Public buy-in to soccer more important than ever in Mayo

On December 10, the Mayo League’s representative side take on the Roscommon & District League at Solar 21 Park, in the Oscar Traynor Cup. Having already qualified for the knock-out stages, Mayo manager, Joe Kelly, will probably rest some players after their heroics in Galway, when they impressively dismissed the locals 4-1. This could give valuable game time to goalkeeper, Sefan Hester, and possibly Cormac Caulfield and Owen McNamara. Kelly won’t want to change the side too much; he’ll want to continue their winning habit.

Mayo have been very impressive under Kelly. The team’s tactical discipline, work-rate and team spirit are phenomenal. Kelly has created a unit which is greater than the sum of its individual parts, and that’s what you want in a manger.

And yet, support for this Mayo team is low. Very low. Sixty-five paid in to see the win over Sligo at the beginning of October. There are no official figures for the game in Galway – the locals not charging an admission fee (which in itself, says something) – but the attendance was similar.

Public buy-in to soccer is more important than ever in Mayo, given the Mayo League’s plan to enter Mayo FC into the Airtricity League of Ireland. If the plan is ever to become a reality, public support will be essential. Exposure is the key to getting sponsors. It will be hard to convince businesses and big brands, to underwrite Mayo FC, if the public don’t support it.

This leaves the Mayo League with the challenging task of selling the game to the public. In some ways that should be easy. Ireland is a sports-mad country. Mayo has unbelievable GAA support, built around successful county-senior men’s and women’s sides. Okay, the men haven’t won the most cherished of all prizes, but the supporters of most counties would swap with their Mayo counterparts in a heartbeat. On that level, selling an attractive sports product should be easier than in a country or county with no sports tradition or following.

Yet there is little non-participative involvement in soccer in the county.

The Mayo League has done brilliant work since the revolutionary decision, approximately thirty years ago, to switch to summer soccer. The playing surfaces of the clubs, their appearance on the pitch, the standard of refereeing, the professionalism of the league itself. All, up with the best in the country. The League was the subject of an external audit of its corporate governance, a few years ago, and not surprisingly, it passed even the most forensic examination.

But Mayo FC, and League of Ireland football, is a different ball game. The public must be on board. Everything stems from public support. Without the public, the team will never get on to the pitch.

The Oscar Traynor Cup is a great opportunity for the League to bring a higher level of football to the public, and to experiment with strategies to get the public turning-up to these matches in bigger numbers. Mayo have been in the Oscar Traynor before, but never with a definite plan to go into the national senior competition.

When Joe Kelly invited his players in for the first session – what did he do? He assessed the players, and arranged challenge matches. He tested them out to see how they worked as a team, and also as separate units within that. The defence (which has been magnificent). Midfield options. Forwards, (he got the best-ever performance out of Ben Edeh, for example). All this came from trial and error in a non-competitive setting. And, Kelly would be the first to admit, it shaped the success to-date.

The Mayo League Management Committee, who also happen to be the same people as the Board of Mayo FC, has an opportunity to road-test marketing strategies, with the Oscar Traynor Cup. It’s too-easy of an opportunity, to pass.

So how can they do that? Well, they could:

They could send their players (any who are available,) to visit schools, to tell them about the game and to encourage the school or parents, to bring the children to the match.
They could advertise the game in local papers and Mid-West Radio (which has the biggest local radio listenership in the country).
They could ring the officers of the clubs and ask for support.
They could ask the players to encourage their families and neighbours to come to the game.
They could invite businesses, existing and lapsed sponsors, to attend, and give them a bit of corporate hospitality at half-time.
They could open the bar in Milebush. (There are different licensing options available to to do this).
These are just a few ideas. They could seek professional marketing help, even on a pilot basis.

Mayo League Clubs, too, have a huge role to play. Clubs should help sell the Oscar Traynor Cup matches locally. Their players and mentors should attend and cheer on their team-mates.

In July of 2020, when the club’s fundraising streams were severely damaged by the Covid restrictions, Sligo Rovers supporters raised over €80,000 for the club. Initially the supporters set a target of €30,000, but when that was met in one day, they continued their efforts. Rovers are in business a long time (founded 1928), and that level of support doesn’t happen overnight. The thing to remember however is, it did happen. The support base was there and they rattled the biscuit tin, when it was necessary, to help their club.

That’s what Mayo League/Mayo FC has to aim for.

The Oscar Traynor Cup provides the first step on that journey. The League should take it.