D.C. Toffees - Everton Supporters Club in Washington, D.C.

In the first of a series of posts on established and newly formed supporters clubs in the United states we talked to Omar who founded the D.C. Toffees - an affiliated Everton FC supporters club in the nations capital.

When & how was your supporters club founded?
DC Toffees was founded in July 2011, after the Everton-DC United match.  The Boston Evertonians were able to assist DC supporters in getting access to the tryout and the player meet and greet, and once we saw the support here in DC, we thought we should have a supporters' group of our own.

Evertonians from all over the US & beyond gathered outside RFK stadium for a tailgate in advance of the Everton vs DC United game in 2011. A very memorable day for US Blues.

How many members do you have and what is the mix of US fans/UK/Ireland ex-pats?
We have 75 Facebook members and 24 official members.  We have a good mix of
US fans and ex-pats.

Have many of your members travelled to the UK or elsewhere to watch the Blues?
I believe 3 members have traveled to matches thus far.

Where do you regularly get together to watch the Blues?
We regularly meet at Fado in Washington DC for all televised matches (not those on tape delay or Internet-only.)

The DC Toffees getting together for an EFC game at Fado

What kind of numbers are gathering there?
6-8 members for a typical game

How do you promote the supporters club and find new members?
We promote the club on Facebook and via retweets on Twitter; via Everton USA; and in-person recruiting at Fado

Have you affiliated with Everton and what are the benefits of that which your members use the most?
We've just recently affiliated with Everton.

How do most of your members stay in touch with the regular developments on and off the field for the Blues?
UK Newspapers and the Official Site.

In what way do you think Everton USA can be of use to Evertonians based here stateside.
Everton USA has lessons learned that can help other groups starting up.  It is also a great place for all the clubs to share information and join other clubs as they travel.

For more information or to get in touch with the D.C. Toffees see the links below:
www.facebook.com/groups/dctoffees
www.dctoffees.com
www.twitter.com/dctoffees

US Everton FC Supporters Clubs

Everton USA grew out of the original North American Everton supporters club EFCSCNA based in Chicago and strives to unite Evertonians across the USA. We aim to support the formation of local Everton Supporters Clubs and to help foster interest in the club in general among soccer fans in the United States.

There are a number of active Official and emerging Everton FC supporters clubs detailed below. Please reach out if you wish to add information on a new supporters group.
usa.efc@gmail.com

Boston - Boston Evertonians
http://www.bostonevertonians.com/
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_201708583192640&ref=ts

New York - EFC NYC
http://www.efcnyc.com/  
http://www.facebook.com/groups/114864503371/
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/efcnyc

Cincinnati Toffees @cinti_efc
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Cincinnati.Toffees/

Chicago - Chicago Evertonians
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_174849769226668&ap=1

Seattle - Seattle Evertonians 
http://www.facebook.com/groups/46319155892/

Michigan - Michigan Everton Supporters 
http://www.facebook.com/groups/250105471690523/

Washington DC - DC Toffees
http://www.dctoffees.com/  
http://www.facebook.com/groups/DCToffees

Philadelphia - Philadelphia Evertonians
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PhiladelphiaEvertonians/

Southern California LA/SD/OC - SoCal Evertonians
http://www.facebook.com/groups/SoCalEverton/

North & South Carolina - Tarheel Toffees
http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/tarheeltoffees/

North Texas/Dallas - Everton FC Supporters of North Texas 
http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/118678534906192/ 

Nebraska/Omaha - Cornhusker Evertonians
http://www.facebook.com/groups/CornhuskerToffees/

Baltimore - Baltimore Toffees
http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/248436785287358/

Atlanta - Dixie Everton Supporters Club
https://www.facebook.com/groups/dixietoffees/

Kentucky - Bourbon Toffees
http://www.facebook.com/groups/494668493904442/

Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Evertonians
http://www.facebook.com/groups/429023373834872/

Memphis Evertonians
http://www.facebook.com/groups/405070036234662/

Las Vegas Evertonians
http://www.facebook.com/groups/351626114936642/

Ohio Toffees
http://www.facebook.com/groups/317679531675385/

Houston Evertonians
http://www.facebook.com/groups/224175724384740/

Northern California Evertonians
http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/134488800044312/

South Florida Evertonians
http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/240033012795354/

Minnesota Toffees
http://www.facebook.com/groups/545683732110698/

Oregon Evertonians
http://www.facebook.com/groups/444083752327377/

Denver Evertonians
http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/303904503063427/

Arizona Evertonians
http://www.facebook.com/groups/118906238279450/

Indiana Evertonians
http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/515398935149152/

St Louis Toffees
http://www.facebook.com/groups/446644118724916/

Richmond VA Evertonians
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Richmond-Evertonians/390368287719784

Canada
Toronto Toffees
https://www.facebook.com/groups/504513372922760/

Vancouver Evertonians - Vancouver, BC
http://www.facebook.com/groups/474566122578455/

Costa Rica
http://www.facebook.com/TicoBlues

Have you started or do you want to start a local group? - let us know usa.efc@gmail.com and get involved

Everton USA facebook group - support the mothership!
http://www.facebook.com/groups/evertonusa/

How do I start a local Everton Supporters Club

1) Start a facebook group

2) Set up a dedicated twitter account - there are literally thousands of US Evertonians on twitter and they are becoming more connected by the week through initiatives like follow friday (ff) or blue monday #bm. It will be searchable and will help you climb the search rankings quickly so local fans can find your group.

3) Establish a gmail/google account for the club. It can serve as the email address, a communal storage for shared files/member databases, photos, a club blog etc all from one account.

4) Publicize your group in large facebook groups or on everton related forums (got, nsno, big soccer, toffeeweb etc) of which there are many. Everton USA will promote all of the clubs in the directory here obviously.

5) Build your twitter account by following Evertonians and adding good everton related content. there's a huge amount of activity from Everton fans on there during games - harness it by posting good content and obviously the Everton USA account will help with retweets and posts about your club. Your local bar may also help get the word out if they are harnessing social media.

6) Request that your club is added to the Supporters club directories of the large established Everton websites like Bluekipper.com and Toffeeweb.com

7) Recruit Evertonians in your local soccer bars. It'll seem weird approaching fellow blues out of the blue, but its much more efficient than finding local evertonians through other means.

8) Try to secure some coverage from your local media. They like covering the EPL typically and will often do features on emerging supporters clubs.

9) Start a website. If you have successfully publicized your group you should have very few problems climbing the google rankings. Posts in Everton forums (particularly nsno.co.uk) will help substantially with this early on too.

10) If you have successfully pulled together 10-15 Blues it may be time to think about becoming affiliated with the Club as a supporters club. Reach out to us at usa.efc@gmail.com for more information on the process or contact the club directly.


And finally somes word of encouragement we received from "NomadskiEFC" of the Nsno.co.uk - Everton Forum:

"Keep spreading the word boys.
Let all know that the mighty Blues may yet let sunshine into those darkened Stateside hearts, clouded by mentions of Manchesters and Uniteds, confused by the ill thought out blues of Chelsea, or corrupted by the Liverpool Reds.

Let them know that the true light stretches beyond the seemingly endless mountains of Catalan, or the very Real beauty of Madrid, that the temptations of a feast in Milan or a finely tuned Munich machine may still leave their soul empty.

In the worldly church of Football, may our prophets here present, go forth and tell the world that they, too, can be Chosen, the right and Classy path is cleared for the People who Know their History, an aged yet still mighty temple on Goodison Avenue awaits their pilgrimage with open arms, and Afro wigs.

Go. Now."