Supporters Club members will be more important than ever in 2021

The importance of the Tipperary Supporters Club will be seen more than ever in 2021 according to senior hurling manager Liam Sheedy.

By Shane Brophy

Speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the hurling fundraising group last Thursday, Liam Sheedy said with central GAA funding set to be massively restricted this year, money raised by the Supporters Club will contribute hugely in ensuring the senior hurlers have the best possible preparation for the 2021 campaign when it begins.

In 2020, the Tipperary Supporters Club made a contribution of €77,214 to the preparation of the senior hurlers for aspects such as training camps, medical treatment, specialist training, travel, and accommodation.

This financial contribution was despite the Supporters Club running an overall deficit for the year of €12,293.

“The contribution it makes to the team is exceptional,” said the Tipperary manager.

“Without laying the weight of expectation on you, the requirement of a Supporters Club is really important in 2021 and even more important than it would have been previously. The reality is the funding you would get from the league and Croke Park is going to be under pressure this year.

“We certainly have an ambition to prepare our team to the best possible standards so having the back-up of what is a strong engine that is the Supporters Club is going to be critical to our ability to prepare really well for this championship ahead.”

The drop in income was largely due to the cancellation of the annual Golf Classics held in Tipperary and Dublin, while the number of members paying the annual €40 subscription to join fell from 2,500 to 1,840.

Supporters Club Chairperson Terry O’Neill described it as a “tough year” but was glad that they were able to make a “significant contribution to team support”, he added.

The Tipperary Supporters Club also administers funding generated by the Commercial Board, which was set-up in 2019. So far, over €188,000 has been generated by the Commercial Board, of which €94,930 has been provided to the Supporters Club to administer.

However, Tipperary manager Liam Sheedy said the bread and butter individual memberships of the Supporters Club remains vitally important with it more important than ever than they increase the number of members in 2021 and he and his players will be doing their part by hitting their sales target of 200.

“The brand is only as strong as the people pushing the brand, selling the brand, and encouraging people to come on board the Supporters Club,” Sheedy said, adding that more content than ever before will be made available to Supporters Club members this year, including exclusive interviews with the Tipperary manager prior to the season resuming, as well as more competitions.

One of the perks of being a Tipperary Supporters Club member is having a vote for the annual senior hurler of the year award, sponsored by John Quirke Jewellers, which for 2020 was won by Michael Breen who was virtually presented with the Tony Reddin Perpetual Trophy.

How to Join?

While it is not up to individual GAA clubs to sell memberships on behalf of the Tipperary Supporters Club, there was a breakdown in the annual report of where members of the Supporters Club are from.

No club in the county has more than 100 members with the highest being Thurles Sarsfields with 94, followed by St Mary’s Clonmel with 86, with all areas urged to generate more members in the coming year.

Tipperary Supporters Club membership for 2021 is open at €40 per person and includes the gift of an official Supporters Club face mask.

You can join online at: www.tippsupportersclub.com/join or by credit card over the phone by calling Membership Officer Jim Reidy 0863580718.

There is also a direct debit facility available where members who join via Direct Debit for the first time can do so at a reduced rate of €30.

The direct debit form can be downloaded from the Tipperary Supporters Club website and sent to Jim Reidy, 13 Castleknock Close, Dublin 15.