PORT ORCHARD, WA—Port Orchard Football Club General Manager Sam Ironside grew up in England and knows all about how business communities can raise up soccer sides and in doing so also lift community spirit and pride.
Sam is taking the turn of the calendar as a cue to begin exploring greater Kitsap for businesses interested in connecting with POFC, Kitsap’s semi-pro men’s soccer team. Port Orchard FC will play its third season in 2025 and Ironside will be busy finding partners to help operate the 501c3 nonprofit club.
Two Years Of Special Support
Port Orchard FC pays its bills and doesn’t ask players to pay fees for uniforms, field use, matches or training. The club has been able to do this thanks to businesses that have stepped up to make it happen and groups of founders and supporters buying season passes.
“All of our partners and sponsors have played an integral and necessary part in our team’s success over the last few seasons,” says Sam Ironside. “From day one, their generosity and kindness have helped POFC not only get off the ground but grow into the club we are today, whether it be through events, sponsorship, our fans showing up to our matches, hosting team get-togethers post-training, etc. Everyone has played a role, and I am forever grateful for that.”
How “High” Can POFC Go?
Head Coach Patrick Leonard has led POFC to back-to-back league championship matches. The club gets this question often: “How high can POFC go up the American soccer ladder?” In the USA the current arrangement values money over on-pitch results. Without country-wide promotion and relegation, clubs only rise as high as their bank accounts will let them.
“As we look to progress every season and grow, the importance and impact of our partners become greater and greater by the year,” Ironside says. “As we move into our third year of life as a club, ‘how far we can grow the club and what our next steps are’ has been the natural topic of conversation, and in order to make those next steps and dreams become reality, it can only happen with the connections that come with community involvement and partnerships. We have always planned on taking ourselves higher, and partners of any size and impact make a world of difference in what we are able to achieve.”
A Club Built To Connect With Kitsap
“As POFC, we have always taken immense pride in everyone who has partnered with our club to make things happen,” Sam states. “As a partner, we aim for it to be so much more than just a logo on a website or a name on a jersey. As we get bigger and better year by year, we aim to include our partners every step of the way, whether it be through jersey sponsorship, cross-promotion, hosting our events with the help of our partners, making partners pre and/or post-match venues for players and fans alike, the ability to sell merchandise, matchday sponsorship. The possibilities and benefits are endless, as is the impact that partnerships have on Port Orchard FC.”
Fans Remain Top Revenue Source
The main source of revenue for POFC is season pass sales. These annual entry lanyard cards are popular and fuel the club’s ability to rent fields, pay for medical trainers to care for players on match day and so much more. 2025 season pass sales begin in February.
Ironside knows it’s a special time when a club is so cIosely funded by the people who come to watch. “I can’t thank the fans enough for their involvement in POFC since we started the club, and I will consistently say and have been consistently proven right that we have the best fanbase around. The Founders and Season Pass Holders who have been with us since before we kicked a ball and showed up through sideways rain and blistering heat last year! They have been consistently our greatest partners and have had the biggest impact week in and week out, home or away. Moving into 2025, we want to expand our reach, bring more people to games, and give more exposure to what we have to offer both on and off the field because we want to continue to grow.”
How We All Can Lift POFC
Hopefully this article has been clear. Port Orchard FC is forever thankful for the support we have received in our first two years. Now as the club begins to look towards season three, our successes on and off the pitch are allowing us to dream big, but also plan for becoming bigger.
Sam is ready for the ride to continue. “Year by year, I realize more and more that every single person involved within this club can play a part in how far we can reach. With our 2025 theme being Connections, I am reaching out to our community to find those connections to potential community partners and find the right people to push this club forward and to new heights and new levels. Any suggestions, leads, or ideas are welcome; you know where to find me: sam@gopofc.com.
when are season passes available,
February 1st.