Football Fans Census

Football Fans Census (sometimes known as FFC), is the trading name of Football Fans Central Ltd, a small[1] 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 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.[2][3]

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.[4] The group asked football fans to boycott ITV's 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.[5]

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.[6]

The impetus created by this campaign led to the Football Fans Union developing into the Football Fans Census; and a desire to be a voice for football supporters through online surveys and opinion polls.

Past surveys include:

• the return of terraces [7]
• the quality of food at games [8]
• the cost of following a football team [9]
• the state of English football [10][11]