See how Sunderland AFC compare to other League One clubs in a new football fan engagement study

A new survey has ranked Sunderland AFC compared to their League One counterparts as well as the wider Football League and Premier League in terms of fan engagement.

The review, which is carried out by Think Fan Engagement, saw the club ranked 43 of the 92 Premier League and Football League clubs across the 2020-21 football season across the categories – dialogue, governance and transparency.

Clubs are awarded points across each category before being ranked on a total of these three numbers.

The Black Cats are ranked 13th in League One, amassing 75 points with AFC Wimbledon taking the division’s top spot with 170 and Burton Albion and their 25 points ranking lowest across the third tier.

Due to the season-long time frame of the report gathering information, the study covers the months before and after Kyril Louis-Dreyfus bought his shares in the club without being able to consider the impact of the more recent news regarding the stake he has in the club.

Those in charge of the club throughout the 2020-21 season saw their highest score come from the dialogue category, where they were awarded 40 points out of an available 80.

This category looks at the meetings which are in place to practice two-way communication with a fanbase as well as structured dialogue between supporters groups and fans forums, as well as how the club’s social media help channels or supporter liaison channels.

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus is set to meet with supporters next week.

Transparency is where Sunderland really struggled in the survey, being given a damning rating of zero out of 80. This looks as whether or not agendas or reports of minutes are released to the fanbase or fan groups following meetings.

The club fell into an average level in terms of Governance, which looks at fan representation at the board level of clubs, club and supporters charters and fan consultation. The club received a score of 35 for this.

For how the ratings are calculated in full, click here.

This study also comes from a season where fans were refused access to stadiums due to Coronavirus restrictions, with Think Fan Engagement saying “engagement doesn’t stop because the fans aren’t in the stadium. In fact, the engagement arguably becomes more important.

"The whole of 2020/2021 saw clubs in the position of having their season played out, bar a few test events and play-off games, behind closed doors. Covid gave us the chance to actually see what ‘football without fans’ really looks like.”

Exeter City took the top spot in the study while their League Two counterparts Cambridge United and Carlisle United took second and third respectively.

In the North East Newcastle United were the lowest ranked Premier League side with an overall score of 30 and Middlesbrough took the 74th place with a score of 55. Hartlepool United were not in the study due to their non-league position in the 2020-21 season.

Support your Echo and become a subscriber today.

Enjoy unlimited access to all of our news and sport, see fewer ads, experience faster load times, test your brain with daily puzzles and get access to exclusive newsletters.

Your support for our journalism means we can continue telling Sunderland’s stories for generations to come. Click here to subscribe - and click here to get a snapshot of the Echo’s news and sport to your inbox through our email newsletters.