It has been a privilege in the last few years to have taken part in many detailed and diverse, highly consultative fans’ dialogues with the various Club’s teams. They have ranged from technical discussions regarding improvements to the Club’s website and the ticketing process, to the annual season ticket launch campaign and most recently the development and launch of the “Every Seat Counts” campaign, which we all hope will see up to a thousand more, vociferous Bees voices inside the GTech for each home match – come on you Bees!
Fans consultations and detailed dialogues are certainly not a new concept at Brentford Football Club!
On April 19th, the GTech was the setting for a more formal engagement than the usual Saturday afternoon fun. The inaugural meeting of the BFC FAB (Fans Advisory Board) held on Wednesday 19th April. The FAB has been subject to a very well discussed consultative gestation between BU, BIAS and the Club, and this launch marks the delivery of a significant portion of the recommendations of the original Tracey Crouch, Fan Led Review of Football governance, published in November 2021, followed latterly by the Government white Paper which we reviewed last month (READ IT HERE) and it is part and parcel of a range of fans related, Premier League requirements.
It’s intended that approximately four FAB meetings will be held each year, hosted by the Club and involving the two principal fans groups Bees United and BIAS who each have their own Constitutions, financial accounting and member election processes for our respective officials. Here is the link to Bees UnIted (Brentford Football Community Society Ltd 29244R) page, on the, “Mutuals Public Register” .
Our agenda included items, such as (but not exclusively) “Committee Terms of Reference” (there’s a lot of first meeting groundwork rules to establish), “BFC Financial (Accounts) results” and a number of FAB specific updates, and the Club’s plans to incorporate “Sustainability.” measures in regular updates for fans.
Bees 1925 inaugural Red and White stripes With many thanks to Brendan Nevin
We also shared some initial discussions regarding the forthcoming 100th anniversary of our famous, red and white stripe home kit as our 2025/2026 season approaches. Here is that kit from the 1925/26 season all those years ago, with many thanks to Brendan Nevin and his extensive research work and digitisation.
It’s great to get this exciting and formal engagement underway and it continues a very positive tradition of existing dialogue with the club for Bees United but please – tell me – what do you think about the establishment of the FAB and into the future what will you expect to see? Tell Chris!