How A Grassroots Youth Football Club Can Attract Loyal Fans and Sponsors in their Community

Most football clubs in Nigeria underestimate the power of Public Relation (PR) in growing and building loyal fans and sponsors. But a vibrant community relationship strategy may be the key to growing as well as building loyality among fans and sponsors in your community.

Top class clubs like Real Madrid can attract fans and sponsors from anywhere in the world, but it may not be so for a small grassroots youth team in one remote village or city in Nigeria. The Youth team may not have such competitive edge or media clout to even attract corporate brands. But they may be able to attract a philanthropist or group of philanthropists who are inspired to sponsor the team due to the team's involvement in community service.

Imagine if your football team take off playing and decide to cover and grade a major motorable road in your community. With your team's banner or flag up while car owners, obviously the rich people in your community, drive through the road and see the boys at work. This is how to win the people's goodwill and eventual loyality to your club.

Cleaning the environment and filling pot holes on the road is something that your club can do without money. The players just need to volunteer themselves to bring brooms, cutlasses, shovels, wheel barrows and headpans...and get to work. You may decide to go and clean the community square or market or other public places to get much attention.

It may not be cleaning or mending roads in your community.  The point is, look for a need your team can fill, then go ahead and fill it. With your club's flag or your players put on their jersey, so passerbys can easily identify the ones doing the community service.

During my days as a kid, we did Barber jobs to raise money for our youth club. We moved from house to house, cleaning houses, washing clothes and plates for people in our community and they paid us what they feel like. That also is a kind of community service, we used the money we got to buy balls and jerseys and other little things we needed.

Try this with your grassroots football club and see the kind of result you will get.