The Supporters Club was originally established during the 1999/2000 season, with the encouragement of Dermot Kelly, Secretary of the Munster Branch, by Gethin Lewis and Declan O'Connell, who was Chairman of the Committee until 2004.
The foundation of the Munster Rugby Supporters Club was largely due to the following:
- It was hoped that a Munster Rugby Supporters club would unify rugby followers from
- Several supporters had requested the establishment of a Supporters Club.
The Munster Branch also recognised the importance of creating a base for people who were not affiliated to any particular rugby club, or indeed people who didn't live in Munster, and yet wanted to support the Munster Rugby team.
It was hoped that these individual supporters would band together and lend their collective support to the Munster rugby team, who would take on other rugby forces in Ireland, the UK, France and beyond.
It took the Supporters Club two years to reach 500 members. By 2002/3, there was a waiting list in place as the capacity at Thomond Park is such that Heineken cup tickets can only be provided to a certain number with membership of the Supporters Club.
In 2004, Associate Membership of the Supporters Club was launched. Associate Members have all the benefits of full Membership except that of entitlement to tickets for Heineken Cup matches. Associate membership increased the overall grouping of Munster supporters and harnesses support for Munster Rugby teams. It increased the Club Membership number to over 4.000.
January 2005 saw the launch of Junior Membership aimed at Munster Supporters under the age of 16. In the first season of Junior Membership, over 650 signed up bringing the total members of the club to in excess of 4,600.
As of August 2010, there are nearly 13,000 members of the Supporters Club - adult and junior.
Choir:
The MRSC Choir was set up in March 2007. It is a mixed voice choir with members from all over Munster. The repertoire includes all the rugby classics, along with some modern, gospel and jazz numbers. The choir are available for performances at matches, corporate, fundraising and supporters club events. Rehearsals take place in Charleville every Tuesday night. New members will be welcome in August. For more information, please contact ellenfitz@hotmail.com