Carlisle United Football Club

App wins Most Innovative Use of Technology Award

Kick It Out were last week (3 November) presented with a Football Business Award, in association with Smith and Williamson, for the Best / Most Innovative Use of Technology (non-club specific), thanks to the success of the organisation’s reporting app.

The app, which is available to download on iOS and Android, allows users to confidentially report incidents of discrimination they witness or suffer at a football match – at any level of the game, as well as football-related social media abuse.

The first version of the app, which was developed by makepositive, a cloud technology specialising in Salesforce, was launched in July 2013. The second version – which provides users with the ability to attach photos, audio and video evidence to support their complaints – was released in the summer of 2015.

Since its launch, the app has become a central part of Kick It Out’s reporting procedures – statistics for the 2015/16 season revealed that it was responsible for 22% of the discrimination reports received by the organisation at both the grassroots and professional levels of the game.

The statistics also revealed that in comparison to 2014/15, Kick It Out saw an 11% increase in the usage of the app at the grassroots level, demonstrating the increasing importance of the product.

Premier League and English Football League clubs have played an important role in the app’s success, encouraging supporters to download it through promotional posters, programme adverts and stadium announcements.

Roisin Wood, Kick It Out’s Director, was delighted to accept the award and receive recognition for the organisation’s vital work in helping victims of discrimination.

“The reporting app has been a huge step forward and success for Kick It Out,” she said. “Since its release we’ve seen reporting increase and the ease of using the app allows reports to be sent both quickly and anonymously.

“Winning this award is a huge accolade for Kick It Out and it is fantastic recognition of the hard work of our staff and our partners at makepositive, who we’ve worked closely with on the app.”