Everton’s Fan Engagement Team met with representatives from Supporters’ Clubs from around the world for the final meeting of 2023.
The meetings form part of the Club’s commitment, within the recently launched Fan Engagement Plan, to engage with global Blues who make up the Supporters’ Club Committees.
The four groups were formally set-up in 2022 to include the leads of international clubs and have structured dialogue meetings with the Club quarterly during the season. These meetings cover topics specific to their geographical areas – UK, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa),The Americas and Asia-Pacific.
Supporters based across EMEA and Asia Pacific received an update on the Club’s new stadium and discussed what matchdays could be like for international fans visiting Everton.
Despite the distance and cost of travel, the leads of supporters’ clubs in Europe and Asia also identified that a significant number of fans will want to make the journey to the UK to visit Goodison Park for its final season - and asked if the Fan Engagement Team could consider how this could be facilitated, in light of other priorities. One consideration put forward by fans was to host virtual events for fans who can’t or don’t make the journey next season.
With America's Supporters’ Clubs already having met in November, Evertonians in the UK discussed a number of matters specific to them. The group used their time with the Club to ask questions about the timings in relation to away tickets being on sale, as well as the potential future impacts of digital ticketing on football. The Club also provided more information on surveys sent to supporters about fan migration to the new stadium as well as though focus groups with fans, which included representation from supporters’ club members. The timings for Season Tickets for the 2024/25 season were also discussed, which saw members offer their opinions on potential pricing, as well as seeking insight on plans for pre-season – which have yet to be confirmed.
Supporters’ Club members voiced their support for planned peaceful protests against the points’ deduction received by the Club, while also acknowledging the Club cannot condone any of the banners – especially those of a defamatory nature – against the Premier League, or of a personal nature to its senior staff or Board.
Having completed their first year as Supporters’ Club Committees, all four regions have now elected their chairs for 2024. The results of each election are as follows:
- UK – Ken Sweeney, Everton Mid-Cheshire Supporters’ Club
- EMEA – Helge Grunnevaag, Everton FC Norway
- Asia-Pacific – Tim Ohlson, Perth Toffees
- The Americas – Tony Sampson, Chicago Evertonians
The Supporters’ Club Committees will continue to meet with the Club quarterly, with the next round of meetings scheduled for February 2024.
