THE new, independent football supporters' organisation launched to represent every Scottish football fan has announced its first interim board and confirmed that membership levels have reached 20,000 since its launch just two months ago.
Joining former Scotland captain Gary McAllister on the board of The Scottish Football Supporters Association (SFSA) is ex-professional player Des McKeown and founder of Scottish Women in Sport, Maureen McGonigle. The interim board will be chaired by Dr Andy McArthur, a highly respected executive working in the Third Sector. Former First Minister Henry McLeish will take on the role of Honorary President.
The Scottish Football Supporters Association is a not-for-profit, members' body open to everyone, whether they are individuals, supporters groups or affiliates.
The SFSA will attend its first Fans Europe Conference in Belfast on 3rd July. Until now Scotland had been the only football nation in Europe not to have been represented at this gathering of football supporters.
Also joining founder director Paul Goodwin on the board will be successful business people and football supporters Gordon Profit and Crawford Boyd.
Gary McAllister said: "Supporters from all over Scotland have been signing up to join the SFSA to ensure that they have an independent voice that expresses their views. Having an interim board of directors that includes people with first-hand experience of how the game works alongside those with business skills will ensure that the SFSA is well informed and will represent their members well."
Henry McLeish said: "The rapid progress made by the SFSA since its launch just a couple of weeks ago is tremendous. From a standing start to over 20,000 individual members illustrates a desire for fans to play a more central role in the game in Scotland. The modern day football supporter is highly astute and aware of the challenges facing the game and can provide valuable insights into how the game is run and also on how it will evolve in the future."
Paul Goodwin from the SFSA said: "In a very short period of time we have a highly experienced board, over 20,000 individual members and we will soon be the first Scottish fans to attend the Fans Europe Conference. The SFSA has rapidly become the most relevant fans group in Scotland representing a vast number of supporters. The only other organisation is Supporters Direct Scotland which is controlled and governed from London and only formally represents the voice of formally constituted supporters' trusts. This means that thousands of fans are shut out without a voice."
The SFSA can be found on Twitter @scottishfsa or through #reclaimthegame and on Facebook.
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