Football Supporters Europe’s latest SLO (Supporter Liaison Officer) development project Towards the Professional Development of SLOs (TPDS) held its launch meeting in Frankfurt earlier this month, hosted by Koordinationsstelle Fanprojekte (KOS). The event saw the partners entering two busy days of meetings furthering the project’s objectives, in addition to experiencing an immersive introduction to supporter liaison with Eintracht Frankfurt’s SLO during a Bundesliga match.
Continue reading “SLO STANDARDS IN FOCUS AS TPDS PARTNERS MEET IN FRANKFURT”Tag: Erasmus+
EXAMINING GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AT FOOTBALL MATCHES: SAFER SURVEY
Football Supporters Europe (FSE) is appealing to football fans across Europe to respond to a new online survey that is seeking to understand more about the topic of gender-based violence in football and the extent to which fans have experienced or witnessed this type of violence.
The work is being conducted as part of SAFER, an Erasmus+ project that has brought together supporters and a cross section of experts and football stakeholders to tackle gender-based violence and discrimination in the game. The results of the survey will help to establish prevention and remedy mechanisms for football fans and other match attendees across Europe and during EURO2024, which is crucial to ensuring everyone feels welcome when attending football matches.
Data from the survey will remain anonymous at all times and the results will be used for research purposes only. The questions take about 15 minutes to complete, and participants can skip questions and/or leave the survey at any time. The information gathered will be the first data of its kind sought directly from fans, with the purpose of improving experiences for all supporters in future.
As the topic is a sensitive one, the survey has been created with five main sections. The first two seek to establish some demographic information and general views on supporters in different football environments. The third section asks about beliefs around society and gender relations, while the fourth section includes specific questions about various acts of gender-based violence that may have been experienced or witnessed. Finally, the survey asks participants to share any good practice they are aware of and possible actions they believe might help in the prevention of such violence.
The survey is available in seven languages: English, German, Dutch, Danish, Portuguese, Italian and Polish, and the links are available to share below.
For more information about SAFER, visit: www.safer-project.eu. As part of the project, we will be seeking to interview experts working in the field of gender-based violence and people affected by gender-based violence. If you would like to contribute to the work, you can reach out to FSE in confidence with your contact email and a member of the FSE team will come back to you individually for further details. Get in touch via: info@fanseurope.org.
FUTURE OF FOOTBALL: A STRONGER VOICE FOR YOUNGER PEOPLE IN THE GAME
Football Supporters Europe (FSE) is excited to announce the beginning of a new Erasmus+ project that will focus on increasing the numbers of young people involved in democratic structures within supporters’ organisations and football clubs.
“Future of Football” will run until Autumn of 2025, and involves supporter organisations and partners from 5 EU countries, England & Wales, and Africa, through the continental fans organisation Sandlanders.
The core project group will work with younger supporters from England & Wales, Germany, Norway, Spain and Sweden to create a series of toolkits and training materials that will then be delivered at selected clubs within each country.
The activity will be supported by research and insight gathered by the Netherlands’ only independent sports research entity, Mulier Institute, which will also deliver tailored analysis for each partner country. A series of national and European youth forums will reinforce the research, learnings, and impact.
FSE Executive Director Ronan Evain said: “At a time when supporters’ voices need to be included more than ever by football’s key stakeholders, it is vital to ensure the priorities of the next generation of active supporters are a part of the conversation too.
“Working with the project partners and our FSE membership, this project will pave the way to establish the foundations for lasting structures of influence for younger supporters at national and European level.”
Future of Football Partners:
- FSA, England & Wales;
- FSE and Unsere Kurve, Germany
- Norsk Supportersallianse, Norway
- FASFE, Spain
- SFSU, Sweden
- Sandlanders, Africa
- Mulier Institute, Netherlands
As part of the project, FSE is now looking to recruit four experts in youth participation with funding available to support their involvement (time and travel) in the activities. These experts will contribute their knowledge in and around youth participation, supporting the development of the toolkits and activities. For further information, email: info@fanseurope.org. Expressions of interest will be considered until Friday, September 29th, 2023.
With the core project coordinating group established and research underway, the first in-person project partners meeting is planned for December 2023. As the project progresses, FSE will publish the project’s learning materials and resources to amplify the impact of its outcomes.
In addition, if any FSE members or stakeholders within the game would like to be kept informed of progress and involved in activities where possible, reach out to: info@fanseurope.org.
THE NEXT STAGE OF THE SLO ROLE’S EVOLUTION: FSE’S LATEST ERASMUS+ PROJECT
Football Supporters Europe (FSE) is delighted to announce details of its latest Erasmus+ funded project, which aims to take the development of the Supporter Liaison Officer (SLO) role to the next level. The project, titled Towards the Professional Development of SLOs (TPDS), builds on 13 years of expertise of fan organisations’ driving the full and proper implementation of UEFA’s licensing requirement on supporter liaison.
Today, despite the wide embrace of the role across many of Europe’s leagues, there is no consistent approach to exactly what an SLO is or does, or what experience and personal characteristics are needed to be successful in the role. This comes at a time when SLOs are asked to deliver meaningful change for more stakeholders than ever before, fans, clubs, leagues, police, safety staff and many other stakeholders.
TPDS has been designed to identify the specific knowledge, skills, and attributes, commonly known as ‘occupational standards’, needed to excel in the SLO role. The objective in doing so is to help clubs and national associations hire the right people and existing SLOs to fulfil their potential. In parallel, working with four leading universities from across Europe, the project aims to establish pathways for individuals to learn and become experts in supporter liaison through a series of higher education degrees.
In addition, TPDS achieves another milestone for FSE by becoming its first project to feature a partner from South America. Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (COMNEBOL), the South American Football Confederation, is an official partner in the project, and FSE will work with their staff on developing a road map for the establishment of the SLO role on the continent.
FSE’s Head of SLO Development, Lena Gustafson Wiberg, said: “The SLO role has come a long way over the last 13 years, but it’s now at a stage where to give greater certainty to clubs, supporters, and SLOs themselves, there needs to be robust industry standards and access to professional education in place.
“Many supporters already engage with their club’s SLO. and know the value the role brings to their matchday experience, whether at home or away. This project will have a positive impact for fans because the more SLOs who receive tailored educational support on how best to perform their role, the better matchdays for more supporters across Europe.
“This is our third EU-funded project focused solely on the Supporter Liaison Officer role. We are delighted to be working with four progressive universities with a track record on delivering best in class education.
“To have COMNEBOL as a project partner also signals the recognition of FSE’s expertise in pushing the development and wide adoption of the SLO function for over a decade now. We are also pleased to have UEFA’s support for this project’s aims, following our continuing partnership via the UEFA Academy where we jointly provide concise and specific training to SLOs through their National Associations.”
Along with FSE, the project partners in TPDS are:
- University of Limoges (France)
- University of Kassel (Germany)
- University of Gdansk (Poland)
- University of Malmö (Sweden)
- European Observatoire Of Sport & Employment (France)
- Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol – COMNEBOL (Paraguay)
Focusing on three countries (France, Sweden and Poland), which are all in varying stages of their SLO development journey, TPDS is geared towards establishing higher education courses specifically focused on the SLO role in partnership with a university in each. The University of Kassel in Germany, which has already created a higher education course centred on SLOs together with the University of Potsdam, will work with its counterpart universities in each country to offer its expertise and experience.
The existing UEFA Academy SLO Education Programme, led in partnership between FSE and UEFA, serves as a springboard for TPDS. The project was designed in response to the demand for the wider implementation of SLOs in European football and works in tandem with the SLO Education Programme by catering for different audiences in varying stages of their supporter liaison journey. The relevant football governing body in each country will also act as associate partners in TPDS to assist with achieving the project’s objectives.
With research and preparatory work already well underway, the project’s next step will be a two-day partners meeting in Frankfurt this October 2023 to be attended by all project partners and additional relevant football stakeholders.
ERASMUS+ PROJECT KICK-OFF CONCLUDES AT EFFC 23
The final meeting of SD Europe’s ‘Kick-Off!’ Erasmus+ project took place in Manchester on Friday, 23rd and Saturday, 24th June 2023 during Football Supporters Europe’s European Football Fans Congress, bringing the innovative 30-month project to a close.
Continue reading “ERASMUS+ PROJECT KICK-OFF CONCLUDES AT EFFC 23”FSE AND EFDN VISIT ATLETICO SAN LORENZO FOR ERASMUS+ FUNDED SAFER PROJECT PILOT SITE VISIT
During June 2023, Football Supporters Europe (FSE) and the European Football for Development Network (EFDN) visited SAFER project partner Atletico San Lorenzo to gain a deeper understanding of the club’s tailored approach to addressing gender-based violence and discrimination in their community.
Continue reading “FSE AND EFDN VISIT ATLETICO SAN LORENZO FOR ERASMUS+ FUNDED SAFER PROJECT PILOT SITE VISIT”