UCD Support
Well there has been a growth in our core support.
In December 1984 we were in 2nd place in the old Single Division League of Ireland table and were only attracting around 200 to matches.
To be able to get 200, to a First Division fixture, on one of the worst nights of the season, and a Bank Holiday Friday night at that, against a team , which are not enjoying the best of seasons, is not bad.
- There were much more that 50 people at the game. 175 was mentioned and seems about right. If the man on the radio said there were 50 people he was deliberatley telling a lie, so I'd advise you not to put much faith into what he says.
- The reason for the terrible attendance was the incredably unpleasant weather. While things like the bank holliday might have had a small affect the rain was definatley the main cause. Remember that the Limerick team only arrived about 20 min's before kick off and the game was very close to being called off due to the wet pitch.
- On the more general points I would say that a move off campus is not even worth debating. The club doesn't have the money to move to a new ground. The club would never get permission to move off campus (remember that the club is 100% under the control of the college sports Dept.). Finally, the club is unlikely to get a better facility off campus with thousands of car parking spaces, flood lit training pitches, gym etc.
- The club has a small support compared to the 'Big Four' in Dublin and has cut it's cloth accordingly. UCD will never compete with the wages offered by the big four Dublin clubs and there is no point in trying. What attracts young players to UCD is the training set up where a player can combine getting a degree with playing football at a semi-pro level. The financial situation of the club is sound, the players wages and scholarships are all paid on time.
- The support for the club comes from both the college and the local community. Increasing the support from within the college seems to be impossible. All the staff and students know the club is there and will come along if they want. No ammount of advertising around college increases their numbers. I know this because I spent about two years putting up posters and organising events, none of which made any difference. Any increase in support is going to come from the local communities and the club is encouraging this by bringing kids to the games by the bus load (usually one or two bus loads per game). This is a long term plan, however, but the thinking is that the kids will grow up supporting UCD as their eL team. And if any of them do decide to regularly attend football matches, they would likely go to UCD games. As someone said earlier they are unlikely to pick UCD ahead of one of the other Dublin clubs otherwise. While I accept that there is more money for the club in the medium term by attracting more adults to games you have to remember that adults aren't as prone to gimmicky promotions as kids are.
Last edited by Bald Student; 26/10/2004 at 5:14 PM. Reason: spelling
Bald Student
Very well put that man!
..... especially as we got a smaller crowd for the Cobh match on the Friday of the August Bank Holiday weekend.
NY Hoop
Not bad mate drop us an e-mail sometime will go into detail. See you are back in the land of the intellectually challenged.... how's tricks?
I think the bloke on the radio counted the crowd about 15 minutes before the game started ( would have been just over 50 at that point) then came into the tea room then went into the press box. Anyone familiar with Belfield Park knows that on a wet night a crowd gathers Under the press box to shelter from the rain. There were about 20 there alone and of course there was a sprinkling of people along the press box touchline side of the pitch who are not completely visible from press box.
But it was nearer 200 than 50.... 175 seems accurate.
By the way who the F*** is Con Martin on the radio anyway?
Surely not Mick Martin's brother? There is a Con Murphy in RTE who used to be a Hoops fan but would not be 100% sure if Mick Martin's bro is in there or not.
Originally Posted by CollegeTillIDie
Hes actually excellent. RTEs Friday night service is very very good. And yes he is a Rovers supporter. Hes admitted it on air.
He asked Pat Dolan after the last city match wether Billy Woods had learned all his skills at Rovers. Pats asked him was he trying to him in trouble again
Apologies in advance for the bitty nature of this reply as I've only been able to get on here now.
Firstly, the figure of 50 is rubbish. I counted 175 in the second half, and there wasn't much of an influx after kick off. All of the crowd bar about 5 or 6 were in the stand in the first half so I can't see how someone in the press box across from the stand could say there was only 50 at the game unless it was in an 'around the grounds' type feature 10 or 15 minutes before kick-off.
There'll be an element of this of course but it's a fair trek to get from South Dublin to Drumcondra or Phibboro or Inchicore at rush hour on a Friday. If you live near Belfield, it would be so much handier to go to UCD games. I think a lot of new football fans are likely to start going to games first before supporting a team.
Apart from the lack of an obvious new location and the expense, I don't know that ground moves are all that helpful anyway. Shels' moves haven't really led to much of an increase in crowds and Cork's move to Bishopstown was a disaster crowd-wise.
This was split from the attendances thread in General so it seems to have kept all of its views.
You must pick the cráp crowds! That was the second worst of the season!
An interesting point coming from you!
We're not arrogant, we're just better.
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