Working with your local team can open up a lot of opportunities as well if you get your foot in the door. I never exploited all of them because I worked for the club and had to set professional boundaries. However clubs need a lot of photographs both match-day and promotional, they have community events, gala dinners, and the team is full of cashed up young men who are getting married, having kids etc.

It can be an effective network depending on what you want to shoot.