FSF

The Football Supporters' Federation is running another of its successful 'Watching Football Is Not A Crime' events next Thursday, at Liverpool's Epstein Theatre. These events give the chance for matchgoing fans to debate the issues that affect them, and put their question to our panel of experts including club officials, police representatives and academics. The event is free, and you can register by emailing events@fsf.org.uk Full details can be found below - we hope to see you there! http://www.fsf.org.uk/latest-news/view/event-watching-football-is-not-a-crime-liverpool-28th-nov

The Football Supporters’ Federation awards are back for their third year, and will be held on 16th December at the Emirates stadium. We’re after nominations from fans of all clubs across a range of categories detailed below. Categories: * Away Day of the Year * Blogger of the Year * Commentator of the Year * Fanzine of the Year * Independent Website of the Year * Newspaper of the Year * Player of the Year (from your club) * Podcast of the Year * Pundit of the Year * Writer of the Year You can nominate up to three entries to be shortlisted in any category, apart from Player of the Year. This is the first time that we have included a Player of the Year award in the FSF awards, so we’re keen to see whose performances you thought most stood out for your side in 2013. Unfortunately, you are restricted to just one nomination from your team for this award, so choose wisely. All nominated entries will be considered by the shortlisting panel, whether they have been nominated once or a hundred times. Nominations should be sent to awards@fsf.org.uk no later than 9am on 28th October. Shortlisting will take place once nominations close, and the winners will be decided by a public vote in November. For more details, visit www.fsf.org.uk

The Football Supporters' Federation needs your support to help bring down the price of tickets, with our Twenty's Plenty for Away Tickets Petition – www.fsf.org.uk/20plenty We're calling upon football clubs at all levels of the game to recognise and reward the amazing contribution of away fans by getting together to agree an across the board price cap on away match tickets of £20 (£15 for concessions). What’s the point in a petition, you might ask? Each signature on the Twenty’s Plenty petition triggers an email to your club, telling them you want to see something done about the cost of attending football, as well as an email to the Premier League telling them the same. In a little over a week more than 5,000 fans have already signed the petition to let their clubs know their feelings on the matter - please spare 30 seconds of your time and join them today – www.fsf.org.uk/20plenty We understand that football is unaffordable for many and this is especially true for away fans who, aside from match tickets, must contend with spiralling food, drink and travel costs. There has been a tremendous groundswell of opinion lately with campaigns popping up across the country and Twenty’s Plenty will try to harness that energy and discontent. For more on why you should back the campaign check out this pdf - http://bit.ly/14ic58h - or visit our website - www.fsf.org.uk Thanks, The FSF

Every few seasons the Football Supporters’ Federation carries out a survey to help us better understand the views of fans. We all enjoy the game in different ways – the FSF has members at hundreds of clubs from the top-flight to regional leagues – and all those experiences deserve respect. Please take a few minutes to fill in the FSF’s survey so we can legitimately represent the views of supporters across the issues that matter. There are between 30-40 questions and it should take no more than 5-10 minutes. Please complete the FSF's survey here

You might’ve seen last week that the Football Supporters’ Federation launched a petition as part of our campaign for the introduction of safe standing areas in the top two divisions in England and Wales. If you have not yet signed the petition, and are in favour of a return to standing, please give us 30 seconds of your time visiting the link below. Also tell your friends. Tell your family. Tell your work colleagues that you don’t really like but who you put up with anyway. Please help us spread the word. http://www.fsf.org.uk/safestanding We know you might think that signing a petition is a bit of a futile gesture, but there is currently a bill going through Parliament which faces its second reading in a little under 3 months time. For the first time the Sports Minister has agreed to look at the evidence on safe standing. We have a short timeframe to gather support and prove that there is a groundswell of opinion behind fans’ choice to stand at football in England and Wales. This is the first time the FSF has petitioned on this issue, and within a week nearly 10,000 fans have already added their voices to our campaign. Please add yours today. If you’re sceptical, read on below. http://www.fsf.org.uk/safestanding * If standing is unsafe, why is it allowed in Leagues One and Two? If it is safe in Leagues One and Two, why is it not safe in the top two divisions? We find the idea that safety is dependent upon the quality of football played on the pitch as absolutely absurd * The FSF’s Safe Standing Campaign is not just about those who prefer to stand. By giving supporters the choice, everyone benefits. Those who wish to stand can do so, while those who prefer to sit no longer have to worry about having their view blocked. Every week thousands of fans stand in front of their seats for large parts of the game - attempts by the authorities to end this practice have failed. Fans are standing in ever greater numbers, and we think they should be able to do so in safely designed and managed areas where possible. * The FSF does not propose that the stringent safety standards laid down in the Government’s Green Guide be abolished or weakened in any way, nor are we suggesting that clubs should be forced to provide safe standing areas. Issues around cost and feasibility should be a matter for individual clubs and their fans, not for the government. * Many opponents to standing mistakenly cite Hillsborough as a reason not to allow its introduction. The disaster was not caused by standing, however; the Taylor Report primarily blamed the failure of police control. It did not ban standing, nor claim it was inherently unsafe. If you agree with us that fans should have the choice to sit or stand at football, please add your name to the thousands already in favour of safe standing. Now’s the best chance we’ll have to make a difference. http://www.fsf.org.uk/safestanding

The Football Supporters' Federation are conducting a quick straw-poll of fans up and down the country. There's only two questions, and it will only take a minute to fill in. We'd be much obliged if you could. Just follow the link below http://tinyurl.com/3ad6lau For your troubles, everyone who fills it in gets entered into a free draw to win a copy of Football Manager 2011, just because we're that nice. Cheers, FSF

Read about this Everton fan (and far from the only one) who was shut out of a big chunk of last week's match at Spurs, and his quest for a refund: http://www.fsf.org.uk/news/Spurs-cant-do-customer-service-for-Toffee.php If you found yourself in the same position and are getting nowhere, get in touch with the FSF and we'll help resolve your problems.

A campaign that started in a small way on Facebook, the brainchild of QPR and Harrow Borough fan James Doe, has really gathered momentum, and we at the FSF are more than happy to lend our backing to a worthy cause. We’ve even managed to get the support of Conference sponsors Blue Square Bet who were keen to get involved, but right now you’re probably asking ‘What’s Non League Day?’ In short, the Premier League and Championship, like all top divisions across Europe, schedule fixture breaks for international weekends. This previously meant that fans of teams in those leagues could attend their national team’s matches (or watch them on the telly) and not miss any of the action at their club. Now that England will be playing some of their matches (like this week's game against Bulgaria) on Friday evenings, however, most fans have nothing to do the following day. There’s no match to go to, and no England game to watch. The idea was conceived, therefore, to encourage fans whose teams were not playing on Saturday September 4th to get along to their local lower division side instead, and thus the idea of Non League Day was born. Pretty simple, really. http://www.fsf.org.uk/non-league-day We think that given the current financial climate within the game, clubs in the lower reaches can do with all the support they can get. Teams away from the top divisions, particularly further down the pyramid, way past the Conference North and South, often only continue to exist because of hard-working volunteers giving up their own time and energy. We have to stress that the idea behind this isn’t trying to get fans to change their allegiance, somehow convince them that non-league football is purer or more worthy of their support than the upper reaches of the league, and nor is it any sort of protest at ‘modern football. It’s just a great opportunity to promote grass roots football to the masses, and remind people that there are small clubs in their neck of the woods that could really do with some support. With tickets and refreshments at a fraction of the cost you’re used to paying, as well as the ability to watch a match while standing, and even the opportunity to swap ends at half time, why not ‘adopt’ a team for the day? Who knows, you may even enjoy yourself and return from time to time on international breaks, midweek cup fixtures or when you’re not making a long away trip. Blue Square Bet have offered to sweeten the deal with a couple of cracking prizes on offer. Get along to www.fsf.org.uk/non-league-day/ to register your support for Non League Day (including the club you support, and who you’ll be supporting on the 4th September) and be automatically entered into a free draw to win a VIP package for two to the Conference play-off final in May (including pre-match meal, drinks and the best seats in the house), along with £50 worth of free bets. Two runners-up will also receive a pair of tickets to the final each, and £25 of free bets. You can’t say fairer than that. Get along to www.nonleagueday.co.uk to find your local fixture this weekend - with more than 500 matches there's bound to be one near you.

Gordon Taylor, head of the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) will be speaking at a Q&A organised by the FSF at the City of Manchester Stadium on Thursday September 9th (7pm kick-off). This is your chance to question one of the most influential men in domestic football. As Chief Executive of the PFA, Taylor heads a formidable organisation encompassing 4,000 members from every professional club in England and Wales, including some of the richest young men in Britain. How should this influence the work done by the PFA? As an organisation whose most prominent members are cultural icons earning multi-millions every year, does the PFA have more responsibilities than the average union? Does it successfully tackle this through its work in anti-racism, charity, and community initiatives? Do players have a responsibility to act as role models for young fans or is this too much of a burden to bear for young men who are often still teenagers themselves? On the terraces, while we can never rest on our laurels, the battle against racism has largely been won and the fight against homophobia is ongoing too. Do players have a responsibility to speak up and tackle homophobia? To hear the answers to these questions, or to ask a question yourself, get along to the City of Manchester Stadium on Thursday September 9th. The event is open to all, and entirely free. For full details, visit http://www.fsf.org.uk/news/PFA-Gordon-Taylor-to-speak-at-FSF-event-in-Manchester.php

As ever, the Football Supporters’ Federation has produced a guide for travelling Blues in Europe. With Everton holding a slender 2-1 lead, this week’s tie in the Portuguese capital is key for you lot. We’ve got the low-down on the city of Lisbon, as well as the stadium, for all those who are travelling (or those who might just be curious). We know some of you will have been there for the Benfica game, but anyway, every little helps. For all the info you could want, just pop along to: http://www.fsf.org.uk/ground-guide/international-clubs/sporting-lisbon/

Bump for those who'll be heading out there this week. Hard lines on Sunday, I thought you easily deserved something out of that game.

Yet again, another guide from us helpful folk at the FSF. This time, anyone who's off to Athens following the Blues next week might want to take a gander at the below: http://www.fsf.org.uk/ground-guide/international-clubs/aek-athens/ I'm sure you'll enjoy your visit to the scene of the 2007 European Cup Final Any questions about the ground, city or any of that stuff, fling us an email (the address is on the first page of the guide) and we'll do what we can. More will be getting added to the guide in the coming few days before you make your trips out there.

The FSF has produced a guide to Benfica/Lisbon ahead of the Blues' match with the Portuguese giants next week. It's getting added to all the time, but have a look at the link below http://www.fsf.org.uk/ground-guide/international-clubs/benfica/ Any questions about the city, fling 'em to us and we'll find out the answers for you, cos we're nice like that.

Which is why the piece finished on Equally if the allegations that Diouf racially insulted a thirteen year old boy prove to be true then the FA should drop on him like a ton of bricks. Likewise if his allegations of banana throwing prove to be false. We know that there's no substance in them, and would like to see action taken against Diouf for malicious accusations.

From the FSF News page - http://www.fsf.org.uk/news/El-Hadji-Diouf-must-spit-out-the-truth.php