Brentford FC has published its fan engagement report for the 2023/24 season.
The report details the club’s strategic approach to fan engagement and the work undertaken to meet the Premier League’s Fan Engagement Standard.
Delivering excellent fan engagement is fundamental to Brentford’s success. The role that fans have played in the club’s history is well known and valued by everyone involved at Brentford.
Without our fans stepping in when times were tough, the club wouldn’t be here today. This long-held importance of fan engagement at Brentford is illustrated by it being the only club in the Premier League with a fans’ representative on the main Brentford FC board of directors, Stuart Hatcher, who is the chair of Bees United.
Some of the highlights from our fan engagement activity during the 2023/24 season include:
Hosting women and girls fans' forums to understand the experiences of female fans at the Gtech and take forward initiatives to enhance safety
Celebrating the club’s founding in 1889 with a plaque-unveiling event held in conjunction with Bees United
Another successful Christmas with Bees event where young fans met the players
Inviting fans to play a starring role in our season ticket launch campaign
A successful second series of our Thousands of Stories initiative, sharing incredible fan stories and achieving millions of views worldwide
Creating memorable experiences for fans at the Premier League Mornings Live event in Nashville, Tennessee
Providing a pre-match fan zone for young fans and families during the Easter holidays
Fans joining all the Brentford teams to reflect on the season at our Player of the Year Awards event held at the Gtech
Our approach to fan engagement
At Brentford, fan engagement encapsulates everything the club does to engage with fans to build allegiance and pride.
Our strategy is built on four pillars: fan consultation and involvement, fan experience, fan behaviour and fan support.
Priorities for the 2023/24 season were set out in full in our Fan Engagement Plan published at the start of the season, including:
Publishing a Fan Advisory Board section on the club’s website, to share news about Fan Advisory Board (FAB) meetings, terms of reference and ways to contact the FAB
Transitioning to a new ticketing system to simplify ticket purchases and exchanges
Rolling out new technology to cut queues for food and drink on matchdays and increase the range of options available for fans
Clarifying acceptable behaviour and the processes for managing unacceptable behaviour
Enhancing matchday support and ticket purchasing support for disabled supporters
We’re pleased to say that we achieved many of our targets over the course of the season, including:
Adding a new ‘Fan Engagement’ page under the “Fans” tab on the club’s website which provides a new information hub for all fan engagement activities
Successful implementation of Ticketmaster Sport as our new ticketing provider, enhancing the ticket purchasing and exchange process that supported our ‘every seat counts’ policy
Implementing new self-service ordering units for food and drink across the stadium (where concourse space allowed) and launching a new BeeOrder service to increase the range of options available in all stands, including for special dietary requirements
Publishing a new Acceptable Behaviour Policy providing clear guidelines on acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and how unacceptable behaviour will be managed
Launching new options for disabled fans to allow them to purchase personal assistant tickets online, and providing disability awareness training for matchday staff as part of our sign up to the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme
Fan Advisory Board and fan consultation
Our Fan Advisory Board is made up of eight representatives from the club’s two main official supporters groups, BIAS and Bees United, and works with the club on strategic matters.
Following the first full season of operation of the FAB, an assessment was undertaken of how it has worked. The overall conclusion was that the FAB has proved to be a valuable addition to the club’s fan engagement efforts, adding to existing consultation processes.
In addition to the FAB, the club also has more than 12 working groups involving fans, focusing on key areas in more detail, such as ticketing, sustainability, inclusion and accessibility. The club is immensely grateful for the time and contributions of everyone involved in these groups and would encourage others who would like to join to email us at [email protected].
We’d also like to thank all our fans for their enthusiasm and support throughout last season, whether on matchdays or online or at other club events.
Looking ahead, we will be publishing our fan engagement plan for the 2024/25 season in the coming weeks.