This is our first face-to-face recording, done at the RSA in John Adam Street, just off the Strand in London, where I’m a fellow. Apologies for some background noise at times.

This episode is with Kat Law and Martin Cloake, who until last year were co-chairs of the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust, and who formally stepped down from the board this year. 

If you want to know what meeting with Spurs CEO Daniel Levy & the rest of the executive board was like, how they dealt with the aftermath of the European Super League car-crash and why they stopped their regular board-to-board meetings with the club, this one’s for you.

The collaborative efforts between groups like theirs and supporters’ trusts at rival clubs like Arsenal & Chelsea, was and remains a great tonic to the excesses of the modern, often confected, rivalry between fans off the pitch. As Supporters Direct founder Brian Lomax always said: what unites us off the pitch is greater than what divides us over 90 minutes. 

I’ve known and at times, worked with both, for many years, and have always liked and respected their honesty, application and professionalism. Their desire to always do what they judged to be the right thing, and to do it well, has never been in question. Kat is still involved with the FSA nationally, and was also on the FA Council for a period.

They formed part of the Premier League group of supporters’ trusts that I helped establish & oversee at Supporters Direct, which was the engine for the successful campaign to reduce away ticket prices in the Premier League, and also numerous pieces of policy and campaigning work we did in the game around regulation and fan engagement, and other areas such as Assets of Community Value.

If you’re interested in the RSA, including how to become a fellow or use their facilities, go to https://www.thersa.org for more.

If you want to get in touch, ask a question or suggest a topic or guest, drop me a line at hello@fanengagement.net 

Episode Links

• Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust: https://www.thstofficial.com  
• The Football Supporters Association: https://thefsa.org.uk 
• Martin Cloake's Substack (The Football Fan): https://martincloake.substack.com

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