Social media used to fuel A-League growth

2010 ’tis the season to be tweeting. I began my investigations a few weeks ago, when I was looking for photos of the Sydney FC matches from before the season. It was then that I found the official Facebook page for the club.

I was very happy to see that the page had almost 1,500 members! This then linked me to the Twitter page for the club. I then became one of their 1,150 followers.

This led me to conduct some research: which clubs are embracing social media? I thought Sydney was doing quite well, until I dug deeper.

Perth Glory was another club I could find that had an active Twitter account. At the time of writing, their latest Tweet was talking down the idea of appealing the Michael Baird diving ban. Good decision. Alas, Perth Glory’s account had a downfall. Its 693 followers would have had to do some serious searching to originally find the page, as there is no mention of their Twitter account on their official page.

Looking at clubs followed, I managed to find an unofficial Melbourne Victory account. Now the aptly named account “victorytwit” hasn’t had a post since the 5th of January, and there is no indication as the whether it is an official account. Incidentally, the latest ‘tweet’ on the page was actually an article by Guy Hand from The Roar, discussing Kemp’s chances of being selected by Pim Verbeek.

The official Melbourne Victory page however, is another one that deserves a mention. It has been posting regularly and has over 2000 followers.

Back to the topic on hand, however I then stumbled across Gold Coast’s account. I was pleasantly directed to this through their official website, which has a fancy little widget displaying Tweets, similar to Sydney FC. Having already passed my test, I noticed that despite the club’s regular updates, they had a following of only 193. Surely this isn’t a sign of things to come?

I then turned my attention to the Newcastle Jets. The club whose future may come under the microscope come season’s end, are surely trying to connect to the community the easiest way possible? I thought I was correct, until I read the four posts that were on their page. On the 24th October 2008, Zura almost scored. Shock horror. That’s enough news to please a Jet’s fan for almost two years. I’ll be looking out for the next post.

Despite most clubs now having a Twitter, I was disappointed that they were not as well connected to the club as hoped. Only two clubs so far had integrated their account with their website, and had a small amount of followers on their Twitter and Facebook accounts.

I was beginning to give up my hope for the mass media revolution of the Hyundai A-League. Maybe clubs were just not interested. Until I became utterly stirred by how much I liked Melbourne Heart’s jersey. I began to delve deeper. I utterly enjoyed their website as well; somehow the colour scheme was something that just drew me to read further. I reached the bottom of the page, and was unreservedly hit with joy. Two inconspicuous widgets. One for Facebook, one for Twitter. It was achievable. Melbourne had the Heart to tweet!

The layout and design of the Heart’s Twitter page was simple, yet effective. It had a partisan look to it. It wasn’t anything out there, but it was wholeheartedly the club’s own. Simple red complemented the white, and the tweets are completely relevant to any Heart fan. Competitions, polls, transport advice for matches, and of course, match highlights. It is something perfect for a new growing club, which is wise to the growing nature of social media, and microblogging.

I then turned my attention to the Facebook widget. My smile grew wider. 10,000 followers! It was a joy to behold. The Heart may not be turning heads on the park as of yet, but they are definitely setting the standard for other clubs to follow. Melbourne definitely knows how to run a football club. Don’t be surprised if they surge ahead of Victory in a few years.

Before I finish up my post, I wish to make a very big mention to Wellington Phoenix’s Twitter page, which updated almost 12 times during my composition of this post. The moderators of these pages (Wellington and Melbourne Heart especially) deserve recognition. The pages are linked below, show your support for these clubs, and give them a reason to join the Tweeting bandwagon.

Adelaide United

Sydney FC

Perth Glory

Melbourne Victory (Official)

Melbourne Victory (Unofficial)

Wellington Phoenix

North Queensland Fury

Gold Coast United

Newcastle Jets

Melbourne Heart

And, of course, my own

Give these clubs YOUR support.