Official Supporters Club - Update 18/05

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Fellow Connacht fans,
After some earlier discussions we were invited to meet Branch officials and this meeting took place last night. A number of us joined Simon Heaslip of the PGB (Professional Games Board and Martin Fallon from the Branch.

They discussed their thoughts with us and were keen to listen to ours. The following is a draft what the upshot of this was and how we and they see things proceeding.

Supporters' Club details.

The overall mission is to increase the bond between Connacht Rugby and it's supporters and to be seen as one united group improving performance both on and off the field.

Who are we targeting? The Connacht Rugby family both at home and abroad.

This includes:

1.Season Ticket holders,
2.Supporters who can't commit to a season ticket, and
3.Supporters from outside the Connacht area who may only make one or two games a season but want to be part of the Connacht family.

Membership would be automatic for those under the first category (ST holders) or available at a cost of €20 to the other two groups.

What you get?

1. Weekly (online) newsletter.
2. Connacht Supporters' Club pin badge (exclusive to club members)
3.Ticket to one Magners (Celtic) League game (excluding interpros). Tickets must be applied for from the Connacht Branch and collected three days in advance of the chosen game.
4.Priority for major European and Celtic League games plus play-offs, knock-out phases etc.
5.Occasional Supporters' Club exclusive items, T-Shirts, scarves, beanies etc.
6.Supporters club forum with players and management, where pre-agreed questions submitted by Supporters' Club members are posed at a venue selected by the supporters (twice yearly).
7. Supporters’ Club player of the year award.
8. Supporters’ Club draw where members could win a coaching session for their chosen club/school team. Connacht Rugby would agree to make available one player and one member of coaching staff to a particular team selected by the winning Supporters' Club member. The draw could also include other goodies donated by Connacht Rugby.
9. Priority booking for away trips.
10. Supporters’ Club to designate two matches a season as the official away games and liaise with a travel partner to make packages available to Supporters' Club members.


These ten points have been collated by the Branch and are an assimilation of suggestions we have made and others they have put forward. In addition the Connacht Branch has made available the use of the clubhouse facilities to the Supporters' Club and have placed the administrative services of Martin Fallon at our disposal.

We felt it was a most positive meeting. Let's hear your thoughts.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:05:18:15:44:22 by lgwt@castlebar.

Have to run, but from first impressions.... superb stuff.

Major well done to everyone here who got involved and helped with it.

I'll chime in with my tuppence later on, but for now very happy

This all sounds great. Is it hoped that things will all be in place for the start of next season?

Very much so. There are a couple of hurdles to get over but where's the a will...and I'm sure there is. We'll kick everyone updated especially those of you based abroad like ummm.

Sounds good. Count me in! When can we purchase membership?

Quote:

greystones
This all sounds great. Is it hoped that things will all be in place for the start of next season?

Short answer, Absolutely yes.

It was just a small meeting, a beginning, but I'm sure if we all get our heads together we can achieve a serious amount with this,

What it will need is Volunteers.

Still a lot of kinks to be ironed out naturally, ST price still to be finalised etc.. but I'll let people know as soon as it goes live.

Besides LDTT, we've already spent your €20 on Anglo-Irish Bank Shares.

Quote:

LDTT
Sounds good. Count me in! When can we purchase membership?

I'd the time the season tickets come out, everything will need to be in place by then as it'll be with your season ticket.

Sounds great.

Quote:

lgwt@castlebar
Simon Heaslip of the PGC has asked for volunteers to come up to the clubhouse between 6.30 and 8.00 either (or both if anyone can make it) of the next two Tuesday evenings. Especially if we get into the Heineken the Branch want to chase for as many season tickets as possible and this involves phone calls, around 2,000 phone calls.
It's not exactly cold calling as the numbers have been garnered from people who've expressed an interest in Connacht Rugby. He's looking for around about 40 people so we'll need to bring well charged mobiles! I'm in for both and hope some of you in Galway can volunteer a little time.

Might even get a small liquid reward when we're done but that's not certain.

I'm just copying this across from the other thread,
This will be a great chance for people to meet up as well and put faces to names.

We can also meet people who don't frequent this website
and start to organise ourselves into a solid group

Quote:

packie

Quote:

lgwt@castlebar
Simon Heaslip of the PGC has asked for volunteers to come up to the clubhouse between 6.30 and 8.00 either (or both if anyone can make it) of the next two Tuesday evenings. Especially if we get into the Heineken the Branch want to chase for as many season tickets as possible and this involves phone calls, around 2,000 phone calls.
It's not exactly cold calling as the numbers have been garnered from people who've expressed an interest in Connacht Rugby. He's looking for around about 40 people so we'll need to bring well charged mobiles! I'm in for both and hope some of you in Galway can volunteer a little time.

Might even get a small liquid reward when we're done but that's not certain.

I'm just copying this across from the other thread,
This will be a great chance for people to meet up as well and put faces to names.

We can also meet people who don't frequent this website
and start to organise ourselves into a solid group

Packie I'd keep this request seperate, and this thread purely for feedback on the SC and suggestions. Great intiative all the same...

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I see the future, and it's Green again...

Great stuff. Well done lads you should be proud of ye're efforts so far. Thought this had gone cold. Maybe if you post a list of jobs and we can put down what we will volunteer for. I'd definitely be interested in doing what I can to help drive this forward.

One suggestion I'd recommend is the involvement of the supporters club in market research for our kit suppliers, to build a closer relationship with Rugbytech or whoever to make sure the right products are being created and also giving feed back to make sure they are available to the widest audience at affordable prices and so that the accessible outside of Ireland too where there is big ex-pat support.

It's crazily hard to get anything other than the most basic Connacht stuff anywhere outside of the Elverys' Galway stores (purchasing from Elvery's on-line store for outside Ireland is horrific for shipping costs).

Speaking of which after reading Istabraq's thread where he was looking to buy a Connacht jersey. Searching around on-line I found that the on-line rugby store Eggcatcher has stuff available on it (and a sale to boot) that I have never ever seen on the Official Connacht store which is actually run by Elvery's/Rugbytech and the only Google searchable store for Connacht stuff...

Eggcatcher Connacht Stuff

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I see the future, and it's Green again...

This is a superb idea and something I will definitely be getting involved in if I don't buy a season ticket. It's very good value as well considering you're getting a ticket included (just look at the IRFU supprters trust for a comparison) its a very nice touch.

One thing I would like to see more of is getting a bit of a buzz about the club on the internet (videos etc). Every other club provides highlights of most of their games etc but yet a simple search for Connacht on youtube usually just provides bits and pieces from other clubs scoring tries against us! I'm not for one denying that this happens quite regularly but a bit of balance would be nice, we have played some bloody good rugby at times, we should be channeling any positivity that comes out of our games and broadening our audience. Try to find footage of our victories over Munster and Leinster and it is fairly difficult.

If the supporters club could take responsibility for putting something together for every game then I'm sure the club will help out. All of our games are recorded whether it be for television or for analysis purposes by Merv. Access to game footage would be a good way of getting people invloved that may not have come down to the Sportsground on the night. I couldn't put a video together to save my life but I'd damned well try if I was given something to work with.

Great idea oh Green-and-Yellow striped one!

Gonna take this further when meeting one of the camera crew (hoefully this evening) and see what he thinks.

Great feedback, progessive stuff.

Very happy overall and I'd like to jump in with a few things which might need fleshing out

Quote:

lgwt@castlebar
Who are we targeting? The Connacht Rugby family both at home and abroad.

This bit really brought a smile to my face

Quote:

lgwt@castlebar
3.Ticket to one Magners (Celtic) League game (excluding interpros). Tickets must be applied for from the Connacht Branch and collected three days in advance of the chosen game.

Unless you mean "up to three days in advance" this could end up unworkable in practice. If fans are flying over for a Friday match there's no way they're going to be able to pick up a ticket on the Tuesday.

But to be honest it's no big deal. I'm happy to shell out for a match ticket on the day, anyway.

Making it non-interpro is a smart idea.

Quote:

lgwt@castlebar
8. Supporters’ Club draw where members could win a coaching session for their chosen club/school team. Connacht Rugby would agree to make available one player and one member of coaching staff to a particular team selected by the winning Supporters' Club member. The draw could also include other goodies donated by Connacht Rugby.

Whoever came up with this deserves a major pat on the back. Great idea. Lovely gesture.

You're right Ummm. It should read up to three days in advance.This is to prevent the masses stroming the clubhouse at the SG at half six on a Friday night. This was discussed and we felt that we could work our way around it if someone was coming to town for the weekend, "meet at the gate half an hour before kick-off (I'll be the fella in a green jersey) type of way. Don't foresee it being it problem really.

Jaysus the afternoon before the Toulon game last year I was carrying more unstamped envelopes than a local planning officer on his way out of the FF tent in Ballybrit.

Great stuff, some great ideas there. Keep up the good work

Great Stuff lads, I've lurked on here a small bit but registered just to say how pleased I am this may be happening.
A bit of feedback from the branch and some from the fans to them could go a long way towards strengthening ties and building a more loyal fanbase.

All very good. A welcome synergy. I will be in. Hopefully CAT 1 (ST holder). If not definitely CAT 2.

Quote:

sparking
Great Stuff lads, I've lurked on here a small bit but registered just to say how pleased I am this may be happening.
A bit of feedback from the branch and some from the fans to them could go a long way towards strengthening ties and building a more loyal fanbase.

Welcome on board sparking, always good to have a new voice on board. Please feel free to contribute your thoughts and suggestions to the mix, all are welcome...

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I see the future, and it's Green again...

I can only echo everyone's positivity at the announcement and honestly think this is a brilliant idea. I can't wait to sign up and may even sign the Mrs up as well.

The one thing that I keep coming back to though is the standard of the Connacht website. I appreciate that there are severe financial limitations on the branch and the cost of setting up and maintaining a new bells and whistles website would probably be the equivalent of the wages for that new centre we are dying for but I think in terms of taking a long term strategic view into how the branch market Connacht i honestly think we have no choice but to catch up with the rest of the professional sporting world.

One suggestion I had was maybe we could free up a bit of space on the jersey and sell this to a web agency in exchange for delivering and maintaining a new website. Maybe it wouldn't give us the website for free but at the least it may make it more financially viable.

A new website would be able to deliver video footage of games as well as interviews and pre match build up. It would contain a shop where merchandise could be sold and even have a special page for the official supporters club that could grant access on a membership basis.

I dont think you can understate the value of a decent website in this day and age. Although if a new website was not acheivable for at least another couple of years the supporters club could still be a success but IMO a new website would be exactly what the supporters club needs to really get it up and running.

One suggestion I have, but I am not sure how it can be done but I am great at spending other peoples money, is getting more people from outside of Galway into the sports ground for matches. I know there is the problem of kick off times which severly limits who can get down to a game on a Friday night but what i would love one day to see is if maybe a group put a small bit of money together and could put on maybe even just one return bus a season to a rugby club or something in one of the other counties in the province and say look the branch will give you 10% off your match day tickets and here we have laid on a free bus with a driver for you to make it down and back and come down and support your province. Maybe the independent supporters club on here could see if could get a few hundred together to do something like this.

Oh and just one more thing I would like to see the branch do is launch an app for Connacht rugby. I don't have an eye phone myself but it seems to be the way to go these days in terms of brand marketing.

Not sure how feasible any of this is and I am probably only going over old ground but just a few thoughts anyways lads.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:05:20:14:13:38 by The IMF.

There is already a Connacht Rugby app available in itunes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:05:21:07:29:34 by ga1wegian.

Don't Post to often but i think this will be a great idea ,hopefully the branch will start listening ,one other thing I have noticed and it has been commented by friends abroad Rugbytech lack of Tee Shirts and Polo shirts , I have been sending them for years to Coldphingers designs which have been brillant ,there is alot of interest in Connacht rugby from ex pats,I watched the Heineken Cup in Stradbally Co Laois and the amount of people who asked me about what was happening in Connacht ,I was wearing my welcome to the wild west tee shirt amazed me ,Hopefully this next year can be the making of Connacht Rugby

Just something I'll throw out there. Would it be possible for the supporters club to look at sponsoring a player or two for the season ahead. What is it to sponsor a player
€500?

If it could be potentially an additional extra on purchasing a membership to contribute towards this. I don't know how it'd work but it'd potentially be a good move and could be very useful in marketing the supporters club to those not aware of it which is a good proportion of Connacht Supporters at this point.

Look at the value for money Tamarind have got from Ian Keatley for example.

Great idea Borders!

Quote:

Borders no.2
Just something I'll throw out there. Would it be possible for the supporters club to look at sponsoring a player or two for the season ahead. What is it to sponsor a player
€500?

If it could be potentially an additional extra on purchasing a membership to contribute towards this. I don't know how it'd work but it'd potentially be a good move and could be very useful in marketing the supporters club to those not aware of it which is a good proportion of Connacht Supporters at this point.

Look at the value for money Tamarind have got from Ian Keatley for example.

From what I have seen from other supporters Clubs they tend to focus on providing bursaries for acadamey players and then sponsoring the lower profile players whcih tend to have tiered pricing. The more high profile players tend to have no difficulty in getting commercial sponsors...

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I see the future, and it's Green again...

great news about the supporters club. if it is goin to sponsers players it could sell a piece of clothing ie scarfs or hats or fleeces with a speciel logo to help raise the funds

Quote:

choco_ajm
great news about the supporters club. if it is goin to sponsers players it could sell a piece of clothing ie scarfs or hats or fleeces with a speciel logo to help raise the funds

Well there are plenty of ways of raising money for projects, Official Leinster Supporters Club have been very good at creating T-Shirts for their most prominent players and I don't see why something similar cannot be done for some of ours, the likes Johnny O 'Concrete, Gav and Mul for starters. They have generated loads of money from these and this has been used to subsidise Coaches to games etc..

Quote:

OLSC Facebook Page
Official Leinster Supporters Club
The OLSC will be running same-day return buses to Limerick for the Magners League Final on May 28. As a gesture of thanks for the support this year Leinster Rugby has agreed to subsidise seats making cost just €10PP. The buses will depart Dublin city centre at 13:00 returning from Thomond after the match. To book send €10PP via www.paypal.com to 'lsc@leinsterrugby.ie">olsc@leinsterrugby.ie' including your contact details in the notes field

I know in this case it's Leinster Rugby coughing up the extra dough, but OLSC has done it for previous ML Interpro's..


OLSC T-Shirts



Leinster Supporters Merchandise

I know most of the lads involved in the OLSC and the key guys behind the T-shirts and I'm 100% sure that they would be happy to offer advice / help if required...

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I see the future, and it's Green again...

As emmigrees living in France we have tried to attend as many Connacht matches as possible here on mainland Europe. The idea of an official supporters club is brilliant and we'll definitely subscribe. If we can help in any way with information on flights/grounds/travel in general or any other assistance, count us in. We'll look forward to more great rugby matches with the "green team". However an overseas subscription is all we'll want, with the possibility of tickets for H-Cup matches in France, UK or Italy. Well done everybody concerned in the club and supporters club!

Hi Mican, welcome to the forum.

What part of La Belle France are you located?

Normally during the Pool Phase of the HC the tickets are sold by the host team though the visting side are offered the facility to sell on their behalf. This makes it unlikely to commute the promotional Magner's game into a HC fixture.

That said when we get things inked in I'll be in touch with the "out-of-town"* membership details. You could perhaps encourage a friend to take in the Sportsground experience as a gift maybe. We need t build on our attendances next season big time.

Anyway keep watching these boards for updates.


*My terminology so far. The semantics are yet to be agreed upon.

Lads, as far as the tshirt goes, how about a design on the front in the shape of a rugby ball with all the players names on it. On the back the fixtures list, like cbands use for concert tshirts

??

Looking outside I can see why the branch went for the scarf option. T-shirts? sure who'd see them. Sponsored donkey jackets only is the only way to go.

For information lgwt@castlebar, we're in the sunny southwest about halfway between Bordeaux and Toulouse. Agen is our local club and they will be in Challenge Cup again next season. We have driven to Bayonne, Biarritz, La Rochelle, Toulouse, Brive, Castres, Clermont, Montpellier and Perpignan for matches. While I like going to Galway we don't get much chance for rugby. Our friends in Leitrim aren't rugby supporters unless it's big matches. Now we've invested in a camper van it makes travelling easier.

Lads, no reason why we need an agency to set up a site. The supporters club site could be built using a number of readily available template, content management systems, and a simple DB back-end. Other services such as video, galleries, and financial transactions should remain 3rd party (youtube, picasa, spread-shirt etc...). No reason why we cannot have a modern site with very little cost if we approach it with the correct mentality.

The supporters site should only be about presenting information and centralising access to Connacht Rugby related content. No need to re-invent the wheel... would probably end up with a square one!

And word on the next steps on this? I imagine everyone is busy with the season tickets thang, but just wondering if there's been any movement.

Correct ummm. ST sales took priority for these past three weeks but onwards to SC matters next.

Leighton

Great work - I will definitely be joining .

Any further initiatives planned in the weeks ahead?

Exciting start with st sales apparently passing the 1500 mark(more than the vast majority of non-interpro/not major Euro games over the last few years)

I think the potential membership of the supporters club itself is potentially huge though. All st holders and I'd imagine potentially a bigger number who'd join just the supporters club given how many cant get to certain kick off times or are working up the country or abroad or who simply can't afford it even at the lower price.

I'd imagine everyone knows a few people who they could convince to join the supporters club who can't be st holders for one reason or another.

As mentioned on another thread the SC is close to formation. Under the name of the Connacht Clan.

We had a meeting last night and sorted some things out. The upshot is that an Open Meeting has been announced for next Wednesday 20th July. The meeting will be chaired by me and all are welcome. The primary purpose of this is to elect a committee comprised of the following.

Chairman, Secretary, PRO and up to six OCM's (approx) depending on the level of interest, enthusaism and availability. Subject to approval of the elected group Martin Fallon from the Branch will act as SC treasurer.

Not much has changed since the headline article at the top of this thread.

ST holders are automatically SC members and others have the opportunity to join at a cost of €20. This comes back with the provision of a Rabo ticket versus Scot, Welsh or Italian opposition.

Next to ST ownership the SC is likely to be the best way to have access to a Heineken ticket purchase. Given the ST sales (ongoing) and our limited capacity (even with the new stands) it certainly something to bear in mind.


So I look forward to seeing whomever can attend next Wednesday (not 20th August as somebody said to me this morning) at 7.00 in the clubhouse of the SG.


Other things mentioned last night are the need for a song. Any budding song-writers out there will be encouraged to have a go. Away trips will focus on Heineken and inter-pro. Bit of a shin-dig planned for away match at Quins with possibility of a headline band/musician. The new bar will actually be pretty sizeable too.

Eric is keen on the fans forum idea and has suggested this be done around the province rather than just in Galway.

Everything is very positive and I believe the timing is perfect the launch the Connacht Clan.

Any questions just ask.

Just tell me where to pay

This is looking very promising, well done to all involved. Like the idea of the fans forum and also nice to see that there looking to extend it from Galway

Quote:

merchantdon
This is looking very promising, well done to all involved. Like the idea of the fans forum and also nice to see that there looking to extend it from Galway

Absolutely critical that it extends out, our support is further spread than other provinces and impotant that the SC doesn't just represent people who can access the Sportsground every week...

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I see the future, and it's Green again...

Totally agree Sea_point. Hopefully there will be work done to include those who cannot make it over very often.

This is something we've always had this in mind for the SC. Connacht fans are more scattered to the other provinces and further afield due to historic economic issues.

First annual AGM tomorrow... Who's going? I'm gonna head to it.

Not sure yet, will depend on work.

I'll be there for sure, exciting times.

Can't make it, work commitments, would have been there otherwise. Pity. Next one hopefully.

I'll be there

So what happened at the meeting???

Meeting was well attended especially given that it was a fine evening weather wise.

Briefly the club has been formed. The Connacht Clan is now official.

Committee elected comprimised of:

President: Leighton Turner ('tis mise)
Secretary: Patrick Carr
PRO: Dennis Laffey
Treasurer and Branch Rep: Martin Fallom
OCM (Travel): Fergus Farrell
OCM (Membership): Ryan O'Rourke
OCM General: Donal (Don) Corcoran; Barry Dolan, Ritchie Gibbons, Shane Murphy, Aaron Turner

First committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday 3rd. Couldn't really call it sooner due to Race Week.

Lots to do but I'll keep ye in the know.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:07:22:10:28:34 by lgwt@castlebar.

Congrats on your election lgwt.
No better man for it!

Contracts & Best of luck Leighton. Keep ahead at the communication and you'll be grand. The nature of being on committees is that those that put forward most suggestions are rarely available when volunteers are needed to implement them...

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I see the future, and it's Green again...

when can we sign up. the 1st match of the season isnt far away

Hard copy sign up at the game on Saturday. For the out of town support we're* still working on the on-line mechanisms. Forms and subs on the day.


*By we I refer to the other committee members who aren't the technophobe that I unfortunately am.

Quote:

lgwt@castlebar
Hard copy sign up at the game on Saturday. For the out of town support we're* still working on the on-line mechanisms. Forms and subs on the day.

*By we I refer to the other committee members who aren't the technophobe that I unfortunately am.

Good leadership is all about delegation Leighton.

"Here's the work - Legger......"

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I see the future, and it's Green again...

Hey guys... we're just finalising the technology behind providing the secure mechanisms for fans to pay. We realise the importance of this for our out-of-towners so it is priority numero uno.

I'll keep you updated with relevant progress.

Quote:

lgwt@castlebar
Hard copy sign up at the game on Saturday. For the out of town support we're* still working on the on-line mechanisms. Forms and subs on the day.

*By we I refer to the other committee members who aren't the technophobe that I unfortunately am.

can we sign up at the match in dublin, wont be able to make the exeter game

The match in Dublin is classified as an away game, the season ticket doesn't cover it, or so I was told by the branch.

Some of the committee members will be present to take sign ups in Donnybrook. I'm making the trip but not sure who else. If we get to Dublin in good time I'll duck into Kiely's for a quick refreshment. Otherwise I'll see you at the ground.

As pointed out above this is indeed an away fixture and isn't included in the season ticket. It's only a tenner in though so hopefully we'll see you there.