Feature: Improvements by text - November 2006  

A new SMS-based survey conducted by the Football Fans Census in the UK on behalf of FC Business has revealed the major areas where soccer fans would like to see improvements to the sport, including the introduction of video referees.
 
The nationwide survey of soccer fans was carried out by the Football Fans Census on 16 October 2006 with 1,259 fans from over 150 UK soccer clubs completing the survey. The survey respondents are predominantly male (91%) with females making up 9% of the sample – reflecting the male bias among soccer supporters.
Fans were asked: “If you could improve one thing about going to football [soccer] what would it be?” They submitted open text answers (non-prompted) with a single answer to this question. The results were grouped into themes where replies were consistent.
The Top 10 improvements that fans would like to make are as follows:
Reduce price of tickets - 30%
Standing - 13%
Cheating - 7%
Better refereeing - 7%
Video referees - 4%
Kick off times - 3%
Transport - 3%
Wage cap - 3%
Stadium improvements - 2%
Better soccer - 2%

Reduce ticket prices

A reduction in ticket prices was the most popular improvement among fans, being suggested by 30% of respondents overall. The group that suggested it most were those supporters who did not attend soccer matches at all during a season, indicating a section of supporters were being put off by the high prices.
In England, it was the most popular suggestion among fans in the Premiership, Championship and League One, with only League Two fans not making it their number one priority.
Fans linked other issues, such as player’s salaries and standing at soccer matches to ticket prices, with a player wage cap and reduced admission standing areas being seen as potential solutions.

Standing

The second most suggested improvement was a re-introduction of standing at matches - possibly along the lines of the stadia in Germany - to improve match day experience and atmosphere and reduce ticket prices and tension with supporters who prefer to sit.
Standing was the second most mentioned issue among all groups of match attending supporters and in all divisions of club supported in England except League 2 - where ticket pricing is seen as less of an issue and standing was the most mentioned issue.

Cheating

Cheating in soccer was the third most mentioned issue, in particular diving in order to gain an advantage and the use of retrospective punishment to try and stamp it out.

Better refereeing

Fans were keen to see better refereeing and in particular more consistent refereeing; among non-match attendees this was the second most suggested improvement.

Video refereeing

The fifth most suggested improvement was the use of video to assist key refereeing decisions, consistent with a demand to see improvements to the standards of refereeing.

The FC Business ‘One Improvement to Football’ Survey was carried out by the Football Fans Census (www.footballfanscensus.com), a leading European soccer fan research business. The full findings will be made available to members of the Sport and Technology Executive Club. Visit www.sportandtechnologyexecutiveclub.com to join and view the list of benefits.

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