Calling all SAFC fans in the USA

Discussion in 'Sunderland' started by hewittdallas, Jan 21, 2010.

  1. hewittdallas

    hewittdallas Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 5, 2009
    Huntsville, AL
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This is very good news indeed! We will certainly have to figure out how to put that journalism degree to use. :)

    My initial thoughts are to use the website as the main landing page where we can post articles, news, etc... The site was setup with WordPress because it's the easiest CMS platform to use and it offers an RSS feed right out of the box. With that said, the social media outlets (FB and Twitter) will primarily serve as an extension of the website and help increase our visibility. Every time an article goes on the website, we push the link to FB and Twitter.

    Hermione, I know you had mentioned something about the forums as well. While we could possibly get our own boards one day, I think it is in our best interest to keep things small and simple for the time being. BigSoccer is where this crazy idea came from to begin with, so it seems fitting to keep our discussion here. They offer an excellent environment with tons of exposure and traffic that we wouldn't get on our own. I have already run the idea by the webmaster of BigSoccer and they are on board with the plan.

    Thanks for the input so far. Things are a bit crazy for me at work and then I am travelling in about a week, but I will start sorting more of this out and sharing the load. While it's been fun setting everything up, it's going to take everyone to keep everything going.

    But most importantly, we have got to spread the word. Find black cat supporters and get them involved. If you can't find any, start making some new supporters! ;)
     
  2. SAFC01906

    SAFC01906 New Member

    Feb 26, 2011
    Saugus, Mass
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    Brazil
    I love the idea of initiating another effort to mobilize the Sunderland fan base here in the USA. I will definitely support it and wish to be a contributor. Call on me anytime. I must give this some more thought but my first reaction is to the name suggestions is to highlight Sunderland and not so much SAFC. We all know what that means but not many. We want to notonly touch base with current diehards but grow the brand. Let's stay on this.

    SAFC01906
    Jimmy
     
  3. hewittdallas

    hewittdallas Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 5, 2009
    Huntsville, AL
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    First, glad to hear of your willingness to help out in this new effort. We plan to start working out the mechanics of this new system in the next few weeks. Stay tuned.

    Second, you raise an interesting point on the name. I'm honestly not sure if it would make a difference one way or another, but I didn't even think about it. My assumption is the likelihood of someone just randomly stumbling upon us is rather remote; therefore the name could be pretty much anything we want. However, that could be a bad assumption. I think we can all agree the best way to build the brand here in the US is word of mouth.
     
  4. SAFC01906

    SAFC01906 New Member

    Feb 26, 2011
    Saugus, Mass
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    Brazil
    This will be a work in progress so every aspect of this project will be on the table. Perhaps we can contact the club to see if they have any interest in this. Perhaps they can provide some support, suggestions and any requests. Perhaps they have a name they prefer. I understand SAFC aren't Barcelona or ManU but Sunderland does have a marketing team and I'm sure they consider the USA as well. Just a thought.

    Jimmy
     
  5. hewittdallas

    hewittdallas Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 5, 2009
    Huntsville, AL
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Ah, you make some excellent points. I shot the club an email tonight to see what their thoughts are. I've spoken with a few of the front office staff over there via email before, and they seems quite receptive to the idea in the past. I'll let you guys know what I find out.
     
  6. FelixtheCat

    FelixtheCat New Member

    Mar 27, 2011
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Hewitt and all . . . I've been working the Twitter page and asked @SAFCofficial to retweet my post to their list. Hoping that will get us over the initial dirty dozen. I like the discussion on branding and what names are best used. I don't have much to contribute to that as I've always been fond of "Black Cats" but I agree using the same description is very useful.

    Hewitt . . . let me know if you would like me to help with some of the Twitter duties as well. I can post on @safcusa, thank people for joining, and track others down. Send me a private message if so.

    Really excited to see this happening and glad to see new and old faces returing to the discussion.
     
  7. hewittdallas

    hewittdallas Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 5, 2009
    Huntsville, AL
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well, I would say you got us well over the initial dirty dozen. As of right now, less than 48 hours after creating the account, we have 81 followers! What do you think about setting a goal of hitting X number of followers before first kickoff of the season? I don't know what a good number to aim for would be though. Any thoughts?

    Just for a point of reference in how awesome this response has been so far, @EvertonUSA has been around for almost two years and we already have more followers in less than two days. No hate against the Toffees, but that is crazy. Great work everyone. Keep it up!
     
  8. FelixtheCat

    FelixtheCat New Member

    Mar 27, 2011
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    I think it would be good to set a goal of 300 before kick off. Does someone have a symbolic number near that? Great comments Hewitt on fixtures. Opening day against Liverpool will be interesting as well as our first home match against Newcastle.
     
  9. FelixtheCat

    FelixtheCat New Member

    Mar 27, 2011
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    We hit 103 this afternoon . . . 300 could be a little low.
     
  10. hewittdallas

    hewittdallas Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 5, 2009
    Huntsville, AL
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think 300 is still a decent goal. We got a lot of the initial following from people who saw us on @SAFCofficial so we had a big spike. It's going to be more of a grind from here.

    Also, let's get some discussion going in other threads here on the board. As much fun as this process has been, we started this thing so we could chat about the club, not ourselves! :)

    The key to successful growth is going to be consistency. Let's just talk black cats football and have a good time. People will see that we are for real and jump on board. With that said, let me thank all of you again because this great start has been a great group effort. Let's keep that moving into the season.
     
  11. SAFC01906

    SAFC01906 New Member

    Feb 26, 2011
    Saugus, Mass
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    Brazil
    I hope Sunderland is active & successful in the transfer market this summer. The last few years has been a mixed bag to be kind in regards to the results. I like Steve Bruce a lot but we need players who are young, dynamic and positive. Enough with these slow, methodical, technical types. Bruce needs to develop a team that can push on the front foot, pressure the opposition, create chances and score some goals, especially away from the Stadium of Light. I am tired of this horizontal, do nothing, passive offense. Anyway, how do you guys like Sunderland's new away kit? Interesting.
     
  12. hewittdallas

    hewittdallas Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 5, 2009
    Huntsville, AL
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Hey SAFC01906, I started a new thread for preseason talk and responded to your post there. If we get too many discussions going in this one thread, it will confuse me to no end. :)
     
  13. TexasMackem

    TexasMackem New Member

    Jun 19, 2011
    Austin, Tx
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I know it is still very early in the process, but when the time comes for posts/articles to be written (or anything else for that matter), I would love to help out in that department. I recently graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in English and History, have written on many different topics before, and have even been speaking with a friend of mine who writes an Arsenal blog (his site is www.therealarsenal.com) about writing for that sort of audience. I have been considering starting up a page/blog of my own, but since this new avenue has now opened up, I would definitely like to offer my services to this project first.

    I am also adept in social media and the internet in general, so if any help is needed moderating the website, the FB page, or the Twitter account, let me know.
     
  14. hewittdallas

    hewittdallas Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 5, 2009
    Huntsville, AL
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You have a message in your inbox.

    Also, if anyone has an area that they want to help out with, please let me know. I am more than happy to get people involved!
     
  15. FelixtheCat

    FelixtheCat New Member

    Mar 27, 2011
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Welcome TexasMackem. Good to see you on board. Hewitt has really taken the lead and a few of us have been throwing in our own two cents now and again. Good to see more supporters out there. What is your history with Sunderland AFC?
     
  16. hewittdallas

    hewittdallas Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 5, 2009
    Huntsville, AL
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    TexasMackem has a really good response to your question in this thread. :)

    So here is the plan going forward. I have made this thread a sticky now since it has become a rather popular subject as of late. Continue to use it for any discussion, thoughts, comments, questions, ideas, concerns, and dreams regarding SAFC USA.

    If you want to discuss anything else Sunderland related, feel free to start up a new thread or jump into one already going. Keep the passion coming guys and gals!
     
  17. LINETRASH

    LINETRASH Member+

    Jul 19, 2011
    Philadelphia
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    New member here.....Live in Philly, also follow The Union but Sunderland are my #1
    Found this site from the Sunderlandmad board.......Its an English site and great to chat directly to the locals of the team "good craic" ;)
     
  18. hewittdallas

    hewittdallas Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 5, 2009
    Huntsville, AL
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Welcome to the board. It's pretty laid back here as you can probably see. A lot of the conversation tends to take place on our FB page (SAFC USA) and Twitter feed (@SAFCUSA). We're in the early stages of organizing this supporters group, so any and all ideas are welcomed.

    A Union fan you say. My buddy is a big Everton supporter and they just lost to the Union today if I'm not mistaken. He has not taken the loss well despite the fact it is only a preseason tour. :D
     
  19. LINETRASH

    LINETRASH Member+

    Jul 19, 2011
    Philadelphia
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    To be honest the Union dominated possession and had an under 16 and 2 under 18's in the second half, with one of the under 18's scoring the goal.........I dont think that was what David Moyes had in mind when he booked the game :D
     
  20. LINETRASH

    LINETRASH Member+

    Jul 19, 2011
    Philadelphia
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You were asking about ideas..............How about an annual Stadium of Light trip for an EPL game. Could find out from the club if they could accommodate a trip like that, I'm sure they would. Take over a Sunderland hotel for a long weekend and have a ball. :D
     
  21. hewittdallas

    hewittdallas Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 5, 2009
    Huntsville, AL
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That is definitely one part of the BIG picture. We also hope to build enough momentum here in the States to get the club to schedule a preseason tour here. However, both of these goals require a significant increase in numbers. In order for a SoL trip to be successful, we will need people who have the time and resources to go. The law of large numbers says we need quite a few more supporters in the USA before we get enough people to jump onboard.

    With that said, I think it is definitely the right direction. It's just a matter of how long it may take us to get there.
     
  22. hewittdallas

    hewittdallas Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 5, 2009
    Huntsville, AL
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Okay everyone, I have an amazing opportunity for one of our fans here in the USA. I was contacted by BBC World Service radio in London and they are looking for a Sunderland supporter here in the states that would be willing to go on air for a few minutes this Saturday following the opening day match. The scheduled time slot is between 1830-1900 BST.

    If you are interested, let me know by tomorrow (8/11/11) morning! If we have multiple people who are interested, I'll probably just have to randomly draw to see who gets the spot.

    To let me know, you can reach me via PM here or email me (nathan@safc.us).

    Thanks! :)
     
  23. brianasher

    brianasher Member

    Sep 22, 2005
    KY
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It will have to better than the previous USA tour the Black Cats took...back in the early 2000's. We lost to a couple teams like Charleston Battery and the Vancouver Whitecaps. As a Premier League team, I knew that was going to spell trouble for the lads, and alas, Sunderland set the mark for lowest point total in a season (until good ole Derby came along).

    I would love that though. Would definitely make it to a game here but absolutely HAVE to visit the SoL one of these days!
     
  24. hewittdallas

    hewittdallas Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 5, 2009
    Huntsville, AL
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I would like to think we could make another trip to the States a much more enjoyable trip for everyone this time around. :)

    We definitely have a ways to go before a SoL trip becomes even remotely viable. However, that is the goal. We want to bring the club here and we want to go there. And we aren't going to let up until we accomplish both of these tasks, which will probably take us several years to do.

    With that said, I am looking for ideas on where we go from here as a supporters group? Are we wanting to push forward with a membership system? I'm really looking for input as we have several directions available to us. Fortunately, we're in no hurry so we can proceed at our own pace and with the quality and support that has defined every step of our journey so far.

    So let me hear it. What do you want to see in SAFC USA? What are your dreams?
     
  25. abitaamber

    abitaamber New Member

    Jun 8, 2009
    Club:
    Sunderland AFC
    American Mackem...Union/Sunderland fan as well here in Philly. In fact, I'm headed over to Tir Na Nog in Center City to watch the match in just a few minutes. And, I'll be at Union match tonite.
     

Share This Page