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Southampton 2022

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Policy and Commitment

  • Launched ‘THE HALO EFFECT’ in early January 2021 which is complete holistic strategy for sustainability at Southampton Football Club and on the main club website: https://www.southamptonfc.com/sustainability
  • This strategy pledges to ‘Play the right way today, for a better tomorrow’ and recognises that sustainability is about people and planet, using the UN Sustainable Development Goals to help us shape vision
  • Signatories to UNFCCC Sport for Climate Action Framework on the high ambition track and Race to Zero with a commitment to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030 and be net zero by 2040
  • Southampton does not currently publish their scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions publicly
  • Halo Effect Steering Group meets every 6 weeks
  • Working with G&G (Catering Provider)/CH&Co on building on their Sustainability strategy and policies
  • In 2022, SFC signed up to the Solent Cluster – working towards a lower carbon future
  • Sustainability Manager Caroline Carlin has become a management board member for BASIS (British association for Sustainable Sport), which further enables the club to be at the forefront of the conversations and actions to address sustainability in Sport
  • Created an internal stakeholder group – Environmental Compliance and Resource Management – that meets quarterly
  • Completed the BASIS Certification. November 2022. We are exploring B Corp and ISO 20121

Clean/Renewable Energy

  • 100% renewable energy across stadium, training ground and retail store
  • Working with new partner, EcoWatt, on sustainable projects, plans in the pipeline to generate our own energy, we have identified a location at the Training Ground for Solar panels and are working with Solivus on a proposal to introduce solar panels to the roof of the grandstand at the Training Ground
  • We have upgrades our ride on mowers at the Training Ground to electric versions, no longer using diesel

Energy Efficiency

  • Building Management System operating at the Training ground and St Marys Stadium, which the club works with facilities management company, NG Bailey, to manage energy efficiency. Reviewed on a quarterly basis
  • LED lighting upgrades ongoing
    • In recent weeks (March 2023) we have updated all our lighting in Reception area to LED. In the future, we will be updating our lighting in staff offices and concourses, this is an energy reduction of 83%
  • Movement sensors added to several external facing areas, with a plan to continue this project to internal concourses in 2022
  • Pitch lights are on timers
  • Newest refurbishments at Training ground have included movement sensor lighting and water and heating are on timers
  • Weekly management of air conditioning and air handling units
  • Clean energy and energy use is a key agenda item for Environmental Compliance and Resource Management – that meets quarterly
  • Usage is reported through the SECR reporting process
  • Users of the Dome at Staplewood have changed their behaviours towards using lighting within the facility. This means that if for example a 1-2-1 session is taking place on a small area of the dome, they will only light that third of the structure instead of the whole dome
  • Decomissioned servers and systems at Staplewood and replaced with more consolidated and efficient, using a lot less power
  • Reducing number of printers and introducing a password system to printers to reduce apper usage
  • Our catering provider, G&G, turn all cellar coolers off between matchdays

Sustainable Transport

  • Club has a sustainable transport policy that extends to fans, staff and team travel with it’s Environmental Policy (Sport Positive verified)
  • Sustainable travel to the stadium is promoted on website – public transport and prices, cycling, Voi scooters and map
  • Partnered with Voi technology – micro-mobility provider for Southampton, there are fan offers and a scooter rack at the stadium. Monthly scooter safety session for fans and staff, receive free safety wear
  • There are 300 Bike racks at St Marys Stadium
  • Fan travel is tracked through CRM team and Supporter Relations. Engage with Saints Voice panel on input around Sustainable travel through fan groups. This data is not currently publicly available
  • Trialled a park and ride at ‘The Greener Game’ in April 2022 and this was fully booked
  • Introduced Park and Ride service commencing 11th Feb 2023, this will take 300 cars off the road per game
  • Carbon Footprint research project with Southampton University has been undertaken, as part of this there was a staff travel survey and a review of match day travel
  • As a result of their findings, a full match day travel plan with Steer Group commenced in Oct 21
    • Phase 1 has included: full engagement with all transport providers in the city, stakeholder engagement meetings with SFC staff, data collection on fan travel and coordinating with a new app development called Mobility as a Service (MaaS)
    • About to commence phase 2 of this project of which the scope includes – starting to roll out fan travel initiatives, the ability to book sustainable travel through the app as above, and incentive schemes to encourage fans to do so
  • 8 company vehicles have been upgraded to electric, installed 3 electric charging points
  • Actively promote staff Cycle to Work schemes, 3 free bike doctor sessions for all staff this year
  • During 2021 internally promoted Canny Commuting and Love2Ride on intranet site and staff Facebook page
  • Switched courier service provider to CitySprint who are more in alignment with sustainability strategy, their target by the end of 2023 is to be carbon neutral and to have a fleet of 200+ green vehicles that will be live in the major cities throughout the UK
  • Gather and Gather have minimised food suppliers, reducing the amount of deliveries required. 90% of food at the training ground now comes from Harvest Fine Foods, 4/5 deliveries a day is now reduced to just 2. Harvest Fine Foods have a clear Corporate Social Responsibility strategy, reducing impact further
  • University of Southampton student research calculating carbon footprint for travel for all mens and women’s and B-team fixtures was complete in June 2022
  • Staff travel survey undertaken in collaboration with My Journey Southampton in October 2022 – results not publicly available
  • 35% of commercial fleet are electric or hybrid
  • Regarding team travel, logistics teams have committed to only flying to venues further than Birmingham and using coach travel for all other fixtures. Some north of Birmingham may be flight there, coach back.
  • SFC set up a Transport Operators Group started in November 2022 – this consists of stakeholders from Great Western Railway, South West Rail, Bluestar bus, Red Funnel Ferries, Southampton City Council, Southampton Police, Balfpour Beatty, CES and Steer. The purpose of the group is to coordinate matchday travel and direct fans to the most sustainable choices, pre-empt and highlight potential risks ie. multiple cruise ships in or roadworks
    • Collated fan match day travel data is shared in Transport Operators Group with 21 organisations

Single Use Plastic Reduction/Removal

  • Policy in place that sits with the environmental pillar on the Halo Effect strategy, shared with catering and retail divisions and external suppliers
  • Installed cup bins and flags in concourses for reusable cups, created a video to be shown on the screens at matches including players to get as much fan engagement as possible
  • More reusable cups and cup bins added to our concourses in 2022, we now have 20,000 reusable cups
  • All take away packaging is made from recycled material or low impact and recyclable/biodegradable or compostable materials, with the exception of containers used for team coach food
  • Pitch side water refill points installed June 2022 on first team pitch and academy pitch. Players can refill their water bottles instead of using single use bottles
  • Water refill points installed in two concourses at the stadium, these have been used 1412 times as of 26th Jan 2023, we consider this to be a reduction of 1412 plastic water bottles being used instead
  • All staff and players have been provided with a reusable coffee cup and reusuable water bottle. All new starters are issued with these when they join the company
  • Removed single use cups from the Away end and introduced reusables
  • During The Greener Game (vs Arsenal in April 2022) we promoted plastic reduction with Final Straw Foundation
  • 21/22 football kit was made from recycled plastics. The launch of these shirts was held live at a beach clean with players from Academy and Women’s and Girls teams. This was featured on local news stations the issues of plastics in the ocean were discussed, with one of Halo Effect supporters Final Straw Foundation
  • Replaced single use plastic bottles with glass water bottles/jugs in internal meeting rooms at both Training ground and Stadium
  • Cider supplier now sends all items in cardboard packaging rather than plastic
  • Engagement with suppliers to reduce plastic packaging
  • Further reduced plastics in staff areas

Waste Management

  • Still achieving zero to landfill by working closely with waste management provider Ace Liftaway
    • Caroline Carlin and Eloise Thompson attended a site visit to our waste provider Ace Liftaway, to observe all the processes that help us achieve zero to landfill
  • Waste management strategy in place as part of The Halo Effect
  • Layout of cup bins, recycling and general waste bins changed to encourage fans to better separate their waste on a match day
  • Delivered training for retail, catering and facilities team members to maximise the use of cardboard compactor
  • Focusing on reducing quantity of waste by carrying out ‘re-use’ initiatives. For example, this season donated storage units from the stadium and used footballs from the training ground to local schools
  • Recycled several items of furniture, diverting from landfill. Using a local upholstering business, reupholstered over 40 items of furniture at Staplewood instead of buying new, again diverting from landfill and also supporting a local business
  • Used coffee pods sent back to provider through a recycling scheme via supplier partnership
  • Gather and Gather no longer use cooking oil, further reducing deliveries and collections as well as reducing waste
  • Partnered with Utilita and Goal click on initiative ‘Football re-booted’, repurposing football boots
  • Worked with waste provider to donate pitch materials from St Mary’s to local community projects in May 2022
  • Added in more bin branding in staff areas to better support waste separation
  • Fan litter pick at the stadium  during the Women’s game for Green Football Weekend 5th Feb 2023
  • Matchday programmes made for the Greener Game were made from recycled and recyclable paper

Water Efficiency

  • Preventative maintenance programmes are ongoing, which includes water management and preventing leaks
  • Working with NG Bailey (facilities management provider) and Delabie, working through a proposal to remove 140 taps and introduce 70 single taps. This upgrade will reduce water from 1120 litres per minute 210 litres per minute, an 80% reduction in those areas. We expect this work to take place in the next 8-12 weeks (written in March 2023)
  • Water efficiency strategy extending to all sites will follow

Plant based/low carbon food

  • Vegan meals to menus in hospitality areas and also within the matchday catering provision on the concourses in the stadium. Vegan options are available at every kiosk, the Saints Brewery kiosks only have the vegan pie as vegan option whereas the others have several vegan options to choose from
  • Vegan food offerings were discounted at the Greener Game in April 2022 and the Green Football weekend in Jan 2023
  • Vegan food is available in all food settings for all fans, players and staff
  • A vegan, vegetable and smoothie juice bar has been introduced at the Training Ground each morning, reducing plastic bottles from water and pre made smoothies and juices
  • Training ground has self-service salad and pasta bar, with vegan options available and when players have packed lunches for travel, the team make up vegan lunches on request
  • Vegan alternatives available on request at the training ground main canteens, women’s team has 2 vegan players
  • Vegan sandwiches and salads available at staff bistro
  • Gather and Gather provide locally sourced produce from the Hampshire Larder
  • Academy players did a vegan cook-along session with one of Southampton FC’s chefs as part of their Life Skills programme
  • The u15’s academy squad built a herb and vegetable garden as part of the PL Inspires challenge, this is picked from by the chefs at the main kitchen at the Training Ground.
  • As part of partnership with Kingfisher beer this year launched some comms around cooking a vegan meal with professional head chef and some first team players
  • Currently working with a Sustainability intern from University of Southampton on a project to analyse the environmental impact of all catering operations, including the food bought, waste created and energy used

Biodiversity

  • Biodiversity policy in place, sitting in The Halo Effect environmental quadrant as a key pillar within which there are strategy KPI’s
  • Planted 1500 trees in the last 12 months as part of our Home Grown Initiative, this offsets 1500 Co2e. Over the last two years we have planted 2750 trees in total
  • We have delivered educational session at Bitterne Park school on biodiverstiy as part of Home Grown
  • We had originally put 20 trees at St Mary’s stadium, these didn’t cope well with the sea air and cement works conditions at the front of the stadium, these trees have been moved to our Training Ground
  • We delivered educational sessions to our Academy U15’s as part of their PL Inspires project they built a herb and vegetable garden at the Training Ground.
  • Packets of Wildflower seeds given out to fans at the Greener Game in April 2022 and the Green Football Weekend Jan 2023

Education

  • Two staff environmental education sessions delivered on Climate Change and Biodiversity in April 2022 by BASIS and Hampshire & IOW Wildlife Trust as part of the Halo Effect Week of Action leading up to Earth Day
  • Caroline Carlin passed an IEMA Carbon Management Course, Eloise Thompson passed IEMA Foundation Certificate
  • Caroline Carlin delivered a Halo Effect and Green Football Weekend education session to the Women’s team in Feb 2023
  • Delivered training for retail, catering and facilities team members to maximise the use of cardboard compactor
  • During the greener game we promoted plastic reduction with Final Straw Foundation and encouraged biodiversity with Hampshire and Isle of Wight wildlife trust, they had physicial stalls in the activation areas around the stadium speaking to fans
  • Delivered biodiversity talks at Kanes Hill School, Foundry Lane School and Bitterne Park School in the last 12 months for Home Grown Initiative
  • We delivered educational sessions to our Academy U15’s as part of their PL Inspires project they built a herb and vegetable garden at the Training Ground
  • U12’s had an education session and did a beach clean at Lepe beach in Nov 22
  • Caroline Carlin delivered a talk at Eastleigh college on Sustainability

Communication and Engagement

  • Sustainability strategy ‘The Halo Effect’ is on the club website: https://www.southamptonfc.com/sustainability
  • Hosted the Greener Game against Arsenal. Including iniatives around single use plastics, plant based eating, biodiversity, sustainabile travel and general environmental awareness information
  • Green Football Weekend for Women’s game on 5th Feb 2023 – giving out Wildflower seeds, fan litter picks, green armbands worn by players, players taking part in ‘Layer up’ Challenge
  • SFC took part in Sky Sports documentary – Football’s Toughest Opponent
  • Staff took part in a beach clean
  • Caroline Carlin listed in the ENDS report Top 100 UK most influential environmental professionals
  • Hosted Big Sustainability Expo in October 2022
  • Shortlisted in BBC Green Sport award for Ambitioon and Impact – The Halo Effect
  • Shortlisted for BASIS Award for The Halo Effect
  • Finalists for Big Sustainability Awards for the Greener Game
  • Caroline Carlin delivered an interview at Green Football Weekend half time in Feb 2023
  • Katie Rood delivered a half time interview at the Greener Game in April 2022
  • Theo Walcott gave an interview for PL World as our Halo Effect ambassador at the Greener Game April 2022

Sustainable Procurement

Sponsorship/Ownership

  • OWNERSHIP
    • Ownership: 80% by Sport Republic
    • Information: Sport Republic is a London based sports investment firm founded by Rasmus Ankerson and Henrik Kraft and financed by lead investor Dragan Šolak. Dragan Šolak is  founder and majority owner of the United Group media house/telecoms
    • Country: UK
    • Source of Income:  Sport Republic: Martime/Shipping and Media // Dragan Šolak – Telecoms/Media
  • SPONSORSHIP
    • Click link here for more information on your club’s sponsors and sustainability efforts. Scroll along the sheet to find your club, they are in alphabetical order

Information sourced directly from Southampton F.C. staff
Information updated 14th March 2023
To see information from 2021, click here