Selling Sunderland to the Paddies

**pete** · 17/09/2006, 4:08 PM

Has so much drivel ever been written about a lower league english team. Reading today about junkets for irish journalists in order "sell Sunderland to the Paddies..." & RTE Radio 1 giving airtime to Sunderland Chairman during the weel to sell the vitues of football trip to Sunderland.

Radio Telef�s �ireann is Ireland's Public Service Broadcaster. RT�, through all of its services, forms a major part of the infrastructure of Irish society.

**el punter** · 17/09/2006, 4:12 PM

The Mighty Quinn was quoted as planning to take people from Cork, Tralee and Galway to Sunderland every week. This man who was on a panel to progress football in Ireland? Jesus wept.

**pete** · 17/09/2006, 4:23 PM

I am realistic about the appeal of the eL but do we really need out National broadcaster selling foreign lower league football? We have hard enough time against the Premiership.

**osarusan** · 17/09/2006, 4:36 PM

To be fair to RTE, they have a duty to show what they feel the public wants to see, and there is a lot of interest in Keane and Sunderland.

Whether the media themselves created interest where none previously existed is another matter.

**pete** · 17/09/2006, 5:00 PM

Originally Posted by osarusan

Whether the media themselves created interest where none previously existed is another matter.

The media are being paid to fly to Sunderland. I wonder have RTE accepted any free junkets?

**BohDiddley** · 17/09/2006, 6:06 PM

I've put some of the links and quotes together here. This really takes the biscuit. I think some, like the lads on Danger Here, are doing it as a madcap post-modernist stunt, but no doubt there'll be lots of suckers out there for Quinn. Also saw a post on the Sunderland message board that they are suddenly big in Thailand. I suppose the locals don't care who joins 'em.

**Jaime** · 17/09/2006, 6:39 PM

The amount of people over here that are talking about Sunderland though now is incredible. People who you always considered to know nothing about football are suddenly coming out with classics like "I wouldn't mind going over and taking a game in". RTE's coverage reflects this.

**el punter** · 17/09/2006, 6:55 PM

We can bitch and moan about our media here all day (and I'm generally happy to join in), but...

what we are getting here is an absolute LESSON in how to play the media.

Quinn is Mr PR, and doing a great job of playing on the new links between Ireland and Sunderland. If you were in his position you'd only hope you could do the same. He's getting loads of column inches, and getting heaps of Irish hacks on his side. And he will inevitably lure thousands of Irish people interested in football to Sunderland week on week (note I did not call them Irish Football Fans...that's you and me) to pay his bills and create a Blarney atmosphere.

There are smart men around Quinn's consortium, smart men who presumably thought they'd have more fun and make more money in trying to get Sunderland to the top end of the Premiership rather than trying to make something happen at an eircom league club.

The FAI in general could take note of how this media grooming works, but extra special attention should be paid by Bohs. When they get their money, they will need some bloody good marketing minds and PR people around. They have a chance to bring football in Dublin and in Ireland to a whole new level.

I would argue that the marketing and PR people at Bohs over the next decade will have a FAR bigger role to play in the club than any manager or player.

This is the 'football business' and it looks at least as if Quinn has the business part down.

************

The flip side to this can be looked upon with a somewhat tenuous, but ne'er the less appropriate analogy.

We have football in Ireland. There is also football in England.
We have dairy farms in Ireland. There are also dairy farms in England.

If the Irish media started to promote English dairy produce over Irish dairy produce there would be such a fuss made by our militant farming communities that the country would be brought to a standstill. There would be government legislation brought in to ensure that promotion of Irish dairy produce at least had parity with that of non-Irish produce. The farmers would win.

A case can be made fairly easily to state that 'the existence of my Irish club and all the staff employed by my club are under threat because of an imbalance in the promotion of our product'.

It would seem some style of lobbying by the FAI to have a proper promotional campaign funded by the state is in order to protect our national football industry?

**BohDiddley** · 17/09/2006, 7:06 PM

All very well (though you really need to decide which side you are on) but all the PR and business logic in the world doesn't alter the absurdity at a fundamental level of a mass following for Sunderland among Irish football fans.
Whatever about following Liverpool or Glasgow Celtic, there is no basis on which Irish fans might reasonably support this club. Take a look at the club history and see if you can find the slightest hint of green.
I remember when we used to collect Esso (I think) cards of the old First Div. No one, but no one, ever wanted a Sunderland one.
PS: there has to be a t-shirt in this one!

**Poor Student** · 17/09/2006, 7:21 PM

Originally Posted by el punter

It would seem some style of lobbying by the FAI to have a proper promotional campaign funded by the state is in order to protect our national football industry?

To the best of my knowledge our dairy produce (particularly butter) used to be sold to Britain at substandard prices due to a poorly organised industry but we got together and marketed our own produce under the launch Kerrygold label and managed to reverse the poor trend for Irish dairy produce.

**el punter** · 17/09/2006, 7:29 PM

Originally Posted by BohDiddley

All very well (though you really need to decide which side you are on) but all the PR and business logic in the world doesn't alter the absurdity at a fundamental level of a mass following for Sunderland among Irish football fans.
Whatever about following Liverpool or Glasgow Celtic, there is no basis on which Irish fans might reasonably support this club. Take a look at the club history and see if you can find the slightest hint of green.

PS: there has to be a t-shirt in this one!

The basis on which Irish fans are being lured to the club - like you say - is not historical, but based on a nucleus of Irish players at the club, an Irish manager and a predominantly Irish board. There's sound grounds there for pitching at Ireland and creating a present and future of green where there was none previously.

An Irish fan 'supporting' any English club is absurd really, but we've already had that dance.

As for choosing my side...well it's not that simple. I do think out loud a fair bit.

I admire the Drumahill consortium's commercial prowess in seducing the Irish media who will subtley brainwash the Irish public to invest emotionally in Sunderland FC (and inevitably financially in merchandise, match tickets etc).

I am saddened as much as sport can sadden me, that the consortium looked beyond these shores to invest in football.

I am hopeful that people involved in Irish football can learn from how Drumahill have gone about handling the media and creating a hype to benefit the game within Ireland.

And indeed, what better way to make a statement than with a T-Shirt? Suggestions for a 'Save the local game' type slogan are welcome, we should then ask the farmers what they would do about it

**el punter** · 17/09/2006, 7:32 PM

Originally Posted by Poor Student

To the best of my knowledge our dairy produce (particularly butter) used to be sold to Britain at substandard prices due to a poorly organised industry but we got together and marketed our own produce under the launch Kerrygold label and managed to reverse the poor trend for Irish dairy produce.

Kind of makes Kevin Doyle the skimmed milk of the 21st century

**A face** · 17/09/2006, 8:16 PM

Originally Posted by el punter

Kind of makes Kevin Doyle the skimmed milk of the 21st century

What a brilliant description?

Can I also point out that Pat Dolan is a hypocrite of biblical proportions, after preaching for years about keeping youth and talent here, he then goes off and pimps one of the leagues best in one of the biggest U-turns that game has seen.

garyderry · 18/09/2006, 12:22 AM

Originally Posted by osarusan

To be fair to RTE, they have a duty to show what they feel the public wants to see, and there is a lot of interest in Keane and Sunderland.

Whether the media themselves created interest where none previously existed is another matter.

no actually the whole point of a national broadcaster and the paymnet of a tv licience is that the dont "show what they feel the public wants to see", that would be the aim of a solely commercial station.

**carrickharp** · 18/09/2006, 7:46 AM

Quinn was in good form in Cassidys on Camden Street on Saturday night!

**EnDai** · 18/09/2006, 9:10 AM

I'm never drinking there again now!

**gael353** · 18/09/2006, 9:41 AM

..and aer lingus are starting direct flights from Dublin to the north east (newcastle i think) from next month such is the demand from irish footie fans

**Poor Student** · 18/09/2006, 9:43 AM

Originally Posted by gael353

..and aer lingus are starting direct flights from Dublin to the north east (newcastle i think) from next month such is the demand from irish footie fans

Is that a joke or for real?

I don't understand, where are all these fans coming from? Were they previously unattached or have they swapped one English club for another?

**Ash** · 18/09/2006, 10:16 AM

Its probably the people who are so hell bent on showing thier support
for him in Siapan that they think they'll sicken Mick McCarthy by flying
over and supporting Sunderland.

I bet there'll be huge demand in Ireland for tickets to Sunderland v Wolves