Responsibility is steady

Responsibility is steady

Ton Strooband, the CSR Manager of Feyenoord and the Chairman of EFDN has talked about Ferencváros.

Ferencvárosi Torna Club has made a new sport diplomatic success recently, as our club have been invited to the European Football for Development Network. This organization collects those football clubs around Europe, which take major care about corporate social responsibility, implement campaigns, and brainstorm about the results to improve. That is a quite prestigious invitation for Ferencváros, as EFDN has members like Manchester United, Internazionale and Rangers. EFDN’s Chairman, and the CSR Manager of Feyenoord, Ton Strooband talked to FradiMedia, about the network and their newest member.

How it all came to change prospects and find a way to establishing a new CSR network in Europe?

There was a network eight years ago, but it allowed only one club from a country, and as the European football community is much more complex, we needed to change that. For example in Holland, PSV Eindhoven was this member, but many other clubs, just like the club I work for wanted to join and develop. And not only Feyenord, but many other European clubs took steps in corporate social responsibility, and wanted to share their knowledge with others, and also learn from them. So five years ago, we’ve had a seminar in London with many prospects, and started to brainstorm about establishing a new network.

How did the story came to find Ferencváros?

We are continuously growing, and looking for clubs in every country of Europe. In northern Europe it’s quite easy to get in contact with clubs, and to see what they are doing, but in the eastern side it is a little bit harder. Previously we’ve been in contact with Videoton, but they stopped being our member, so we started to look for another club. In the case of Hungary the first club you find is Ferencváros, and as the club did some precious campaigns recently, our choice was easy to take.

How would you describe the advantages of being a member of EFDN to a Ferencváros fan?

First of all, when you are a fan you can easily get inspired by your club. This not only means Ferencváros plays well, and achieve great results, which make a fan happy, but also forms the thoughts of everyday life, or the attitude in employment or studies. However the way and method Ferencváros inspire its fans is not that simple, and to be a member of EFDN, Ferencváros can develop in corporate social responsibility and help more and better to the clubs’ social basis, the people of Budapest and mainly, the Ferencváros fans.