

Foodbanks in Exeter and Bradford will share a donation of almost £15,000 this Christmas, following last month’s FA Cup replay at St James Park.

Under the rules of the competition, the club is required to share the profit (after costs) of the match with Bradford City. Exeter City Supporters’ Trust, alongside Exeter City Football Club, took the decision to donate Exeter’s share of the profits – which equate to £14,786 - from the re-scheduled replay match on November 30 to foodbanks in the two cities.

Each foodbank will receive £7,393 – a sum which will help hundreds of vulnerable people and families.

Nick Hawker, chair of Exeter City Supporters’ Trust, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be able to donate this sum of money to both foodbank charities. As a supporter-owned club we felt it was important to share the profits from the replayed game to organisations in both cities. This continues to be a challenging time for us all, so we hope this donation will help to support many families in need.”

Mark Richardson, manager of Exeter Foodbank, said they were delighted to receive the donation. He added: “This is an amazingly generous gesture from Exeter City Football Club to Exeter Foodbank. This donation will enable us to keep one of our main venues running for a whole year! We are seeing increased numbers every month at the moment and the support of the club and the city are a lifeline for so many people. Thank you! And, as huge City fans.... COME ON YOU GRECIANS!”

Manny Dominguez, chair of Bantams Supporters' Trust, said: "We would like to thank Exeter Supporters’ Trust for this marvelous initiative. Supporters' Trusts are in a unique position that we can work together to support and improve our communities and indeed supporters' interests. Christmas can be a stressful time for families living on the breadline, made more difficult with the rise in energy bills this winter and Covid. We know the money will go directly to the people that need it through the foodbank."

Josie Barlow, manager of Bradford Central Foodbank said: “We’re so blown away by the generosity of Exeter City Football Club to forgo their profits from the match against Bradford and to donate half of the profits to us! This is amazing and such a great big generous donation which will help us feed 12,000 people next year! We are so grateful and thank you on behalf of the families who have nowhere else to turn to feed their families.”

Statement on Covid Rules

18th December 2021

On Wednesday 8th December the Government announced its intention to move to “Plan B” in response to the Omicron variant. This means fans will need a “vaccine passport” or negative test in order to access large sporting events.

We understand that that Covid protocols are a continued source of frustration for many fans, but we do encourage supporters to familiarize themselves with them on the Club website ahead of any match that takes place.

We want fans to be safe in these renewed times of uncertainty.

Government Recently Announced First Round of Safe Standing Areas at 5 Clubs

16th December 2021

On the 8^th November, Cardiff City, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur became the first clubs to be provided with a license for ‘safe standing’ in seated areas from January 1st.

These five clubs will be the first in the top two tiers of football in England and Wales to allow standing in nearly 30 years – the FSA has always argued that standing could be introduced – an argument backed by the overwhelming majority of supporters.

Campaigners have long argued there is a tradition of fans standing at games as it increases choice, improves atmospheres and ensures supporter safety when hosted in properly managed and licensed standing areas.

The five grounds have been selected following an application process, open to all grounds covered by the all-seater policy, led by the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA).

Over the last 18 months the SGSA has been gathering evidence on standing areas and has concluded that standing is no less safe than seating where managed properly. If the initial trials prove successful, the expectation is legislation would be widened out to cover all stadiums in England’s top two divisions within the next few years.

The clubs applying for new standing areas had to meet strict criteria set out by the SGSA, including:

The necessary infrastructure being in place before 1 January 2022 – such as seats with barriers/independent barriers – which must be in both home and away sections.
The seats cannot be locked in the ‘up’ or ‘down’ position, allowing fans the option of being able to sit (for example, during breaks in play).
There must also be one seat/space per person.
The licensed standing areas must not impact the viewing standards or other fans, including disabled fans.
There must be a Code of Conduct in place for fans in the licensed standing area.
Briefing and training must be in place for staff and stewards to ensure only relevant ticketholders are admitted to the licensed standing areas.
CCTV must be in place and offer full coverage of the licensed standing areas.
The ground must consult with its Safety Advisory Group about plans for the licensed standing areas.

Over the remainder of the season, research will be carried out at the grounds by CFE Research, an independent research company, to evaluate the implementation of licensed standing areas at early adopter grounds. This research will be provided to Government to inform its decisions about the potential wider roll-out of licensed standing from the start of next season.

Jon Darch, who runs the Safe Standing Roadshow, and long time campaigner believes that the evaluation from the research will conclude that in areas being operated as standing it is not a good idea for there to be seats present that fans can stand on. CFE Research, did, after all, already conclude in their earlier work for the SGSA that "flip-up plastic seats are inherently unstable to stand on and so present a risk of falls".

Seats more akin to those in use at Celtic and all over Europe do not present such a risk, as they can be locked completely out of the way, thus preventing fans from standing on them or using them as steps to climb up onto the rails.

You can see the latest research conducted by CFE Research on The Safe Management of Persistent Standing in Seated Areas at Football Stadia as a Final report for the SGSA here which came out in June this year.

Bantams Supporters Trust welcomes these developments and can assure members that Safe Standing is one of our priority campaigns and it will be discussed with the Club. We advise that, the more fans join us, the greater influence we can have. You can join here.

Reminder for our Meeting to Ratify our AGM

15th December 2021

If you were thinking of attending AGM last month and couldn’t, then here’s your second chance!

Unfortunately, the numbers present at last month’s AGM were not quorate, so our rules say that we give members another opportunity to attend.

It’s great when we get the opportunity to see you. Why not pop down and meet us? The meeting should take no more than an hour and we will be going for a Christmas drink afterwards.

The date for this meeting is this Thursday, 16th December from 7pm at the Midland Hotel.

You can also attend in the comfort and safety of your home on Zoom. The Join Zoom Meeting details are:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84714581702?pwd=STYwV0t6WFZwa2kra1F0cjZIalJyZz09

Meeting ID: 847 1458 1702

Passcode: 383953

FSA's Women at the match Survey Findings and the Report

14th December 2021

Remember that survey we put out in late August about women’s fan attitudes on attending? It was combined with a Police survey and findings from disabled supporters accessing the game featured on our previous website.

The survey built on the report of the first FSA ‘Women at the Match‘ survey back in 2014, one of the largest ever pieces of research into women fans’ experiences of attending professional football.

The results came out in early November and a key finding in the survey, which was completed by more than 2,000 match-goers, is that women are now less willing to accept sexist behaviour at games. And that is a positive thing. You can find out more here.

The report of our Women at the Match survey was released towards the end of November, giving fans more details on the work that was carried out earlier this year when FSA polled women supporters from both the men’s and women’s game.

While women’s attitudes towards and experiences of sexism garnered plenty of column inches when the results were reported, the survey looked at a whole range of issues, including how and when women supporters got into following football, the factors that influence their attendance and lots more besides. Find out more here.

The full report can be found and downloaded here.

We’ll be on the Main Stand Concourse ahead of our 3pm K.O. against Sutton United

9th December 2021

Bantams Supporters Trust will be doing its third awareness stall this season on the concourse of the main stand between 1.30 and K.O. to raise the profile of the Trust and encourage involvement.

City fans can sign up to be members on our sign up sheet and if you have a QR scanner app on your phone, you’ll be able to be scan our QR code and find our link to our join form to fill out.

We would like to say thank you to those members how came up to us to say hello before the Forest Green fixture. You know who you are.

We raised over £34 pounds. We may have the scarves again we’ve been selling (pictured), for £10. We do have in the pipeline our own Trust scarves, more details on those and other new items soon.

You will be very welcome to help on our stall! See you there!

Save The Date For Our Meeting

To Ratify Our AGM

3rd December 2021

First of all, a big Thank you to those who attended our recent AGM 0n the 24th November. It was great see some members we haven’t seen in a while and some very new faces on Zoom and in the room at the Midland Hotel.

To remedy this, our rules allow us to provide you with another opportunity to attend our AGM meeting with a minimum 7 days notice so that we can ratify our AGM business.

The date for this meeting is Thursday 16th December from 7pm at the Midland Hotel.

So, if you have been perhaps thinking of attending on zoom or maybe physically then here’s your second chance! It’s great when we get the opportunity to see you. Why not pop down and meet the Board and join us afterwards for a Christmas drink or two?

The Join Zoom Meeting details are:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84714581702?pwd=STYwV0t6WFZwa2kra1F0cjZIalJyZz09

Meeting ID: 847 1458 1702

Passcode: 383953

The Fan-led Review into Football Governance final report is here

30th November 2021

The Fan-led Review into Football Governance final report went live at 10pm on the 24th November, last week.

As Bradford City fans we have been impacted on more than one occasion by issues around club ownership, financial management and suffered more than one period in administration.

A sustainable future for our sport is vital, and many of the recommendations from this report if adopted would help with that.

Bantams Supporters Trust welcomes the findings. Here are some of the highlights:

For government regulatory reforms to make supporters engagement mandatory such engagement through a ‘shadow board’
For an independent regulator to administer and operate a licensing system that regulates the professional game
Greater wealth share distribution from the Premier League is recommended, across the pyramid, reducing the gulf between leagues, and the necessity of abandoning parachute payments
Ensuring new measures to protect football grounds and other club assets, including a right for supporters to buy grounds under threat

Through our communications with the Club, both directly with Ryan Sparks and through the Supporters Board we will be engaging with the Club on the many parts of this review. It is a work in progress.

The findings, if adopted would be a great step forward. To see more of the recommendations and to access the full report click here.

Foodbank charities in Exeter and Bradford to benefit from FA Cup replay

26th November 2021

As a gesture of good will, Exeter City Supporters Trust decided to offer returning Bradford City fans free tickets and that Exeter City’s share of the profits from the FA Cup replay against Bradford on Tuesday November 30 will be donated to foodbanks in the two cities.

Under the rules of the competition, the club is required to share the profit (after costs) of the match with Bradford.

Exeter City has chosen to donate its share of the profits to charity – and following discussions between the two teams’ supporters’ trusts, it was agreed that this sum will be split between Exeter Foodbank and Bradford Central Foodbank.

Nick Hawker, chair of Exeter City Supporters’ Trust, said: “The club took the decision to donate our share of the profits to charity. We’re pleased to be able to donate it to Exeter Foodbank, which provides support to vulnerable families and individuals across the city. We know the pandemic has made life even more challenging for many people in Exeter, and we’re pleased to help in this way.”

Manny Dominguez, chair of Bantams Supporters Trust, said, “We are delighted to be able to take part in this unique offer of being able to donate from the proceeds of a match to Bradford Central Foodbank as a result of this rescheduled FA Cup replay on the 30th November.”

Following the government’s recently published Fan-Led Review, we see again that football supporters, especially those who will make the long journey down to Exeter from Bradford, appear to have been completely forgotten in this. We believe, a further gesture of goodwill from the FA would be a marvellous acknowledgement of their determination to care for supporters who, on this occasion, through no fault of their own, are now exposed to considerable expense. The cost of hiring a coach surely can’t be too much to ask?’

This Evening it's the Trust AGM for 2021

24th November 2021

Come and attend the Trust AGM tonight, either in person at the Midland Hotel or on Zoom. This is your chance to listen to what the Trust has been up to for the past year and ask questions.

We encourage questions, discussion and debate.

Members who receive our regular emails will be able to download our Draft Agenda and Papers for this evening.

For our AGM to be quorate, we need 20 Members in attendance. Only Members can vote. Join here.

The AGM will start at 7pm, so please arrive in good time to order a drink at the bar. We will be in the hotel reception area to gather members from 6.30pm. The AGM has been arranged to be held in the Midland Room upstairs. There is a lift and also an onsite car park with a barrier to get in and out. Members will need to collect a token from reception to exit this.

Please contact us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk if you intend to come, or want to attend on Zoom.

The Join Zoom Meeting details are:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84714581702?pwd=STYwV0t6WFZwa2kra1F0cjZIalJyZz09

Meeting ID: 847 1458 1702

Passcode: 383953

Trust Statement on the FA ruling decision regarding City’s FA Cup 1st Round Replay at Exeter

22nd November 2021

Bantams Supporters Trust shares the sentiment of the Supporters Board that was put out on social media on the 18th November.

Here it is in full:

“The Bradford City Supporters Board was dismayed to see todays judgement by the FA in relation to the use of a 6th substitute by Exeter City Football Club in their ‘The Emirates FA Cup’ 1st round relay against Bradford City AFC

“The decision to impose a second replay seems to be a decision which does not consider the impact on our supporters. The promise of a repeat midweek trip to Exeter seems unfair on both our club and also the fans who follow their team the length and breadth of the country.

“We hope the FA can reconsider the impact of this decision on fans and can work with the clubs involved to find a way forwards that is more suitable to all.”

This statement can be seen here.

https://www.facebook.com/BradfordCitySupportersBoard

The Trust has since made some further enquires to the FSA and Exeter City Supporters Trust Colleagues.

It has become clear that the match officials on the night didn't know what rules this competition was governed by in terms of fielding substitutes and Exeter City therefore, were not at fault.

However, we welcome Exeter Supporters’ Trust’s offer of free tickets to those who travelled to the original replay, for the rescheduled one on Tuesday 30th November, and Exeter City Football Club will not profit from the game, whereby, proceeds will be donated to charity.

More will follow

Bantams Supporters Trust AGM Invite & Draft Agenda Papers

18th November 2021

You are cordially invited to our Supporters’ Trust Annual General Meeting, to be held on Wednesday 24th November, from 7pm, in the Midland Hotel, in Bradford City Centre, near Forster Square Train Station.

At the AGM you will be able to hear about what the Trust has been doing throughout the year, and you will be able to hear about the purpose of its policy motions. We encourage questions, discussion and debate.

Members who receive our regular emails will be able to download our Draft Agenda and Papers for the evening.

If you would like to submit any Agenda items for the AGM, the deadline for submissions is Tuesday, 23 November.

For our AGM to be quorate, we need 20 Members in attendance. Only Members can vote.

Please contact us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk if you intend to come, or want to attend on Zoom. Teas and coffees can be available during the meeting but we need to know the numbers before to facilitate this.

The Join Zoom Meeting details are:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84714581702?pwd=STYwV0t6WFZwa2kra1F0cjZIalJyZz09

Meeting ID: 847 1458 1702

Passcode: 383953

Reminder About Our AGM

12th November 2021

Our AGM is on Wednesday, 24th November and will be in the Midland Hotel in Bradford City Centre, near Forster Square Train Station.

On the 18th of this month we will send you our draft agenda papers and Zoom details for those that would like to attend in person but cannot get there.

If you would like to submit a Nomination Form to become a Trust Board Member, this needs to be received by Wednesday 17th. Failing that, you can request to be a Board member at any time of the year and co opt you on to the Board. You can see here to find out about what it means to get involved.

There are 9 vacancies to fill to make up a Trust Board of 15 representatives.

This is your opportunity to make your voice be heard and contribute to making us stronger in terms of building the Trust membership and finances, but also to influence the Club in securing it’s long term success and longevity, and bringing in supporter led initiatives along the way that improve the match day experience for all. The existing Trust Board would like to see new Trust Board Members that have new ideas and proposals that will broaden our reach.

You can bring your work and voluntary experiences to us, whether that is on social media, IT, secretarial, financial, fundraising, marketing, negotiating and representing people, running a youth club or a local football team or bar. You may be good at putting socials on, or being a good compere. If there is anything that you can do / offer to contribute, large or small, it will be appreciated. You can volunteer your time as little or as much as you are comfortable with. Any contribution will be warmly received and greatly appreciated.

To fill in the Trust Board Nomination Form, simply fill in your details and write a brief summary of why you would like to be a Board member including how long you’ve been a City fan, your skills and attributes, and send us an email at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk with your completed form attached.

If you would like to submit any Agenda items for the AGM, the deadline for submissions is this Tuesday, 23 November.

The AGM will start at 7pm, so please arrive in good time to order a drink at the bar. We will be in the hotel reception area to gather members from 6.30pm. The AGM itself will be held in the Midland Room upstairs. There is a lift and also an onsite car park with a barrier to get in and out. Members will need to collect a token from reception to exit this.

Become an Active Member of the Trust

8th November 2021

Being an active Trust Member can be quite rewarding, as you will be playing a positive role within the Bradford City community that we can all identify with.

It can be as much or as little as involvement as you like, as we are all busy people with job and family commitments.

Playing a role in the Trust can mean a variety of things; it can mean attending meetings, providing ideas of things we can do to promote the Trust and raise money to keep us going whilst at the same time provide benefits to members; it can mean planning and organising public events to raise money for various community initiatives that are inclusive and encourage diversity and a coming together; it can mean having good listening skills or public speaking. You may be good with figures, or someone who likes writing and talking notes.

Think about work roles; what do you do well at when you are at work? IT; writing reports; applying for funding of projects; commercial experience; social media, promoting events, speaking to the public, supporting people; you maybe good at motivating people; or enjoy working in a team. Communication is a vital ingredient of what the Trust is about on so many levels, from engaging with the Club, communicating with members and communicating within the Trust Board and with our affiliated colleagues within the Football Supporters Association (FSA).

What is the Trust Board?

The Trust Board is an elected body of Trust members that represent the Trust collectively and accountable to you, the members. These members are volunteer directors and run the day-to-day business of the Trust, having meetings once a month. It’s three key director roles consist of a Chair, Secretary and Treasurer.

Join the Bantams Supporters’ Trust Board

The Trust Board has a maximum of 15 permitted and we have up to 8 Board vacancies available this year.

Roles available include, Secretary, Social Media Officer, Membership Officer, Women’s Officer and Fundraising and Events Officers.

Come to our AGM

Every year, we encourage members to nominate themselves. This is done by filling out a form that requires a statement explaining why you wish to become Trust Board members. If there are more nominations submitted than the number of vacancies required this will trigger an election

Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 24th November, in the Midland Hotel from 7pm.

The AGM is our highest democratic body that discusses how we have developed, encouraging debate and discussion about the tasks we have ahead of us and how we need to improve and reach out. We also votes on adopted policies that improve how we are organisationally, democratically and accountably.

All Bradford City fans that are curious and want to find out more about the Trust are very welcome to attend, but only members can vote. Be a Member, Be a Patron Member.

Attending the AGM

We encourage all members to attend, as we have a quorum (minimum attendance) of 20 to attend in order to formally ratify the decisions made by those present at the meeting.

Furthermore, you will be able to attend in person or on Zoom. To cater for all, we encourage you to express your interest / intent to attend, or indeed if you have any queries about getting involved in the Trust, please get in touch with us by emailing, hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

We will be sending you all the AGM papers and Zoom details shortly.

Joining the Trust Board

This is YOUR chance to help set the direction of your Trust.

Being a Trust Board member can give you experiences to put on your CV, and the voluntary work; being able to work alongside and with other organisations, such as Supporters Trusts, FSA and other bodies may lead to new career paths as well as serving as a vital component within our Trust promoting our aims, from being a guiding hand to Bradford City to promoting our work among it’s supporter base.

Training is regularly offered and you will always feel supported.

To fill out the nomination form fill out the nomination form by clicking the button below. We can help you fill out the forms.

Click here to access the Board role descriptions for Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer. Many of the tasks, qualities and skills are transferable to other job roles needed.

Nominations must be received by Wednesday 17th November 2021.

Election Nomination Form

Updated Contact Information linked to our New Website

5th November 2021

First of all we would like to welcome any new members who have signed up to the Trust in recent days.

We are pleased to inform all those who have signed up to receive our emails that we have migrated our contact information – the email address that you will now receive correspondence will be hello@bantamstrust.co.uk which is linked to the new website that we have recently set up.

We have taken the decision to move to a new website because our old one, www.bcst.co.uk will no longer be operational from December 7th and therefore the old contact email contact@bcst.co.uk will no longer work after that date.

The old website was unreliable to operate and because it operated on an outdated platform, it became too problematic to sustain. The new website is feature rich and more much more reliable as well as secure so we have set up this one to allow us to have an online web presence for the foreseeable future.

So to recap, from now on you’ll be receiving your Trust news / Fan Mail Updates from hello@bantamstrust.co.uk which is linked to our new website.

If you are reading this from our social media links and want to receive our email news, you can join us free here.

You can also support us financially by being a patron here. Every contribution large or small helps to keep us going.

What is the Trust?

3rd November 2021

Who we are…

Bantams Supporters Trust is unique as it seeks to influence our Club in putting fans’ interests at the heart of everything it does.

As a Mutual Benefit Society, we are a not-for-profit organization based on which basically means we are not for profit, democratic and representative principles, and exist independently of the club.

We were set up in 2002 when Bradford City was in financial crisis after it became clear that ex-Chairman Geoffrey Richmond had mismanaged the Clubs’ finances. In 2004, we played a leading role in fundraising for the ‘Save Our City’ campaign that raised £250,000 to keep our Club in business.

Being part of a wider supporters movement

Bantams Supporters Trust, are one 140 plus Supporters Trusts in the UK, and all English and Welsh football supporters Trusts are affiliated to the national football supporters body, FSA (Football Supporters Association). On issues that affect all supporters, we are at our most effective, standing together in unison.

What we do

We are in touch regularly with:

• Trust members and City fans by email, social media and special surveys to find out your views

• The club by meeting directly with CEO Ryan Sparks and as a member of the club’s Supporters’ Board

• National networks of other fans in League One and League Two clubs through the Football Supporters Association (FSA)

• Local community groups such as Bangla Bantams

• Local organisations such as the Independent Advisory Group of West Yorkshire Police

We raise money that:

• Goes back to the club through player sponsorship and other routes,

• Supports local charities such as the Plastic Surgery and Burns Unit

• Or other good causes such as the Bradford City Women’s Football Club

Our job is to use all our contacts to identify issues of concern to City fans, to represent your interests, and to make a difference with practical initiatives.

How we go about our work

We are all volunteers, led by Trust Board Members and Officers elected at our AGM.

All members can participate in the AGM, submit their own motions for democratic decision or put themselves forward as candidates to be elected on to the Board.

The Trust Board meets monthly and Board Members are accountable to our members generally.

What are our current priorities?

We are working on a number of issues at the moment:

• Keeping football affordable in all manner of ways.

• Listing Valley Parade as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) with Bradford Council.

• Trialing Safe Standing.

• Contributing to the Government’s Fan-led Review, the best chance in years to influence government policy in fans’ favour, in order to narrow the gap between the poorest and wealthiest clubs and to strengthen supporter representation within the game.

• Moving towards a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as a formal agreement with the club that will identify common ground and deepen the relationship between our club and its supporters.

How do I Join the Trust?

The basic membership of the Trust is free, and open to all Bradford City supporters.

Join the Trust for free here

We also have Patron members, who support the Trust financially by paying an annual subscription by standing order. The amount is your choice, from £3 a year upwards. Patron members help us cover our costs and enable us to give back even more to the club and other good causes.

Become a Patron Member here

We’ll be on the Main Stand Concourse ahead of our 3pm K.O. against Forest Green

28th October 2021

Bantams Supporters Trust will be doing another awareness stall on the concourse of the main stand between 1.30 and 2.30 to raise the profile of the Trust and encourage involvement.

We would like to say thank you to those members who came up to us to say hello before the Bristol Rovers game. You know who you are.

We raised over £35 pounds and we were asked about the scarves that we had on sale. They will be there again, priced at £10. We have in the pipeline our own Supporters Trust scarves to sell soon, and we will be putting out our button badges and stickers as well. The leaflets and donations tin go without saying. Donations are always welcome.

If you would like to be a Patron member or give a one off donation online please click here.

We do have a small amount of pin badges that we have left from when we last produced them with our old square quartered BCST logo, priced at £3.50 each, we will bring to the stall as well. We also have 3 copies left of the ‘Stand Up Sit Down – A Choice to watch Football’, by Peter Caton, priced £10.

See you there!

Save The Date

Bantams Supporters Trust AGM

24th November 2021

25th October 2021

We would like to invite you to our Annual General Meeting, to be held on Wednesday 24th November, in the Midland Hotel from 7pm.

The AGM is our main public event every year that demonstrates our democratic processes facilitated through our policies.

Every year members can expect reports of how the Trust as an organization has developed, our achievements and plans for the future on how we are expanding our reach, and your Trust Board that is accountable to you, the membership, can confidently say, that we are turning a corner on this.

All Bradford City fans who are curious and want to find out more about the Trust, what we are about and what we do are welcome to attend, but only members can vote. Be a Member, Be a Patron Member.

Members may be aware that we have had an AGM & Fans Forum earlier this year, in April, but it was actually delayed from 2021 due to a combination of factors, such as Covid restrictions, fixture rearrangements and confirmation of the speaker. The Trust Board felt that in order to get our AGM back on track for 2021, we simply organize the AGM with no frills.

Join the Bantams Supporters’ Trust Board

This is YOUR chance to help set the direction of your Trust. With a maximum of 15 Board Members permitted we currently have up to 8 BST Board vacancies available.

Roles available include, Secretary, Social Media Officer, Fundraising and Events Officers. We are always on the look out for board members to bring fresh ideas and expertise for the benefit of Bradford City Supporters. For example developing supporter-led projects and community initiatives.

If you have any skills, experience or interest in any of these areas and you are a current Trust Member and are interested in putting yourself forward for election to the BST Board, please see the attached nomination form.

Where the number of nominations we receive exceeds the maximum number available, then an election will be run.

Nominations must be received by Wednesday 17th November 2021.

Attending the AGM

We encourage all members to attend, as we have a quorum (minimum attendance) of 20 to attend in order to formally ratify the decisions made by those present at the meeting. To this end, as well as this email being received by members and on social media, we are also distributing a 1,000 leaflets advertising our event and promoting it through the local press.

Furthermore, you will be able to attend in person or on Zoom. To cater for all, we encourage you to express their interest/intent to attend, or indeed if you have any queries about getting involved in the Trust, please get in touch with us by emailing, hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

We will be sending you all the AGM papers and Zoom details shortly.

Trust Policy BST Nomination Form

The Trust meets with Ryan Sparks & Progress is being made

21st October 2021

Trust representatives, Manny Dominguez and Alan Carling met with Ryan Sparks on Monday 11th October as part of the trust and Club commitment to structured dialogue.

Indeed, there were many positives to take from this, most notably the idea of an Asset of Community value. We began by looking at the highlights of what was discussed when we last met on the 24th June of this year.

iFollow

The debate about should iFollow been continued whilst there are so many people that still have or are contracting Covid, or are having to self isolate etc. was raised. We explained that from the context of the current ban on televising live football at 3pm on Saturdays, it is still current policy that FSA fully supports the continuation of it, and Trust reps through our own League One and Two Network have had our own debate. With that in mind there are still a conversation to be had with the EFL about Clubs being able to screen the iFollow matches during the 3pm Saturday kick offs for only those with specific Covid related health needs as opposed to being freely available to everyone.

Ryan said that the Club was part of an EFL member Club survey and they were in favour of wanting to screen iFollow matches, especially our away games. And that Sky have a big influence in television rights with the EFL.

We also asked Ryan when the Club attends their EFL meetings, if they are aware results of consultation surveys EFL is involved in with the FSA, or when FSA reports it’s findings to the EFL. He confirmed he wasn’t aware of any.

Fan-led Review

Manny gave an update about the Fan-Led review, saying that Tracey Crouch MP will be giving her full recommendations in a report at the end of the month after chairing meetings of the DCMS appointed group in consultation with all the FSA Networks of affiliates and associate partners. And he explained that we have signed an FSA open letter to the new DCMS Secretary, Nadine Dorries that includes over a 100 signatories, requesting that she presses on with football reform.

ACV

Alan Carling led on explaining what an Asset of Community Value (ACV) is and that it is community organisations like supporters trust that put in an application to the local authority to list football grounds as an ACV, in this case Valley Parade, and this would remain for a 5 year period where the application would need to be renewed. As part of the ground being listed Alan also explained it gives us the right to bid as well.

Alan spoke about the emotional and social wellbeing importance of what our home ground means to people. You can find out more about what an ACV is here, and there is a very short video explainer here.

Ryan didn’t think the Club would necessarily be wholly in favour of it but wouldn’t object to it being listed. He made positive suggestion about promoting it widely and potentially using the Supporters Board as a vehicle to get our idea across. Ryan was a little cautious about supporting us doing anything about it immediately however.

Trust Matters

Manny explained that the Trust are working with Bangla Bantams to put on an event that would involve fundraising and will need a player to attract people to attend. It would be a 1pm Saturday start, and the Trust has a signed football signed by all our Premier League players. The event would be designed to attract the Clubs traditional fan-base whilst bringing together the local community around Bangla Bantams, and Ryan wanted to support this initiative.

Ryan was also made aware that the Trust has come into possession of some very old season ticket booklets with one going as far back as 1908/09 and there is a good opportunity to have them as part of a Christmas raffle that James Mason is organizing at the Memories Café at Napoleon’s.

Other Trust matters for consultation

Manny explained that the Trust has other matters it would like to consult the club about where we would like to be involved with. At the moment these are:

• Keeping City affordable in a number of ways.

• Railed Seating

• Fan-led Review recommendations / FSA proposals – (will have to be broken up into certain areas as it’s a big topic)

• Supporter Liaison Officers (SLO’s)

• Memorandum of Understanding – Ryan was interested in signing up for this.

Ryan’s response about affordability was that he feels we are very affordable already and they have plans to be even more affordable over the festive period, offering a cheaper package.

When asked about the Fanzone, he is keen to have the raised level North of the Kop where the ticket office area as the place to be the fanzone for having a drink. Manny asked if they had plans for real ale there, and suggested involvement of the North Parade bars, and the plan is for lager being the dominant drink which is a guaranteed seller, and that if it doesn’t get the green light from the local Safety Advisory Group (SAG) then there is no alternative venue as there is a very tight space around the ground. The plan is for it to be operational next year.

Financial

Ryan is very confident about the Club’s progress and financially revenue is up as we are receiving a larger footfall through the turnstiles and significant improvements have been made in other departments, meaning for a better financial future with more revenue being pumped into the playing budget.

Formal arrangements

We agreed that while we have quarterly meetings a year we can meet sooner than that should there be a need to and if we want to bring some more detail about our other interests outlined above.

Manny agreed to send over templates for a Terms of Reference (ToR) and Memorandum of understanding (MoU).

Trust to make a presence at City ahead of the Bristol Rovers fixture on Saturday

14th October 2021

Bantams Supporters Trust have been given the green light to have an awareness stall on the concourse of the main stand between 1.30 and 2.30 to raise the profile of the Trust and encourage involvement.

Members and supporters are welcome to join and say hello and have a chat, and give a helping hand.

On our stall we’ll have leaflets to give out explaining what the Trust is, scarves, badges, stickers and a little collections tin for donations, which are always welcome.

This activity will be the first of several public activities of the Supporters Trust this season and it will be the first time we have had a visual presence on a match day since 2012, when we were above the Club shop when it was housed in the building where the One In A Million School is.

Bangla Bantams drive creates football facilities for all fans

13th October 2021

A month ago many of you may have read in the local T&A about this project being granted approval and celebration of first day of laying the foundations of the new construction, which will include a new floodlit 4G pitch and sport centre behind the back of Valley Parade.

Led by BEAP Community Partnership, and funded by Football Foundation, Power To Change, Sports England and Bradford Council, the project will be completed by June 2022, and during the course of the next football season will have a family orientated Fanzone for home and away fans to meet and maybe have a kickabout in the build up to home matches. There are plans to arrange five-a-side games between Bangla Bantams and visiting fans on matchdays as well.

Humayun Islam who is the Chief Executive of BEAP, got Shapla FC and Bangla Bantams going in 2015 that draws in the local Asian, predominantly Bangladeshi Community behind supporting Bradford City and engage with other Asian football supporters across the Country.

Once Fans For Diversity lead, Anwar Uddin discovered the BEAP Centre and Humayun in 2014, they have had their support since.

The Trust became aware, have become supporters of all their achievements and we came along to the press launch of Bangla Bantams and the Fans For Diversity/Kick It Out Community Day back in February 2015.

You can read more in the FSA article here.

Safe Standing Allowed – The campaign finally wins!

28th September 2021

From 1 Jan 2022, the UK Government will be implementing a historic change which will allow... safe standing.

The Sports Ground Safety Authority made that long-awaited announcement on Wednesday 22nd September 2021. Clubs that want to take part in 'early adopter' trials of safe standing now have until 6 October to submit their applications. Trials that are approved will then begin on 1 January.

The FSA, the leading football supporter campaigning organisation has always argued that standing could be introduced – an argument backed by the overwhelming majority of supporters. There is a tradition of fans standing at games as it increases choice, improves atmospheres and ensures supporter safety when hosted in properly managed and licensed standing areas.

Kevin Miles, chief executive of the FSA and longstanding Safe Standing campaigner, who was contacted last Wednesday, said: “We are beyond delighted to finally claim a win for the FSA’s Safe Standing campaign after extra time, penalties and more than a few replays and postponements.

“Today’s announcement is the result of prolonged and sustained campaigning by football fans – a victory for ordinary people with ordinary jobs who refused to accept the Taylor Report’s contention that standing could not be managed safely…”

Bantams Supporters Trust Chair, Manny Dominguez, says he is delighted! “I’ve long been an advocate of safe standing and decided to take the campaign to City when I found there was a grassroots campaign called ‘Stand UP Sit Down’. I petitioned City fans home and away from 2006/7 at football grounds in the wind and rain and pubs and in recent years I finished making a giant City scarf like banner that I took to City and away matches in the 2017/18 season, and now it’s becoming real!

“The question will be of course, when will all clubs including City be able to provide a genuine choice to stand or sit. Also, how can it be costed will be the central question for all-seater clubs like ours in the lower tiers of the EFL. We would like to be of assistance and advice on this”

You can see the statement from the Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA) here. See the FSA article here.

Supporters Groups call on new Minister to press on with reform

27th September 2021

Bantams Supporters Trust along with more than 100 supporters’ organisations from across England and Wales have co-signed an open letter to Nadine Dorries MP, the new secretary of state for Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The letter welcomes the minister to the role after the recent cabinet re-shuffle and encourages her to ensure the Government fixes football governance via the Fan-Led Review.

“Football clubs are at the heart of their communities, cultural institutions which bring a sense of identity, pride and belonging for millions of people every week. They deserve protection,” says the letter.

“We know that you will receive the final report from Tracey Crouch MP later this year, and would urge you to retain the commitment to independent regulation.”

Tracey Crouch MP is leading the Fan-led Review of Football Governance and her interim report was clear that radical reform is needed to change the power structures of the game and protect clubs from rogue owners, including the need for independent regulation.

More than 100 FSA-affiliated and associated supporters’ groups in the men’s and women’s game, including those from clubs at the top of the sport to non-league level, have co-signed the letter.

You can see the list of all the organisations that have signed the FSA’s open letter, plus a link to all the FSA’s affiliate and associate football supporter organisations here. The open letter can be read in full here.

Tracey Crouch’s interim report can be found in full here.

Survey findings regarding attitudes to the return to stadiums

16th September 2021

The findings of the FSA survey about attitudes to the return to stadiums shared with the EFL show what most people would’ve expected.

A majority, were willing to return as soon as the season started. Identity of being a football fan was major factor and that a desire to get back to normal was strong.

While the survey that initially went live in early July reveal an eagerness to return to stadiums this season, asking all age groups of both men and women, a significant minority had said they felt apprehensive.

Some fans delaying their return

Waiting to see how a return to stadiums would impact on the pandemic and wanting to see their clubs demonstrate they were safe for fans to return were the main factors in apprehensiveness in returning too hastily.

Other findings reveal that:

Most fans were opposed to reduced capacities or masks being made compulsory, and that away attendances would not be expected to fall once the season had begun.

For a more in depth look at how fans responded including figures, and who completed the survey, please see more here.

These findings were shown to the Club and Supporters Board, and it was felt that the Club had provided the appropriate Covid guidance measures in place, such as publishing it’s guidance policy on its website and signage around the ground as well as providing other measures such as sanitizer, contactless payments and so on within the stadium.

Support your Trust in reaching its' Fundraising Target

12th July 2021

Bantams Supporters Trust is setting a financial target to reach £5,000 by the end of the end of next Summer so that we can invest in a Membership Benefit Scheme and to ensure we have enough to sponsor future Bradford City players and managers and other causes generally.

Your Supporters Trust has always made an effort to sponsor players and Managers, as well as the Bradford City Women’s team and other good causes. Last season, we sponsored Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars, The Women’s team and invested in Trust Banner to cover the seated areas while the team were playing their season behind closed doors, and we have been willing to donate extra for when the Club has need it.

In order for this to continue, and be financially viable to be in a position to invest in membership benefits that will benefit the Trust and grow our membership, we need to raise money.

Whilst membership is free, our income comes from you as Patrons – Members who regularly contribute to support us.

As a Supporters Trust, we are a ‘Mutual Benefit Society’ which basically means we are not for profit, democratic cooperative society set up in such a way that could one day run a football club. Supporters Trusts have often been set up at a time when our football clubs have been in financial crisis. We were set up in 2002 when Bradford City was in financial crisis after it became clear ex Chairman Geoffrey Richmond had mismanaged the Clubs’ finances, and in 2004, we played a leading role in fundraising for the ‘Save Our City’ campaign that raised £250,000.

Today, while the Club is financially stable and is full of ambition, the Trust is a source of advice and assistance. It is important that the Supporters Trust continues in this way into the future and that we have the ability to financially support the Club and the community in the knowledge of where that money is spent.

You can support us in a number of ways. You can be a Patron of the Trust and make a regular contribution to us here. There are four categories: Bronze (£5), Silver (£10), Gold (£20) and Platinum (£50). You can also make a one off donation here.

You can also support us by buying a retro City shirt with the Trust logo as well as the logo for Bradford Central Foodbank that is on the shirtsleeves. Buying our shirts will also benefit Bradford Central Foodbank. They cost no more than £35 including delivery. And a shirt name and number is free of charge. Check out our range of shirts here.

We will regularly update you on how we are reaching our fundraising target.

Thank you for your support.

BANTAMS SUPPORTERS TRUST

Giving a voice to Bradford City Supporters

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