Edinburgh Rugby Supporters Club

[Legless]

http://www.edinburghrugby.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Not as swanky as Blue Peters but a good idea, should be interesting to see if good results will make as big a difference as we hoped for.

[Flintys Barmy Army]

[Legless]

No mention so far on the ER site but the Scotsman is reporting season ticket sales sitting at 1250 to date. Thats up more than 20% on last season, Probably be more accurate to make comparisons with 2 seasons ago as there were supporters who never renewed last season in protest. Does anyone have or remember the figures for 2006/7 season ticket numbers?


http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/rugby/Coaching-continuity-pleases-Hogg.4268588.jp

"It is a given that such stability is crucial to sporting success, albeit one not recognised by all of the union's recent chiefs, and that is perhaps best reflected in what is believed to be record season ticket sales at this point in the year, the figure topping 1250 yesterday. It is also attracting wider backing with Scottish Widows yesterday launching a new 'Scotland Rugby Savings Account' from which they will pay 0.4 per cent of the total account balances each year into a scheme to benefit state secondary school rugby. "

[Jon]

From what I hear there are no numbers for season tickets holders apart from last year.... Carruthers probably didn't want to share and SRUs accounting capability before then lackadaisical at best!

[Crichton Gunner]

I see we're up to 1300 now - a little bit disappointing that we're not at the 1500 level yet, but it still represents 25% more than last season.

[Derrick Lee's #1 Fan]

Obviously the pre-season barbecue hasn't been enough of an incentive for people!
_________________

[Oldsalt]

Guaranteed options to purchase 6 nations and autumn international tickets might be! Might just get a few more season ticket holders that way. How much do you spend for programs, the foundation draw and across the bar on match nights?

[Loops]

[ratty]

I don't think anything else can be done to bring back any past season ticket holders back at this stage.

We now have a proven young coach, a chief exec that people trust, a team packed full of established internationals, emerging internationals, good young Scottish players and rumours of new stadium plans. If people aren't wanting to return to Edinburgh now then they probably never will.

Okay the stadium points a bit up in the air and we may suffer from second season syndrome, but all in all things are good.

[Crichton Gunner]

Indeed, Ratty. Success on the field is the thing that'll make the difference from here on.

[Jen Star]

[Derrick Lee's #1 Fan]

[Legless]

As of today the season ticket holders now number 1466, up from 1020 last season. Excellent recovery from a poor start last season.

http://www.edinburghrugby.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=802&Itemid=1

[LLS]

1st time poster (and Leinster supporter).

In '05/06 Leinster had 1500 Season Ticket Holders and an average Celtic League attendance of 5.8k. Last year the number of season ticket holders was 7.5k and an average gate of 14.3k. This year the Season Tickets sales have been about 10k.
My point is that Edinburgh isn't that far behind in terms of what is achievable and given the simalarities in cities (size, rugby tradition, capital cities) there should be no reason that Edinburgh wouldn't attract the same supporter base.

From my own perspective there were 2 real turning points with the support of Leinster:
1. The quality of the stadium. Donnybrook was too small and cramped and Lansdowne Road was too big. The move to the RDS (capacity 18.5k) made the whole match day experience inifinitely better.
2. The loss to Munster in the HC Semi Final at Lansdowne Road in May 06. The pain felt in that defeat helped to forge an identify that hadn't existied previously. Up till that point many Leinster people would have supporter Munster just as much as Leinster (as Munster had much better track record). But the fact the stadium was 3/4 full of Munster supporters, who clearly had a much more singular support for their own team had a big impact.

As we look forward in the Magners League, you would have to believe that in 3 years time there will be a number of teams (Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leinster, Munster, Ospreys and Ulster) that will have average gates in excess of 10k. While it is more difficult to see how Glasgow, Dragons and particurly Connaught will manage to keep up.

For what its worth, my perdiction is an increase in Edinburghs average Magners League from 2,681 last year to 4500 this year.

[ratty]

Thanks for taking the time to post!

Your point about the stadium is very valid and is something which has been debated here many times without there being any resolution.

With regard to the fan base one issue I see very different between the Irish provinces and Edinburgh is the traditional support groundings. As you are probably aware the historical support of Edinburgh is based mainly around the public school sides (no disrespect intended to Currie and Muir). Indeed Watsonians managed to get crowds of over 5k on many occasions. Edinburgh in my humble opinion have failed to attract any of these supporters (who still turn up for six nations games).

Attending any home game and it´s very clear that the Edinburgh support is mainly made up of younsters (a good thing I admit) and a hardcore of "anoraks" (in which I include myself) who will turn up whether the team wins or lose.

In short what I´m saying is that to gain crowds like the Irish provinces Edinburgh need to appeal to a more varied group of supporters in a way that Leinster clearly have.