A qualitative inquiry into supporter representation on Scottish football club boards

Recent political initiatives in the UK have sought to increase the role of supporters in the governance of football clubs. The Labour Party included in their 2015 general election manifesto proposals to give supporters a statutory right to representation on the board of directors of their club. In Scotland, amendments to the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act (2015) have provided Scottish Ministers with a framework to develop legislation relating to supporter involvement in governance. To date, however, there has been limited research on supporter representation, and the practicability of legislation giving fans the right to a seat in the boardroom has not been investigated. The purpose of this paper is to address that gap in the literature. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 directors of Scottish football clubs. Findings show that such legislation would be imprudent given the inherent difficulty of the role and the potential disruption to board dynamics.