Gavin Mairs: Loyal Ulster fans crowded out by Leinster

Columnists

Friday, May 16, 2008

Ulster's annus horribilis has been reflected by a fall in the average Ravenhill attendance in the Magners League campaign for the first time in three years.

This season's average gate of 9,661 is down 546 per match on last season's total, which had passed the 10,000 mark for the first time.

Given the fact that Ulster only only won six games (out of 12) at Ravenhill this season in all competitions and the gap between the first win (against the Neath/Swansea Ospreys on September 21) and the second (against Bourgoin on January 11) was almost four months, it is a tribute to the loyalty of the team's supporters that the fall was not more significant.

As it was, Ulster impressively still finished as the second-best supported side in the competition £ despite a lowly eighth place finish £ behind Leinster, who with a combination of their move to the RDS (capacity 18,500) and an imaginative marketing and ticket pricing stategy, topped the poll with an average gate of 14,361.

Indeed across European leagues, only Leicester Tigers, Toulouse and Stade Francais can better the average gate of Leinster.

Heineken Cup finalists Munster saw their average gate affected by the redevelopment of Thomond Park, with a sixth-placed average of 6,757, while Ulster's nearest rivals were the Ospreys, who finished with an average figure of 8,798 while Cardiff Blues were in fourth place with a total of 8,480.

Attendances in Ireland overall were up four per cent, while despite the early impact of the Rugby World Cup, like for like attendances at Magners League games this season have increased 2.5% on last year.

Average gates are also up from 6,011 last year to 6,791, an increase of 13%, while accumulatively there were almost 52,000 more people through the turnstiles by the end of round 18 this year compared to last.

Ulster's dip, the first since Mark McCall's first season in charge back in 2004/05 when the average gate fell from 6,850 to 6,693, is a warning sign that year-on-year growth £ which has been spectactular in the intervening periods with a 52% increase from 2004/05 to 2006/07 £ can no longer be taken for granted.

It may seem an obvious statement but the evidence proves there is a clear correlation between the success of the team and attendances £ last season's average of 10,207 came following the expectation generated by Ulster's Celtic League win in 2005/06, when the average gate leapt up from 6,693 to 9,182.

And while the level of support more or less held up this season, the big test will come next season, when hopes will be high that Matt Williams can lift the team's fortunes having had time to bed in and bring in new faces to bolster the squad.

Williams' top priority has so far been to make Ravenhill a fortress again, and while this is vital for the team's success, it also will play a hugely important role in boosting gates which are increasingly becoming crucial to the province's financial welfare.

It all adds up. If Leinster are averaging 4,000 more a game than Ulster, over a season (nine home games) the total figure is 36,000. If you just multiply that figure by £10 per ticket alone, Leinster's gate income is worth £360,000 per season more than Ulster's.

And that sort of money could buy you a world class tighthead prop.

Or Rocky Elsom . . .

Meanwhile, the appointment of Ian McGeechan as the new Lions coach for the tour of South Africa next summer was widely expected and will have attracted few detractors.

Few people understand the Lions ethos better than the former Scotland coach who is now running the ship at Wasps.

McGeechan has already coached on four previous Lions trips, three as head coach, including the victorious 1997 series win over the Springboks, while the 61-year-old was also a player on the 1974 and 1977 Lions side tours.

And his declaration about returning to the traditional Lions philosphy, including a smaller touring party, is to be welcomed.

In 2005, Sir Clive Woodward used 51 players and took 26 backroom staff to New Zealand but such an unwieldly party quickly descended into a circus-like farce and the All Blacks romped to a 3-0 victory. Woodward failed to recognise that his top-down management style that had worked over a four-year period with England, could not be super-imposed onto a 10-week tour.

At this level, the players don't need coaching, they need a leader who can provide a clear strategy and inspire unbreakable unity.

The Lions will need both in spades if they are to stand a chance against the world champions in their own backyard.

And McGeechan knows exactly how to make the Lions tick.