O'Driscoll pleads with Irish fans but Springboks game won't be sell-out

siochain

delighted its not a sell out to be honest ....


http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/autumn-internationals/orsquodriscoll-pleads-with-irish-fans-but-springboks-game-wonrsquot-be-sellout-2405107.html


ON the day that IRFU chief executive Philip Browne acknowledged that Saturday's Test against South Africa would not be a sell-out, Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll stressed the importance of playing in front of full houses.

The IRFU's ticketing policy has caused widespread anger and the lack of demand for the November Internationals forced the Union into a climb-down on their sales policy this week, following concerted pressure from the clubs.

"I think it's fair to say we're not going to have a capacity crowd at the opening match on Saturday," said Browne yesterday. "We've put our hands up. We have made a mistake relating to our ticketing strategy."

Not being able to fill the new Aviva Stadium, which has a capacity of just over 50,000, against the world champions is an embarrassing situation for the IRFU given that 75,000 attended last year's fixture at Croke Park. And O'Driscoll, who was yesterday named in the side to face the Springboks after recovering from a hamstring injury, stressed the importance of playing in front of capacity attendances.

"We want, as a team, to be playing in front of as many people as we possibly can," said the Ireland captain.

"We want to be supported by packed houses because that's what you get your buzz from. They can be a worth a score to you at vital times but we're certainly not going to get caught up in the ins and outs of what has been going on with the ticket affair."

Declan Kidney echoed those sentiments and said he was aware of the financial pressures on rugby supporters in the difficult economic climate.

"Hands have been held up to say errors were made but these things happen in life," said Kidney. "We have to represent Ireland as best we can and hopefully as many people as possible will watch us.

"Coming from Cork myself, I know the things involved in travelling to watch Ireland and I'll never take the support we get for granted. Times are different now and that puts more onus on us to represent the jersey properly."

O'Driscoll will lead a powerful team out on Saturday, with 16 survivors from the 22 that landed the Grand Slam in Cardiff nearly two years ago.

Luke Fitzgerald returns to the left-wing for his first international in nearly a year while Jonathan Sexton and Eoin Reddan start at half-back with Ronan O'Gara and Peter Stringer on the bench. In the forwards, Mick O'Driscoll is at second-row alongside Donncha O'Callaghan and Rory Best reclaims the hooking spot from Sean Cronin after missing the summer tour.

David Wallace starts at openside flanker alongside Jamie Heaslip and Stephen Ferris with Denis Leamy providing back-row back-up and no room for Leinster's Sean O'Brien.

A decision on the final replacement spot will be made later in the week with Keith Earls, Andrew Trimble and Paddy Wallace all in the frame

andrewdcs

I'm sure there will be locals who can try walking up for returns on the day but that doesnt help all the provinces or clubs who need to make money selling tickets / driving numbers through club houses.

IRFUs hubris, hope it costs the job of the lunatic who came up with the scheme, put someone talented in their instead of the Gordon Gecko they clearly have.

phog

Cant say I'm happy that some get pleasure out of the game not being a sell-out.

Sofa King Great

phog wrote: »

Cant say I'm happy that some get pleasure out of the game not being a sell-out.

I'm deilghted. I've been at pretty much every international in the past 6/7 years. This year i decided (along with many oters) that they were too expensive. I'm glad people are finally letting it be known that the tickets are a rip off. It is the kick up the arse the IRFU need

norrie rugger

phog wrote: »

Cant say I'm happy that some get pleasure out of the game not being a sell-out.

Why?

The only way the the IRFU (and, now, the other sports organisations) would ever learn that they need to provide value, was by people standing firm and not buying tickets.

ClutchIt

phog wrote: »

Cant say I'm happy that some get pleasure out of the game not being a sell-out.

There has to be a point where tickets get so expensive that they will not sell out. We have reached that point thank god. If it went on any longer the only people who could afford to go to a game would be people living in Dublin. (Considering how much extra it costs to travel to, or stay over in Dub for people around the country).

daveharnett

phog wrote: »

Cant say I'm happy that some get pleasure out of the game not being a sell-out.

I'm sure everybody would be happier if the game had sold out under a sane ticketing policy.

Given the extent to which the IRFU have lost the plot on this, I'm glad to see that the clubs and the market has given them the bloody nose they needed. It's a shame that the attendance has been a hostage to this process, but it had to happen sooner or later.

Gracelessly Tom

norrie rugger wrote: »

Why?

The only way the the IRFU (and, now, the other sports organisations) would ever learn that they need to provide value, was by people standing firm and not buying tickets.

+1

I'm glad rugby supporters have stood up against the IRFU and not purchased the rip off tickets. As Norrie says, it's the only way the IRFU will learn. They are trying to clear the debt on the stadium while interest rates are low and don't care that the average fan can't really afford a ticket.

Not happy about the team possibly suffering as a result but the only ones to blame are the IRFU.

Not to mention they tried to cripple clubs as well by forcing them to pay for their full allocation even if they weren't sold.

Trojan

I'm delighted they haven't sold out. Browne & cohorts needed a swift kick in the teeth from reality and be forced to reduce prices to affordable levels.

btw the headline on the article "BOD pleads with fans" is bs. His quote is:

BOD wrote:

"We want, as a team, to be playing in front of as many people as we possibly can," said the Ireland captain.

"We want to be supported by packed houses because that's what you get your buzz from. They can be a worth a score to you at vital times but we're certainly not going to get caught up in the ins and outs of what has been going on with the ticket affair."

That's a far cry from pleading for me, Hugh Farrelly doing a bit of editorial there.

mikedragon32

The entire process has been a complete sham, from the time IRFU announced that tickets could only be bought as a four game package to the announcement yesterday that they will work with clubs in relation to unsold tickets.

I think it's a shame that the stadium won't be full, but if it teaches the blazers a lesson, then so be it. It's served a purpose.

JustinDee

Trojan wrote: »

That's a far cry from pleading for me, Hugh Farrelly doing a bit of editorial there.

Yep. Cherry picked minus any context or tone.

The Rooster

Trojan wrote: »

I'm delighted they haven't sold out. Browne & cohorts needed a swift kick in the teeth from reality and be forced to reduce prices to affordable levels.

btw the headline on the article "BOD pleads with fans" is bs. His quote is:



That's a far cry from pleading for me, Hugh Farrelly doing a bit of editorial there.

Yip, he's certainly not pleading with the fans. If he's pleading with anyone, its to the IRFU to reduce their prices so we can get a full house for all the games

Legion2008

Here's a suggestion to fill the stadium .... guarantee all those who attend the games a 6 nations ticket. Hand out a voucher with a unique code to all those entering the gates which gives them the right to buy a ticket for either the Engalnd or the France game ..... voucher must be redeemed by a certain date, any not redeemed go back to IRFU for normal distribution.

... oh yeah and ensure the voucher has a discount code to ensure the ticket pirces become reasonable.

outwest

**** them
.

the average fan cant afford to pay 100 a ticket. id pay 75-80 max for new zealand but thee irfu have to get real. 100 is a fair % of fan weekly wage. im off to scotland for the 6 nations game, will be alot cheaper then going to dublin for the day

andrewdcs

Legion2008 wrote: »

Here's a suggestion to fill the stadium .... guarantee all those who attend the games a 6 nations ticket. Hand out a voucher with a unique code to all those entering the gates which gives them the right to buy a ticket for either the Engalnd or the France game ..... voucher must be redeemed by a certain date, any not redeemed go back to IRFU for normal distribution.

... oh yeah and ensure the voucher has a discount code to ensure the ticket pirces become reasonable.

similar to the way a lot of clubs (in other sports and rugby) dole out big game tickets, you build up points for getting to away games / get into better lottery situations, tiered raffles etc.

Raffling / lottery for tickets is a reasonably fair system, everyone chucks in a 5er down the club house for pairs, raffle them over a few weekends.

bleg

The match pack deal is a dose. I've gone to "lesser" nation games before, even when they haven't been linked with high profile games. However I'm not going to pay 150-200 for two tickets simply because the IRFU says so. A weekend in Dublin after travel, accomodation and maybe a few pints before/after the game can be pretty expensive. You're looking at at least 200 quid excluding the ticket for the match. Add in the price of two tickets and the two weekends in Dublin are looking at costing you 600 quid easily.

toomevara

Appalling mismanagement by the IRFU, literally taking the mick out of supporters with a massively ill-advised, ill thought out and frankly, greedy, pricing policy. It's a shame that there'll be empty seats this weekend, but frankly its a dose of medicine that's richly deserved for the IRFU. I'll catch the all blacks on tour this round of AI's, alas, it'll be in twickenham this weekend V England as it was hundreds of quid cheaper for me to tootle down to Twickers, than head to dublin and support my own national team. Sad but true.

Brian P

I went to my first ever international 10 years ago in Paris. ...the game O'Driscoll scored his hat trick and we won for the first time there in about 30 years. I was expecting about £40 to £50 but I was amazed at the ticket price of approx. £10 which was amazing value compared to outrageous Irish prices even then.On querying the price I was told that the policy was to sell all the tickets at a reasonable price in order to have a full stadium. It seems the IRFU are from the same mould as a lot of Irish business people....greedy ,grasping,short- sighted and totally out of touch with reality.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

I went to my first home international match in 1991 when we played Australia in the World Cup quarter final.
Since then, I could count on how many home internationals I haven't been to. No matter who Ireland were playing, I would always be there.
As much as I hate missing Irish international matches, and as much as it pains me not to be going on Saturday, there is no way I will pay the outrageous prices the IRFU are charging

siochain

phog wrote: »

Cant say I'm happy that some get pleasure out of the game not being a sell-out.

I’ve been going to Ireland games for wee while now, well before it become so fashionable and when we were pretty crap too. I’m disgusted to say the least about the whole IRFU ticket farce. I went to the L V’s M match in the Aviva and going forward unless the international prices come down its the only time I’ll be there again is if Lenister are playing there.

[Jackass]

Absolutely disgracefull pricing policy - "let's see how much we can take 'em for" type strategy. Delighted the public have spoken by refusing to pay extorsionate prices and being tied to all four games. Should have been sold in packages of 2 and 2 and for a far more reasonable price, rather than a mortgage payment.

Hopefully they will see sense now and know the Autumn internationals are not worth the price per person of two Leinster season tickets.

toomevara

[Jackass] wrote: »

Hopefully they will see sense now and know the Autumn internationals are not worth the price per person of two Leinster season tickets.

Christ, when you put it that way the futility and irrationality of the AI pricing is really brought home.

ballsymchugh

Trojan wrote: »

I'm delighted they haven't sold out. Browne & cohorts needed a swift kick in the teeth from reality and be forced to reduce prices to affordable levels.

i was always trying to figure out why there's a dental chair in the stadium..

seeing_ie

Legion2008 wrote: »

Here's a suggestion to fill the stadium .... guarantee all those who attend the games a 6 nations ticket. Hand out a voucher with a unique code to all those entering the gates which gives them the right to buy a ticket for either the Engalnd or the France game ..... voucher must be redeemed by a certain date, any not redeemed go back to IRFU for normal distribution.

... oh yeah and ensure the voucher has a discount code to ensure the ticket pirces become reasonable.

The stadium will be full no matter what, the IRFU will make sure of that. Whether that involves giving tickets to schoolkids or whatever.
Can't afford any more bad PR chaps.

laugh

It's akin to pleading because I've never heard of an Irish Rugby Player having to encourage people to attend a match.

LeeroyJones

seeing_ie wrote: »

The stadium will be full no matter what, the IRFU will make sure of that. Whether that involves giving tickets to schoolkids or whatever.
Can't afford any more bad PR chaps.

Was thinking that myself, I wonder if there could be a potential price drop hours before kick-off... although that would get many a back up, and rightly so

norrie rugger

LeeroyJones wrote: »

Was thinking that myself, I wonder if there could be a potential price drop hours before kick-off... although that would get many a back up, and rightly so

That would be an even worse PR scenario

corny

This is the first time i can remember Irish supporters didn't bend over and just take it. It was a gamble that didn't pay off for the IRFU. Don't get me wrong i'm delighted the average punter is finally showing some prudence but it had gotten to a stage where they thought they could charge what they like. Up till now they were right.

buck65

What about playing the Argentina /Samoa games in Thomond and Ravenhill?

Digifriendly

buck65 wrote: »

What about playing the Argentina /Samoa games in Thomond and Ravenhill?

In my opinion at least one of these games probably Samoa should have gone to Thomond or RDS. Ravenhill probably a tad small (c12,000 I think is the present capacity). RDS had the Fiji game a couple of seasons back and Thomond had the Canada game.

kmick

They still have not dropped the price of the tickets. They can work with the clubs all they want but the punters have rightly decided 100 euro for a home friendly is nonsense.

sleepyman

I think one of the conditions of the aviva contract is all games are played there.It doesn't make sense having the likes of Samoa there though.

The Rooster

kmick wrote: »

They still have not dropped the price of the tickets. They can work with the clubs all they want but the punters have rightly decided 100 euro for a home friendly is nonsense.

If they drop the price of the tickets now, all the people who have already purchased will start moaning and crying about how they were loyal and ended up getting shafted. So the IRFU will not have the balls to do that and deal with the aftermath.

But it would be just like buying a pair of jeans or a flight somewhere a couple of days before a sale starts. Tough. You accepted a deal, and there should be no sympathy just because someone got a better deal later on.

(By the way, a lot of people have got their hands on tickets for below face value (and I'm not talking about restricted views!) but that's another story.)

CJhaughey

I couldn't give a monkeys about the IRFU, they have misjudged this strategy and very badly as well.
I wonder will this add more weight to Ryans Free to Air proposal. The IRFU charges too much for mere mortals to see a live game so FTA TV is the only way for most to see their national team play in an affordable manner.

[Jackass]

buck65 wrote: »

What about playing the Argentina /Samoa games in Thomond and Ravenhill?

Agree. The greed didn't even stop at ripping people off, but they robbed the other two provinces of the two or so internationals a year they deserve.

They really couldn't care less about the fans.

toomevara

From Todays Indo....

Kevin Myers: IRFU greed has no bounds -- unlike its new stadium

By Kevin Myers
Friday November 05 2010

There'll probably be empty seats tomorrow in the 50,000-seater stadium at Lansdowne Road for the visit of South Africa, the rugby world champions, whereas the last time they came here -- to Croke Park -- they attracted 75,000 spectators: all in all, a suitable commentary on the magnificent organisational skills of the Irish Rugby Football Union.

For connoisseurs of the IRFU, the debacle of the autumn season comes as no surprise. But what lies ahead, as repayments on the colossal loans required to build the smallest new (but incredibly expensive) international stadium in the world fall due, and if rugby fans refuse to pay the high ticket prices required to fund those payments?

Some 13 years ago, after I'd written a column about the appalling conditions of the old Lansdowne Road -- the absence of decent toilets or proper refreshments for spectators, and the hazards of the terraces -- something strange happened.

As a columnist, and regular commentator on rugby matters, I had unfailingly got tickets for the press-box.

But after that particular column, tickets arrived for various non-writing editors within 'The Irish Times' -- but now there was no ticket for me. I was banished: that's how the lords of irfu treated critics.

Moreover, I once -- by chance -- got a glimpse of the culture that had produced a stadium where the hoi polloi couldn't get food or a decent lavatory, or today, has created the fiasco of the new ground. A well-connected friend took me to the irfu hospitality area after an international, where a splendid dinner and a night-long free-bar was laid on for the hundreds of irfu alickadoos.

How they must have hated going to Croke Park. How they must have loathed crossing the Liffey.

How they must have detested their exile from Dublin 4, amidst the citizenry of Dublin 3.

Was it any wonder that the lords of irfu preferred to build a ridiculously small stadium at Lansdowne Road, rather than to open serious negotiations with the Government and with the GAA to make Croke Park the one venue for all football fixtures?

The combined resources of the GAA, the FAI and the irfu could have created a 100,000-seater super-stadium. But instead, the lords of irfu settled for an almost studio-sized ground at their old haunt on Lansdowne Road: with not the 83,000 spectators at the present Croke Park -- which was filled for every home international including Italy -- and certainly not the 100,000 of some future all-code Croke Park, but with just 50,000.

Which other sporting organisation in the entire world has built a stadium that is known to be 30,000 seats below market demand?

Where else would one find such wonderminds and Einsteins who could manage to conjure the possibility financial failure out of the Golconda of Irish rugby, save in the hallowed halls of irfuland?

Moreover, we now have three venues competing for large-scale non-sporting functions: the two football grounds and the national conference centre, all cutting one another's throats.

Dublin should be competing with Birmingham, Liverpool and Glasgow for international events, and two rival venues in the capital -- one football-ground and a conference centre -- would have kept everyone here on their toes. Three is simply blood on the floor.

Will irfu default on their loans? Well, they'll certainly be running into serious trouble if they can't sell tickets at the high prices required to keep the banks happy.

Moreover, under the skilful guidance of its president John Delaney (annual salary, over €400,000 pa), the finances of their partners in Lansdowne Road, the Football Association of Ireland, must now nearly resemble those of Pyongyang, though, naturally, without the World Cup soccer team.

One possible outcome to this catastrophe is that a foreign consortium will agree to take over the debts of Lansdowne Road, provided they get precisely the kind of generous planning permission that the residents of Lansdowne Road were originally opposed to.

(The latter's victory should, of course, have caused irfu to have sold the stadium to a developer and left). A new consortium might get the political backing that would make extensive housing development around the stadium inevitable.

The worst-case (and truly nightmare scenario) is for the new stadium to be knocked, and for irfu to be exiled once again to Croke Park, as the entire area is developed for high-rise offices and blocks of low-rent flats, to clear an otherwise insupportable debt.

Either way, Lansdowne Road, with its absurd new name, is an allegory of all the idiocy, greed, small-mindedness and the sheer bloody stupidity that has brought this country to sup at the muddy pool of shame and insolvency: the Dimland of Ireland alongside the Kimland of Korea, and the Zimland of Mugabe.

However, I've said many times that we can get out of this mess, but we can only do so by being adult. An enormous price must be paid, and colossal damage stoically accepted.

The land that will emerge from this horror story will certainly not be recognisable; and one of the likely casualties, laid low for their pomp, their vanity and their refusal to recognise business realities, will be the lords of irfu.

wixfjord

A lot of bluster and ****e in that article as always from Myers, but some truth in there too.

JustinDee

Well if Kevin Myers wrote it, it must all be true.

lologram

JustinDee wrote: »

Well if Kevin Myers wrote it, it must all be true.

Yes Myers' penchant for going over the top undermines the article really, but do you honestly think none of the points deserves engaging with? None? All criticisms of the IRFU are unfounded?

JustinDee

lologram wrote: »

Yes Myers' penchant for going over the top undermines the article really, but do you honestly think none of the points deserves engaging with? None? All criticisms of the IRFU are unfounded?

Calm down.
Pricing of tickets was wrong as already admitted by the union.

He has not been "banished" either and I'll bet a bundle that he has hardly missed a courtesy of a comp ticket since this alleged reaction to his journalism took place.

According to his piece, its all the IRFU's doing that prevented "the combined resources of the GAA, the FAI and the irfu (creating) a 100,000-seater super-stadium".
Apart from (purposely?) avoiding a recounting of the actual situation back then, the rest is just fluff.

This is my own opinion on this, by the way. If the IRFU felt there was an issue not already dealt with, they would probably write a letter to the editor.

guapos

The Rooster wrote: »

If they drop the price of the tickets now, all the people who have already purchased will start moaning and crying about how they were loyal and ended up getting shafted. So the IRFU will not have the balls to do that and deal with the aftermath.

But it would be just like buying a pair of jeans or a flight somewhere a couple of days before a sale starts. Tough. You accepted a deal, and there should be no sympathy just because someone got a better deal later on.

(By the way, a lot of people have got their hands on tickets for below face value (and I'm not talking about restricted views!) but that's another story.)

Dropping the price now like the FAI do would be a disaster. This would lead to people leaving it till the last minute to buy tickets for matches in the hope that the price drops. They could of course refund ticket holders but i cant see that happening.

The Rooster

guapos wrote: »

Dropping the price now like the FAI do would be a disaster. This would lead to people leaving it till the last minute to buy tickets for matches in the hope that the price drops.

That'd be the gamble, but I doubt it would happen.

The France and England games will sell out quickly, and the IRFU won't make the same pricing mistake with the Italy/Wales/Scotland games and future Autumn internationals. Of course some people would definitely wait and see if it happens again, but I think anyone who waited would end up with no ticket.

As for refunding people who have already bought - that would be a very nice bonus for them, and give the IRFU some brownie points, but it would be a ridiculous business decision. Those people who bought did so on the basis of the price offered - absolutely no reason to give them a refund just because later tickets are being sold at a discount.

Corsendonk

The Rooster wrote: »

The France and England games will sell out quickly, and the IRFU won't make the same pricing mistake with the Italy/Wales/Scotland games and future Autumn internationals. Of course some people would definitely wait and see if it happens again, but I think anyone who waited would end up with no ticket.

.

Actually the worst 6 nations season to be moving to the Aviva. France and England always travel with huge support. I expect the argument that the game should be moved to Croker to allow extra tourism for Dublin to be raised after Xmas in the media.

Would it be better for them to allow the seats for the SA game to go empty or hand out the tickets to kids in the clubs at a child rate?

efb

I deliberately not buying a ticket to send greedy IRFU a message, they can stick that on Sky too!

anonymous_joe

efb wrote: »

I deliberately not buying a ticket to send greedy IRFU a message, they can stick that on Sky too!

I'm deliberately not buying one because I'm a broke student. I would otherwise.

The real error here is having universal €100 tickets. That's more than anywhere else in the world.

Sell one section for €50 ffs.

Digifriendly

Not going either to any AI's - price too high for as well as tickets there is also travel and food. Will enjoy watching on the box instead. BTW I was in Brussels last weekend and price of fast food a lot cheaper there than in Dublin.

KenSwee

This fiasco is another nail in the coffin for the Aviva stadium. Too small for the tiger and now too big for the slump. We should put the 6N games in Croker and leave the smaller acts for the Aviva. More expensive than a AIF? No thanks. I give enough cash to the IRFU with my sports sub to Sky and my 6-8 games a year to Leinster. I can sleep a night and not be accused of armchairism which is not as much a sin as it used to be given that the unions make a good killing from sports subscription.

What gets me going is the fools who turn up at the matches, having just bought their "Landsowne" replica shirt, green face paint and claiming to be a huge rugby fan despite the fact that they have never been to a game in their lives and had probably been given a free ticket for the day. The same sort we dealt with in the 90s when the football team was all the rage. They contribute nothing to sport in the long term and real supporters are being hammered with idiotic charges that have been swiftly dealt with by the public response.

And as far as this rubbish goes about lack of support for the Irish team and the 'don't desert us' plea, I've been to plenty of games around Europe when the stadia is 75% full. The 25% makes no difference when you are dealing with 30,000 plus. It's all propaganda by the IRFU to make the stragglers who are still deciding to go make up their mind.

A victory for the fans this may be, but we will continue to deal with this as the IRFU has no intention of becoming an organisation like the GAA: Grass roots and conservative. We get a forward thinking rule system, fair play and good backup which is a great example for the other major field sports of this country and abroad, but as with all professional organisations, the money issue and ticket pricing will always bee a contentious issue, with the unions consistently pushing the buttons to see how far they can get before something bites back.

We have to make sure we keep our nails and teeth sharpened.

Got free tickets, am feeling ambivalent

KenSwee

Buy or bring a genuine jersey, pack a lunch rather then prawn cocktail sandwiches and you will be redeemed.:)
Seriously, free tickets are fine, it was just one part of what I was talking about. Besides, you wouldn't be here if you were in the category of humans I was talking about.

CatFromHue

i must admit im really looking forward to the rugby tomorrow and also seeing exactly how many people turn up for the ireland game.

it was even mentioned on the rugby club on sky last night that there was abit of a ticketing fiasco for the game

i wasnt surprised that the leinster munster game was pretty much a full house even though some people were kicking up stink about the price of the tickets. there was 12,000 definitly at the game before a ticket was sold i.e. the season ticket holders and then there quite a few reasonably priced tickets. i bought 5 for 35euro i think.

none of those points are applicable tomorrow.

also that "retro commerative" jersey that we'' be playing in is about as retro and commerative as the current jersey. a retro ireland jersey should be like the jersey that ireland teams have played in for lets say 50 years or so (the plain green jersey used in the 70''s, 80's and 90's would be a good model)
the tickets for the croker games in my opinion were way too much yet people payed for em. roll on a year and there is a different mindset in the public.........well we'll see if this is true tomorrow

Badgermonkey

Philip Browne's been in that job for a LONG time and should have seen this coming.

It really is time to find a new method of distibution, which rewards club members while also affording the general public new to or curious about the game an opportunity to see it at a reasonable price.

A short sighted and rapacious ticketing policy will narrow the games demographic, the broadening of which has been one of the greatest achievements of the decent, hard working and seriously talented players of the last 10 years.