Over the summer MSC committee members Dave Hart and Samantha Masson attended the first ever Football Fans Congress held over two days at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. Over 250 Fans from 28 Countries representing over a million supporters were in attendance taking part in 6 different workshops ranging from policing to safe standing at football games.

It was decided that committee members would choose the policing workshop run by Dr Clifford Stott from Liverpool University. We were shown footage from police forces across Europe and how fans are treated. Fans were then given a chance to discuss different ideas on how policing can be improved both in home countries and abroad.

Delegates from Denmark, Israel, Norway, Germany, Hungary, Italy and many more countries were also in attendance. We noted that the police treat British fans much better than fans are in other European countries. In Germany, if a fan is ejected from a ground they are automatically banned for 5 years with no appeal. Also in Germany, neo-nazi groups do stewarding at some of the more high profile clubs and this causes no end of problems. It was a very worthwhile seminar to attend and it never does any harm to see how the other half live and to see that Millwall are not alone in their experiences at the hands of Police, British Transport Police and Stewarding up and down the country.

The day ended with a summary of all workshops and a new Football Supporters International committee being introduced with nine different countries represented, which will develop the network, organise the next Congress and work towards establishing a constitution that can help protect and represent their interests at a Europe-wide level. Fans were also involved in workshops on topics such as fan culture, policing and repression, anti-discrimination, ticketing and club ownership

The steering committee will consist of the following representatives:

Kevin Miles, Football Supporters Federation, England
Martin Endemann, Búndnis Aktiver Fussballfans, Germany
Dirk Vos, Supportersfederatie Profclubs (SFP), Belgium
Ashley Green, Progetto Ultrá, Italy
Shay Golub, Israfans, Israel
Moira Boyd, Asociación Señales de Humo, Spain
Michal Riechansky, LÚdia Proti Rasizmu (People Against Racism),Slovakia
Vjegar Hjermundrud, Norske Supporters Allianse, Norway
Daniela Wurbs, FSI-Coordination

For more information on the FSI visit their website: www.footballsupportersinternational.com

Throughout the season committee members will be involved in more meetings so if there is anything you would like us to bring up contact us in the usual ways.