Supporters Direct

The organisation ‘Supporters Direct’ is the result of a government initiative, funded by public money, with the aim of helping people "who wish to play a responsible part in the life of the football club they support". They offer support, advice and information to groups of football supporters.

All models used and recommended will be based on democratic, mutual and ‘not-for-profit’ principles.

Possible legitimate objectives for these supporters’ groups will include:

• Influence - the formation and running of representative bodies for supporters.
• Ownership - the acquisition of shares in the football club to pool the voting power of individual supporters to further the aims and objects of the Supporters’ Trust.
• Representation - securing the democratic election of supporters’ representatives to the Boards of Directors of individual football clubs.
  

Criteria for eligibility

To be eligible for the assistance of Supporters Direct, supporters’ groups must be:

• Democratic in their structures and in the way they run their affairs;
• Open to all fans to join, at an affordable cost; and
• Broadly representative of supporters.

Consequently Supporters Direct require supporters' groups to adopt a written constitution and use a limited number of model constitutions. This helps to reduce or eliminate the cost of legal advice, and acts as a means of ensuring that our aims and philosophy are met in each case.

For more details about Supporters Direct, visit their website