Al Kellock | Our Fighting for our Families campaign is making a tangible difference to the lives of children in this city.

Glasgow Warriors Managing Director Al Kellock addresses the Warrior Nation as focus shifts to the business end of the season

Dear Warrior Nation,

As we look forward to this weekend and the club’s first ever top-tier European knock out fixture against Leicester Tigers – in front of what promises to be a sold-out Scotstoun -, I feel it’s a good time to reflect on the last few months and some of the achievements we have made as a club, all made possible by our one-of-a-kind support.

1872 Cup

Back in December, we took our home 1872 Cup fixture to Hampden Park for the first time, and the occasion was one that will live long in the memory both for the result on the field and the atmosphere you helped to create. I would like to thank every single one of the 27,538 supporters for blowing our pre-game hopes for ticket sales out of the water, and atmosphere at the game is something I’ll always remember.

I can reveal we will be returning to Hampden Park for next season’s home 1872 Cup fixture with the target of making the event even bigger and better than year one.

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback about the event and for making us aware of the challenges some supporters experienced with queue times at bars and catering kiosks. We have since had some extremely productive meetings with Sodexo, the catering company at Hampden, and can confirm that the next time we take a game there the following adjustments will be made to improve the customer experience:

Additional kiosks in the East Stand and the West Stand will be open to take volume from North Stand with the dispersion of crowds significantly reducing queue times.
There will be specific kiosks for food or drinks only, a streamlined offering to speed up service and additional ‘Beer on Tap’ services again to reduce queue times.
We are also exploring the option to create a Fan Zone at the stadium.

Plaster it Purple

I’d like to extend a massive thank you to each of you, Warrior Nation, for helping to make our Plaster It Purple clash against Emirates Lions last weekend such a success. Even in the face of the Glasgow weather, you showed up and dug deep in support of Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity, creating a superb occasion that was matched by the performance of our players on the field.

Thanks to the generosity of the Warrior Nation, and a significant contribution from our sponsors Leidos, we were able to raise a huge £20,855.83 on that has been added to our season wide Fighting for our Families campaign. At the beginning of the season we set ourselves a target of £85,000 and, with our total currently sitting at well over £70,000 and with several weeks of fundraising to go, we are confident of smashing that target.

The support you have already shown through your generosity to this campaign is making a tangible difference to the lives of children in this city. We could see that on the night with Austin, Teddy and Josh, all Children’s Hospital patients, involved in our matchday and demonstrating a level of bravery and inspirational behaviour that we can all aspire to. There will be more opportunities to support our campaign in the coming weeks to help us reach our target so please continue to give generously and keep changing lives.

Looking forward

Tomorrow night will be our third home match in three successive weeks, and I’m hugely excited to return to European action tomorrow against Leicester Tigers, a club with such rich history in the competition.

Since the turn of the year 20 schools have competed in our annual SP Energy Network Championships and a massive congratulations to our semi-finalists Lenzie Academy, Balfron High, Oban High, Marr College, Dalziel High and Biggar High.

Fresh from locking in the club’s all time leading try scorer George Horne for the foreseeable future, we also have several more pieces of exciting contractual news to share over the coming weeks. We’ll be announcing one of these at our open training session at Scotstoun on Tuesday 15^th April so make sure you book your spot if you haven’t already.

Finally, Season Ticket Holders, please keep your eyes peeled for renewal details. They will be coming your way next week as we gear up for the business end of the season and hopefully continue to fight for silverware in two competitions.

I look forward to seeing – and hearing – you all at Scotstoun tomorrow evening.

Yours in rugby.

Al Kellock

Glasgow Warriors Managing Director