BIG ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE SEA EAGLES AT 3PM TODAY

[vidmar]

Could you not approach the club and shanghai the Screaming Eagles name to what you're doing?  Just a thought.

Hi Mata,
As mentioned no real need for that to be honest.

There have been a few attempts by the club in the past to form an "official supporter" group with negligable success (invariably as many think it's a good idea but don't want to or can't afford the time involved in organising and running it)

The name is really just a label that is used for the group rather than the group needing or wanting a name or "brand"

Cronulla have the CSSC (Cronulla Sharks Supporters Club) which people pay to join and get various bits of stuff and they have sponsorship on their shirts etc. but that takes running and people to administer that sort of stuff.

We have a new initiative for people booking on Mark's trips and they get a media polo from the club which is embroidered and there is a discount for people with that plus it bumps up the merchandising sales for the club if people want to get them.

Apart from that it's more a "game going" group and a way of providing a vehicle for people to meet and enjoy the experience of supporting Manly than any great want or need for a revenue generating or additional membership program or group with officials, budgets or other time taking admin aspects.

It works so I guess it works and as it grows I guess that's the important and satisfying thing?

 

[Matabele]

My rationale is that the club wanted something like what Sydney FC have with the Cove or whatever it's called.  They haven't managed to get it up and running for whatever reason.

The Supportahs are up and running and sometimes initiatives have longevity when they're organic and from the ground-up, rather than top-down.  So why not slap the name the club wanted to use on what is already happening - no admin required?

I don't have any agenda for this - just throwing ideas out there.  No skin off my nose if the general opinion is the idea's a crocka.

 

[Canteen Worker]

What is good to see here is a rational discussion on support for the club. A few teams like the Bulldogs and Sydney FC have quite strong 'tribal' groups that identify closely with the clubs and are an important part of the fabric of the place. Whilst the area in front of the hill beer stand is traditionally a place for the younger supporters, for some reason (in the past few years) there has never been the strong identification or associated tag that might enable a close official or formal identification. I am not sure whether it is past 'bad blood' between those in and out of the Eagle Rockers, general apathy, the complacency that comes from being from the 'insula peninsula'  or a demographic that is not so tribal as the European Soccer crowds or that of the South West of Sydney.

Would be good to see some strong identification though the concept of membership is more a 'baby boomer' notion rather than a Gen Y or Gen Y one, the exception being in Victoria where it is a very long established ideal. My bet is that t he majority ofmembers of most clubs are people in their 40s plus - which explains why Souths and Dragons have so many.

Hopefully there are ways to capture the support of the younger demographic apart from membership, that help the club but also provide something for the individual but also enhancing involvement in the club.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Good point CW...AND...to be 100% honest the majority of the people I am taking to NZ in April (nearly 60 of them) are 40 plus...there's a few younger ones but the dollars involved I guess sway them to spend the money on other things (or they just don't have it to spend).

It would be interesting to see how many of the members of our club are +40, I might ask the question and se if I can answer that.

Cheers

 

[Fluffy]

Mata - no cahnce on changing the name. It would just be too difficult having to come up with new chants.

 

[Canteen Worker]

It's very hard to change Manly clap clap clap!!!!!

 

[Duff]

It's very hard to change Manly clap clap clap!!!!!

That's a bit old school CW.

We've almost got a Premier League style songbook together for this year, if we remember everything we've come up with at 2am on Saturday mornings.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

CW

I asked Aaron Markie about the demographics but he was a bit too busy to run those reports, although he did make the following comments re Souths and Dragons which I thought might be interesting to the readers of this forum, here they are,



South's have enormous resources and budget.  They are also years ahead of everyone else in developing a culture of membership.  Don't forget they had  a huge membership prior to them getting back into the comp but they have been trying to convert those people to  ticketed memberships not $10 ones.

St George on the other hand have very few full season members.  They have Memberships for one venue that are considerably less cost and therefore much easier sell.  You can't compare Souths and Dragons to the other clubs its not a level playing field - to compare to them you need to really compare total number of game seats

Aaron

Not sure that this relevant to the age demographic question, but I did at least try!!

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

There was a lot of development on songs and chants this year....One of my next jobs is to try and get those correlated into an actual booklet, and include them for all people doing our trips. Once you get to know a few they are quite easy, and whilst Manly "clap clap clap" still appears, it is a lot more than that these days. Vidmar is the driving force, and of course his EPL heritage is showing through BUT the Travelling Supportahs are loving it and embracing the concept.

It's also a part of what makes coming away with us, being a part of the group and sitting at games together so very special.

A trip away with the Supportahs is something you should all aspire to in 2010-11, I can assure you, your decision to do that won't be regreted.

 

[Fro]

Vid is so old it was well before the Premier League started that he was watching his beloved liverpool

 

[eagles2win]

I'm a proud travelling supportah's and loving our ever growing presence. I recently took my mother (a bronco supporter) to the Allstars game and met up with some of my new "extended" family from the travelling supportah's and she mentioned how close we are. I then mentioned this is nothing (there was only 5 of us) you should see when the rest of the travelling lunatics get here.
I love the concept of travelling together, chanting together and generally having a good time at the game and hotel together.

Especially love Vidmar at the Broncos and Titans game

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Ouch Fro, Vid wont like that reference...he's old BUT not as old as me!!

Eagles2win is spot on, it's a fun time on one of our away trips...my mission is to get as many Silvertails on one as I can, so that you guys can rave as much about them as they do over at MWSE.

I can assure you this isn't only about the money (yes I do turn a small profit in but it's not great in the scheme of things...and I can earn as much as I earn for a total year on these trips in one decent trip I do otherwise), it's about a challenge I gave myself when I first arrived here from NSW and went to a Bronco's game and met Corso Pete (and Jan) and about 4 or 5 others and I saud to myself "we MUST be able to do better than that"!!!

And we have.

Just look at the numbers for Bronco's and Titans these days...hundreds and hundreds and it's growing all the time.

If you want to be added to my ever growing e-mail data base it's this one

[email protected]

 

[Canteen Worker]

[quote author=Canteen Worker link=topic=182496.msg253018#msg253018 date=1267575530]
It's very hard to change Manly clap clap clap!!!!!

That's a bit old school CW.

We've almost got a Premier League style songbook together for this year, if we remember everything we've come up with at 2am on Saturday mornings.
[/quoteAS if you blokes will remember anything from a long Saturday morning!!!!

Thanks Mark for asking the questions. What is said about Souths and St G/I makes a lot of sense.

 

[Matabele]

I have to agree that the atmosphere the traveling supporters can generate at away games is fantastic and well worth being a part of.  Joining in on the Suncorp shenanigans last year was one of the highlights of a difficult year.

 

[Fro]

Old doesn't mean past it Mark

 

[ManlyBacker]

Old means you can get a kiss from Sammi and feel extra good about it.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

I saw you snuggling up to the beautiful Sammi in Brisbane MB, you are right you only feel as old as the woman you are kissing....Jen Hawkins watch out here I come ;D ;D ;D

 

[vidmar]

Hey...Less of the old you lot, just because I put an ash rinse in my hair to make me look more distinguished don’t be fooled!

Just catching up on things and great to see some discussion re the support.

From what I've been seeing there are effectively 3 "sub groups" that make up the Supportahs.

At home games people are pretty much spread out and watch from places that they have always done so however most of the singing and carry on is done on the northern side of the beer shed on the Hill (me and my mates actually stand on the southern side of the Hill as we have done for years) and that group has been growing and has all ages that join it.

For the local away games the group generally all gets together and encompasses all ages from young kids to the older fans..I've seen an increasing number of family groups joining in and having fun as though we are loud the group self manages and none of the chants use profanity (and it's calmed down pretty quickly if the odd person with a few drinks in them tries to kick something off)

I think a big part of this is not only the fun but as a group it’s usual that they tend to look after each other and this allows some people to feel safer at an away ground that may be unfamiliar to them or traveling to it and enjoy the camaraderie is an enjoyable part of following the team.

Interestingly on this point - there was a complaint from a Storm fan on their web site last season about the group at Olympic (when we beat them!) and to their credit there were a number of Storm fans that weighed in and gave us a good rap as to how passionate and vocal we were but also especially how well behaved, approachable and friendly the group was (and how they wished their support was similar!).

The third group tends to also do the “big” trips like the GC, Brissie, Townsville and of course NZ.

Interestingly many of these people come from out of town and I know regulars on these trips from all various parts of QLD plus Perth, Dubbo, Mudgee, Bathurst, The Hunter, the Blue Mountains and various other places

Yes the cost and having the flexibility to travel to these games invariably mean that the average age is a little older however over the last few years it’s been noticeable that more families with kids are traveling and making a bit of a family holiday of it.

There are also some noticeable regulars on these trips who are well under 40 like Jonno, Wolfpack,  Jonesy, Tractor Boy and his sister, Premiers 08 and her sister, Sammi, Bones, Jake and Kel etc etc who again seem to treat the trip as a mini holiday and save up for it.

So a pretty wide group and growing and again no need to “join” just keep an eye on here re local trips for details of where we’ll be and when and get on Mark’s mailing list to be kept updated on any of the interstate trips (or if you are from out of town he also organizes group trips to Brookie for selected matches) and come and say G’day I’d be surprised if you didn’t get a warm welcome and an introduction to a few people pretty quickly?

Season launch tomorrow so will have a quiet day at the Diggers and then straight home…. and be looking forwards to the start of the season.

Can’t wait!

Cheers
Vid

 

[Matabele]

Phew, can someone precis that for me? 

I think he's saying"

Home games, dog's breakfast (and beer).
Sydney games, wide spread on buses.
Road trips - lost of mouldy oldies flying about the place. 

 

[Jatz Crackers]

If you could be a bit more concise, it would be appreciated........ ............. .............. .............  thanks in advance Matas.