Best Fan Engagement by a Club – Non-Premier League or Championship Clubs
Cambridge United FC
Cambridge United, a 114-year-old football club, successfully transformed its brand identity through an innovative, fan-centered approach. Changing a football club’s badge is notoriously difficult—fans’ emotions run high at any mention of altering such a cherished symbol. The club embarked on a 14-month journey to redesign its outdated 1980s badge while respecting tradition.
The solution centered on unprecedented fan engagement. Designer Christopher Payne immersed himself in Cambridge culture and developed three distinct badge concepts based on supporter feedback: a modern evolution, an architecture-inspired design, and a traditional approach. Over 30 days, the club engaged 15,000+ supporters through in-person forums, open days, and online surveys, ensuring every voice was heard.
Fans selected the modern evolution design, which launched in June 2025 with a high-energy film featuring club legends in surreal everyday scenarios, generating emotional connection and excitement.
The results exceeded expectations: 200,000 video views, 45% merchandise sales increase, and new progressive sponsors including AI companies and Brooks Running. Despite relegation, home attendance increased, with season ticket purchases among supporters under 21 rising 12%.
Cambridge United transformed a traditionally divisive process into a unifying success that strengthened community bonds and opened new commercial opportunities.
Cardiff City FC – Bluebirds Uncaged
Bluebirds Uncaged is a free club account offering a wide range of benefits across the fan journey to get fans closer to the action. It aims to engage with fans at a more interactive level creating growth opportunities for the club and meaningful experiences for the fans. The programme has been a monumental success allowing the to club attract new fans, re-engage with lapsed fans and capture crucial data to create hyper-personalised experiences at scale. The innovative introduction of new channels such as 1-1 WhatsApp for Business messaging has provided the opportunity for interactive communication with fans that has seen engagement rates soar and create a convenient channel for seeking help
Bluebirds Uncaged has so far delivered 65% growth in Fan Account acquisition and a 22% increase in revenue from the new accounts season on season. Rated 4.3 out of 5 stars for customer satisfaction from fans who have labelled it “the biggest positive for Cardiff City Football fan club engagement in a generation”.
CD Leganés – Butarque Mystery Box
Butarque Mystery Box is a small square room where, before matches, season ticket holders can try to open it to win incredible prizes.
The club needed to create a stronger fan engagement process. This led to the creation of the Butarque Mystery Box: a fully customised surprise box placed outside the stadium, which activates before each match at one or several specific moments when fans scan the chip on their scarves. Inside the Mystery Box, the club includes exclusive gifts and special surprises for season ticket holders.
Thanks to this fan engagement initiative, the club have managed to get fans to arrive at the stadium earlier, achieve more than 1,000 entries per match, break the club’s season ticket record, and monetize the initiative thanks to sponsorship from several companies.
FC Bayern München – myFCBAYERN
FC Bayern München, renowned for its rich history and global fanbase, identified a gap in engaging its international supporters, many of whom felt disconnected due to geographic and traditional barriers. To address this, the club launched myFCBAYERN, a global digital fan engagement program, designed to unite fans worldwide under one digital roof.
myFCBAYERN offers personalised experiences such as digital jersey customisation, exclusive content, interactive challenges, augmented reality features, and a secure digital wallet for ticket management. Fully integrated with FC Bayern’s digital ecosystem, myFCBAYERN leverages omni-channel marketing and personalised communications to deliver a seamless, first-class experience.
Since its launch, myFCBAYERN has attracted over 2.4 million users, five times the traditional club membership, and has demonstrated extraordinary engagement with over 1 million participations in challenges. The success of myFCBAYERN marks a new benchmark in digital fan engagement, ensuring every supporter, regardless of location, is an active part of the FC Bayern community.
Huddersfield Town FC – HEYDUDE™
The HEYDUDE™ x Huddersfield Town AFC partnership has delivered a standout first season, combining strategic alignment with innovative fan engagement. HEYDUDE™, a global footwear brand rooted in Italy and owned by Crocs Inc., launched in the UK by partnering with Huddersfield Town and Lewis Capaldi, using immersive activations to connect with the football community, increase brand awareness and drive both in-person and digital engagement.
For Huddersfield Town, the partnership coincided with the Thrice Champions centenary, marking 100 years since the Club became the first team to win the English First Division three consecutive seasons. HEYDUDE™’s branding was integrated across the Thrice Champions season kits, stadium and retail assets, while players wore HeyDude products throughout the season.
Fan engagement was amplified through matchday activations, influencer collaborations, and a Deichmann retail takeover, featuring a commissioned giant shoe, QR-linked clap banners, player meet & greets, personalised merchandise and fan giveaways.
The collaboration strengthened brand visibility, reinforced cultural relevance, and created memorable supporter experiences, demonstrating clear commercial and engagement impact, making it a compelling contender for both Sponsorship/Partnership of the Year and Best Fan Engagement.
London City Lionesses
London City Lionesses’ approach to fan engagement is built on authenticity, accessibility and shared ownership. By prioritising genuine connection over scale, and long-term relationships over short-term growth, we have created an engaged and growing supporter base that feels part of the Club’s journey.
We believe these results demonstrate that when fans are treated as partners and engagement is embedded across the Club, loyalty deepens, advocacy grows and women’s football continues to thrive.
We see this each and every matchday with growing attendances (1,086% increase in Season Ticket holders) and 92% increase in overall attendance growth YOY (the highest rate of growth across the WSL).
Walsall FC – Saddlers United
Saddlers United, launched by Walsall FC in Summer 2025, is a fan‑led engagement programme that has transformed how the Club connects with supporters across the borough. Based at the Pallet‑Track Bescot Stadium, the initiative was created to ensure every supporter — long‑standing, new, local, or newly arrived — feels seen, valued and involved in shaping their club.
Built through a diverse Steering Group of fans, community leaders, faith representatives, disability partners and young supporters, Saddlers United places supporters at the heart of decision‑making. Fans co‑designed celebration matchdays, contributed to cultural programming, shaped policies such as the Kirpan Policy, and helped create new facilities including the Multi‑Faith Prayer Room and enhanced audio support for visually impaired supporters.
The programme has delivered standout engagement moments, including Community Iftars, Diwali celebrations, cross‑community football and food events, and youth‑led matchday activations. These events have strengthened trust, deepened emotional connection and created new pathways into fandom for communities previously underrepresented at matches.
Results include increased representation across multiple ethnic minority groups, rising attendances, stronger relationships with faith and cultural partners, and overwhelmingly positive fan feedback. Saddlers United demonstrates how authentic, co‑created engagement can reshape a club’s identity and bring supporters closer than ever.
