Supporters Direct Scotland have launched their annual survey of football fans in Scotland.  It can be accessed from the link below which also gives a bit more information about the survey and a link to access the results from last year's survey.  The survey closes on 15th September- so don't put it off for another day.  This is the chance to get your voice heard.

http://www.scottishsupporters.net/scottish-football-supporters-survey-launched/

What is the point of these surveys? We have one every year but nothing ever changes.

The staff at the Social Club do.

1 hour ago, Buster said:

What is the point of these surveys? We have one every year but nothing ever changes.

The more people who fill in these surveys, the more likely it is that things will change.  If people can't be bothered to feedback their views when invited to, then the powers that be will assume folk are happy with the way things are.  For instance, I have taken the opportunity to voice my view that we need to have safe standing areas to help boost the atmosphere at games.  If everyone who held that view filled in the survey and made that point then maybe we would get somewhere with it.

 

What changes have resulted from previous surveys?

This is a genuine question.  I feel like I've been filling in this annual survey for a good number of years (and already had again this year before posting on here), yet football continues to become more and more disconnected from the fans.  It's almost as if it's designed to make fans feel like they are being listened to when they aren't really.  If there was some kind of quantifiable benefit that could be shown, then perhaps more people would be encouraged to fill it in?

29 minutes ago, Buster said:

What changes have resulted from previous surveys?

This is a genuine question.  I feel like I've been filling in this annual survey for a good number of years (and already had again this year before posting on here), yet football continues to become more and more disconnected from the fans.  It's almost as if it's designed to make fans feel like they are being listened to when they aren't really.  If there was some kind of quantifiable benefit that could be shown, then perhaps more people would be encouraged to fill it in?

You say "It's almost as if it's designed to make fans feel like they are being listened to when they aren't really."  I don't think that is fair as it is run by Supporters Direct Scotland which exists to try to narrow the divide between those who run the clubs.  Supporters Direct Scotland at national level and Supporters Trusts at local level need to know what fans feel is important to them if they are to be able to represent those views to the football organisations and the clubs.  The football organisations and the clubs also (mostly) want to know because at the end of the day, it is the fans that pay their wages.  Note that following a previous presentation, the clubs specifically asked Alan Russell, CE of SDS to give a presentation about the results of last year's survey.

If the clubs don't provide what the fans want then the fans will stay away.  It is therefore clearly in their interest to listen to the fans views.  Previous surveys have identified that value for money is the thing that matters most to fans and a number of clubs have taken note of that in their pricing structures.  Last year's results showed for the first time more supporters felt the prices were fair rather than poor value.  Fans in some clubs may feel they are becoming more disconnected from the clubs but the opposite is true in many.  The appointment of Supporter Liaison Officers and the trend towards fan ownership of clubs is having a huge impact on the engagement of supporters in some clubs.  If fans want the clubs to connect with them, then the more fans who complete surveys like this, the more connection there will be.

 

I've gone and done some reading and I'm not sure holding up value/affordability as a victory in the wake of 8 years of declining attendances is a credible argument for the success of the survey.

I'm not against the principles of the survey as it's an effective way to get the views of fans.  However, what's the good in having that collective view if nobody is using it as a tool to push for change?  If they are, then why are we not hearing about it?

As an aside, do clubs or trusts get specific feedback on their own fans views from the survey?  That would make for interesting reading and might get more people engaged.

I agree that getting club specific feedback would be useful.  Clearly there will be issues where fans of different clubs will have widely differing views because of the widely differing ways in which those issues are addressed at clubs.  I haven't seen any such data but I can find out if it is available.  Given figures from previous surveys which detailed the number of responses from the top 10 responding clubs, I doubt that more than 50 ICT fans will have responded and therefore any results are not going to be particularly representative.  It just goes to emphasis the point that the more people who complete these surveys, the more valuable the data becomes and the more likely that it will result in action.  Thanks for filling it in yourself by the way.  That makes at least two of us!

Reports today that football is, on average, more expensive now than it was 2 years ago.

I wonder if clubs have seen the improvement in feeling from fans and seen it as room to squeeze prices up a bit more?

Doesn't inflation apply to football?

On 9/11/2019 at 12:16 PM, Satan said:

Doesn't inflation apply to football?

Nope, it's called shrinkflation, you pay more for it and you get less of it, a bit like your cereal packet.