Trust Chair Receives Richard Lillicrap Award

Alan Russell, chair of the Raith Supporters Trust, recently received the Richard Lillicrap Award for Outstanding Services to the Supporters’ Trust Movement. Alan is the first Scottish recipient of the award which was established to remember the legacy of Richard Lillicrap, a Board member at the Swans Trust who was passionate about helping supporters and Supporters Trusts with their aims and ambitions for representation within their club.

Alan received the award for his work in developing the SD Scotland Index, a document which offers transparency on who owns what within Scottish football and how clubs are engaging with their fans. The Index looks at the breakdown of ownership and governance at every SPFL club.

Alan said, “I was extremely surprised but very honoured to receive the Richard Lillicrap Award. In truth, my main motivation to begin the work on the SDS Index was to satisfy my own curiosity, but I am delighted that it has also proved to be useful to others in Scottish football.”

“Supporters Direct’s input was invaluable in expanding the scope of this work from ownership to also monitor the levels of engagement and transparency at our clubs, and we will continue to refine the Index and keep it up to date as (hopefully) clubs use this as a source of identifying best practice.”