Football League launches family campaign

The Football League has launched a new campaign to make matches more family-friendly in a bid to drive child attendance to local club games. The “Enjoy the Match” campaign will focus on removing abusive language and aggressive behaviour.

There will be an increased number of stewards in family areas monitoring fans conduct and the will also be prominent posters discouraging people from anti-social behaviour. Announcements voiced by local children, will also be made before matches to encourage positive support.

Football League chairman, Lord Mawhinney, says: “Young supporters will be the lifeblood of our clubs in years to come. It is therefore vitally important that we encourage more parents to bring their children into our grounds by creating a vibrant, family friendly atmosphere at all matches.”

Enjoy the Match was introduced following a “mystery shopper” exercise last season, which revealed that swearing left a key negative impression on families at 46% of the 144 games assessed.