Swansea City achieve EFL Family Excellence status

Swansea City has achieved the EFL Family Excellence Award for the 2022-23 season.

The Swans are one of 66 clubs across the EFL who have received the award for the recent campaign.

Now in its 15th year, the Family Excellence scheme is an ongoing consultation programme which aims to drive clubs to target continuous improvement and best practice in family engagement.

Run in conjunction between the EFL and the Fan Engagement Company, the scheme sees each of the 72 EFL clubs receive two random visits throughout the season with the clubs given ratings on a variety of touchpoints.

The Swansea.com Stadium rated highly across website, tickets, stadium and travel to the ground, while the shop and onsite activities were also commended.

The report also makes recommendations of areas for improvement, which the club is now reviewing in its efforts further enhance the matchday experience ahead of the 2023-24 season.

The report described a visit to the Swansea.com Stadium as “a well-planned experience for parents and children".

It went on to conclude: "The quality of family excellence has been strong over the years and, again, over the course of the two assessment visits this season, our assessors have found plenty of positive evidence.

“From the first point of contact, the club engaged well. As the second visit assessor commented, 'The response from the club was really informative and helpful and a lot of detail was put into the response' while this was followed up by a friendly and helpful exchange with a rep from the club's ticket office and a proactive and engaging 'here to help' colleague outside of the stadium, suggesting a culture of fan focus across the club (although, as the assessor points out, there is still an opportunity to raise levels of personal engagement on the matchday itself).

“Another evident strength is the way the club communicates to fans via social media. The many different accounts ensure that, whichever part of the fanbase you occupy, it's easy to find information.

"But the jewel in the crown was the in-stadia experience: a very well planned experience for kids and parents/carers alike. With a children's entertainer, fantastic mascots, innovation such as kids' drawings in the washrooms and prizes. There are, of course, areas where the club could take things to another level, with feedback and staff engagement being the most evident opportunities.”

“We are delighted to have achieved the EFL family excellence award once again,” said Swansea City's head of fan engagement Catherine Thomas.

“Engaging the next generation of fans is vital for any football club, and we work hard to make a trip to the Swansea.com Stadium a fantastic experience for everyone.

“Young people and families make up an important part of the fan base and, with the help of Superbowl UK and Roly Poly entertainment, we feel we’ve really improved our matchday provisions this season.

“We recognise that there are further areas for improvement and welcome the feedback and recommendations put forward by the report. We look forward to improving our supporter engagement even further next season."