Cambridge United: Football club's shadow board to give fans a voice

The new shadow board brings together representatives from four existing, but separate, supporters' groups

Members of Cambridge United's new fan-led shadow board hope it will give supporters a meaningful voice.

The League One club announced the creation of the new board after it was one of the recommendations in the Independent Fan-Led Review of Football Governance.

The club said it would help "unify and give a stronger voice to fan groups".

The chairman of the club's board Shaun Grady said the new group could "can further strengthen us".

Cambridge United's board, which recently repurchased the Abbey Stadium, said the new shadow board could help it with future plans

Cambridge United were the only English Football League club represented on the advisory panel of the 2021 review, was had the Conservative MP, Tracey Crouch, as its chairperson.

The new board - which the club said would "compliment rather than replace" the existing four fan groups - was established after its role and its constitution was agreed between the football club, Cambridge Fans United (CFU), Cambridge United Supporters' Panel (CUSP), Amber Belles and the Cambridge United Supporters' Club.

Its aim was to "strengthen fan engagement and ensure fans can act as a sounding board", the club said.

Its inaugural membership will consist of eight representatives - two from each group - who will serve for an initial two-year period.

Cambridge United director Godric Smith said the shadow board was an "evolution" of the success of the fan director the club has already.

He said: "It's saying, 'can we bring together a group of fans who are truly representative of all different elements of the fan base?', to basically use them as a sounding board for some of the plans we've got."

Ben Payne from the Cambridge United Supporters' Panel said it would protect the club's "colours, name and badge"

New shadow board member, Ben Payne from the CUSP, said: "We've almost lost this ground, we've almost been homeless and I think this shadow board is really going to be able to help the main board and the directors and the owners of the club drive [it] forward.

"I think it's also protecting things like the club colours, the club name, the club badge - all those sort of things are the big topics that are important for us."

Anouska Wright from the Amber Belles said she was "really proud" that Cambridge United was at the forefront of giving fans a greater voice

Anouska Wright from the Amber Belles said: "It's a huge step for the club to take on this creation of the shadow board and to really listen to the different fans' groups and engage them in the future shaping of the club and also keeping the heritage," she said.

Ms Crouch, who is MP for Chatham & Aylesham in Kent, has hailed the formation of the shadow board as a "model for others to follow".

"It is great to see Cambridge United putting fan engagement at the very heart of their club," she said.

Kevin Miles, chief executive of the Football Supporters' Association, said the organisation would "strongly encourage other clubs at every level of the game to follow their leadership".