Cheltenham Town launched the ‘shadow board’ initiative ahead of the 2025/2026 season as a gateway to ensure regular structured dialogue between the supporters and the club.
The board consists of 12 representatives ranging from independent support groups to six fan elected members.
Matt Stevens, 20, a life-long Robins fan and owner of the MattMS YouTube channel, is the youngest individual in the organisation.
“I’ve always wanted to play some sort of role at the club but never wanted to be fully hands on or involved. When I saw this opportunity, and as somebody whose been supporting the club all my life, I just thought why not get involved!”
The Football Governance Act 2025, which was passed in July, is a bill established to protect and ensure the long-term sustainability of English football clubs. As part of the legislation, fan engagement is a mandatory requirement in a bid to combat unfit and improper ownership.
“Over the summer, the club posted that they were going to be working with The FSA (Football Supporters Association) to form the shadow board.
“We are the link between the fans and the higher powers at the club. Any questions or queries, things which need sorting from a fanbases point of view gets raised at quarterly meetings.”
Previously, the only crossover between the club and fans came through the Robins Trust – an individual organisation founded in 2005 which currently finds itself as the second largest shareholder in the club.
“Anyone that supports Cheltenham will know there has been a gap in recent years. The club hasn’t really been listening, but hopefully with the shadow board we’ll start to see this reduce and we’re already seeing more communication with the club.”
Since it’s establishment, the shadow board have already hosted two meetings, with at least three consultations guaranteed throughout the season.
“The transparency between the club and us – in terms of informing us of what’s going on has been a lot clearer as time has gone on and it’s just one of those things which will evolve.
“At first it was difficult, but that’s understandable, it’s new for both parties. The first meeting we had they were sort of ‘we didn’t know it would be like this’, the second meeting was a lot more productive.”
