Why Fan-engagement has strengthened Bantams Supporters Trust in its’ relationship with our Club

Our AGM is fast approaching and we welcome all members and supporters wishing to attend. The Annual General Meeting or AGM is the meeting in the year where we can discuss the achievements of the Trust. It is a forum to discuss the purpose of the Trust and how we can go forward seeking to gain more influence with the Club. With more emphasis on the need for clubs to engage with supporters due to the long awaited Football Governance Bill being in a process of becoming law, there has never been a more important time for football supporters coming together to discuss and debate how we can do this effectively and we can get more fans to be actively involved. You do not have to be a member to ask questions but only members can vote. We will be meeting at Jacobs Well in Bradford city centre, near the Interchange and situated on the left hand side before the Jacobs Well roundabout. If you are coming by care there is parking behind the Media Museum. We encourage people to arrive early as we will start at 7pm on Wednesday 27 th November. If you are unable to attend in person you can attend online via Skype. The link is here . If you would like to become an active member of the Trust you can download the nomination form here . Members have until the 20 th November to submit the form to us. You can send us the filled in form or ask for more info by contacting us via email at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk . Download our Agenda and papers for the AGM here .

The EFL and Sky Sports have confirmed all broadcast-selected Sky / EFL matches for the period up to the weekend of March 1 and 2, 2025. By November 1, selections were delivered by Sky Sports to the EFL. The League has since liaised with the respective Clubs and relevant local authorities to ensure an appropriate spread and balance of home and away fixtures, prior to announcement. From Monday 11 th November, Clubs and fans have up to four months’ notice of matches that have been moved in order to be broadcast. This continues the League’s commitment, ensuring fans will be able to plan with more certainty when making travel and hotel arrangements. The full list of broadcast selections is available at EFL.com . You can see our three selected / affected game BradfordCityAFC.com . Broadcast selections are subject to change due to fixture rearrangements in relation to international call-ups, fixture postponements and Cup ties. Already this season, fans at home have enjoyed watching their team more often on TV across all competitions, with all EFL Clubs set to feature more than 20 times on Sky Sports during the 2024/25 season. Sky Bet EFL fixtures are broadcast via either an existing Sky Sports channel or Sky Sports+, integrated into Sky TV and the Sky Sports mobile app. Sky Sports+ is available at no extra cost for subscribers of the full Sky Sports package. All televised fixtures will also be available on streaming service NOW . Selections for matches scheduled from the first weekend in March will be made on a four-week rolling basis starting from the first week of February (for example: a selection for the first weekend in April will be selected from the first weekend in March). The Football Supporters Association (FSA) are tracking the cost of away ticket prices and fixture changes due to broadcasting. If you are dissatisfied with any of the rearrangements of fixtures or prices of tickets for the moved away games this season since the start of the season and including up to March 2025 then please let us know and we can inform our FSA Network for League Two. You can email us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk .

Our AGM is on Wednesday, 27th November, from 7pm, at JacobsWell , near Bradford Interchange. This is your opportunity to make your voice be heard and contribute to making us stronger in terms of building the Trust membership and our finances, but we also want to influence the Club in securing it’s long term success and longevity, bringing in supporter led initiatives along the way that improve the match day experience for all. You will get to hear about our achievements through our reports at the AGM. The existing Trust Board would like to see new Trust Board Members that have new ideas and proposals that will broaden our reach. Find out how you can play a role in the Trust here . If you would like to be a Board Member, please find a Board Member Nomination form for this year here . All Board Members are volunteers and we are a not for profit organisation. The deadline for submitting your nominations is the 20 th November 2024. There is space for a candidate’s statement on the form, and a proposer and seconder need to be members. For any enquiries about being a Board Member please contact us here . Members who receive our regular emails will be able to download our Draft Agenda and Papers for the evening. For our AGM to be quorate, we need 20 Members in attendance. Only Members can vote. The AGM will start at 7pm, so please arrive in good time to order a drink at the bar. We will be in the snug area of the pub and greet members at the bar from 6.30pm. We understand that many of you will live across the country and further beyond, and therefore to encourage attendance we will have a hybrid meeting as in previous years, of members, in person, in the pub, or online video via Skype. The Skype meeting link will be provided nearer the time.

A supporters trust is a not for profit, democratic organization that is run by football supporters for football supporters, committed to strengthening the influence of supporters over the running of the club they support. Lead by a small group of elected volunteers, they are accountable and subject to recall by the membership. The elected volunteers are board members steering the organization to work with the football club, committed to strengthening the voice for supporters in the decision-making process at a club and strengthening the links between the club and the community it serves. In England, Wales and Scotland, there are approximately 140 supporters trusts, with as many as 110 that have a financial stake in their club and as many as 40 clubs in the pyramid that are owned by supporters. Three of them are in the EFL: Exeter City, AFC Wimbledon and Newport County. The vast majority of supporters Trusts were formed out of crisis, including ours. You can read the history of how we were formed here . How does it work? Supporters’ Trusts are constituted as Community Benefit Societies (CBS), a form of Co-operative that operates under a one-member one-vote principle. CBS's are registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and any changes to the rules must be approved by the members and only become effective once the FCA has agreed to them, checking they are in keeping with the spirit of the organisation. The members own all assets and liabilities collectively. Under FCA rules the Trust must remain solvent if it is to continue to legally exist. Trusts are non-profit making organisations any profit made is either kept as reserves or reinvested to meet its objectives. It will never take the form of a dividend to members. Bantams Supporters Trust was formed as Bradford City Supporters Trust in 2002 as an interim board before formal elections in 2004 in accordance with these rules and guidelines. Our registration number is 29446R. As a CBS, we meet the requirements of the Football Supporters Association (FSA) as an affiliate member, as do all other supporters trusts, and provides trusts with model rules that fall within the CBS. Membership Our rules say that because members are effectively shareholder, a minimum share or cost to a member is £1 and all members paying a contribution are entitled to vote – one member one vote. In previous years we had a free membership to encourage members to join and had a patron membership for those that wanted to contribute financially. This was only on a temporary basis, and at our 2023 AGM we reverted back charging from £1 as a minimum. There is a free email membership but are not entitled to vote, All members receive our email news and surveys, and we regularly share them on social media You can see our FSA Model rules (2022) here . Can a supporters travel group have membership of the trust? Yes, Supporters’ travel clubs will be able to have affiliation membership of the trust. We welcome contact with all supporters groups. Members of all supporter groups are encouraged to join our Trust as our purpose is distinctly different. Our finances All our income is modest and comes entirely from its’ membership. Much of our income goes towards operational costs such as maintaining the website and our CRM database, where we can email our news articles and surveys directly to our members. Our income goes on investment on our merchandise that we sell in the main stand concourse, and also on sponsoring players. Ways in which the FSA help supporters Trusts The FSA, national organization run by fans for the fans, campaigns for the interests of football supporters in England and Wales. It promotes the campaigns that supporters trusts and other fans’ bodies are involved in at their clubs, whether that is about bringing ticket prices down at a specific club or promoting a community initiative led by a trust and club working together. It can also highlight issues where the fan engagement commitment from a club isn’t there or where the owner of a club has mismanaged the finances and relations with s trust has turned sour. All professional football club are obliged to engage in consultation with supporters through EFL and Premier League regulation, and a supporters’ trust would provide a formal mechanism. Bantams Supporters has a direct relationship with our Club through the formal mechanism called structured dialogue. The FSA works with the EFL to promote good fan engagement practices and recently worked on guidance for clubs to involve supporters’ trusts and other supporters groups to come up with a ‘fan engagement plan’ on a yearly basis. Included in the guidance pack drawn up by the FSA are various engagement models such as ‘Fan Advisory Boards’, ‘fan consultation groups’, ‘structured dialogue’ and others. It also includes formal engagement structures around how clubs and supporters should meet, how many times they should meet, numbers and who should be there, inclusivity and diversity, independent democratic bodies such as supporters trust etc. There is some guidance to some of this on the FSA’s website here . Training The FSA also provides training to supporters trusts to develop its board members, its polices, and specialist projects – this could involve developing a community project or getting a club listed as an Asset of Community Value (ACV as we did earlier this year, see here . EFL Networks The FSA also has support through its’ EFL Network group which meets on a monthly basis with an agenda guided by trust reps with guest speakers on a whole variety of projects promoting fan engagement, getting young people interested in supporters trusts, diversity projects, campaigns to encourage clubs to promote carbon footprint reduction, and regular updates on the Football Governance Bill. What do supporters trusts do? The bread and butter of any supporters Trust is engaging with members and meeting with the club they support. One topic Trusts don’t get involved in with a club is about team performances, players and managers. The conversations revolve around supporter experience on a match day, improvements to the facilities, accesibility, inclusivity, diversity, carbon footprint, foodprices, ticket prices, season tickets, community activities, restorative practice, policing and stewarding as well as well national campaigns FSA are invoved in to improve the interests of supporters, the health of our football clubs and of course the hot topic of fan engagement, and there is so much to improve there at City! All supporters trusts are at different stages of development, some have small membership bases, perhaps with very active layer of a volunteer board, some have medum to large membership base and a small active volunteer board. Much of this depends upon the relationship a trust board has with the club they support. The better a relationship it has with a club, it is more likely there is a better understanding of what a trust does from the wider club fan-base and membership of the Trust. Some more established trust have a community arm whereby many community projects and fundraising comes from, helping to fund club supported and fan-popular charities. Almost all post on social media and some have a physical presence at football matches selling merchandise or some have Trust lottery schemes. Some even run coaches to away matches. What is the differeence between the Supporters Board and the Trust? The Trust is completely independent of our Club. Whilst the the Supporters Board has a certain amount of autonomy as a group of football fans with its own constitution, it is still an extention of the Club’s consultation process and connection between the Club and the fans. Until two season’s ago or maybe three, the Trust had a formal seat on the Supporters Board. This was at a time when all the representatives represented a greater spread of the supporter-base than it does today, where the members of the board are there as individuals. In the ever changing landscape of fan engagement many supporters boards are now Fan Advisory Boards and it is the case that the FAB model, the FSA recommends a seat should be for its’ affiliated supporters’ group – a supporters trust. You can see more on this here . The other difference is that the SB is more focused on Club matters, and whilst the Trust will also be focused on the same, it also has a wider national remit that may affect the Club’ business motivations. As we know, no club is an island, there are 72 EFL clubs all in competition for prize money Getting involved with the Trust We at Bantams Supporters Trust would like to do so much more than what we are doing currently. The Trust Board meets once a month, and ordinary members can come and see what it is like as an experience. We meet every third Wednesday of the month on an evening between 7 and 9 at Jacobs Well in the city centre, near the Interchange, and this ‘open door’ policy has had some positive effect. Members can be co-opted onto the board at any time of the year and stand for election at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) usually in November, 6 months after our years’ end on the 30 th May. The Trust Board has a Chair, Vice Chair, Treasure and ‘Acting’ Secretary. We also have a Website Administrator. We would like an Equality Officer and Women’s Officer, people who are good at sharing our posts, and writing articles about the matches – previews and post match reviews. Sub-Groups can be formed to focus on specific issues, projects that we would like to develop and / or within the trust, enabling cross representation where we have members that are members of other groups for example and open dialogue. Ultimately we are all volunteers, we encourage as many members as possible to assist with our work. It is important that more supporters join us. The bigger our support base is, the bigger voice we potentially have. The more members get involved, the more we can achieve and have a greater presence. Join here today, and don’t forget to contribute financially to support us. Remember, your membership sub allows you to be able to vote.

On Saturday 7 th September Stand Up To Racism, an anti-racism campaign group that has a national profile, leafleted outside Valley Parade before the Carlisle game. The leaflets were well received and the activity was at Bradford to show a presence after far right infiltrated rioting took place in many towns and cities in the UK in early August. Bantams Supporters Trust would like to show its support for anti racism campaigns such as Stand Up to Racism because we believe that such campaigns can bring communities together. In 2020 the world of sport and in particularly football, taking the knee before the start of a match became a silent act of team solidarity against racial inequality and injustice. This received widespread support from the majority of football fans. It also formed the backdrop to the ‘No Room For Racism’ initiated in 2001, widely supported by the PL, EFL, FA, Kick it Out, FSA and others Over the years, charitable football campaigns such as Kick It Out and Fans for Diversity have put on education programmes, and support diverse supporter and football club groups promoting inclusivity. Bangla Bantams and Bhaji Bantams are good examples of this. But the work should not stop there. When workers and football supporters (most are workers or retired workers), both men and women, of all backgrounds unite through struggle on common causes, we can cut across the feelings of negativity, fear and prejudice that exist in our society, and we can make positive gains in the interests of all. We are inviting members and supporters to help with leafleting with Stand Up to Racism on Saturday 19 th October, when the Bantams take on Gillingham. We would like to advise members and supporters to meet outside the 'City Hub Community Café' at 1.30pm. Please contact us via email if you would like to take part.

It has been just over two years since the historic announcement that safe, licensed standing in seated areas would be allowed in football ground’s subject to the all-seater policy. So, it’s an opportune time to reflect on where we’ve come from and how it’s going. Licensed standing commenced in England and Wales in January 2022, with five early adopters – Cardiff City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. As of 16 September, there are 22 grounds that offer licensed standing, with Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Ipswich Town the latest to receive licences. This is equal to around a third of all grounds subject to the all-seater policy – with over 100,000 licensed standing seats. Giles Smith, Chief Executive of the Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA), said: “The controlled return of safe, licenced standing at professional football grounds in the modern era has been an important and historic step forward. Since its introduction in July 2022, we have seen a steady increase in grounds offering licensed standing, based on the requirements of safety and giving fans a choice of being able to sit or to safely stand.” To be eligible to offer licensed standing, clubs must aim to meet published guidance and supporting criteria, developed by the SGSA. This includes that safe standing installations – whether seats incorporating barriers or seats with independent barriers – must be on the basis of one standing space per seat, and clubs must demonstrate that the viewing enjoyment of others not within the standing area is not impeded. Over the last couple of years, evidence has demonstrated a number of benefits from introducing licensed standing, including: Improved fan safety The key benefit is that the risk to fan safety through a progressive crowd collapse and subsequent injuries has been virtually eliminated, as the barriers limit forwards and backwards movement. In addition, the risk of injury, and the danger posed to others from spectators standing on seats or on the backs of seats should they fall forwards or back, has reduced. Enhanced fan experience Critically, barriers help enhance spectators’ feelings of safety – particularly in having a barrier behind them and so being protected from people falling on them – which increases their enjoyment of the game. They can also provide stability for spectators who may be unsteady on their feet whilst standing for long periods of time, and for people moving up and down aisles and gangways (which may also speed up egress). There are also other secondary benefits, such as making it easier for spectators who arrive late to reach their seats in the middle of rows faster, as others are already standing and have a barrier to lean against when latecomers pass. Reduced crowd management issues There are additional safety management benefits, which have been found in grounds with safe standing infrastructure, including: egress is more uniform because the barriers limit spectators’ ability to climb over seats to exit the stand more quickly spectators are lined up more clearly, so obvious gaps and therefore any risk of overcrowding can be identified, particularly using CCTV barriers make it more difficult for spectators to move within areas, such as towards segregation lines or the rear of stands clearer aisles and gangways, as spectators are more aware of their space and use the bar to lean on a more positive relationship between stewards and spectators in those areas as stewards do not have to attempt to get standing spectators to sit down. For more information on licensed standing, visit the SGSA website . SGSA is the government’s advisor on safety at sports grounds in the UK.

Members and none members are cordially invited to our Supporters’ Trust Annual General Meeting (AGM), to be held on Wednesday 27th November, from 7pm, at Jacobs Well , near Bradford Interchange. We will also be on Skype if you live too far away to attend. Bantams Supporters Trust is just as relevant today as it was when it was founded over 20 years ago, then when the Club was in crisis. Today, thankfully, we are not with collection buckets to save the Club, and rather, we are part of a necessary mechanism of Club fan engagement called Structured Dialogue, a process where we can put across what our members and supporters are saying in response to an ever evolving moving feast of developments at our Club with the back drop of how national developments are taking place within football and society. For those of you that are not aware, the Trust is a Mutual Benefit Society, which means that we are a cooperative – democratically owned and controlled by our members. Each member can have a share, which at its minimum, is valued at £1. The importance of the shares is that they could be used for buying a stake in the ground or the Club if members were to direct us into doing that. At the AGM you will be able to hear about the work of the Trust throughout the year, and you will be able to hear about the purpose of its policy motions. We encourage questions, discussion and debate, but only members can vote. Find out how you can play a role in the Trust here . If you would like to be a Board Member, please find a Board Member Nomination form for this year here . All Board Members are volunteers and we are a not for profit organisation. The deadline for submitting your nominations is the 20 th November 2024. There is space for a candidate’s statement on the form, and a proposer and seconder need to be members. For any enquiries about being a Board Member please contact us here .

On Saturday 14 th September, our League game against Walsall at the Bescot Stadium was marred by an incident when a City supporter threw a pryo onto the pitch. It is understood the Football Association (FA) are looking to fine Bradford City for the incident. It is not the first time this has happened and because there is a regular frequency with these incidents it is likely that all will be taken into account in deciding the penalty for the Club. The Trust deplore the actions of a tiny minority that, probably unintentionally (without thinking), ruin the match day experience for the majority of supporters. It is understood from the Club’s own statement which came out on the 20 th September that a young male supporter was arrested and is, ‘subsequently released on police bail, with conditions they do not attend any football fixtures in the UK while the investigation is ongoing’. Dangerous Pyro’s are a major fire hazard and are known to cause burns and breathing problems, alongside damage to hands, hearing, lungs and eyes. The smoke can often be a reminder to those who were witness to our own fire disaster of May 11 th , 1985. We wish to remind supporters that anyone found in possession of, or using, pyrotechnic devices face Club bans and will be reported to the Police. Stewards can have the powers to: Search spectators on their entry to the ground. Physically intervene against and eject spectators who are in breach of ground regulations. This includes decisions on refusal of entry. Check out more info on stewards’ roles and duties at Sports Ground Safety Authority . Awareness campaign In recent years the EFL and Premier League along with the FA and Football Supporters Association, (FSA) joined together to get behind the campaign of ‘ Love Football, Protect the Game ’ which came about after fans had come back after the Covid Lock-down’ and there was a noticeable increase in anti-social incidents at or around football matches. Banning orders From August 1 st 2023 there were a total of 1,624 football banning orders in force, an increase of 24% compared with 28 July 2022 (1,308). Within the 2022 to 2023 football season, 682 new banning orders were issued, an increase of 32% compared with the 2021 to 2022 football season. Reported incidents at football matches Incidents were reported at 1,516 football matches in the 2022 to 2023 football season (50% of a total 3,024 matches). The number of matches with reported incidents decreased by 6% (-93 matches) compared with 1,609 matches in the 2021 to 2022 season. For more data, look at the government’s statistics . Restorative Justice The Trust at our last Structured Dialogue meeting in August with the Club raised the idea with the Club about preventive strategies to act as a deterrent for further incidents and what they currently have in place. Perhaps a good example of a preventative strategy is to educate those supporters inclined to use pyro’s by showing the video of the traumatic events of the fire disaster. It was suggested to have representation on the ‘Appeals Panel’ if a defendant wants to appeal a decision. Love Football, Protect the Game If you regularly attend matches home and away, it is impossible not to see the visual presence of the ‘Love Football, Protect The Game’ campaign, especially at away grounds. We firmly believe that it is not worth the risk of a whole lot of trouble to throw a pyro onto a pitch. We do not want a bad reputation for our Club or our supporters.

Mansfield Pizza Hut restaurant are offering an exclusive discount to matchday going fans visiting Mansfield and the One call stadium, for the upcoming season. This will include City v Mansfield for the EFL Trophy Group match on the evening of 17 th September 2024. We received a recent email from Mansfield Pizza Hutt Restaurant and would like to communicate this to our members about this offer. In addition to this offer they also provide free parking to any customers for the duration of their meal and afterwards throughout the game. They are a 4-minute walk away from the ground, and a good option fans to take advantage of a discounted price meal and have the convenience of free parking so close to the ground. The above image shows the voucher explaining the offer.