EXETER City Football Club has been named as the club with the best record for fan engagement across all the football leagues.
The announcement was revealed as part of the Fair Game Index, which looks at all 92 clubs who were in the Premier League and the EFL last season, rating the performance of each on a weighted scoring system based on financial sustainability, governance, fan engagement and equality standards.
Exeter City beat AFC Wimbledon and Carlisle United to take the Fan Engagement crown, scoring a huge 17.35 out of 20.
The Index is the most comprehensive survey of English football ever conducted and uses publicly available data to measure clubs across all the football leagues on their dialogue with fans, their governance and transparency.
Nick Hawker, chair of Exeter City Supporters’ Trust, said: “As a supporter-owned club we absolutely put our fans at the heart of everything we do.
“We are naturally delighted to win this award, but it wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of a lot of people across the club, from our committed staff to our amazing volunteers – and this award really reflects their dedication to providing the best experience for all of our supporters.
“It is wonderful to receive this accolade for the fourth consecutive year and in the year that we are celebrating 20 years of supporter ownership at Exeter City.”
Nick added: “My thanks to everyone who has played a part in helping us secure this award once again.”
League Two club AFC Wimbledon finished top of the index, with Carlisle second and Cambridge third.
Fair Game is a group of clubs campaigning to improve football governance. Supported by more than 40 world-renowned academics, it is backed by politicians across the country and is committed to providing realistic solutions to the challenges football faces. It wants to see football governed with fairness, openness and transparency at its core.
The full index can be accessed here: www.fairgameuk.org/ .