Week of events to be staged in April
The success of fans-owned clubs in football will be celebrated by Supporters Direct (SD) between 11 and 18 of April.
Of course, AFC Wimbledon famously achieved its dream in 2011 by achieving Football League status after a group of fans reformed the club nine years earlier.
A number of fans-owned clubs have flourished during the last 15 years with SD working hard alongside them to make the dream possible.
To celebrate these achievements, SD will be organising a week of events to pay tribute to people who have played key roles at clubs around the country.
The week begins on the 11 April when a host of supporter owned clubs play their regular fixtures at home. There will be a series of events across the country and online across the week, with more set to be announced. There will also be a crowd-funding campaign to be launched on the 27 March in an attempt to raise money for SD to provide more support for supporter ownership in the future.
Two parts of the week in April have already been announced and details are as follows:
A Dublin-based event video crowd-sourcing start-up and the ‘world's largest video crew’ will partner with SD England and Wales and SD Scotland to chart match day experiences at all 38 supporter owned clubs; stitching them together to make the largest attempted supporter sourced video ever seen. This will showcase what makes match day at a supporter owned club so special. Fan Footage •
will celebrate the work of volunteers at supporter owned clubs. Clubs will be asked to nominate a volunteer at their club who they think deserves special recognition, to showcase to the public those people that make supporter ownership just that little bit special. Unsung Heroes•
Among the clubs in membership of SD in England and Wales and SD Scotland are four English Football League clubs, three SPFL clubs, and three in the Football Conference Premier, three in professional Rugby League, and even one in American Football!
Fan OwnershipA full list can be found by clicking on supporter ownership actually is, how it works, and how you can get involved in the campaign. . You can also read more about what
Supporter ownership plays an important role in SD’s core work to ensure that supporters have a voice at their clubs, alongside that of establishing supporters’ trusts and campaigning for changes in the rules to benefit the supporters and communities that sustain all clubs.
Keep an eye on the websitehttp://www.supporters-direct.org/supporter-ownership-week, on Twitter at @suppdirect, or www.facebook.com/supportersdirect . Use the Hashtag #SOW15 #Ours .