Promoting the club

Right I see, didn't realise how much voluntary work is put into the club until recently.

Another thing to do, though which may actually serve to be useless but I do often see it would be to go before a lecture in somewhere like Th. L with a free jersey and say "First one down here gets this" along with an announcement. Of course that would require the club donating free stuff and the embarrassing act of doing it. I once saw this happen for free tickets to a night out or ball or something and no one went for it. :o

Schumi will you make this a seperate thread please?

Ta da!

This has the extra good effect of making the Cork scoreline less prominant :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Schumi

Ta da!

This has the extra good effect of making the Cork scoreline less prominant :D

---

Cheers Schumi. Good point. Now may it plummet to the depths of the board!

Off topic InterToto stuff moved to the Velbazhd Kyustendil thread.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Poor Student

How many of you are there el tk? Why don't you join the rest of us at the end near the programme shack/turnstiles end of the stand? I also think that you get a feeling when you come to the game that we have no support.

---

There's usually 3 or 4 of us but unless it's raining we go down behind the oppostion goals so we can heckle the keeper and defenders. An idea to promote the club could be maybe to sell the jerseys in the shops around the campus (not just at games) and give away free tickets with every jersey bought, Leeds used to do it years ago. Does the committee actually admit that attendances are a problem? because if they don't they'd probably be most unwilling to allow a scheme to go ahead.

Did anyone else ever notice how if we're winning more fans materialise out of nowhere?

I thought the sports centre sold jersies. I found out the other on Monday that they're €50. They're hardly going to be bought casually anyway.

el tk, do you know a club that fans don't materialise out of nowhere once they start winning? :p

I'm talking about during the match, if we go one or 2 goals up the number of cheering fans increases exponentially.

Well we have a very poorly organised fan base. It's next to impossible to tell who supports UCD at a game. Fans are colourless and dispersed all over the stand in low density makes us look far less supported than we are. As I say I reckon you and your friends should join what resembles a singing section in the entrance side of the stand and join in. I myself was sitting alone near the middle until recently. It helps to join in with a bigger group.

I'll consider it but also if all the fans are boxed into a corner (and let's face it, it's only that one corner taken up) it looks just as bad, if you had more clearly defined home and away seating areas it would be better. I've never seen the jersies for sale in the sports centre although I haven't looked specifically

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by el tk

I'll consider it but also if all the fans are boxed into a corner (and let's face it, it's only that one corner taken up) it looks just as bad, if you had more clearly defined home and away seating areas it would be better. I've never seen the jersies for sale in the sports centre although I haven't looked specifically

---

Well as far as people are concerned that is our support whether the rest of you spread around or not. You'll notice people on the board slagging Pinapple and Schumi as the whole UCD support. No one chants in the slightest except those gathered around the drum. It's an unwritten rule that those vocal away fans will gather in the end near the wall, those UCD fans who will chant will gather at the other end and those quiet, confused or neutral sit in the middle or stand around the ground. 3 or 4 of you would actually quite bolster the numbers. I certainly saw the jersies on sale a few years ago there though haven't noticed them recently. I have never seen anyone wear it once on campus though I've seen a fair few of the GAA shirt.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by el tk

I've never seen the jersies for sale in the sports centre although I haven't looked specifically

---

I think they used to be on sale in the shop just inside the Sports Centre anyway, but then it's been a few years since I was in there.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

I think they used to be on sale in the shop just inside the Sports Centre anyway, but then it's been a few years since I was in there.

---

You can buy them in Belfield Park on Matchdays for fooks sake :p

We know that! ;) But having the jerseys in places around the college is akin to free advertising.

True, but getting geezers who want jerseys to come to games means more gate money :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Poor Student

Where does the STIG money go btw?

I was thinking to be honest if we wanted to attract pure casual first timers from the student body that the student ticket price should actually be €4 maximum. I know you say McNally says low prices and free tickets don't work but surely once we crossed the fiver note barrier that creates a psychological feeling of too high an expense for someone wavering on going?

---

€5 or €6 is less than the price of two pints even in the SU Bar I don't think that should be a deterrent in these days of effluence..sorry affluence! :D

CTID I am just saying when you consider the total apathy of everyone towards the eL and UCD, to entice somene along particularly students you'd want the price to be on the right side of a fiver to make them think about it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Poor Student

CTID I am just saying when you consider the total apathy of everyone towards the eL and UCD, to entice somene along particularly students you'd want the price to be on the right side of a fiver to make them think about it.

---

Students never seem to have any problem finding money for drink I notice .....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CollegeTillIDie

Students never seem to have any problem finding money for drink I notice .....

---

I don't drink myself but you know the average student holds drinking more dear and of a higher priority than the eL! ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Poor Student

I don't drink myself but you know the average student holds drinking more dear and of a higher priority than the eL! ;)

---

So going to an el Match would be good for them... keep them out of the pub till at least 10 p.m. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CollegeTillIDie

So going to an el Match would be good for them... keep them out of the pub till at least 10 p.m. ;)

---

Which is exactly why they won't come unless it's very cheap! ;)

I see Cork (and also Waterford now) have a scheme whereby they'll upload match posters to their websites for people to download and put up around town. There's a new UCD Supporters' website soming on line in the next while - will have to see if this is somethig we can incorporate (read - rob :) ) as well.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

I see Cork (and also Waterford now) have a scheme whereby they'll upload match posters to their websites for people to download and put up around town. There's a new UCD Supporters' website soming on line in the next while - will have to see if this is somethig we can incorporate (read - rob :) ) as well.

---

That's a positive idea but may not be very successful with a club with as small an active fanbase as ours. :o Any rough timescale on this new site and what will be on it?

True, but every bit helps.

We hope to have the website up in the next month or so - it's being put together at the moment. It's effectively a STIG website, just with far more content... :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

True, but every bit helps.

We hope to have the website up in the next month or so - it's being put together at the moment. It's effectively a STIG website, just with far more content... :)

---

STIG you say? Good news. :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

It's effectively a STIG website, just with far more content... :)

---

That sounds truly diabolical, and I mean that in the best sense of the word.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by el tk

That sounds truly diabolical, and I mean that in the best sense of the word.

---

Not a fan of STIG I take it? :confused:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Poor Student

Ah crap, I was looking at the fixture list. Unless we're involved in a home tie in the FAI Cup quarter finals there isn't a home game until two weeks into the college year in October and that's against Waterford.

---

We need to think laterally. We need to get all the WUFC fans on campus to get off their ass and go to that game to support their own team, as well as increasing our own support. It's all more money and a better bottom line for our club at the end of the day.

I think the best sense of "diabolical" would be evilly...well, evil, in which case, it's a nice compliment!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Poor Student

Not a fan of STIG I take it? :confused:

---

No I am! I meant it in a good way. See Stu gets it

I was a bit slow on the uptake. :o ;)

Poor student

I think Irish people are flakey or as we normally say fickle.
Look at so called GAA Supporters.
National League the Dubs can barely fill Parnell Park....capacity 10,000
All-Ireland series... they fill Croker... capacity 80,000 approx.

AILRugby Division 1 average attendance 1,500
Irish Rugby international at home average attendance... 50,000

Eircom League Premier Division average attendance ...1,000 approx
International soccer game at home attendance 34,000 and they could probably sell more tickets if the capacity was there.

It just hit me today while taking a mental leave of abesnce during my part time job would it not make sense for tickets for UCD games to be sold around the college? Say the SU shops, maybe the bookshop, maybe the sationary place around the photocopiers outside Th. L, the sports bar (after all it is laden with UCD AFC memorabilia) and maybe other places in the sports centre. Obviously there would have to be a sign up saying they are available to entice the person to buy it. Maybe someone new will make the compulsive buy. Surely it would be easier to rope someone into coming via selling them tickets in conventient outlets than them having to grapple with the perceived burden of later on bothering to get to the ground and find it and then buy the ticket. Perhaps we could even offer a further discount on tickets bought in these outlets. Also wouldn't it be hander if posters for games said: Tickets available at SU shops etc.? Does this idea sound decent to anyone? Have we ever tried it before?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Poor Student

It just hit me today while taking a mental leave of abesnce during my part time job would it not make sense for tickets for UCD games to be sold around the college? Say the SU shops, maybe the bookshop, maybe the sationary place around the photocopiers outside Th. L, the sports bar (after all it is laden with UCD AFC memorabilia) and maybe other places in the sports centre. Obviously there would have to be a sign up saying they are available to entice the person to buy it. Maybe someone new will make the compulsive buy. Surely it would be easier to rope someone into coming via selling them tickets in conventient outlets than them having to grapple with the perceived burden of later on bothering to get to the ground and find it and then buy the ticket. Perhaps we could even offer a further discount on tickets bought in these outlets. Also wouldn't it be hander if posters for games said: Tickets available at SU shops etc.? Does this idea sound decent to anyone? Have we ever tried it before?

---

The ticket office on matchday is conveniently located at the most prominent part of the stadium from the point of view of access...i.e beside the turnstiles doesn't come any handier than that. Attempts to attract students before have been tried off and on for the past 26 years and have been mostly unsuccessful. Most students are just a lazy shower of barstoolers I'm afraid. :rolleyes:

CTID I noticed your attitude on this is particularly negative. :p From my experience of working in a shop if you put something beside a counter people buy it. When we put a sign hanging off the till saying we sell phone credit with no surcharge, sales rocketed. Put a certain product by the till and its sales rocket. Perhaps if we could get some outlets to have a sign by the till saying "Tickets on sale here for UCD v Team X" people may impulsively buy. Perhaps if we sell them in the Sports Bar and centre people may also buy after all it is in theme. To get them to buy the tickets right now they have to find a will to find the ground and go there. If you got them to buy the tickets first then they must find it and go there. You really think people are just hopeless?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Poor Student

CTID I noticed your attitude on this is particularly negative. :p From my experience of working in a shop if you put something beside a counter people buy it. When we put a sign hanging off the till saying we sell phone credit with no surcharge, sales rocketed. Put a certain product by the till and its sales rocket. Perhaps if we could get some outlets to have a sign by the till saying "Tickets on sale here for UCD v Team X" people may impulsively buy. Perhaps if we sell them in the Sports Bar and centre people may also buy after all it is in theme. To get them to buy the tickets right now they have to find a will to find the ground and go there. If you got them to buy the tickets first then they must find it and go there. You really think people are just hopeless?

---

Been involved in several promotion efforts during my student years... The season we were Cup holders and were lying 2nd in the table , we only got 250 to games for chrissakes !.... so I know what a waste of time many efforts of this nature have been. Besides with most of the season clashing with either Exam time or summer break it could be a very short term boost even if it was slightly successful at attracting extra punters.
The biggest success in recent seasons has been the summer camps and attracting local kids and their parents. That coupled with links with some local schoolboy league clubs has had benefits to UCD. But it has all been relatively small scale....... my view is still this we need to also target summer school language students. By producing information about the club in say Spanish Italian and French we could maybe attract some of them.
Then like ManUre we could have a different bunch of supporters in every home game :)

Plus another major thing which all and I mean all EL clubs need to try to do is get their home games listed in tourist information brochures especially as we now have " summer soccer". We get small numbers of tourists ,in Belfield Park, as things stand but these tend to be football addicts.

CTID those are decent suggestions and it also occured to me seeing the Milan kids that perhaps it might be a good idea to think about all the foreign language students on the campus during the summer. But on my idea, what would we have to lose by offering tickets for sale in some of the outlets? In theory the SU should do this for us as they shouldn't be hell bent on profit like normal shops. The sheer volume that pass through SU shops and that have to queue is massive. Combined with posters letting people know they are available on the campus perhaps we could get a few more people. What would the club have to lose by attempting this? Or have you seen this exact idea implemented in the past?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Poor Student

CTID those are decent suggestions and it also occured to me seeing the Milan kids that perhaps it might be a good idea to think about all the foreign language students on the campus during the summer. But on my idea, what would we have to lose by offering tickets for sale in some of the outlets? In theory the SU should do this for us as they shouldn't be hell bent on profit like normal shops. The sheer volume that pass through SU shops and that have to queue is massive. Combined with posters letting people know they are available on the campus perhaps we could get a few more people. What would the club have to lose by attempting this? Or have you seen this exact idea implemented in the past?

---

Putting tickets on sale or maybe vouchers for tickets which could be redeemed at the box office on matchday might work. Postering on campus does not work. Thousands of punts and €uros have been spent on this (campus postering) over the years... and has been met with outright apathy.

We could try local shops just off campus i.e. Woodbine Avenue shops, those in and around Fosters Avenue and in Clonskeagh obviously, and also Cranford Shopping centre and the Montrose itself especially the petrol station next door. It gets back to numbers on the ground to do this as pineapple stu has pointed out there are a small number of people on the committee and they are left to do most of the many jobs necessary. Which is why so many of the STIG and UCD Supporters Club people are so much part of the scene on matchdays.

The tickets sold on campus could be for say €5 therefore giving you an added incentive to get them there and then plus they're cheap. Your idea about the shops near the campus I've thought of too however they may not be as receptive as college affiliated shops (for all I know they may not want to either) as I sincerely doubt we'd be offering even a cent of profit margin in this. The tickets could be a different colour so we could measure the effectiveness or lack of with such an idea.

CTID what I mean is a poster or announcement campaign in conjunction with the sale of them around the place. Seeing a poster advertising a game tomorrow or days later somehwere a km or so away is perhaps more effective if the ticket was instantly available at cut price only meters away.

There was also the League Cup final - the club had a stall outside Theatre L (the usual place for all these kind of things). Idea was that you could get your ticket for the away leg of the final there and if enough people wanted one, the club would organise a bus to the game and back. Don't think anyone went for either option. At all (bar the four or five of us, obviously)