Episode #9
Fan Engagement Index 2026 - Overall Trends
Following the publication of the Fan Engagement Index 2026, Kev talks about the trends in Fan Engagement in English football. Full results at https://fanengagement.net/fan-engagement-index-english-football The key trends in brief: 1. Across the top five divisions of English football covered by the index over the 2025/2026 season, it is obvious that fan engagement has become a significant focus of every football club in the top four divisions and many in the National League Premier. 2. Certain clubs have now established themselves as consistent practitioners. Even after all their struggles on and off the pitch last season, Exeter City still won again, and it is credit to their commitment to the culture of fan engagement. Likewise, Lincoln City, Swansea City, Bradford City, Brighton, Brentford and others. 3. We're seeing a lot of clubs adopt fan advisory boards or shadow boards and overall, I think these are net positive. However, as important and valuable as they are, they are not independent, and are internal mechanisms and need to be treated as very different from independent organisations. I have discussed this recently in another video and you'll find that on our YouTube channel and website. 4. That connects to trend number four, the trend away from independent organisations of supporters, particularly supporters’ trusts. This is a particular concern because these are proven repeatedly, and over a period of decades, as an excellent external check and balance that I think every club that has them benefits from. Again, I've recorded another video that is on our YouTube channel about this issue, so check our website or You Tube channel for that. 5. To what extent are we seeing long term changes in the actual culture of decision making in football? The trend is still largely negative: ticket prices keep increasing, kick-offs keep changing, significant alterations to stadia are still forced through without proper consultation – all of this often even without proper involvement of key fan engagement staff. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/fan-engagement-pod . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
