Regular readers of this column will no doubt be aware that HTSA are affiliated with several national and continental supporters’ organisations.

Over the next month or so, we’ll be publishing a series of interviews with representatives from these groups.

This week, James Chisem spoke to Michael Brunskill from the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF).

Video Loading

Before we get stuck in, can you tell us a bit about the FSF?

The FSF represents football fans across England and Wales and we campaign on a whole host of issues.

I think the most important reason for having a group like the FSF is to help fans take a step back and look at the bigger picture - what issues affect us all above and beyond club rivalries?

That’s where we can help bring fans together to speak with one voice.

What issues and campaigns do the FSF focus on?

Our best-known campaigns in recent years have been around safe standing and ticket prices.

When I joined the FSF around 10 years ago no-one in football really wanted to hear about standing areas but thanks to our campaign work alongside the independent Safe Standing Roadshow that has really turned around.

Nowadays scores of clubs and the EFL back safe standing while there’s also a Premier League consultation. Celtic have a rail seat area and there’s no reason they shouldn’t be in England.

We also do a lot of work that often goes unnoticed and that shouldn’t be forgotten.

Amanda Jacks leads our casework which has supported hundreds of fans over the years in relation to policing and stewarding issues while Fans For Diversity - led by ex-pro Anwar Uddin - has done loads to engage fans from isolated communities.

As well as encouraging BME and LGBT groups to games, Fans For Diversity also reaches out to OAP groups and even homeless fans.

Video Loading

Town fans have already benefited from the FSF’s good work this season, thanks to the £30 cap on away tickets in the Premier League. How close are we to a £20 price cap?

Yes, when we started the Twenty’s Plenty campaign there was a long line of people lining up to tell us clubs would never cap tickets and we were wasting our time.

I’m pleased they were wrong and, while the £30 cap is higher than we would have liked, it has still saved fans a lot of money.

I think rather than a further reduction to that cap what’s more likely is clubs doing their own bespoke deals within it.

For instance, Southampton sponsors Virgin Media subsidise all away tickets at St Mary’s to £20, while Arsenal and Swansea City do deals for their own fans. Chelsea and Stoke City do subsidised transport.

We’d like to see clubs doing more of that - use the TV money to set up bespoke deals which work for their fan base.

What would you say is the FSF’s biggest achievement over the past decade or so?

I think the Twenty’s Plenty campaign - which has seen hundreds of matches made cheaper for away fans at PL and EFL level - and the resulting £30 price cap in the Premier League is the biggest single success as it’s saved fans across the UK millions of pounds.

We also successfully lobbied the FA to release 7,000 more tickets to match-going fans for the cup final which was great.

In time, tens of thousands of supporters will benefit without necessarily knowing the FSF helped make it happen.

How can people get involved with the FSF?

Individual fans can join the FSF for free via www.fsf.org.uk/join while many club-specific supporter groups - such as HTSA - choose to affiliate themselves to the FSF.

We have hundreds of affiliated and associated organisations from all levels of the game.

People get involved in all sorts of ways depending on their skill set and background - although I’d actually encourage people to get involved with their own local supporters group and take it from there.