By Jim Gray
Within hours of last Friday night’s humiliating result in Drogheda, the WhatsApp Group of the Sligo Rovers Annual Draw volunteers was buzzing. Not, as might have been a reasonable reaction, with recrimination or self-pity, but rather with a resolve to double-down on efforts to make this year’s fund-raiser the most successful ever. The show must go on.
“Funnily enough, results on the field have never had any relevance to the success or otherwise of the draw,” Mark Cummins confirms. “The worry might be more about the effect on the morale of our sellers, but the response on our WhatsApp group demonstrated that everybody is still up for it, not deterred in any way, still raring to go. That’s the spirit which keeps this club going, in good times and bad.”
Mark is the club’s Stadium Development Officer. In recent years, he’s taken on the role of the Annual Draw co-ordinator, planning, plotting, perfecting a military-precision operation which in the last two years alone has raised a staggering 212,000 euro. His father, Seamus, is a former Chairman of the club who oversaw the historic 1983 FAI Cup campaign but who also steered the club through some difficult financial storms. So, Mark knows the value of a few bob in a community-owned and run club where a ravenous wolf is constantly gnawing at the door.
The Annual Draw is one of three vital pillars in the club’s fund-raising operation, alongside the weekly Lotto and the 500 Club. It comes at a crucial time in the season, its earnings plugging holes which might otherwise prove catastrophic.
Mark explains: “The proceeds come in at a very important time of the year. There’s the mid-season break, maybe we’re out of the FAI Cup, there’s no European football, but the wages still have to be paid every week. It helps the club trade throughout the months of June, July, August and September, often lean times in terms of other income. Without that cash flow at that particular period of the season things could become extremely difficult.”
Initially mainly a town-based effort with a more restricted time-span, the draw has built huge momentum in recent years, with an increasing number of volunteers enabling a much wider area to be covered. The team now numbers 30 committed men and women who pound the streets, knock on doors, drilling deep into previously uncharted territory over a period of about three months.
With almost evangelical zeal, and a hunger which would put electioneering politicians to shame, they painstakingly cover the terrain, inching across the county from North to South, East to West, traversing borders into Leitrim and Roscommon, spreading the Rovers gospel as they go.
They take to the road on three nights each week, one of which will be a dedicated ‘blitz’, where they’ll hit an area with more than a dozen bodies, seeking out even the most obscure addresses.
“We cover all the bigger towns and villages, and we’ve been down practically every country road and boreen. The more volunteers we have, the more mileage we’ll cover. This year, we’ve been in Boyle for the first time; last year we went to Easkey and Dromore West for the first time; hopefully next year we’ll get as far as Ballina. It’s not rocket science, the more bodies we have on the ground, the greater the return will be,” Mark points out.
Although the effort represents a huge workload for those involved, Mark insists it’s a thoroughly enjoyable undertaking.
“There’s a great spirit amongst the sellers,” he confirms. “We’re always messaging each other after a night on the road, so we know how things are going and we’re able to boost each other. There’s always a bit of craic. People say it must be tough, but to us it never seems that way.
“Our aim setting out each night is to hit every door possible, even doors where we’re fairly sure we won’t get a sale. Sometimes it can be briefly demoralising, but the point is that even if we don’t sell a ticket at a particular door, we still get 15 or 20 seconds to talk to people about Rovers. So, it’s a PR exercise as much as anything, an opportunity to promote the club. We’d often come across people who’ll tell us they’ve never been in the Showgrounds, but they want to help anyway. It is never time wasted.”
Emphasising that the reaction is seldom directly related to results, Mark subscribes to the view that if on-field success was the only criteria in keeping Rovers afloat the club would have run aground decades ago.
“The reality is this club has never relied on trophies for its survival,” he maintains. “People talk about the glory years, which is fair enough. But, in a sense these are the glory years. Since relegation was introduced, this is the longest period we’ve gone without going down. That’s success.
“On the doorsteps people might moan about a particular result, but they’ll do it as they’re filling in a ticket and handing over a tenner. In most cases, people are much more likely to talk about the work we’re doing in the community, or the regional summer camps, or the birthday parties at the Showgrounds. It’s always much more than results. The club reaches out and connects with people in a manner which is much deeper than whether we’ve won or lost a couple of games.”
The admirable work of the foot-soldiers is augmented by a number of individuals who take 50 books of tickets and distribute them amongst family and friends, amounting to an impressive return of 5,000 euro. In addition, the Bit’O’Red Supporters Trust (BORST) sell up to 20,000 euro worth of tickets, and the Dublin Supporters’ Club chips in another 5,000 euro. Online sales attract support from America, Australia and countless other locations around the globe where exiled Rovers fans are glad of the opportunity to lend a hand.
In 2022, a new record was set when the draw raised a total of 104,000 euro. Last year, that figure was surpassed by another 4,000 euro. The target this year is to create a new milestone of 110,000 euro, as sales efforts are intensified in the final three weeks.
The draw, which carries a first prize of 5,000 euro and an enticing array of other rewards, will take place at the Showgrounds on September 21st, during half-time of the tie against Dundalk. Tickets, priced at 10 euro each, will be on sale right up to the last minute.
The heroic efforts of those involved in the annual draw illustrate yet again that win, lose or draw, Rovers persevere because of the efforts of selfless volunteers and supporters. It has always been this way. The show must go on.
Tickets for the 2024 Annual Draw can be bought using the link below 👇