By SOS Committee
May 13 2004

Last year we launched 'The Craic Supporter of the Season'. This was won by Christopher Tampsett, better known to many of us as Reading Fatboy. It is now time to chose the supporter of the season 2003/4.

Craic Supporter of the Season 2003/4

Each year we ask you to chose one of your fellow supporters to be Craic Supporter of the Season. Despite our occasional disagreements it has to be said that we have a truly wonderful set of supporters. This is recognised widely in the rugby supporting world. Any test of opinion that has been taken, however unscientific, has rated us the most friendly in the land 'By a country mile'. It is a reputation we have managed to retain despite a huge growth in crowd numbers over the years. This reputation is a cornerstone of our club, one of it's biggest assets and something that we guard jealously.   

The nomination committee comprises the three editors of this site BrianC, Griff and Subtel together with the the previous seasons winner Reading Fatboy. For obvious reasons none of the nomination committee can be nominees. Indeed, having previously won the award, RFB is excluded, almost certainly to his great relief, from future nomination. There are undoubtedly a lot of people out there who do a lot of sterling work for London Irish that are not on this list. The problem is that we don't know them, that is why this is 'The Craic' supporter of the season. 

When we first pooled names the four of us came up with twelve different suggestions. This we have whittled down to a list of six. These six we are asking you to vote for, the poll is on the side of this site.

The nominations for Craic Supporter of the Season 2003/4 are.....  

Peter Earnshaw (No Expert) - Peter is one of two from this list who was also nominated last season, Peter is one of the quieter but ever present figures amongst our supporter base, in fact he one of two of those nominated who did not do a 'Meet the Family' questionare last summer . He is routinely at A games and often has provided us, the wider community, with reports from them. This season he even took over the job of reporting on one of our away games, without notice, as the designated reporter was somewhat incapacitated at the time. True to his spirit of being a committed rugby supporter, when the Saints asked for London Irish volunteers to step forward for their British Heart Foundation sponsored walk, he was the first to do so. 

Paul Looby (Loobs) - Paul was one of the founding editors of this site, the work he put in both in helping it get on it's feet and sustaining it through it's first year of existence was immense. Those of you who were around during the time the club had the half brained idea of cancelling the Craic in the 2002/3 season may not be aware but Paul was one of the key figures in ensuring it was saved. In typical style he did this quietly, as he does all his work, be that for the supporters' club, the Ferrets, or whoever. His contribution to us, as supporters, cannot be understated.

Claire Gozney (Mrs Goz) - Claire is one of the more colourful of our followers but that shouldn't be allowed to detract from the fact she is at the same time one of the most intelligent and thoughtful. At home matches she works as East Stand drummer (Believe me, it is hard work). On coach trips to away games she is provider of the most wonderful sausage rolls to the masses. Claire has written match reports, made us laugh, kept us in check, perhaps without even realising she was doing so. Those of us who know her are aware that there is a deep down mixture of integrity and love of fun within Claire, she is a great asset to the club.  

Bill Newton (Bisach) - Bill is one of the doers rather than the politicians within the supporter base. I've rarely ever seen him without a camera in his hand, or cajoling people into a group to be photographed, as he did most recently at our end of season party. Rarely seen without a smile on his face perhaps Bill's best known contribution to this family is his constant supply of videos, dvd's, photographs, whatever. All at no profit, indeed at cost, to himself. Wherever London Irish are Bill is. The one notable exception this season was the tour to Narbonne, even here he created arguably the best ever thread we've had on this site with his Virtual Tour.

Marie Hilliard (Mulledwinemarie) - Marie could most readily be described as The Queen of the Eastiebeasties. Ever present, ordering people to blow up balloons, eat sandwiches, buy wigs, tidy up or to just lighten up and enjoy themselves. The fact that she doesn't have an entry in last seasons 'Meet the Family' series is not down to modesty or shyness. She simply couldn't work out what she was going to put into the answers. Marie is probably the highest profile supporter in the club. She wasn't on the nomination list last year as she was on the nomination committee, she would have no doubt been in the running for supporter of the season then.

Robin Clive (OxonRob) - Rob almost embodies what being a London Irish supporter is all about, he's an Englishman of Welsh origins. Somewhere in the mid 80's he came saw and fell in love with this club and the people around it. Last year Rob was nominated for the JC Joke book, the Henley barbeque, for being one of the nicest people you could hope to meet and a lot else beside.  This year it's all of the same except that joke book two is still under production. Rob spans and mediates between all aspects of this wonderful club of ours. He's the epitome of a London Irishman.

So now it's down to us, the denizens of The Craic, to chose our supporter of the season. Not an easy choice is it? The Poll is on the side of this site. Get voting!