Football Fans Census: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox Companycompany

'''Football Fans Census''' {(sometimes known as '''FFC'''), is the trading name of Football Fans Central Ltd, a small <ref>[http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/ffa9a467719cfacb89053e49077bd052/compdetails WebCHeck - Select and Access Company Information<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> market research company which specialises in research into the views and opinions of English football supporters.

When the free-to-air digital sports channel [[ITV Digital]] collapsed in 2002; it reportedly owed £178.5m to [[the Football League|Football League]] clubs. Two football fans began a campaign for [[ITV Digital]]'s parent entities, the regional [[ITV]] companies [[Granada Television]] and [[Carlton Television]] to repay this money to the clubs. <ref>[http://soccernet.espn.go.com/archive/columns/2002/0512/20020512featcollins.html ESPN.com Soccernet Column by Patrick Collins: Bonnie and Clyde face lesson in commercial sense<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> <ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2002/03/20/sfntv21.xml League concern over potential loss of TV cash - Football News - Telegraph<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

The campaign, under the name Football Fans Union, took the form of a protest against the companies resulting in the 'Can the Commercials' petition and direct action .<ref>[http://www.footballfanscensus.com/itv/index.html Football Fans Union<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. The group asked football fans to boycott ITV's [[FIFA World Cup 2002|World Cup 2002]] coverage, and in particular to switch channels during advertisements; so that advertisers would bring pressure on ITV and impact on the companies' advertising revenues .<ref>[http://www.footballfanscensus.com/itv/campaign/faq.html Football Fans Union<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>.

The fans' campaign ran alongside legal action by the Football League; but it proved to be unsuccessful when the Court of Appeal threw out the Football League's action in 2006 .<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5109254.stm BBC NEWS | UK | Football League loses damages bid<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>.

* the state of English football <ref>http://www.givemefootball.com/display.cfm?article=7360&type=1|title=News</ref> <ref>[http://www.marketresearch.com/vendors/viewvendor.asp?g=1&VendorID=2712 Football Fans Central Limited Research Reports<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>