Dear @JohannM, I forgot to remind you to remind the team that these cliffhanger matches are more than us ‘elderly’ supporters can take anymore.
When I say ‘elderly’ I mean those supporters 40 years old or more who normally during a match, run the gamut of emotions from ‘A’ to ‘B’. Of late it has been more running the gamut of A & E and last Friday night was no different from previous close encounters of the last kick kind.
Our coach, Mr. McGlocks is an ‘elderly’ rugby type and his face has run the gamut of grey to dark grey of recent times, such has been the stress involved in eking out a win.
So in the interests of health and safety of the average ‘elderly’ Ulster supporter we need a win this Friday night. A five pointer would be nice, but an emphatic win, minus the last second threatricals would be most appreciated.
Tradition Runs Through it
The words, ‘Shankill’, ‘butchers’ & ‘Murphy’ evoke terror amongst the population, even 30 years on. Whilst watching media potboiler Nolan’s programme on the Shankill butchers, Robbie Diack felt moved to tweet butcher/entrepreneur, Murphy as to whether there was a connection. Robbie received an appropriate but hitherto anonymous reply from @Murphy’s butchers!!
The time of the Shankill butchers was one of the darkest periods in the annals of our conflict and through it rugby as a sport, was a shining light.
In the late 70’s I played soccer in the Larne and District League for a team based in Carrick. We were a mixed team in religious terms and there were sectarian overtones in the games we played, with Ballyclare a difficult place to play in.
By 1983 I was playing rugby and couldn’t but help notice the difference in attitude of the rugby community, compared to my soccer experience.
Rugby was an all Ireland experience with two RUC men packing down in the front row for the Irish team on one occasion. Few if any high profile Irish rugby players suffered during the Troubles, the exception being Nigel Carr.
Carr’s career as an international, effectively finished when he suffered injuries whilst travelling across the border to an Irish training session and was unfortunate to be in the vicinity of justice Gibson’s vehicle when it was blown up by a bomb.
With Nigel Carr that day were Philip Rainey and the current Ulster doctor David Irwin. Irwin’s injuries were not so serious and he lived to fight another day before retiring and going on to serve Ulster off the field as well as he had served them on it.
Nigel Carr was an extremely talented back rower who would have gained more caps playing for Ireland, had he not suffered the bomb injury.
The current Ulster connection with Carr lives on through coach McLaughlin who was the third man in a legendary back row triumvirate of Carr, McLaughlin and Philip Matthews.
The connections that run through Ulster rugby are both its strengths and sometimes its weakness. In this case there is a strong tradition in the current Ulster coaching and off field set up that links all the way back to the halcyon days of Provincial rugby in Ireland.
Ticking all the boxes
There has been some comment passed about ticketing priority for the quarter final game at Milton Keynes.
Much centres around the fact that UR failed to sell all their ticket allocation with accusations against Ulster supporters for not caring etc.
My thoughts are that UR made a mistake by announcing tickets wouldn’t go on general sale when they initially announced the sale of ticks to ST (season ticket) holders.
Supporters who were not ST or URSC members would have concluded they were excluded and voted accordingly with their pocket money.
Shane Logan in the latest edition of Stand Up said they wanted to reward the loyalty of season ticket holders as those who do most to support UR.
This is a fair enough argument in that it brings discretion and discernible organisation to the allocation of tickets.
I should make clear I have my ticket for MK so this is not a gripe about not getting one.
I wish to put a counter argument to those people who have adopted a somewhat lofty attitude towards those who may feel excluded. The assertion that ST holders and by extension supporter club members do most for Ulster Rugby is one that is open to cynical abuse.
Paying upfront for a season ticket is not a cast iron model for supporter loyalty as can be seen by the consistently empty seats throughout the season until Heineken Cup time and the ‘big’ games, such as when Leinster come to town.
I wonder is supporting your team merely about paying money upfront for a season ticket? In a purely commercial sense this is what Ulster Rugby wants but it also about going along to matches and cheering on your team.
Success on the field breeds financial success off it, some supporters are clearly not buying into both.
Likewise cynics will conclude that all they have to do is spend £10 on URSC membership and it will entitle them to a Heineken knockout ticket irrespective of whether they attend matches or not.
I buy my tickets at Ravenhill in advance of games and in doing so give out my name and address. It’s entered into the computer before I get a match ticket or tickets by return.
This would appear to be a means of ascertaining who is buying tickets for games and would have been I’m certain a method by which loyal supporters (non ST holders and URSC members) could have been given an opportunity to purchase tickets for Milton Keynes.
The computer records will show I haven’t missed a match all season yet by definition of not being a season ticket holder I’m not deemed a loyal supporter.
The fact that you have to talk through a solid glass screen to buy your ticket at Ravenhill perfectly demonstrates why some supporters may feel a little aggrieved at being left on the outside when it came to buying a ticket for MK.
Belatedly it was realised that once the marketing exercise had been exhausted there were tickets left over for general sale but by that time many will have felt it just wasn’t worth the bother and I can understand why.
Emus!
I remember holidaying in France a few years back when we visited a safari park. At the entrance to the drive-through part of the park we were stopped by a flock of Emu’s who surrounded the car and proceeded to inspect it in a fashion that would have made DVLNI testers look amateur.
The lofty birds strutted round the car for several minutes whilst one even inspected the tyres and I swear another used a mirror to look underneath. Other birds eyed us suspiciously before retreating and we were grateful to get underway round the safari park.
What brought Emu’s to mind was the behaviour of event sec at Ravenhill recently with their herding, guarding and gimlet eyed behaviour.
Thinking about it, I’d rather have the Emu’s on duty!!
Corrections, comments or questions?