Listen To What The Fans Said

Does anybody care what the fans think?

An oft repeated question during the ten team SPL pantomime of recent weeks.

Well, Supporters Direct Scotland did care. And went about finding out with the help of some experts in the field.

The results explained why the SPL were so keen to shy away from market research of their with the fans unanimously turning down the ten team option.

Across on The Drum website, Steven Lawther - Raith Rovers fan and market research expert - explains his role in the survey, the results and takes a swipe at the way football ignores its customers:

The consequence was that suddenly the fans had a voice. The results were reported widely and for a few days at least it seemed that no newspaper article on league reconstruction was complete without reference to the strength of fan opposition demonstrated by our survey. Supporters Direct was now being asked directly by the media to comment on the proposed changes and invited to provide the voice of fans on TV, radio and in the opinion pieces in several national newspapers. The SPL even invited them to Hampden for face-to-face talks on the future of Scottish football. Opponents of a ten team top league often quoted the 88% opposition statistic to support their stance and the Daily Record even launched a ‘Just Say No’ campaign to oppose the change. The views of fans had entered the debate, momentum shifted and suddenly the feeling of inevitability around a ten team top league started to dissipate. (More)

The Scottish Football Blog News Feed