Inevitable need for change – identifying and removing barriers to supporter participation in German professional football

Abstract

This article aims to increase an understanding of the German football governance system. We seek to achieve our objective, by summarizing and collating findings from two research projects on supporter governance using a mixed-methods approach since 2011. The first project has focused on the ‘50 + 1 Rule’, which stipulates that all professional football clubs need to be run as member’s associations or majority-controlled by member’s associations. The second project has focused on the articles of association of the clubs, which regulate the governance structures and processes that allow supporter participation in every individual club. Our research suggests that loopholes in the ‘50 + 1 Rule’ and weak definitions of club-specific provisions in the articles of association present considerable barriers to supporter participation. We suggest removing these barriers to preserve the historically grown German model of supporter governance. Otherwise, a transformation into a corporate model of football governance seems to be inevitable.