For this episode, SD Europe's Luke Cox speaks to the newly elected fan representative on the board of Brøndby IF, Claus Bjørn Billehøj!

Claus offers an insight into being a fan representative on the board of Brøndby IF, his experience so far and what he aims to achieve fresh after being elected in April 2022. Claus also offers some words of encouragement and advice for other football clubs considering implementing a fan-elected director.

For those new to the concept of fan representatives on football club boards, it is an effective method to ensure supporters and football clubs can work closely together with trust. They are commonly elected by supporters to represent their views in a football club’s decision making process, giving them influence in how the football club is run.

Read the summarised article on SD Europe's website here.

SD Europe speaks to Leonardo Aleoitti, Club Manager of non-professional Milan side Brera FC, about the Fenix Trophy.

The Fenix Trophy is a European tournament of non-professional football clubs across Europe who all share community-centric values. Brera FC is the organising club behind the competition.

With Leonardo we discuss the trophy's values, the clubs taking part - including three from SD Europe's network; AKS Zly, FC United of Manchester and HFC Falke - and a fundraiser to support the competition.

For this episode SD Europe's Luke Cox speaks To Andrew Jenkin, Head of Club Development Scotland at SD Scotland, and David Nicol, a former board supporter director of St. Mirren FC.

During the episode, David offers an insight into his experience of being a supporter director on a football club board and Andrew discusses his the research paper he recently contributed to on supporter directors. Additionally, the recent completion of St. Mirren's move to fan-ownership is discussed!

For this latest episode, we speak to Alan Russell, the CEO of SD Scotland, about 'structured transitions'. Structured transitions are where a football club owners and supporters work together to move a football club into fan-ownership at the right time, ensuring it continues to run sustainably for the future whilst cementing in the owner's legacy. A number of clubs in Scotland are already going through this process including Hearts, St. Mirren and Motherwell. 

You can also view this interview on the SD Europe website here.

For this episode, SD Europe's Luke Cox spoke with Niall Couper, Director of Fair Game UK. Niall is also a board member of the Dons Trust, who owns AFC Wimbledon. 

Fair Game UK is a collective of like minded football clubs in the English football league system who have banded together to change the game from within. In their own words "Football is in crisis in the UK. Covid has devastated the finances of so many lower league clubs, and left dozens on the brink of survival. Yet, the game remains the richest sport in the UK. It is time to reboot the game and Fair Game is bringing together ‘like-minded’ clubs to call for change.

Find out more about SD Europe here.

For this episode of SD Europe's podcast, we speak to the President of FC St. Pauli, Oke Goettlich.

FC St. Pauli is famed for its distinct fan culture and social justice-charged activism, but it's also one of Germany few trully 100% member-run clubs.

In this episode, we discuss how in November 2020, St. Pauli announced it would begin making its own sustainable football kit range, named DIIY, as no existing manufacturer could meet all the criteria it had set. The decision was made following a vote of the club's members who wanted to continue striving towards environmental sustainability. Also discussed, is the 50+1 rule and its future in German football.

To celebrate some of the exceptional women who are apart of SD Europe and the network on International Women's Day 2021, we feature a special podcast hosted by Daphne Goldschmidt, SD Europe Board Member and Hapoel Jerusalem FC Former Chair, speaking to Sofia Bohlin, the Chair of SFSU, the national supporters organisation in Sweden, and Helen Breit, the Chair of Unsere Kurve, the national supporters organisation in Germany.

We bring our podcast series “for a better football” to an end.

We’ve spoken to the European Leagues, FifPro (the players union), professional first division clubs in Germany and Sweden, grassroots clubs from Belgium Spain and Israel, a Member of the European Parliament, Zukunft Profifussball, UEFA and fellow fans organisations FSE and CAFE. Now is the time for a final discussion, a look ahead. And who better to discuss this with than William Gaillard, former senior advisor to the UEFA president and a member of SD Europe’s advisory board, and David Goldblatt, acclaimed sports writer, journalist, sociologist and author.

SD Europe’s 'For A Better Football' podcast mini-series of podcasts features guests from a variety of football stakeholders about their experiences of the last 8 months enduring a pandemic and the need for reforms in football. As the name suggests, it’s about decanting the ideas of the participating stakeholders to understand what lessons have been learnt to make football better for all. Active in over 50 countries across Europe, Africa and Asia, SD Europe represents grassroots and national supporters organisations, as well as amateur and professional member-run football clubs, in addition to working with national associations and professional leagues.

For the ninth episode of the For A Better Football podcast mini-series, SD Europe's Luke Cox is joined by MEP Iban García del Blanco.

Topics discussed:

- The Sports Group of MEPs in the European Parliament

- Supporter involvement in football clubs

- The role of fans in football governance

SD Europe’s 'For A Better Football' podcast mini-series of podcasts features guests from a variety of football stakeholders about their experiences of the last 8 months enduring a pandemic and the need for reforms in football. As the name suggests, it’s about decanting the ideas of the participating stakeholders to understand what lessons have been learnt to make football better for all. Active in over 50 countries across Europe, Africa and Asia, SD Europe represents grassroots and national supporters organisations, as well as amateur and professional member-run football clubs, in addition to working with national associations and professional leagues.

For the eighth episode of the For A Better Football podcast mini-series, SD Europe's Luke Cox is joined by UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin.

Topics discussed:

 - UEFA crisis management through the Covid-19 pandemic

 - The future of European competitions design

 - 'Players and fans are most important stakeholders'

 - Endorses supporter involvement in decision making at football clubs & governing bodies including UEFA, recognising the relevance of SD Europe's work

SD Europe’s 'For A Better Football' podcast mini-series of podcasts features guests from a variety of football stakeholders about their experiences of the last 8 months enduring a pandemic and the need for reforms in football. As the name suggests, it’s about decanting the ideas of the participating stakeholders to understand what lessons have been learnt to make football better for all. Active in over 50 countries across Europe, Africa and Asia, SD Europe represents grassroots and national supporters organisations, as well as amateur and professional member-run football clubs, in addition to working with national associations and professional leagues.