Scottish Supporters Network

Hosted by Supporters Direct Scotland

 
Strengthening Scottish Football
SDS Logo

Supporter Liaison Officer Development Day Round-up

Date: 19th July 2016

image2

Thursday the 14th of July saw a range of stakeholders join us for our inaugural Supporter Liaison Officer Development Day. Since we announced Supporters Direct Scotland would be working in partnership with the Scottish FA in delivering a development programme for the SLO role in Scotland, we’ve been implementing a plan which started with this gathering of stakeholders within the game.

On the day we welcomed representatives from 8 different SPFL clubs, representatives of the Scottish FA, Stuart MacGregor from FOCUS/Police Scotland, Stuart Dykes from SD Europe and a very special guest in the form of Lasse Bauer, Brondby FC’s SLO.

The purpose of the event was to discuss how we could collaboratively improve the SLO role in Scotland and to improve communications among the existing SLOs at SPFL clubs.

The event was started with a brief overview of the partnership formed between the Scottish FA and Supporters Direct Scotland, with SDS taking the lead of a development programme.

Stuart Dykes of SD Europe then proceeded to outline the history of the SLO role and how they’ve been working with UEFA to develop the position across Europen football. With some fascinating statistics and facts around the impact of the SLO role, we learned the following:

  • The SLO role started out in Germany as a way to encourage more people through the gates to games and to fill empty seats
  • The SLO has been strongly credited with helping reduce crowd disorder with particular credit in Sweden
  • UEFA believe the return on investment for the SLO programme is there and is tangible (through merchandise and increased ticket sales from supporters feeling a great affinity with their clubs).
  • All Bundesliga 1 clubs are required to have two full time SLOs.
  • Since the introduction of the national third tier in 08/09, all clubs relegated from the system have retained their SLOs (despite not being required to have one) because they believe in their benefits.
  • The SLO is not a magic wand which will fix all of football’s ills, however it is a preventive measure which clubs should take to help improve communication among clubs and stakeholders.

image4

Due to their game versus Hibernian in the evening, we were then able to hear from Lasse Bauer, the SLO at Danish club Brondby. Lasse shared his story of how he became the SLO at the club, his roles and responsibilities and the successes the club had enjoyed as a result of it.

Since the implementation of the SLO role at Brondby in 2012, Lasse was able to cite a 40% drop in damages caused by supporter disorder and outlined the success the club had had by giving supporter more ownership of their match day experience – including the police offering them trains for their match day travel. 

image3

After lunch, John Paul Taylor, SLO at Celtic presented on how he undertakes his duties as the only full time SLO in Scottish football. What was particularly notable about John Paul’s talk was the impact he had had in terms of bringing safe standing to Celtic Park – the first safe standing area in UK football. We hope through this development programme, we will see more full time dedicated SLOs within Scottish football and better communication between clubs and their supporters. 

image1

Following this, there was a discussion around the role SDS can take in furthering develop the SLO position within the game and the next steps required to see clubs dedicated further resource to the role for the betterment of the game and its supporters.

The day was concluded witha brief talk from Stuart MacGregor from Police Scotland’s FOCUS unit and how they hoped the match day experience and safety of supporters can be improved from the SLO role.

Overall the day was very productive with good discussions and ideas shared around the role and strengthening its position within the game. We will be taking away many of the best practices discussed and developing a strategy with our partners at the Scottish FA.

Following the day, we were pleased to see the formal appointment of the Beverley Meyer as the SLO at St Johnstone FC who attended the day. Saints chairman Steve Brown said of the appointment “I’m delighted that Beverley has accepted the SLO role. I have no doubt that she will play her part as the SLO initiative develops nationally, driven jointly by SFA & Supporters Direct Scotland.”

She has started her time in the position with the set up of a dedicated St Johnstone SLO Twitter account which you can follow here.

 

Under Article 35 of the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations, clubs across Europe are required to appoint a Supporter Liaison Officer (SLO) to ensure proper and constructive discourse between them and their fans. The SLO project originated in 2009 as a result of detailed talks between UEFA and SD Europe. It was approved by the UEFA Executive Committee in 2010, with SD Europe appointed to manage its implementation across UEFA’s 55 member associations. If you would like to learn more, visit the SLO section on the SD Scotland website or get in touch via andrew.jenkin@supporters-direct.coop.

 

Posted in: Latest News