The familiar faces who are always ready to do so much for the club they love
UPON entry to The Showgrounds on a Saturday evening, one of the first things one hears is cries of ‘ half- time raffle’.
The same faces each week stand out in the rain, sun or snow, with tickets for annual draws, the lotto, or whatever other fundraisers are ongoing.
And these people, these familiar faces are all doing it voluntarily, because raising money for their beloved Sligo Rovers means so much to them personally.
One such face is Noel Scott. He’s been involved since 1989 and he has largely been involved with fundraising events since he joined.
“There was a lot of financial bother at the time. It was just before the co- op model started. So we were in a bit of financial bother and I remember selling tickets for a fundraising draw.
“I suppose as a supporter I just started doing it because I wanted to help out in some way. And it just grew from there. You kind of become a point of contact for people then,” he told The Sligo Champion.
Alongside the lotto, Mr. Scott also plays a big role in the annual draw, selling a huge portion of tickets each year. The Christmas draw, too, involves Scott, as does any other fundraising events run by the club.
“A lot of my involvement has largely been on the fundraising side of things yes,” he said.
Mr. Scott gives a few hours a week to the club, but that doesn’t include the time spent on a match night selling tickets. Noel doesn’t give a second thought to sacrificing his free time, though.
“It’s your club. It’s set up in such a way that it’s your club and you can do something to help. It’s not like abroad where a lot of clubs are quite corporate with regards to fundraising and people getting involved.
“Obviously there can be some frustrations with results and when things aren’t going right but Rovers is a club with a strong volunteer ethos and there are always fans who are willing to contribute even if things aren’t going too well on the pitch.”
There is a strong sense of community, both local and rural with Sligo Rovers. And it involves communities from outside the county too. That volunteer ethos that Scott speaks about is so important to the everyday running of the club.
“Most people who follow Rovers would be aware of how much voluntary work is involved. There are people who help out in the smallest of ways, and people who do bigger bits but everyone who does volunteer is so important. There’s always a fear I guess with volunteering that you can get taken for granted and that’s perhaps why some people are reluctant to start but we’re all just happy to help out.
“Rovers are my club. I take pride in them when they succeed and we’ll always be there. There’s a hardcore of 12- 1500 and I’m one of those,” he said.
Another familiar face that’s present among the many volunteers on a Saturday evening is Pat Wallace. Having been involved since 1967, Mr. Wallace has been involved in all kinds of different fundraising initiatives. “I always supported them and I used to get the bus in and out from Cliffoney on a Sunday for half a crown,” he told The Sligo Champion.
“I started working in Sligo then and I started selling the shilling a line tickets for the draw. I’d sell maybe ten lines from the book and that would be ten shillings a book, which would be the equivalent of £ 5. Then when Billy Sinclair came along I started doing the golden goal, which was 50p each. I’d sell 200 of those for the week.
“Then the lotto started. I sell 18- 20 lotto books a week and I do deliveries all throughout the week, dropping them off to shops across the county.”
His heavy involvement with the club spreads from the halftime raffle, to the Annual Draw, to the lotto.
“I love the club. I’m not interested in any other football, just Irish football. Sometimes I feel as though the committee might not appreciate the work of volunteers,” he added.
Pat also sells season tickets, and promotes the Super Reds, Christmas draw and much more.
The reason for his dedication?
Sligo Rovers means the world to him.
“Sligo Rovers means everything to me. I look forward to going to games so much. It breaks my heart to ever have to miss games.”