Across the pond, a football (soccer) team is a head of the time when it comes to social media. Manchester city, is the first in football to do pre-match hangouts on Google+.

The club won the English Premier League for the first time last year and is looking for ways to connect with their fans. “The Third Half” is a question and answer session where fans can discuss upcoming games and various topics in regards to the club with special guests.

Patrick Vieira, Retired World Cup winner, now a club ambassador, will kick things off on September 23, prior to the Man City’s match against his old club, Arsenal.

Like all other Google+ hangouts, there is a 10 fan max. Fans now have an incentive to sign up and monitor the Google+ page.

Russell Stopford, head of digital for the club said, “With the social media landscape changing so quickly, we are constantly creating new, innovative ways to connect with the Club’s supporters. Our partnership with Google+ will give our fans the chance to interact with their favorite players in a way they’ve never been able to do before, wherever they are in the world.”

As long as City can keep up with the demand of featuring top stars, pundits and former players, they’ll do just fine. Twitter, Google+ and other social media sites have really made it possible for fans to feel more engaged with their team. City has embraced social media and have lead the way through most of it. By getting a partnership with Foursquare, they are able to gain even more attention.

Be apart of the 179,000 followers on Google + and 511,000 followers on Twitter. Go ahead, follow them at @MCFC.