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Fan Experience Forum

“The changing face of football crowds” – Fan Experience Forum co-host featured on the BBC

Fan Experience Company founder (and co-host of the inaugural Fan Experience Forum in Turin last May) Mark Bradley enjoyed some national press coverage on the BBC this week, as the English football sector starts to warm to the benefits of a ‘changing mindset’…

Published on Wednesday, the BBC’s article ‘The changing face of football crowds’ profiles the Fan Experience Company’s work with the Football League, and the league’s Family Excellence Awards; an initiative that is helping clubs to attract and retain new fans, and boost the number of families attending fixtures:

THE CHANGING FACE OF FOOTBALL FANS

The start of the football season this weekend has arrived with a little less fanfare than usual as the euphoria of the Olympics dies down.

But while the return of the domestic leagues may have crept up on us, it feels safe to assume the ups and downs of England’s national sport will soon be dominating the headlines again.

Football’s popularity has not been tempered by the economic gloom, with attendances in the Football League increasing again last season.

Sports sociologist John Williams from Leicester University says the game has seemed “almost recession proof”.

An increasing number of families are boosting numbers in stadiums with clubs working on new innovations to attract and retain new fans while competing among themselves for recognition in the Football League’s Family Excellence Awards.

The awards are run by the Fan Experience Company, a family business led by avid Sunderland supporter Mark Bradley, originally from Stanley, County Durham. >>Article continues on BBC.co.uk>>

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