Irish Fans United - New Structure Ready To Go

[Michael Nugent]

The big lesson of both the Sky deal and the National Stadium deal is that the voice of the fans is not taken into account when major decisions are being made, and that those decisions are led by an undue obsession with money at the expense of the game and the fans.

This is no surprise. It has happened regularly since 1966, when we lost a World Cup qualifying play-off to Spain 1-0, after the FAI agreed to play the game in Paris before a largely Spanish crowd (instead of in England) if the Spanish FA gave the FAI all of the gate money.

As well as lobbying on the issue of the Sky deal and promoting national league matches, Irish Fans United has been meeting regularly to devise a structure for a truly representative and fiscally accountable organisation for Irish fans to make sure that this type of thing never happens again.

We are now close to finalising that structure, and we will be discussing it at regional meetings in Munster, Leinster and Connaught/Ulster over the next three Saturdays: in Cork this Saturday, at a meeting organised by the Cork City Supporters Club; in Dalymount Park next Saturday; and at a venue to be arranged in Connaught/Ulster the following Saturday.

To guarantee fiscal accountability, Irish Fans United will be incorporated as a company with no share capital limited by guarantee. To guarantee representivity, IFU will have in its Memorandum of Articles of Association some non-standard clauses about structure and method of debate and voting. These are included in the messages below.

Please attend one of these regional meetings, and the founding General Meeting which will take place in October. The more people that get involved early, the sooner we will start work on what are very fundamental aims.

Any feedback is welcome, either here or to michael@happying.com

[Michael Nugent]

The Company is established for charitable purposes only. The Main Object for which the Company is established is to create and sustain a democratically accountable alliance of Irish football fans and Irish football fans’ organisations, in order to promote, foster, encourage, support and develop Irish football and Irish support of football at all levels in Ireland and internationally, and to seek to prevent improper practices in relation to Irish football, while acting at all times in accordance with the Founding Principles of the Company, being:

(a) That insofar as football can be compared to a product, it and its commercial value are co-produced by the combined inputs of the players, fans and organisers;

(b) That any football team or club or association that actively promotes itself as representing the people of an area or community or country cannot then act as a free agent against or ignoring the wishes and interests of those people;

(c) That football clubs and associations are effectively monopolies because, in practice, the loyalty of most of their supporters cannot be easily transfered to another team, and that monopolies must be regulated in the public interest;

(d) That all of the three main stakeholders in football (players, fans and organisers) should be directly, not indirectly, and equally represented when major policy decisions that affect them and football generally are made;

(e) That Irish Fans United will take its internal decisions based on reason, passion, fairness, mutual respect, equality and solidarity amongst all Irish football fans, with everyone working together in good faith to find the decision that is most consistent with this Main Object and these Founding Principles, rather than using adversarial debate followed by simple majoritarian voting.

[Michael Nugent]

The Company shall have the following Subsidiary Objects, to be used only for the attainment of the Main Object, and any income generated from which is to be applied only for the Main Object:

(a) To create and sustain a democratically representative and fiscally accountable structure that balances the interests of Individual and Affiliated Group Members, and of fans in different Regions and of different Sectors of football, that can devise and promote specific policies to further the objects of the Company, including a fundamental review and proposed strategy for the future of Irish football from the fans’ perspective;

(b) As a priority, in order to further all of the objects of the Company, (i) to promote the principle of direct fans representation on all relevant governing bodies at all levels of Irish football; (ii) to develop specific policies that may include proposing new and wider policy-making forums than those that currently exist; and (iii) ultimately for the Company and its affiliated supporters clubs and organisations to be the vehicles for democratic election of fans representatives to all such bodies;

(c) To cooperate with existing, and to encourage the establishment of new, supporters clubs and organisations at all levels of Irish football, and to promote broad and democratic participation in such clubs and organisations;

(d) To maximise live attendance at matches by supporters of Irish football at all levels, including in particular matches where club or international sides are representing Ireland;

(e) To maximise media coverage, in all types of media, of Irish football at all levels, and to maximise public access to all televised Irish football matches, including in particular international matches and the FAI cup final;

(f) To establish and promote codes of best practice for football supporters with particular reference to generating a positive enjoyable atmosphere and opposing hooliganism, racism, sectarianism, sexism, homophobia and other discriminatory behaviour;

(g) To engage in, collect and research data on the development, funding and management of Irish football and to promote such research by third party institutions or bodies, including in particular schools, colleges and universities;

(h) To bring a greater proportion of the formal ownership of Irish football into the community, including where agreed buying and holding shares in Irish football clubs;

(i) To work with and learn from other fans’ organisations, including those of other sports, and players’ organisations, in Ireland and other countries.

[Michael Nugent]

Debate at all Company Meetings shall take place in accordance with the Founding Principles of the Company, specifically that Irish Fans United will take its internal decisions based on reason, passion, fairness, mutual respect, equality and solidarity amongst all Irish football fans, with everyone working together in good faith to find the decision that is most consistent with the Main Object and Founding Principles, rather than by using adversarial debate followed by simple majoritarian voting.

(a) If there is a clash of interests between substantial groupings on any issue, the Chairperson may adjourn the meeting and ask the main proponents of the differing views to nominate a small number of delegates each to discuss the matter together, with the specific aim of working in good faith to produce an agreed compromise proposal that they can jointly propose to the General Meeting.

(b) If the clash of interest is between Members of different Regions or Members who primarily support different Sectors of football (for example, the international team, the national league, womens’ football etc.) the Chairperson will ask the Officers of the relevant Regional or Sectoral Councils to nominate such delegates for this purpose.

(c) After a debate conducted in this manner, a Resolution put to the vote of the Members shall be decided upon by a show of hands of both Individual Members and Affiliated Group Members and no Resolution shall be passed unless a majority both of Individual Members and of Affiliated Group Members have voted in its favour.

(d) The explicit purpose of this method of debate and voting is to maximise mutual respect and solidarity among all Irish football fans, and to maximise the representive strength of the Company’s policies and actions.

[Michael Nugent]

There shall be three levels of Membership of the Company:

(a) Individual Members:
Any person who agrees with the Main Object and Founding Principles of the Company, shall be eligible to apply for Individual or Ordinary Membership of the Company. The subscribers to the Memorandum of Association shall be Individual Members.

(b) Affiliated Group Members
Any Organisation having a minimum of ten members and a written constitution compatible with the Company’s Primary Object and Founding Principles, and where a majority of its governing committee is elected at an open general meeting, shall be eligible to apply for Affiliated Group Membership. Each Affiliated Group shall be represented by its duly elected Representative or Representatives.

(c) Honorary Life Members or Patrons
The Company shall have the power to elect persons to Honorary Life Membership. Honorary Life Members, also called Patrons, shall have the right to receive notice of, attend and be heard at general meetings and shall have voting rights. They shall not be required to pay any annual subscription or fee of any kind and shall not be under any liability in the event of the Company being wound up.

[Michael Nugent]

SECTORAL COUNCILS

For the purpose of developing policy, football will be divided into different Sectors, e.g. international teams, national league clubs, women’s football, junior football, senior football, schools football, clubs abroad with an Irish dimension, and/or such other Sectors as the Company may from time to time deem appropriate.

The Annual General Meeting shall elect Members to Sectoral Councils, which in developing Company policies shall represent the interests of fans of each Sector, and which shall also promote the policies of the Company within that Sector.

The Annual General Meeting shall decide on the number of Members on each Sectoral Council. Each Sectoral Council will elect a Chairperson, a Minutes Secretary, a Treasurer and such other Officers as it deems appropriate, and the Chairperson shall also become a Director of the Company.

REGIONAL COUNCILS

The Annual General Meeting shall decide on operational geographical Regions, of which there shall be not less than four. The founding Regions shall be North Leinster, South Leinster, Munster and Connaught/Ulster.

Members living in each Region shall hold their own Regional General Meetings, in the three months before each Company Annual General Meeting. They shall elect Regional Councils, which in developing Company policies shall represent the interests of fans in that Region, and which shall also promote the policies of the Company within their Region.

The Regional General Meetings shall decide on the number of Members on their Regional Council. Each Regional Council will elect a Chairperson, a Minutes Secretary, a Treasurer, and such other Officers as it deems appropriate, and the Chairperson shall also become a Director of the Company.

[Michael Nugent]

NATIONAL COUNCIL

The National Council shall meet at least twice between each Annual General Meeting.

It shall consist of the Directors of the Company, the Officers of each Sectoral Council and each Regional Council, and a representative of each Affiliated Group Member.

It shall oversee policy development between Annual General Meetings, and in particular will seek to reconcile any conflicts that may arise between the respective interests of fans in different Sectors or Regions.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The business of the Company shall be managed by the Directors who shall be elected as follows:

(a) Every second year, the Annual General Meeting shall elect a Chairperson, a Vice Chairperson and a Treasurer who shall each serve as Directors for two years;

(b) Every other year, at the Annual General Meeting, the Individual Members and the Affiliated Club Members shall each elect a Representative who shall serve as a Director for two years. The first such Representatives shall each serve for one year.

(c) In any year, the Chairperson of each Sectoral and Regional Council shall be a Director, or may send an Alternate Director, and shall be elected by their respective Councils in time for the first Directors Meeting after each Annual General Meeting of the Company;

(d) If at any time there is only one Director from any geographic Region, the Directors shall appoint another Director from that Region. Such Directors shall retire at the next Annual General Meeting but may be reappointed if required by the incoming Directors.

(e) The Directors shall appoint a Minutes Secretary and an Honorary Company Secretary.

[Michael Nugent]

As mentioned earlier, any feedback is welcome, either here or to michael@happying.com

[pete]

You come up with a definition of a "fan" or should that be "supporter" yet?

[eoinh]

just asking for coverage of the FAI cup final is wrong. what we need is regular (and not every week) LIVE coverage of national league and fai matchs, a weekly highlights programme (at least) and regular features about irish fottball on the sports news etc. even getting the names of the clubs right on Aertel would be a start. for instance on the night of the finn harps v city cup match i turned on aertel after i got back from the match. there was abig report up on the motherwell V celtic match (att:9000) yet nothing on city V harps (att:4,500). why? is rte a public service or not? if not i want my licence fee back.
ive travelled quite a bit through europe especially Scandanavia where attendances arent hugely bigger than ours. (in finland mabe smaller) but tv coverage is infinitely better. in israel with a poulation similar to our own the local tv companies paid £80 million for rights. here its been offfered for virtually free. often especially when i went down to the X to watch a match with my dad we used to have trouble getting parking because of the crowd. at the same there might be a match on in musgrave park with a few hundred souls. yet get the irish times or the irish independent the next day and the match with the reporter would be the rugby match. why is this?
im not into all this business about class warfare etc but im really starting to believe its because football is a working class game in this country.

[Neil]

Originally posted by Michael Nugent
in Cork this Saturday, at a meeting organised by the Cork City Supporters Club;

Where in Cork?

[eoinh]

It is 4 pm on Saturday, upstairs in Jim Cashmans Bar on Paul Street.

are there many going? im going to go anyway

[Michael Nugent]

Hi Pete,

Well, we did discuss that a lot and we ended up concluding that it is a self-defined concept, i.e. a fan is a person who believes themselves to be a fan. If you think about it, that's a lot more profound than it originally sounds.

Different people are more intense in their level of involvement, and we hope that the sectoral committees will help to deal with that. But if somebody enjoys football, at any level, we want them to continue to do so and we want them to feel involved and welcome.

For example, my late mother thought I was mad watching Bohs for years. She took no interest in football other than, when I was a child, helping us to make banners for taking to Dalymount. Then years later she got caught up in the whole Jack Charlton thing, and we were suddenly able to talk about football when I visited the house... discussing the likes of Andy Townsend and Paul McGrath and long-ball tactics and things I never thought I'd ever chat with her about.

No doubt that happened in house after house, family after family, around the country.

Take it to the other extreme. If someone "only" follows their local League of Ireland club, but doesn't go their under-21 games, is he or she a true fan? If someone goes to under-21 games of their local League of Ireland club, but doesn't watch Leinster League matches? Or schoolboy football? Wherever you draw the line, there is someone more committed than you. Most people choose to draw the line somewhere around where they are themselves.

I could go on, but I've got a meeting to go to. I'll post more on this later.

Michael

[Michael Nugent]

Hi Eoin,

I agree with you completely about the coverage.

We've phrased it that way because it might be possible to get the FAI Cup Final listed for protection so that it would HAVE to be available on terrestrial television (though I'm not hugely optimistic about getting it listed in the short term).

Aside from that, you're right: we should and will be pushing for a structured, consistent, promoted package along the lines you mention.

Michael

[pete]

Originally posted by Michael Nugent
We've phrased it that way because it might be possible to get the FAI Cup Final listed for protection so that it would HAVE to be available on terrestrial television (though I'm not hugely optimistic about getting it listed in the short term).

The way things going this year the FAI Cup final be lucky to get an tv coverage. RTEs pettiness towards the eL/FAi has hit new highs (or lows depending where you coming from) & have shown they will give feck all eL coverage unless beaten with the carrot to do so.

Yeah, could go on about the fan thing indefinitely..... As i've said before i'd watch a range of sports on tv & might go to odd non-soccer/football game but wouldn't dream of telling those sports how to rule their organisations. Real pet hate of mine to see plastic hammer ole oler 'think of the children "supporters" emerge from no where...

[patsh]

Originally posted by pete
The way things going this year the FAI Cup final be lucky to get an tv coverage. RTEs pettiness towards the eL/FAi has hit new highs (or lows depending where you coming from) & have shown they will give feck all eL coverage unless beaten with the carrot to do so.

Well, they showed the goals from the X the other night....
When is TVMORON, sorry TV3 going to show this highlights program? I wonder are they entitled to have cameras at the games already, if just to show the goals from games??

Speaking of TV3, did anyone see their news program the other night, when, as Trevor finished his sports headlines, Grainne asked him a question about the Bertie Bowl decision?
Talk about a rabbit being caught in the headlights...he eventually muttered some oul' sh*ite like
"ehhh...mmmmmm.....shame...Abbottstown...80,00 0 seater....euro2008....80,000 seater...hmmm....big stadium......shame.........."
He tries his best, but you'd feel sorry for the shagger though....

[pete]

Originally posted by oddboy

Well, they showed the goals from the X the other night....
When is TVMORON, sorry TV3 going to show this highlights program? I wonder are they entitled to have cameras at the games already, if just to show the goals from games??

tv3 highlights show starts next month on Monday nights. They also showing Bohs v Shels as first live game. IMO i think they at least deserve to have a go this season withour criticism & hopefully Trevor will sort us out with a live game at the cross. Besides how much worst than RTE could they be?

[Schumi]

Originally posted by oddboy
I wonder are they entitled to have cameras at the games already, if just to show the goals from games??

I would assume not. They've had previews and reasonable coverage of games so if they could have cameras, I'd assume they would.

[patsh]

Originally posted by pete
tv3 highlights show starts next month on Monday nights. They also showing Bohs v Shels as first live game. IMO i think they at least deserve to have a go this season withour criticism & hopefully Trevor will sort us out with a live game at the cross. Besides how much worst than RTE could they be?

Ahh. pete. I'm only taking the p*ss out of poor Trev!
Of course they deserve a chance, and Trevor will do his best I'm sure. However, anybody is entitled to criticise their performance during what's left of the season. Just think, would it mean that Gunther, for instance, deserves to have a go this season without criticism ? I just hope the FAI and eL are more co-operative with TV3 than they were with RTE.
You have to admit though that TV3's "production values" leave a lot to be desired, and that is my criticism of the station. I hope TV3 make a good fist of it, and do improve the image of the whole Irish soccer scene.

[pete]

Maybe tv3 should be viewed like that new manager you get who replaces the previous idiot - you might think new guy not up to it but think he deserves time to find his feet...

Oh yeah someone remind me of this post when i slating tv3 next month