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Edinburgh Rugby pick up more fans



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Published Date: 30 September 2008
By COLIN RENTON
EDINBURGH rugby yesterday reached a landmark in season ticket sales when the 1500th supporter signed up.
The tally is 50 per cent higher than the Murrayfield-based outfit achieved last year and means the target for sales set during the summer has now been reached.

Edinburgh chief executive Nic Cartwright said: "It is both reassuring and encouraging to see so many rugby enthusiasts buying into the vision of what we are all trying to achieve here at Edinburgh Rugby Club.

"We are a club that prides itself on being both inclusive and accessible and we have been genuinely pleased with the response shown by supporters.

"Hopefully, the level of growth in our fan base will continue over the course of the season."

Meanwhile, former SRU development officer Jamie Dempsey has been appointed coach to Scotland's women.

Dempsey was previously assistant to Lee Adamson, who stepped down after this year's Six Nations.

Dempsey will be in charge for the first time when Scotland face Kazakhstan in November and his main long-term objective will be to secure qualification for the 2010 World Cup in England.





The full article contains 190 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 30 September 2008 9:59 AM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Edinburgh rugby
 
1

jdships,

30/09/2008 17:50:26
Interesting to note there were 1300+ at Selkirk V 'Sonians last Saturday !
Compares well with the "big boys" !
2

B.McGeek,

30/09/2008 22:06:53
don't forget the big boys matches include the car park & turnstile attendants, stewards, coaches, referees & touch judges & players. By expecting people to pay £10+ for ordinary club matches in the prem league with the rising cost of fuel etc how do they expect to encourage crowds to attend and be travelling support. Well done to border supporters for continuing to support their clubs despite the sru taking rugby away from the region and the working people of the borders.
3

lostwanderer,

30/09/2008 22:26:20
#2 SRU took rugby away from the region? is there a lack of rugby in the Borders? is there no-where else to see a game of rugby in the borders now the pro team is gone? i also imagine that the "working people of the borders" supported their clubs a lot more than they supported the pro-team and i dont blame them. but lets not make out that the sru took away the regions most valued treasure.
4

Venachar,

01/10/2008 08:37:39
Yes, and Leinster and Munster have in excess of 10,000 season ticket holder each, they know how to support rugby.
5

J.A.,

01/10/2008 08:47:04
#3
“I also imagine that the working people of the borders supported their clubs a lot more than they supported the pro-team and I don’t blame them.”
Yes, you imagine, but to be honest you don’t have a clue!!!
Having a pro team in your area has a hugely positive influence on the youngsters. OK, some club supporters saw the pro team as opposition to their club, but the future is about the younger generation and they were on the whole very supportive.
Just like the last time, if a pro team was ever brought back to the area it would face a lot of negative vibes from some sections of the rugby community. To get beyond this you have to give it more than just 4 or 5 years. You need to bring a new generation up in the faith before you can discard the doubters.
I’m not holding my breath!!
6

Dissillusioned Supporter!,

01/10/2008 09:32:55
5. Exactly.
Iam now a victim of twice seeing the Borders pro side taken away, after supporting it, and will now not ever support an SRU 'run' thing. But new generations do need to be brought up with the team around them always.

4. I do believe the Irish regions certainly Munster started with only 1,000 max supporters - but look at them now. Oh what might have been if the SRU had not got rid of the initial 4 Pro regions in 1997?...

...In fact has Edinburgh and Glasgow not always been kept in existance since thier inception, unlike the Borders? Should they not be doing better than the couple of thousand crowds they get after 11 years? Selkirk, Hawick, Gala and Melrose have all had and can get crowds of 1,200+ for big games just now!



7

B.McGeek,

01/10/2008 19:01:44
I was brought up when we looked up to the likes of Jim Renwick, Cranston, Rutherford, Dodds, Jeffrey as our role models, all local players playing locally for the south as was. not contolled 100% by sru and being told who to play,. many of the old players in the borders pro team I didn't even know and had little local heritage. that is one of the reasons why they got little support, as local rugby supporter could not relate to many of them. if however you take the population of the borders and the age of the people, per head the Borders had more than the city teams supporting them.
8

royco,

London 02/10/2008 09:46:41
1,500 season tickets is not at all shabby. We easily forget that teams like Munster, Sale, Newcastle etc had crowds of about 800 when they started out. It took years of good marketing, investment, improvement of facilities etc to get their crowds up to today's big numbers. Hopefully Edinburgh and Glasgow are now climbing out of the foothills and we will see a steady growth in numbers. What is needed here is continuity of effort and identity, no more U-turns and no incessant grumbling in the ranks about the past, just get on with building two successful Pro teams. That in turn will get us closer to the point where a third Pro team becomes possible and viable.


 

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