Spurs launch new fan advisory board in bid to engage with supporters
Tottenham launch new fan advisory board in attempt to gain ‘significantly greater engagement’ with disgruntled supporters… who have been left furious with the club in the wake of a decline and 6-1 humiliation at Newcastle
- Tottenham are seeking to repair fragile relationship with their supporters
- Club are in free-fall in the Premier League resulting in hammering at Newcastle
- Fans have protested against Spurs who are without a boss or sporting director
Tottenham have confirmed they have launched a new fan advisory board (FAB) in an an attempt to repair a fragile relationship with a heavily disgruntled supporter base.
The north London club are in crisis on and off the pitch, with all events magnified during the humiliating 6-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Sunday that all but ended the club’s bid of returning to the Champions League next season.
Spurs were 5-0 down after just 20 minutes at St James’ Park, with fans seen leaving the ground just as quickly and anger being ramped up against chairman Daniel Levy and the club’s owners ENIC.
The defeat cost interim boss Cristian Stellini his job in an embarrassing sacking just a month after he was parachuted into the role having been assistant to Antonio Conte, who was also dismissed from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in March.
With sporting director Fabio Paratici also having to leave due to an enforced global ban due to previous activities at former side Juventus, it’s left the club in a rudderless position on football matters.
Tottenham fans leave St James’ Park after seeing their team go 5-0 down at Newcastle United
Spurs were humiliated in the North East eventually going on to lose 6-1 on Sunday
With Spurs also on a barren run of 15 years without a trophy, many supporters have turned on the club who have reacted by creating a new fan board they hope can see them gain ‘significantly greater engagement’.
According to Tottenham, the remit will cover a wide range of off-field topics, such as the club’s strategic vision and objectives; off-pitch performance updates, priorities and plans; operational matchday issues; proposals relating to significant changes to club heritage assets; stadium issues and plans.
The FAB will meet four times a year and one of its supporter representatives will attend a club board meeting four times a year. Working groups will also be created to focus on issues of particular importance to supporters.
The fan group Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust welcomed the news from the club.
‘We welcome the establishment of the Fan Advisory Board as a major step forward for fan engagement at the club as it creates a binding obligation to consult with supporters’ representatives on key issues, something we have long campaigned for,’ they said in a statement.
‘Fans are a crucial part of the club’s overall success and it’s vital they have a voice at the top table. We are now consulting our members on the FAB proposals with a recommendation that we take up the two allocated seats.’
Fans have protested against chairman Daniel Levy and the club have set up FAB in response
Tottenham players have already reached out to supporters following the catastrophic defeat at Newcastle, by offering refunds to the travelling fans.
In a group statement posted on Twitter they said: ‘As a squad, we understand your frustration, your anger. It wasn’t good enough. We know words aren’t enough in situations like this but believe us, a defeat like this hurts. We appreciate your support, home and away, and with this in mind we would like to reimburse fans with the cost of their match tickets from St James’ Park.
‘We know this does not change what happened on Sunday and we will give everything to put things right against Manchester United on Thursday evening when, again, your support will mean everything to us. Together – and only together – can we move things forward.’
Under caretaker boss Ryan Mason, Spurs will be back in action on home soil on Thursday night when they take on Manchester United, with their top four hopes having long since vanished.
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