The weekend saw the Premier League return after its summer hiatus, and after two months of transfer announcements and club social media accounts attempting to fill the void, the big kick-off means that we now get to see what the clubs have been working on for when the season started.

There’s a difference between engaging fans in the off-season and when the season has already started. During the summer (especially when there isn’t a World Cup to speak of) football clubs could easily become somewhat irrelevant. They can’t comment on transfer rumours, and only become key players when signings are actually announced – and that seems to be what they’ve been pouring their efforts into.

But it seems as though the long summer has allowed teams to get their social media planning in, too. Last week, Amar Singh, Head of Content at West Ham United told Dan McLaren on the Digital Sport Insider podcast that his team had been running quizzes to try to create content to become part of their fans’ day every evening. They were also in the fairly unique position of attempting to engage new, Spanish-speaking fans from Mexico and the US after signing Javier Hernandez.

Other clubs have been doing similar work, by the looks of it. According to website The Online Rule on Twitter, only Premier League newcomers Brighton didn’t tweet out a graphic, video or gif when announcing their team. Every other club had something prepared for that all-important first team announcement of the new season.

Only one @premierleague team didn't use a graphic for their team news this weekend: newcomers Brighton #Digisport #SMSports

— The Online Rule ⚽️ (@OnlineRule) August 13, 2017

They didn’t manage to bag a goal in their first game back either, and so they weren’t able to show off a shiny new image for that either. Their fellow first-timers Huddesrfield, however, did get the chance to relish in their first ever Premier League victory – a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace – and scored their first goal. Unfortunately, the strike was officially marked down as an own goal, but whilst that might have ruined the graphic, it didn’t dampen the celebrations.

24' GOAL #cpfc 0-1 #htafc: @Mzanka SCORES! (AT) pic.twitter.com/UQdyHIDgHX

— Huddersfield Town (@htafcdotcom) August 12, 2017

One team used to scoring goals in the Premier League, though, is Arsenal. They didn’t have to wait long for their first goal of the season, either: new signing Alexandre Lacazette scored in just the first minute to send Arsenal fans wild.

WHAT A START TO HIS ARSENAL CAREER THAT IS!

LACAZETTEEEEEEEEE!#AFCvLCFC ???? 1-0 ???? (2) pic.twitter.com/QAmqB6D6Lx

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) August 11, 2017

Fans following the official Twitter account were even treated to some trivia and stats around the Frenchman’s first league goal for the club, as Arsenal’s digital team had clearly prepared for the start of the new season to give their fans more than just innovative new-signing videos. And you get the feeling that there will be plenty more innovation before the season’s out. As one of the most effective clubs on social media over the last few years, a late come-from-behind victory is sure to make engaging with their fans an even smoother process over the next few weeks.

It didn't take @LacazetteAlex long to make his mark ????#AFCvLCFC pic.twitter.com/hNUgPOffKy

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) August 11, 2017

After a summer of innovation and social media buzz around football clubs, it’s clear that this season will see a similar race between Premier League clubs to innovate and engage. The season may have just started, but that doesn’t mean the innovation will stop.