Jill McCullough - Administrative Assistant

I have great memories of the time leading up to the European Cup. The hype and excitement in the office was amazing. We all worked very hard and finally our boys brought the Cup home.

It started immediately after the semi final.  Lesley, John, Joe and myself were in the stand hugging and crying along with the other staff.  The atmosphere was electric and nothing could spoil our day. We ended up back at Lesley’s house as usual having a few aperitifs and of course the French supporters coach was outside and who ended up on it?  Yes you’ve guessed us lot!!!  Also we sang Au Revoir (how original).

The following Monday it hit home, boy were we in for a busy couple of weeks.  When we arrived at the office the phones were ringing off the wall, the fax was in overdrive and people were queuing outside. That was the start of it. During the next few days we had family, friends and other volunteers in to help us with mail that was arriving in sack loads by the day.  The players even came in to help us out in answering phones and when we finally had the tickets in our possession they even sold those.

We had set up the Main Committee Room with the long tables and there were about 8 of us took it in shifts to sell to the public.  The funniest thing was the fact that we had an ‘office cardigan’ that we used to share and in all the TV clips the cardi can be seen worn by numerous members of staff and even the players on different occasions!!

My dad had got a video camera that year for Christmas and I brought it into the office and tried to do our own little ‘fly on the wall’.  There are video clips of Michael in the back office wading through mail, USRFR Society members answering phones and the players huddled in the back room reading all the letters that had been sent.  I even have a shot of Rab Irwin fixing the front gate of ‘Fortress Ravenhill’ bless him.  I reckon some of my footage was actually better than the media!!

When all had started to die down and we knew the next day the staff and partners would be travelling to Dublin to follow our team. We set off early that morning and reached the Ormeau Road when Lesley realised she had left her own tickets on her notice board in the kitchen.  That was the start of the laughs. On the motorway was amazing all you could see where Ulster flags and people waving across to each other from their cars it really was unbelievable. The media actually said that ‘the last person out of Northern Ireland should turn the light off’ and that is exactly what it was like.

When we arrived we called to see Michael and his wife at breakfast, past the players hotel and had a bit of banter with the boys being hyper and hanging out the windows.  We then enjoyed a fantastic pre match lunch at the Berkley Court and then onto the match.  The rest is history.  I could go on and on about our day but I will leave that to Lesley.  The hard work, the excitement had all paid off and I wouldn’t have given it up for the world.

Lyndsey Irwin - Senior Manager

The home game against Leicester in 03-04 is probably my best memory, a popular choice I think for those of us that were too young to remember the 99 Final (!!!). I don't think that other than the team, staff and some very loyal supporters anyone really fancied us to win that game, the English media who'd travelled over to report on the match certainly didn't give us a chance- this was, after all, an all-conquering team full of world cup winners!

On the day of the game the staff were in bright and early to prepare for the 1pm kick off, it was cold, being January but the sun was shining, and despite all the controversy in the weeks leading up to the match about playing at Ravenhill on a Sunday and the demonstrators outside the gates, the ground was absolutely heaving come kick off.

The game was entertaining (well for the Ulster supporters anyway!) and to beat Leicester, one of the biggest sides in Europe, not even giving away as much as three points was just perfect and the atmosphere in the ground, truely unforgettable. I don't think we thought we'd ever get the crowd out of the ground after the game, it was a lovely afternoon and people just wanted to stay, enjoy a few more pints and revel in the result.
 
The following week we went to Leicester and the expectation and hype was huge. I'd gone with the team to look after the media requirements and Karen, our Marketing Manager had come too. We'd really upset the apple-cart at Ravenhill the week before and even I was a bag of nerves before kick off at Welford Road, I've no idea how the players managed to keep their emotions in check. In the end it's probably a game Ulster would prefer to forget as the Tigers unleashed a back-lash to avenge the result from the previous week. It was also the day that Martin Johnston announced his retirement from rugby having just won the World Cup with England a few months before and achieved almost cult status amongst rugby followers. I'd asked Matt McCullough to get his autograph for me and he was mortified, having just faced up to the man on the pitch he was handing over my match programme to get his signature. However, he very kindly sorted it out - cheers Matt!
 
The amount of work that goes in, from all the Ravenhill staff, for a Heineken Cup match is huge - everything is just lifted up a notch, more supporters, more ticket sales, more hype, more media interest, the list goes on ...it's hard work but there's no doubt that it's very special and the team have rewarded us with some magic moments over the years. Aside from it paying the bills, we're all hugely interested in rugby and big supporters (naturally) of Ulster. Last year the staff had a day trip to the Madjeski Stadium to see Ulster play London Irish, this year we're hoping to arrange something for the Gloucester game in January. While we'll try to sell it to Michael as a "learning experience" it's will really just be an opportunity to have a bit of craic, soak up the atmosphere at another club and Stand Up for the Ulstermen away from home.

Karen Chambers - Marketing Manager

The buzz of match days
The buzz of match days is very special at Ulster Rugby, but particularly at Heineken Cup time.  You get a special feeling, butterflies in the stomach, knowing that it such a big match and big occasion.  I both like and loathe selling a match out – like it from a point of view of that we have hit our projected targeted, but I loathe having to tell people that there are no tickets left and seeing disappointment on faces.

Ulster v Northampton (January 2003)
This was my first Heineken Cup as an employee of Ulster Rugby.  Being new in, I wasn’t heavily involved in the selling of tickets, but definitely there was such a buzz about the place, and then watching the match that evening with a packed crowd.  Ulster were still in with a chance of qualifying for the quarter finals.  Northampton’s Ben Cohen scored a great try running the length of the pitch, but two great drop goals from David Humphreys gave Ulster victory but it was not enough to progress from the pool.  I remember Wardy leading the players round the pitch after the match and saluting the support from the crowd.

Ulster v Leicester (January 2004)
A perfect winter’s day – sunshine and not a cloud in the sky.  I don’t think anyone could quite believe what they were seeing as Ulster were rampant against the mighty Leicester Tigers. The run up to the match had been busy as we had sold out early and also somewhat controversially given that the match was being played on a Sunday, something which threatened to overshadow a special match.  However, Ulster’s performance soon put that aside as they amazed everyone, leaving the Tigers stunned and the English journalists even more stunned as they beat Leicester 33-0.

Ulster v Gloucester (January 2005)
The wettest night in history!  Ravenhill is known as a cold rugby ground, but the rain just never stopped!  Having started out with Ulster in white and Gloucester in cherry and white, soon both teams were just in muddy brown!  Ulster came out in clean shirts after half time – all except Kevin Maggs – 14 men in white and 1 muddy!  It was a memorable night though, and another great victory for Ulster over English opposition.  After the match I remember my colleague Lyndsey coming into the office covered in mud from head to toe – she stood on a bin bag to take off her wet weather gear, having been hugged by Andy Ward!

Away matches
 I think I should avoid these, as I have been to 3 – Leicester, London Irish and Llanelli Scarlets (maybe it is just teams beginning with L that I should avoid!!!) and we have lost all of them. Visiting Welford Road was a great experience, but after the first 10 minutes, Lyndsey and I sat with our heads in our hands, with the result from the previous week at Ravenhill rapidly disappearing under the onslaught of the Tigers.  Getting to Llanelli Scarlets was the problem, as we got stuck on the M4 on a Friday night driving from Bristol Airport.  With my family I was on my way back to see my parents in West Wales for the weekend, and decided to go to the match on the way. We arrived at Stradey Park about 5 minutes before kick off.  I had to quickly feed my 8 month old son before packing him in his carry pouch and taking him to experience his first Heineken Cup match.