UCD support discussion

[pineapple stu]

(Sorry UCD fans, but let's face it, ye are never going to draw the large-scale support of the wider community, because of the nature of the club)
I shall choose to disagree; a club's nature has nothing to do with it.


Anyway, I think moving to Dalymount would be the worst thing they could do for attendances. They'd be directly competing for support with one of the top clubs in the league, which is never going to work out.
Let's see how good Bohs are once they spend what they can afford. Drogheda were one of the top clubs in the league the last few years. But I agree that it's not a great move for them. Still, it's all of their own doing.

[dong]

I shall chose to disagree; a club's nature has nothing to do with it
How come UCD have such poor crowds then in your opinion?

[pineapple stu]

Two main reasons. The first is that, like some other clubs who've ascended to the league relatively recently, we've never had a support traditionally. I think that's a peculiarity of having been a college team since 1895, but I don't think it's stopping growing a fanbase per se; I don't think being a college team now has anything to do with it, in other words.

Secondly, it's only a small club, and promoting the club has been generally sacrificed at the expense of keeping the show on the road. When we had the full-time CPO, I think our crowds started going up. When he left, we took on a part-time CPO, and then got relegated, and we're back to square one. I think with a good run in the Premier with a full-time CPO, we could add to the support. Not necessarily to bring us to Bohs/Sligo levels obviously, but I'd like to think we could get to Drogheda/Bray/Galway levels given a few years' work. I actually think the CPO scheme is really good for a club like us as it forces us to promote the club. i'm not sure we're taking full advantage of it at the moment though.

(Incidentally, to keep this on topic, I've split the UCD stuff to a new thread. Hope that's OK!)

[peadar1987]

I shall chose to disagree; a club's nature has nothing to do with it.


I just don't think a club supported by, and associated with a University is ever going to be able to forge the strong community roots needed to grow a large support base.

I'm a Trinity graduate (boo, hiss!) and I wouldn't support UCD even if I lived on Fosters Avenue, because I see them as being more associated with the University than the area. As long as you have the name "UCD", your support is going to be largely restricted to graduates and students of the university. Most people who went to Trinity, DCU, Stillorgan IT and so on just won't support UCD as their number one club.

[DmanDmythDledge]

I just don't think a club supported by, and associated with a University is ever going to be able to forge the strong community roots needed to grow a large support base.

I'm a Trinity graduate (boo, hiss!) and I wouldn't support UCD even if I lived on Fosters Avenue, because I see them as being more associated with the University than the area. As long as you have the name "UCD", your support is going to be largely restricted to graduates and students of the university. Most people who went to Trinity, DCU, Stillorgan IT and so on just won't support UCD as their number one club.
The majority of the support is made up from people from the local area. I kinda agree with your point though but we will never know for sure until a good, consistent attempt is made to increase crowds.

[passinginterest]

You should change the name to something a little more all encompassing, something along the lines of... oh... say... UCD Dublin ;)

[John83]

...As long as you have the name "UCD", your support is going to be largely restricted to graduates and students of the university...
We graduate 5,000 people per year. Assuming they're an average age of 25 on graduation (very conservative), and that they'll live to an average age of 75 (also conservative), that's a potential support base of a quarter of a million people. Sligo has less than 20,000 people in it.

Also, if supporting an LoI team ever became fashionable, I really can't see the vast majority of people from Blackrock or Stillorgan or Dundrum choosing to venture to Bray, Tallaght, or Phibsboro over Belfield.

[pineapple stu]

We graduate 5,000 people per year. Assuming they're an average age of 25 on graduation (very conservative), and that they'll live to an average age of 75 (also conservative), that's a potential support base of a quarter of a million people.
Don't forget children of such people, who don't necessarily have to go to UCD but who, if their parents are UCD fans, would probably grow up to be UCD fans too.

Anyway, I disagree our potential support is restricted in that way. I think parents who go to games are looking for somewhere fun and local to take their kids for an evening; the UCD moniker doesn't matter. Kids who go to games are usually brought by someone, so the moniker doesn't matter. Often, they'd go on the back of having met the players at the UCD summer camp, which is very popular despite the name.

The club has many issues to overcome to build attendances, but I don't think the name is one of them.

[peadar1987]

We graduate 5,000 people per year. Assuming they're an average age of 25 on graduation (very conservative), and that they'll live to an average age of 75 (also conservative), that's a potential support base of a quarter of a million people. Sligo has less than 20,000 people in it.

Also, if supporting an LoI team ever became fashionable, I really can't see the vast majority of people from Blackrock or Stillorgan or Dundrum choosing to venture to Bray, Tallaght, or Phibsboro over Belfield.

You're in competition with the community clubs of these people as well though. If you attend UCD, but live in Tallaght, there's at least a 50:50 chance you're going to support Rovers.

If I lived next to UCD, I would probably end up supporting Bray or Shams. Nothing against UCD (apart from being an inferior university populated entirely by tractor-driving Catholics! ;) ), but I just wouldn't be able to cheer them on in the same way as I would a community club. Would you cheer for Trinity if they were in the league, and you lived in Santry?

[pineapple stu]

Who says UCD aren't/can't be a community club as well though? Summer schools, school visits, local club link-ups, stuff like that. I think you're biased by virtue of the fact that, as a LoI fan, you know the ins and outs of UCD. A newcomer to the league won't have those hang-ups.

Remember, it's not like the players are the best of the CAO; we sign who we want and put them through college - big difference. I think players like Paul Corry (turned down Burnley to sign for us) or Ronan Finn (signed from Peterborough/Cambridge, can't remember which) show that the club's a normal football club. This is shown in the fact that we play a hell of a lot better than any other university team - for the simple reason that we aren't really a university team at all.

But extending the community scheme thing is one of the main focusses I'd give a club CPO. I don't think we're naturally a-community (if that's a word), I think it's just something we've never focussed on.

[mypost]

Also, if supporting an LoI team ever became fashionable, I really can't see the vast majority of people from Blackrock or Stillorgan or Dundrum choosing to venture to Bray, Tallaght, or Phibsboro over Belfield.

As it happens, they do venture from Dublin South-East and Dun Laoghaire to Tallaght for our games. Our fans are based all over Dublin.