Morecambe Football Club is delighted to announce has been awarded with Family Excellence status for the 2021/22 season.
The Shrimps join a record number of 65 EFL Clubs in achieving the accolade.
The record-breaking number, up from 63 Clubs in 2019/20, recognises continuous improvement and best practice in family engagement across the leagues and supports Clubs’ efforts to attract and retain young fans of the future.
Given the particularly challenging set of circumstances that society faced during the COVID-19 Pandemic, EFL Clubs’ work to ensure supporters have been welcomed back safely, whilst boosting the matchday experience has been recognised across the scheme this season.
EFL Clubs received two ‘mystery family’ visits throughout the season, with their feedback and reports determining whether each respective club would achieve ‘Family Excellence’ status.
Now in its 14th year, the Family Excellence Scheme is an ongoing consultation programme, which aims to drive continuous improvement and best practice in family engagement across the leagues.
Shrimps SLO Anya Wood said: “When I first took on role as SLO, and we received the 2021/22 first visit report, let’s just say there was plenty of room for improvement.
Since then, I have engaged with supporters through the Supporter Survey and the Fans Focus Workshop and set up an internal working group, where we meet monthly to discuss what the supporters want and what we can do to improve everyone’s time at the Mazuma Stadium.
“I would like to say a huge thank you to the supporters that took part in the Survey and the Fan Focus Workshop, both of which have played a pivotal role in improving our score and helping us attain this achievement, but also the internal staff working group, who have listened to me go on-and-on about the same things over-and-over again.”
EFL Chief Executive, Trevor Birch, said: “I would like to congratulate the record number of Clubs that have achieved Family Excellence status this season. Ensuring a memorable matchday experience is vital to attract the next generation of young fans so it’s great to see so many clubs excelling in this area.
“Fans returning to EFL clubs in their millions this season has been fantastic to see and club staff should be commended for going the extra mile to make the matchdays engaging for families attending live games.”