Let shut them up! and shout from the rooftops!

[Bermuda Saint]

It has been mentioned before that we need to grow our fan base across the world to help us in the FFP rules. This is very important to the long term future of SFC. If we can increase our off field revenue, we will be able to offer bigger wages/transfers/contracts.

 

The media continue to ignore us and constantly down play the way we win, always saying the other team had a bad day, injuries, gelling etc.

They are forced to write about us when we continue to outperform and challenge the elite clubs and sit near the top of the table. But if you listen carefully, read through all the "we had an off day against the Saints" B.S., you will hear snippets of admiration. A renewed look at a club doing things the right way, good football, good financials, good academy etc.

 

SAINTS ARMY!! we are winning them over , we are gaining new fans!. We as the devoted red and white army need to attack, assault the web pages, the blogs with positives post about our club, when i read the big footballing sites i see so many comments form those big clubs. We need to take the effort some of us put in this web forum and post your support for the Saints on these footballing sites. Let the world know that we have a vibrant, passionate and exciting club.

 

Lets do our part to spread the word, show the world we saints fans exist, stand up for our good play and ability to overcome adversity. We can do our part in helping to spread the word and promote the SFC.

 

I will get KL to give each person a free ticket to a home game for everyone who brings in a new fan!

 

March on Saints! March on!

[scotty]

How, exactly, do you propose to get KL to dish out these free tickets? Over breakfast?

[Bermuda Saint]

second week in second place and the silence is deafening. It is a shame how we are ignored by the media. I have to scan down 20 articles of multiple references to the games the big 6 played to finally find a small snippet of our win.

 

Will we be able to break that glass ceiling? or will the media, referees, FA conspire to keep the small club with a little fan base from reaching it's cash cow, footballing shangri-la, know as the Champions league. Will they forgo the millions they may think they may lose if a mega club is not filling up its stadiums and viewership/tv packages.

 

I have noticed the last two games the refs have added a bit more time on after the allotted extra time, just to add a little more pressure on us, both times we were leading by one goal. Maybe I am being too cynical, but I hope they let the players on the field determine the outcome of the games regardless of their perceived PL status.

[SaintBobby]

It has been mentioned before that we need to grow our fan base across the world to help us in the FFP rules. This is very important to the long term future of SFC. If we can increase our off field revenue, we will be able to offer bigger wages/transfers/contracts.

 

The media continue to ignore us and constantly down play the way we win, always saying the other team had a bad day, injuries, gelling etc.

They are forced to write about us when we continue to outperform and challenge the elite clubs and sit near the top of the table. But if you listen carefully, read through all the "we had an off day against the Saints" B.S., you will hear snippets of admiration. A renewed look at a club doing things the right way, good football, good financials, good academy etc.

 

SAINTS ARMY!! we are winning them over , we are gaining new fans!. We as the devoted red and white army need to attack, assault the web pages, the blogs with positives post about our club, when i read the big footballing sites i see so many comments form those big clubs. We need to take the effort some of us put in this web forum and post your support for the Saints on these footballing sites. Let the world know that we have a vibrant, passionate and exciting club.

 

Lets do our part to spread the word, show the world we saints fans exist, stand up for our good play and ability to overcome adversity. We can do our part in helping to spread the word and promote the SFC.

 

I will get KL to give each person a free ticket to a home game for everyone who brings in a new fan!

March on Saints! March on!

 

If it's free, can I have six. Thanks.

[Goatboy]

Can Bermuda Saint steal the Crown of Loon from long term monarch ART?

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

Can Bermuda Saint steal the Crown of Loon from long term monarch ART?

 

I was thinking the same thing.Long way to go before he comes anywhere near stealing fART's crown though

[Danger Mouse]

If you want to help the club attract more overseas supporters, you can come and join us at http://www.reddit.com/r/saintsfc and http://www.reddit.com/r/soccer

 

Reddit is a big, BIG, American social-media/linkdump website if you didn't already know. /r/soccer is the largest sports subreddit in terms of subscribers and /r/saintsfc is one of the fastest growing team subreddits in percentage terms.

 

Here's the thread for Pelle's goal yesterday btw http://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/2hmdy6/pelle_goal_against_qpr/ which garnered ~4000 upvotes and may have even been the #1 link on the whole site for a while!

 

We (/r/saintsfc) get a slow steady stream of new, mostly American, fans introducing themselves... saying they started supporting us after seeing us play on TV, playing as us in FIFA or Football Manager, etc. Asking the kinds of questions you'd expect of someone who wasn't brought up in a football culture and have no family ties to any football team.

 

So yeah, it's a great place for local fans to connect with new fans from around the world and share their passion, make them feel welcome and a part of the saints family.

[david in sweden]

second week in second place and the silence is deafening. It is a shame how we are ignored by the media. I have to scan down 20 articles of multiple references to the games the big 6 played to finally find a small snippet of our win.

 

 

A great many people in the media, (and sadly... not a few on this site) had a field day in the summer predicting our early demise...and guess what ..?

 

I think many are hiding behind the door and hoping no-one will remember their " idiotic outbursts " ..and with an eventual defeat ...will come back with headlines confirming their original mad prophesíes...

 

Just typical of journos' who rave about the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham .. when they get one point from a game, but then conveniently overlook Saints' successful performances.

 

I'm more than happy to ignore them all with contempt, and continue grinning every time I look at the Premier League table.........

[the_emu]

There is already some good work being done by the Saints marketing dept but IMHO this should be on someones to do list in the club...

 

1 - Acquire saintsfc.com domain for website to increase SEO exposure globally (notice ATM it goes to some ropey fanzine site which can't be good).

 

2 - Get rid of the current OS and replace it with a website that:

a - Has look and feel that is unique to Saintsfc

b - Doesn't have embarrassing pay per click adds in it

c - Seamless integration with ticketing and e-commerce platforms.

 

3 - Improve ticketing

a - Introduce privileged club membership (beyond season ticket holders),

b - Move away from paper based ticketing

c - Introduce dynamic reward and promotion based ticketing prices

 

4 - Continue what we are doing in the football department, investing in youth and performing on the park.

[Goatboy]

There is already some good work being done by the Saints marketing dept but IMHO this should be on someones to do list in the club...

 

1 - Acquire saintsfc.com domain for website to increase SEO exposure globally (notice ATM it goes to some ropey fanzine site which can't be good).

 

2 - Get rid of the current OS and replace it with a website that:

a - Has look and feel that is unique to Saintsfc

b - Doesn't have embarrassing pay per click adds in it

c - Seamless integration with ticketing and e-commerce platforms.

 

3 - Improve ticketing

a - Introduce privileged club membership (beyond season ticket holders),

b - Move away from paper based ticketing

c - Introduce dynamic reward and promotion based ticketing prices

 

4 - Continue what we are doing in the football department, investing in youth and performing on the park.

 

*LIKE*

[LVSaint]

I wore an old Saints shirt for my son's footy game on Saturday and was complimented several times (including by the ref) on the current Saints team and our position.

In Las Vegas, they know who we are....

 

NBC recently spent oodles of cash acquiring the EPL rights from useless Fox, ensuring that more people would be able to get all the games for 'pretty much' free.

[SaintTex]

I wore an old Saints shirt for my son's footy game on Saturday and was complimented several times (including by the ref) on the current Saints team and our position.

In Las Vegas, they know who we are....

 

NBC recently spent oodles of cash acquiring the EPL rights from useless Fox, ensuring that more people would be able to get all the games for 'pretty much' free.

I think t-shirts and jersey are effective advertisements here in the States. I have a ringer t-shirt with the Southampton logo. Can't remember where online I found it. It was not easy.

 

Try going onto any kit or jersey website and try finding Southampton gear. Pretty much barren. Plenty of Arsenal, United, City, Chelsea gear for sure.

 

Also, in the states, it would be nice to get Southampton on TV now and again, but they haven't been on TV since week one with Liverpool. I thought this week it would happen for sure, being it's a Sunday game and an "attractive" opponent, but...

 

guess what? Chelsea v Arsenal is schedule at the same time. Guess what American TV is going to show?

 

You can still get every Southampton game streaming here in the States, it just takes effort and is not as "visible".

[LVSaint]

 

Also, in the states, it would be nice to get Southampton on TV now and again, but they haven't been on TV since week one with Liverpool. I thought this week it would happen for sure, being it's a Sunday game and an "attractive" opponent, but...

 

I assume you mean the NBC local (terrestrial) channel ?

 

I expect you probably know this - NBC Sports is not 'free' but it comes included with a mid level tier of digital tv service. If you get the channel then it's more than likely that you have access to the five live Extra time TV channels and all streaming live games. (To be honest, it's one of the biggest reasons we still have a Directv subscription.)

[Bermuda Saint]

I think t-shirts and jersey are effective advertisements here in the States. I have a ringer t-shirt with the Southampton logo. Can't remember where online I found it. It was not easy.

 

Try going onto any kit or jersey website and try finding Southampton gear. Pretty much barren. Plenty of Arsenal, United, City, Chelsea gear for sure.

 

Also, in the states, it would be nice to get Southampton on TV now and again, but they haven't been on TV since week one with Liverpool. I thought this week it would happen for sure, being it's a Sunday game and an "attractive" opponent, but...

 

guess what? Chelsea v Arsenal is schedule at the same time. Guess what American TV is going to show?

 

You can still get every Southampton game streaming here in the States, it just takes effort and is not as "visible".

 

I hope some of that 30 mill profit from player sales will go towards international promotion. Here is where Kreuger need to earn his money, take advantage of the huge North American market which he is familiar with.

I see Saints are assisting with away game ticket prices and coach assistance to get larger away support. This is good use of our extra cash, to give something back to the fans, making games more affordable to more fans every now and then will help with the support base. Hmmm.....who wants to go in with me and start a Saints T shirt and jersey store in North America? Hey Saints marketing team, do ya read this, send me some promo stuff to hand out at the Toronto FC games, they get what football is all about. The most English football crowd feeling (beer, singing, beer, slagging off refs, beer, cheering win or loss, beer, singing on the way home....) to a game than any other NA fans.

 

Thanks for the reddit.com site, added that one to my bookmarks.

[david in sweden]

I wore an old Saints shirt for my son's footy game on Saturday and was complimented several times (including by the ref) on the current Saints team and our position.

In Las Vegas, they know who we are....

 

NBC recently spent oodles of cash acquiring the EPL rights from useless Fox, ensuring that more people would be able to get all the games for 'pretty much' free.

 

 

can only be good news, I've watched games on Fox Channel before and their " expert " studio trio were appauling, or was it just that they were American?

[monosaint]

I think t-shirts and jersey are effective advertisements here in the States. I have a ringer t-shirt with the Southampton logo. Can't remember where online I found it. It was not easy.

 

Try going onto any kit or jersey website and try finding Southampton gear. Pretty much barren. Plenty of Arsenal, United, City, Chelsea gear for sure.

 

Also, in the states, it would be nice to get Southampton on TV now and again, but they haven't been on TV since week one with Liverpool. I thought this week it would happen for sure, being it's a Sunday game and an "attractive" opponent, but...

 

guess what? Chelsea v Arsenal is schedule at the same time. Guess what American TV is going to show?

 

You can still get every Southampton game streaming here in the States, it just takes effort and is not as "visible".

 

Wrong about Liverpool V Saints being the only game. I was in Seattle when Saints were away to WHU and we found it on the Cable Service. You could select whichever game you wanted. Only thing was it was 1 hour later than actual Kick-Off but they did show the whole game.

[Saint_Abroad]

I assume you mean the NBC local (terrestrial) channel ?

 

I expect you probably know this - NBC Sports is not 'free' but it comes included with a mid level tier of digital tv service. If you get the channel then it's more than likely that you have access to the five live Extra time TV channels and all streaming live games. (To be honest, it's one of the biggest reasons we still have a Directv subscription.)

 

Wrong about Liverpool V Saints being the only game. I was in Seattle when Saints were away to WHU and we found it on the Cable Service. You could select whichever game you wanted. Only thing was it was 1 hour later than actual Kick-Off but they did show the whole game.

 

LV is very much correct. Verizon FIOS is the only one that doesn't show every game on the boob tube but you can definitely get it online through NBC Sports Live Extra.

 

Monosaint, you were probably watching on Comcast which makes you go through menus and plays the game like an on demand video.

 

Saints for everyone! Wooohoooo!

[SaintTex]

LV is very much correct. Verizon FIOS is the only one that doesn't show every game on the boob tube but you can definitely get it online through NBC Sports Live Extra.

Indeed some cable providers don't provide the ExtraTime TV Channels and only offer the ExtraTime Streaming. NBCSN does show two to three games a week on the boob tube, but it is often the big clubs.

 

can only be good news, I've watched games on Fox Channel before and their " expert " studio trio were appauling, or was it just that they were American?

Trust me, most Americans find the FoxSports TV "soccer" coverage awful and derided their "expert analysis" (namely, Eric Wynalda).

 

NBCSN's all around EPL coverage and their in studio talent with Rebecca Lowe, Robbie Mustoe, and Robbie Earle have been excellent and a serious upgrade since taking over broadcasting rights last season.

[aussiesaint20]

Our international supporter groups are gaining some serious traction at the moment. I'm hoping the club can recognise this sooner rather than later. At the moment I run 12 of our international supporter groups in partnership with 45 Saints supporting fans in their relevant countries . I pass on my digital marketing knowledge, identify and train new admins, create engaging content and keep an eye on the day to day running of the pages, amongst various other roles - while they help to provide Saints content in 8 different languages and assist in organising live events where possible. Very involved and time consuming, but I'm extremely passionate about it.

 

Last week the 12 groups had a combined reach of 161,000! An impressive amount of eyes reading up on Southampton! This is certainly the time to capitalise on the incredible growth of the Premier League around the world, as stated before, it has direct links to our future expenditure. Aston Villa are one club that's seen the writing on the wall. They have a full-time digital media manager just for their Chinese fan base.

 

KENYA FACEBOOK: Southampton FC Kenya 10,500+

THAILAND FACEBOOK: SaintsFC Thailand 10,000+

BRAZIL FACEBOOK: Southampton FC Brasil 7,000+

INDIA FACEBOOK: Southampton FC India

AUSTRALIA FACEBOOK: Southampton Australian Supporters

POLAND FACEBOOK: Southampton Polska

ARGENTINA FACEBOOK: Southampton FC Argentina

HONG KONG FACEBOOK: SaintsHK

CANADA FACEBOOK: Southampton FC Canada

USA FACEBOOK: United States of Southamptonfc

NEW ZEALAND FACEBOOK: Southampton FC New Zealand Supporters

BEST of the BEST Fan Content FACEBOOK: Global SaintsFC

Edited 1 October, 2014 by aussiesaint20

[St Jim]

Our international supporter groups are gaining some serious traction at the moment. I'm hoping the club can recognise this sooner rather than later. At the moment I run 12 of our international supporter groups in partnership with 45 Saints supporting fans in their relevant countries . I pass on my digital marketing knowledge, identify and train new admins, create engaging content and keep an eye on the day to day running of the pages, amongst various other roles - while they help to provide Saints content in 8 different languages and assist in organising live events where possible. Very involved and time consuming, but I'm extremely passionate about it.

 

Last week the 12 groups had a combined reach of 161,000! An impressive amount of eyes reading up on Southampton! This is certainly the time to capitalise on the incredible growth of the Premier League around the world, as stated before, it has direct links to our future expenditure. Aston Villa are one club that's seen the writing on the wall. They have a full-time digital media manager just for their Chinese fan base.

 

KENYA FACEBOOK: Southampton FC Kenya 10,500+

THAILAND FACEBOOK: SaintsFC Thailand 10,000+

BRAZIL FACEBOOK: Southampton FC Brasil 7,000+

INDIA FACEBOOK: Southampton FC India

AUSTRALIA FACEBOOK: Southampton Australian Supporters

POLAND FACEBOOK: Southampton Polska

ARGENTINA FACEBOOK: Southampton FC Argentina

HONG KONG FACEBOOK: SaintsHK

CANADA FACEBOOK: Southampton FC Canada

USA FACEBOOK: United States of Southamptonfc

NEW ZEALAND FACEBOOK: Southampton FC New Zealand Supporters

BEST of the BEST Fan Content FACEBOOK: Global SaintsFC

 

 

The Southampton Australian Supporters link didn't work (there's a /pages that needs to be removed).

 

Here it is - AUSTRALIA FACEBOOK: Southampton Australian Supporters

[aussiesaint20]

The Southampton Australian Supporters link didn't work (there's a /pages that needs to be removed).

 

Here it is - AUSTRALIA FACEBOOK: Southampton Australian Supporters

 

Cheers Jim,

 

All links working now.

[dubai_phil]

second week in second place and the silence is deafening. It is a shame how we are ignored by the media. I have to scan down 20 articles of multiple references to the games the big 6 played to finally find a small snippet of our win.

 

Will we be able to break that glass ceiling? or will the media, referees, FA conspire to keep the small club with a little fan base from reaching it's cash cow, footballing shangri-la, know as the Champions league. Will they forgo the millions they may think they may lose if a mega club is not filling up its stadiums and viewership/tv packages.

 

I have noticed the last two games the refs have added a bit more time on after the allotted extra time, just to add a little more pressure on us, both times we were leading by one goal. Maybe I am being too cynical, but I hope they let the players on the field determine the outcome of the games regardless of their perceived PL status.

 

Bermuda.

 

I've taken a lot of stick on here over the years about golf. But the fact is for 14 years now a couple of times a year I work with many Snappers Journos and TV people at the events and have got to know them well. Most of the guys cover Football or are of course supporters of other teams.

They all know I'm a barking Saints fan. Over the years of our journey around the lower leagues their attitude was one of sympathy in fact they looked at me in the same way we would now look at a Skate.

When we got promoted they all had that "make the most of it" yo-yo club" attitude

Last year it was all "Flash in the pan" "Yes your academy is wonderful but you just had a lucky year" "Shaw is all very well and good but where are the others?".

 

Last week everything was different. For the first time their attitude was one of "respect". This time they were talking about whether Tadic or Pelle would be the signing of the season. The talked of the fact we seemed to have more depth in the squad, we had kept the unity and team ethic.

They talked of how they laugh when Utd Scousehampton & the Geordies need time to Gel and yet we gelled from the 3rd game of the season.

 

There are a few grumpy Sods out there. Journos need their sources to get their stories further up the page and massage their own egos but also to help their career move.

 

As one of the Telegraph writers said. "there IS a story now at Southampton, there is something deeper than just a flash in the pan. Quite a few of us have started to look more behind the scenes and we have found things that are interesting to investigate and to wrote about. "You guys" are now finally getting higher up the page than the stories of Luke Shaw going to Nandos after another Utd defeat"

 

It has been a HUGE joke down here that I got mugged by the Chinese Golf Channel for an interview (about the Volunteers & behind the scenes stuff) - BUT they knew everything about us. The detail in their chat went as far as to say Chelsea were mad to let us sign Bertrand. They wanted to know how long JWP would be out injured and my favourite - why did you let Boruc go on loan? Has Gazza improved THAT much in one year?

 

Certain grumpy sods (we all know who they are) will always be negative. But there is a change, people working at all levels in the media now have RESPECT for us.

 

And quite a few of them would LOVE us to stick it to the Big Money boys. Because for them that will mean they can write proper stories abut how it was done, rather than articles about Hair Transplants, Fast Food or In door Firework displays.

 

#onlygoodenoughtogetusto8thplace

#somebodyhastokeeppressureonchelsea

 

The Sky taters all said "Hope you can keep it going"

 

Now, what is REALLY needed is for some partner to come in and give Aussiesaint the support and some sponsorship funds to turn his GlobalSFC information sharing service into a proper "Recruitment" operation. The basics have been put in place by the fans around the world under his brilliant energy & efforts. Now is the time for the club to help.

 

So many from around the world attend Language schools, Colleges, Universities in our "catchment area" they return home and start the small clusters. Again, to become truly global somebody should be communicating with them to bring groups to "less popular matches". It is not Rocket Science.

 

Now a small push to help promote our FB pages to wider audiences, easier systems for Foreign based fans to buy packages to get to the games or at least Match Day Tickets. And help and content from the Media Team that can be easily translated and LOCALISED into Chinese, Russian, Portugese, Spanish & other Asian languages so we can get more "Locals" on board

[Bermuda Saint]

excellent work Phil, you should put your resume into SFC media dept., your attitude and ideas would be an assets to any club.

 

I don't know where you live, but here in North America there is very little coverage of our great story. I agree, in the football world (not NA soccer), real football jurno's who are enamored by the game and not the glitz will see our story as print worthy, but NA jurno's are not as concerned about the substance as they are about the GLITZ.

 

SFC does not register high enough on the Richter scale to register in the fan support dept. But there is a ripple.... people are enjoying and nodding in approval to the way we have progressed in the last few years. SFC (Kreuger) must capitalize on this and do everything they can to promote SFC globally (NA should be Kreugers specialty!). If we keep up this good form, we will get the press from even the most incompetent of jurno's that just regurgitate top story.

 

The game is rigged! I cannot emphasis this point enough, FFP has made off field revenue a must for any club that wants to challenge the big boys. If SFC can be the new fans favorite and grow globally, we will take so much pressure off our club having to produce wonder kids, buy low and sell high, wage restrictions, transfer vultures etc.....

 

spread the word,

saints deserve to be heard,

Supporting Saints is not a sin,

as the Saints go Marching in!