Irish Rugby Supporters Club - Bad Value???

decbuck

Hi
I am a member of the IRFU supporters club for a while now and I hope this is taken in the right way.

But the club does not offer much to the supporter.

Promises have been made as far back as February saying that a "supporters polo is weeks away". It is always weeks, and still in nearly August there is no sign. basically we will not even have them for the world cup now. This is all blamed on a "new e-commerce section" which is "coming soon." It has been coming for the past 4 or 5 months.

Then there was the fiasco over the new jersey release. I mean there is 3 different jerseys in the shops at the moment (home and away makes it 6). Not too difficult to know this. But the confusion surrounding the jersey release should not happen. there was images on the irishrughy.ie website that were incorrect. Overall a farce. I will not get started on the generic design.

Then there is the forum which is most peoples main reason for visiting the site regularly. This is a joke as well. I understand the irfu have a policy, but when the guy running goes on holidays it effectively shuts down as he is not there to approve the posts. Now I see it is not even available for the past few days. Why would anyone use it when there is a far better option on boards.ie.

I really do not think we get value for money. A few chances of some evenings twice a year, a 1 in ~10,000 chance to win a jersey every month. No news previews. I mean there is a supporters club e-mail newsletter but the news is on the main site almost at the same time.


The only plus is the tickets and I am sure 90% of people have joined for that reason even they will not admit it. I am a die hard supporter of irish rugby, and know that the supporters club is a donation to the running. But I would rather it be called a donation to the running of the irfu rather than call it membership to the supporters club that offers essentially nothing except a chance to buy tickets.

I know people get to see previews of the recent dvd, but that was 200 people and once a year. Essentially you are only buying a ticket for a chance to win something with the supporters club. Not good enough.


I am not looking for loads of benefits, but it should be run properly or abolished and allow fans to make donations. (I still would by the way)

I hope this is seen in the right light, and is not a dig at the irfu mod. He does a great job. But from a member of a supporters club, I get nothing from it.

please don;t abuse me if you think I am being unreasonable, but I would be interested to hear views from fellow members.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Borzoi

daveirl wrote:

This post has been deleted.

Likewise. It's been hit and miss on the ticket front. But al least I'm usually able to get freindly tickets too.

TBH the club aspect is a bit farcical though

zAbbo

I joined for tickets, as well as the warm fuzzy feeling.

The forum is a bit of a lame duck (sorry worrytah), if someone is misbehaving they can have their membership revoked.

There are no 'real' benefits apart from ticket draws.

Sangre

zabbo wrote:

I joined for tickets, as well as the warm fuzzy feeling.

Well the beanie would want to keep you warm and fuzzy for €50!

Worrytahs

zabbo wrote:

The forum is a bit of a lame duck (sorry worrytah), if someone is misbehaving they can have their membership revoked.

The forum is maintained as a nice place 'to be'. Kept as pleasant as possible so's not to ruin anybody's time there. Points of view aren't moderated. Just tone if it oversteps the mark. Fair is fair after all.

And since the tickets get mentioned, as well as being a chance for those normally out of the loop with access to tickets for internationals, the forum itself has an entrie section where tickets can be swapped or bought from fellow genuine fans without getting ripped off by scalpers.

The Supporters Club is still a new concept. Comparing what was before with what we have now and what is building, I'd say the signs are more pretty promising indeed.

RuggerbyHuggerb

I would have to disagree with you.

I've been a member of the club for about a year and half and I have got good value from it.

I joined when there was a chance to get tickets for the autumn Games and I was lucky enough to get to game against NZ. I also came up in the ticket ballot for the Wales in 06. Missed out in 07 but can't complain at that.

I enter the competitions when I get a chance and during the 6 Nations we got newsletters twice a week with things like the team announcement and other stuff.


One of my friends went to the Scotland match day event in 06 and she said it was brilliant - they had something like 600 people there and Donncha and Andrew Trimble came in after.

All told I think it is pretty good value. For 50 quid I think it is pretty good.

I'll second zabbos gripe about the forum. I would assume that since each of us paid €50 for the privilege, that we would have enough cop-on not to troll. I support moderation, but not to the point where all posts must be pre-approved. It stifles the flow of a topic if there is no one around to verify what each member has to say.

madson

I'm also a member of the supporters club and i have to agree with the op 100%, i feel that it is a waste of money.

zAbbo

madson wrote:

I'm also a member of the supporters club and i have to agree with the op 100%, i feel that it is a waste of money.

The monetory value isn't huge, and you do get some privlieges.

I've been been given a knowing nod once or twice when out wearing my SC badge.

Also their have been some good articles on it, in particular some of the back room staff giving insights into the preparations which were really good.