Open letter to the FCK board

Dear management of F.C. Copenhagen,

We are writing this open letter to you on behalf of F.C. Copenhagen Fan Club and its members, because we are no longer just concerned. We are genuinely shaken and shocked by the situation the club finds itself in – and has been in for quite some time. A development that perhaps only became fully clear and alarming when we missed the top six on Sunday, and reality suddenly became unmistakably clear to all of us.

In a healthy relationship, communication is key when facing adversity and when you may no longer recognize each other. Perhaps the good periods were not used to address the difficult conversations, and instead routines were created that made things just about function. Routines that can make you relax too much and forget to make an effort to be the best version of yourself. Forget what made the relationship flourish and created the connection in the first place. In short, forget why you fell in love.

And perhaps we have been too poor at having those difficult conversations during the good times. Perhaps, as fans, we allowed ourselves to be blinded by the excellent results. Two “doubles,” Champions League campaigns, and record championships within just a few seasons. Add to that sold-out matches, long waiting lists for season tickets, and jersey designs that broke one sales record after another.
The commercial success, Champions League nights, and the many trophies were undeniable – F.C. Copenhagen was, in several respects, light-years ahead of its competitors in the league.

We fully acknowledge that you have hired extremely competent and experienced people to run the club as the business it has also become. We also accept that hyper-professionalization and dedication have been necessary to achieve the level of growth F.C. Copenhagen has experienced, especially after COVID. We understand that an organization of this size requires strong CVs and commercial insight. But with that understanding and acceptance comes a growing concern that the foundation and the club’s DNA have gradually been diluted.

A football club is not like any other ordinary business. Our claim is that no other industry is driven by as much emotion, identity, and deep loyalty and local belonging as football. Being a fan cannot be compared to being a consumer. For us, the club is the first thing we think about in the morning and the last thing we think about before falling asleep. Our relationship is not rational – it is lifelong and, for many, requires sacrifices. Skipping family gatherings if they clash with the match schedule, and even using days off and holidays to follow the club at home and abroad.

For many of us, it began as a passionate love. A love that does not fade. That is why it is unbearable to feel that the one you love has changed so much that you can barely recognize what you fell in love with.

The joy of watching boys grow into men has been reduced to numbers in an Excel sheet. The turnover in the squad has become so extreme that many feel they have lost their connection to the players they follow week after week. A fan who worked his way up from being an ordinary supporter like the rest of us to a leading role in Scandinavia’s biggest football club was dismissed and shown out the back door without regard for the culture and connection to fans that he represented. Denmark’s most successful football coach was dismissed in a way that, even 5.5 years later, means we have not had the opportunity to honor him and welcome him into the Legends Club, where he should naturally belong. Platinum cards suddenly became a product to be removed, prices at kiosks keep rising, the season ticket discount at kiosks was scrapped. A football bar in the stadium has been closed to make room for more takeaway. There is constant focus on improving VIP facilities, while families are still moved around the stadium when many away fans attend. We have outdated and inadequate training facilities and stands you are not allowed to jump on.

Many things which, individually, can be explained with reasonable and rational arguments – and which we as fans have largely accepted. But taken together, they paint an unfortunate picture that the club has gradually forgotten what it fundamentally is – a football club. A football club where fans must be at the center, and who, together with management, staff, and players, write the history. Because despite everything, we stay. We fight. We adapt if necessary. Because there is no alternative.

The club is, in many ways, like our shared child. Many of us were there at its birth and have followed every step since. We have been there through good times and bad. We have raised this child with love, respect, and unwavering care for its culture and identity. Board members, directors, and key figures have come and gone over the years – that is the nature of professional football. But for us, the relationship is not temporary. It is lifelong. Where others have had employment, we have had belonging. That is why it hurts even more when the child is increasingly treated as an asset to be optimized, scaled, and made to maximize financial return. For us, the club is not a project with a timeline. It is an identity to be carried forward.

These are two different approaches to the same child. One is rooted in responsibility and continuity. The other in strategy and performance. Both may be necessary. But without respect for the foundation the child was built on, you risk changing its nature. And that is exactly the change many of us feel – and fear for the future.

We urge the owners and the board to understand what they have invested in. We fans are at least as valuable an asset as office towers, Lalandia, and the next Victor Froholdt. We must be cared for, listened to, and taken seriously. Many of us were here before you, and we will be here after you. The only thing we demand is that you treat the club and its fans with respect and decency. No one will object to dividends being paid out, as long as it is not so evident that it comes at the expense of sporting ambitions and the physical framework surrounding F.C. Copenhagen.

In meetings with us in FCKFC over the past nearly three years, the management has expressed a desire to establish an advisory board consisting of fans from the different stands around Parken – something we have fully supported. We urge you to implement this as soon as possible, committing to two to four annual meetings. Now more than ever, it is necessary to invite fans into part of the engine room and involve them in the decision-making processes at F.C. Copenhagen.

We are not calling for less professionalism. We are calling for balance. Respect for history. For culture. For the community that carried the club forward long before strategic plans and growth curves. Because without that foundation, even the strongest structure becomes unstable.

F.C. Copenhagen Fan Club