When @SportingLagos got relegated in 2024, David Odunlami [@odunlami_ ] made a mistake he's now open about.
He let how he felt shape the club's communication.
They went quiet. Pulled back on game-day energy. Stopped doing the things that had made attending feel worth it. The reasoning made sense in the moment; they'd just been relegated, what was there to celebrate?
But here's what that thinking gets wrong.
Community isn't a reward for good results. It's not something fans give you when you're winning and take back when you're not. It's something you either keep investing in or you don't. And when you stop, people notice. Then attendance drops, engagement thins, and fans disappear quietly.
The job of communications isn't to reflect the club's mood. It's to hold the community together when the product is struggling. That's exactly when it matters most.
David figured this out a season later. They took a different approach, and by the end of the just-concluded season, fans were buying bus tickets for strangers to make sure the stadium is full.
The World Cup starts today. Before the national teams take over everything, read the full story of how Sporting Lagos rebuilt that community.
4-3-3 on paper but could very easily be a 4-3-1-2
With Alvarado playing in the hole behind a strike partnership of Julian Quinones and Jimenez.
Quinones is definitely the danger man and it’ll be interesting to see how South Africa deal with the Saudi pro league top scorer.
Produced both legs of Nigeria vs Senegal.
We keep getting better at this and the target is to be able to replicate live game perfection 10 times out of 10.
Thanks to the NFF for making this possible
Enjoy the highlights (Extended)
This video is a call for help.
My mum is battling with stroke, and it is slowly taking her life. She needs urgent medical funds to stay alive, and I cannot do this alone anymore. Please, if you have it in your heart to help or retweet this to someone who can, I beg of you 🤲🏻🙏