WE’VE HAD ALMOST 100 seasons of League of Ireland football, a remarkable achievement for a league that has seemed under constant threat.
We’ve survived GAA bans, being disliked by the Catholic Church, World Wars, Match of the Day and the Dublin Dons movement. Money hasn’t kept us going; we’re a semi-professional league on the pitch, behind the scenes we’re at least 95% volunteer.
The league has made it this far because of people who care, and it helps to be reminded of this.
Eoghan Rice did a wonderful piece during last Monday’s Soccer Republic rooted in, and capturing, the love people have for the league. He did this by comparing the League of Ireland to the recent vote on Marriage equality.
The ‘Yes’ vote carried in that referendum through activism. While there were starring roles from politicians, media commentators and some celebrities, the day was carried by people who cared enough to turn latent support into actual votes.
People who had never voted gave their time to canvass. Simple things like effective use of social media hashtags to share opinion, news and entertaining viral videos made a positive difference.
I wonder how many people in positions of power across the League drew the parallels Rice did. There are thousands of people who care passionately about the League but it and clubs across the country are run, in large part, by the same people year on year.
League of Ireland clubs often put out blanket requests for volunteer support then decry the lack of people helping out with the workload at their club. The problem is usually that these requests don’t break down what skills, time, effort and commitment is needed.
People aren’t given a clear picture.
Perhaps more importantly, supporters aren’t given a chance to feed into other areas, such as attracting or retaining other supporters.
I was guilty of this when I served as Chairman of Cork City in 2010 and 2011. We had a massive volunteer base, but called on them primarily for match nights and keeping the training facility in Bishopstown open.
While it was understandable given our history, we were too conservative. There were ideas every day, but too few supporters were encouraged to turn their ideas into projects.
I didn’t appreciate the diversity of thinking I had at my disposal.
It was only when I later worked for Athlone Town, when I had an older and smaller body of volunteers, though equally dedicated, that I realised I’d missed a trick.
When I’ve spoken to clubs about the benefits of setting up a supporters’ trust or increasing supporter involvement, I always stress that it’s not some magic financial bullet. The biggest advantage of supporters ownership is activating people by giving them a sense of ownership of, or belonging to, the club.
Cork City’s marketing successes the past two seasons, Finn Harps clever use of social media in recent times and Bohemians’ gradual and clever repositioning as the ‘St.Pauli of Ireland’ have largely been driven by supporters (or members) running with ideas rather than passing them onto the club to be executed.
There is board oversight but projects are successful without a huge board workload.
If you provide clear direction and supportive oversight, you can trust supporters to publicise, build, and effectively advocate your club. You only have to look at the recent ‘Yes’ vote to understand what an engaged public can achieve.
