The Everton Fans’ Forum has elected three new members following a supporters’ vote.
Blues from around the world made their choices from a shortlist of nine. The new members are:
Laura Burgess, Rob Fisher and Jeff Wallner.
The new members will begin their tenure this week by joining existing Forum members in meeting monthly with the Club. Their role, alongside other members, will be to engage with supporters to provide input and give feedback in areas such as, the matchday offering at Goodison Park, catering, retail, international supporters network and communications with supporters.
The new electees will also have the opportunity to join the stadium project group that will be key in continuing the dialogue with Evertonians in terms of pricing, the seat allocation process, facilities on offer and other factors that are important to supporters as the Club moves forward with its plans to build a new 52,888-capacity waterfront home at Bramley-Moore Dock.
Over the past year, the Forum has continued to play a leading role in representing the views of Evertonians, including bringing together and working with supporter groups to enhance the atmosphere at Goodison Park on matchdays and in the lead up to away fixtures. This has included the most recent welcomes and send-offs for the First-Team coach. In addition, the forum has played a leading role in championing inclusivity in football, through the HERGAMETOO movement and has developed a network of supporters’ groups across the globe.
Meanwhile, the Forum brought together key supporter and stakeholder groups to gather feedback from Evertonians in the wake of the failed European Super League proposals. This included submitting written and providing oral evidence to Tracey Crouch MP, as part of the Government’s Fan Led Review into Football Governance.
The Fans' Forum also formed part of the Everton Stakeholder Steering Group (ESSG), leading to the creation of a new Fan Advisory Board, which will be consulted on strategic issues impacting the Club and through which there will be fan representation at Board meetings. Chair Tony Sampson will be representing the Forum on the Fan Advisory Board.
The Forum and the Club would like to thank the departing members for their dedication and service.
Tony Sampson, recently elected Chair of the Forum will be supported by Siobhan Doran and Barry Williams as Vice-Chairs for the 2022/23 season.
"We have seen a really high number of quality applicants from all over the world, highlighting the number of Blues who wanted to get involved. I’d like to welcome Laura, Rob and Jeff to the Forum and look forward to their contributions over the coming years.” said Tony Sampson, Chair of the Everton Fans’ Forum.
“This is an exciting time to join the forum with our established project groups and the launch of the fan advisory board highlighting the need to ensure supporters’ voices are heard. We aim to build on the role the forum has played in this by strengthening and expanding the networks of supporters we engage with and keeping them informed of progress."
“We will continue our honest, transparent and independent discussions with the Club and represent the views of not only match-going Blues and fans based around the world."
The percentage of voters who selected each candidate was as follows:
Laura Burgess – 25.77%
Rob Fisher – 16.44%
Jeff Wallner – 16.44%
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Steven Kelly – 12.43%
Derek Houlton – 7.6%
Richard Maycock – 6.87%
Paul Young – 5.47%
Jake McKenna – 5.29%
Andy Duff – 3.71%
All of the Forum changes will come into effect at this week’s June meeting. Thank you to all the candidates who applied and participated in the process.
