Club state commitment 'to give all supporters a voice and encourage support and engagement throughout'
DOWNLOAD:NORTHAMPTON TOWN FOOTBALL CLUB SUPPORTERS ENGAGEMENT CHARTER
Northampton Town Football Club are delighted to publish details of the club's first ever Supporters Charter.
The Charter details the club's commitment to engage with and listen to the views and opinions of supporters and is headed by the club's mission statement 'To be an open football club that gives all supporters a voice and encourages support and engagement throughout.'
Chairman Kelvin Thomas explained that the club have been working with the Supporters Trust, Stakeholders and the EFL over this Charter.
"We have been in discussions with a cross section of the Northampton Town fan base and our Supporters Trust for some time now and our collective view is that this is an extremely important policy for the club moving forward, " he said.
"Northampton Town want to be seen as leaders in supporter consultation.
“We have also discussed our suggested approach with the EFL, who are committed to helping clubs increase fan engagement levels and they are incredibly supportive.
"Since we have taken over I think we have shown a very open and honest approach and as a club we place a great deal of importance on the views and opinions of all supporters and stakeholders, so we wanted to formalise that commitment with this document.
"Our aim is to build further a relationship of trust between everyone who has the interests of this club at heart, and everyone who wants to see Northampton Town Football Club progress and flourish. We will all have different views on how that happens, but that's okay, as this is about providing the forum for everyone to understand and respect all those different views.
"By us all adopting a positive, 'working together' attitude we feel we are best placed to achieve that and this Charter explains to supporters how they can make sure their voice is heard, but this is very much a two way process. We all go through the ups and downs of a Saturday afternoon together so it makes sense for us all to talk about it together too.
"Whether it be at an Open Forum, as part of the Supporters Advisory Panel, through our Open Door Policy, a Meet the Chairman or senior staff event, a social media Q&A or simply by calling or emailing any of the staff, we want feedback from supporters, that is key to the success of this Charter and we are pleased to place this commitment on record.
"We would also like to thank the 300+ supporters who completed the online survey from the Supporters Trust on the current Whole Game Solution proposals. The results of that survey, together with the comments provided, helped form our response and were passed on to the EFL."
A spokesman from the Northampton Town Supporters Trust added: “We welcome dialogue between the football club and the Supporters’ Trust, and are looking forward to hearing about this in more detail in the coming months.
"A healthy dialogue between the club and supporters is something we know the whole Cobblers fanbase is very passionate about."
Details of the Supporters Advisory Panel will be released in the coming weeks.