Second day of EFDN Conference brings food for thought

The second day of the 7^th EFDN Conference was most interesting, astonishing, inspirational and emotional. The day began with a more or less bold, but at the same time inspiring presentation of Juventus and ended (almost) with a compelling, emotional story of two war veterans that got their lives back after having followed a programme from Rangers Charity Foundation. The two veterans provoked tears in the eyes of many of the EFDN members.

Day 2 of the EFDN Conference started with the second EFDN speeddating session. During the session all the participants stood in opposite lines and had to tell the man or woman opposite of him/her who they are and what they are doing professionally. After one minute the turn went over to the other side and every two minutes the participants in line had to move up one place so that they met someone else. In an half an hour time the participants got acquainted with 15 other attendees of the conference.

Directly after that Virginia Antonini set the room on fire. She said boldly that she does not believe in Community Social Responsibility. “In my opinion that is more philanthropy. As Juventus we also have our philanthropic moments – we participated financially in building a hospital for instance – but we believe in Corporate Social Responsibility, which I rather call sustainability.”

Juventus places sustainability in the center of all activities. To say it bluntly: Juventus believes in educating within the club, not outside the club, and wants to be an example to the community, Torino, Piemonte, Italy or the world.

Supporters are key

After Antonini’s presentation it was time for the breakout sessions, with EFDN speaking about possible new projects; the Scottish Professional Football League with Nicky Reid relating on the successful project Football Fans In Training (FFIT) and Sportanddev.org outlining about all of its activities, being the hub in the communication for the sport and development sector.

Before the lunchbreak Loukas Anastasiadis told the attendees of the conference all about the implementation of the SLO, meaning the Supporter Liaison Officer that all professional football clubs in Europe have to embrace. All clubs are obliged to have such an officer, in order to ensure a proper and constructive discourse between the clubs and its supporters. “Supporters are more than customers”, Anastasiadis said. “They are key in professional football!”

After the lunch – well taken care of by host Rangers FC Charity Foundation – the last breakout sessions took place. EFDN members were asked to attend a meeting in which possible club- or foundation projects were presented that in the future possibly could be implemented in other clubs or foundations. Fulham brought up the project fanActiv which is already a big success in London and might be very interesting for clubs and foundations throughout Europe. In another room non-members were informed about all the benefits that a membership of EFDN provides. The third breakout session consisted of a discussion about the cooperation in European football, which besides EFDN members also included delegates of UEFA, FIFPRO, Supporters Direct and SPFL.

Happiest man on earth

The 7^th EFDN conference ended with a panel discussion about the role of EFDN in European Community Social Responsibility, which in fact brought several recommendations for both EFDN and the members. But just before this conclusion of the Conference two Scottish war veterans and Rangers FC Charity Foundation made it very clear how strong the power of football really is. The Rangers FC Foundation is running a programme for some years now, especially built for Scottish war veterans that got into severe problems, such as drugs and alcohol abuse, social isolation, homelessness and/or anger and other mental health issues. The veterans Gerry Murphy and Robbert Stoddart told the audience their moving stories which left no one untouched. Both men profited from a special programme that the Rangers FC Charity Foundation, together with local partners, developed and are now fully cooperating with the Foundation, to help other veterans. “This programme saved, my marriage, my life, my everything”, said a very emotional Robert Stoddart. “Now I can help fellow-veterans and that makes me one of the happiest men on earth.”

Conclusion after a day that began with the way Juventus is socially active and the way, for instance, Rangers FC is. “Every club has his own vision, his own belief”, said EFDN director Hubert Rovers. “It is not a matter of wrong or right, it is a matter of choices.”