Getting shirty with Derry City's Merchandise Committee

​The entrepreneurial trio initially wanted jerseys, scarves and coffee mugs to be more readily available; to promote the club's brand, engage with fans and meet a growing demand for merchandise.

And yet in less than four short weeks, a forward-looking merchandise committee was established with a band of volunteers who have turned the humble kit into a major revenue stream for the Brandywell outfit.

In fact, since 2018 the 'merch-makers' have incredibly contributed around £500,000 from online and instore sales to the club's coffers!

Only last month the committee handed over a staggering £100,000 of its profits to the club as it continues to be a vital financial cog in the wheel.

The Malmö three were namely Declan Callaghan - later appointed club director in February 2018 - Kevin McDaid, who is also part of the club's website and social media team and Kevin McLaughlin, former club press officer and 'Journal' sports reporter.

Along the way they've managed to recruit Joe Doherty, Kieran Doyle, Ciaran McCauley, Dan Dunn and Gary Slevin who are like kids in a Candy[stripe] shop when it comes to designing the latest teamwear and spend their spare time scouring the globe in search of the latest fashion trend.

Admittedly, the founding members of the committee, with absolutely no background in buying and selling merchandise, didn't realise the potential or the size of the task but they've certainly exceeded expectations.

"It's been a brilliant journey," explained Declan who was a guest on last week's Talking Derry City podcast.

"It was about 2017 when myself, Kevin McDaid and Kev [McLaughlin] were out on a European trip and we were sitting in Malmö having a conversation about what we could do for the club and how we could volunteer to help the club out.

"We came up with merchandise for an easy way for us to do something. We were just chatting about selling a few t-shirts or selling a few mugs in the club shop or wherever.

"Lo and behold, within a few weeks we were designing teamwear and designing leisurewear and were on a procurement exercise looking for suppliers.

"So from Malmö to, about eight weeks later, we had gone from sitting talking about mugs that you put your tea into to speaking to places like Adidas, Macron and O'Neills. You were talking to suppliers and manufacturers from right around the world.

"We had absolutely no background in this. I knew nothing about teamwear. Like, how do you speak to Adidas? How does that happen? Where's the number? It's not in the phonebook. We had absolutely no idea what we were doing but it's been brilliant craic." The presence of Derry City sportswear in the city has increased ten-fold and the collaboration with O'Neills and its Waterloo Place shop this past four years has proven to be a 'matchwinner'.

"From 2017 until now there's been a big difference," added Declan. "I go around Derry and there's barely a street where you don't see some wain playing in a Derry top or some fella walking up the Quay wearing a Derry jacket.

"Derry City is absolutely everywhere now and that's because we've been able to provide people with the items that they wanted.

"There's obviously real financial benefits for the club but just seeing kids running around the streets not in Liverpool, Man United or Barcelona gear - it's Derry City gear. That's the big difference for me.

"We've been doing it since 2017 and first launched Adidas in 2018 but the two organisations we've chosen are local suppliers. Not only are O'Neills a local supplier but they're a local manufacturer and a local retailer.

"The fact Caroline [Casey] and her team at Waterloo Place are open seven days a week now has made an enormous change for Derry City.

"It means our supporters don't have to wait for us to open the shop at a match on a Friday night. They can now go into town any day of the week and buy their Derry City item.

"O'Neills have a fantastic city centre presence but Derry City is very important to that shop as well. When people are buying a hat or a scarf or whatever, they're supporting local jobs.

“They're supporting jobs in Strabane where the items are made and they're supporting jobs in Waterloo Place. And of course they're supporting Derry City jobs as well.

"So it's really good to have a great partner in O'Neills. They've been brilliant over the last four years and are very easy to work with.

"We have another brilliant partner now in Iprint down in Pennyburn Industrial Estate. They're really good guys. It's a local company, local jobs and they do a click and collect service for us."

It takes a lot of work for volunteers and that workload is growing substantially. The demand for merch is often aligned with the success of the first team who have reached two FAI Cup finals in the last three years to capture the imagination of the people of the city.

For volunteers at Derry City the lines can often become blurred and roles cross over from merchandise to marketing and media but it's become a labour of love.

Manning the club shop on matchdays at Brandywell has been an experience while the pop-up shops, from Carlisle Road to Shipquay Street and most recently Foyleside have proven hugely successful.

They've had to leak phony jerseys to throw fans off the scent ahead of kit launch promotions and there's been plenty of heated discussions when it comes to collars and colours or the thickness of the Candystripes - and that's just at the weekly merchandise meetings!

So while it's not always plain sailing, the reward of seeing the finished product worn by thousands of supporters must make it all worthwhile.

"The supporters have been brilliant. The pop-up shop in Foyleside was the most successive thing we've done since we started. Because of its location but also the supporters have been brilliant for us.

"Every time they're coming in and buying a jersey, buying a mug, buying a half zip, buying a pen - all that money generated is just pouring back into the club. "It is vital and the merchandise group deserves credit. All of us in that group are volunteers and it's completely done free and done outside your day job. There's a lot of days you're asking 'what are we doing?," he laughed.

"Like on a Friday night when there's pandemonium in the shop - that 15 minutes window when everyone comes in at half-time and there's a load of wains asking what's that? How much is that? What can I buy for £1.50? So you do have a laugh on a Friday night I have to say.

"There's some craic when you're deciding the design of a jersey or a collar. A collar can take months! There's seven or eight of us in the group and seven or eight different opinions so it's good fun.

"The amount of work they're doing that's not merchandise, they're dipping into media or marketing and I tell them they need to step back at times.

"The amount of work they do is absolutely fantastic but the reward is seeing people running around the town and some of the boys can say, 'I designed that'. There's a family at the cup final wearing four or five different things and we designed that. So they love doing that as well."

Derry City FC is ultimately a business and merchandise has been a real cash-cow.

The club also has a social responsibility which is now a Uefa and FAI directive but the merchandise group has been more than generous in giving something back to the local community.

Charities such as Alpha One Ireland, the respiratory team at Altnagelvin, The Kevin Bell Trust, Foyle Search and Rescue, Children in Crossfire, The Ryan McBride Foundation and local food banks are just a few of those who have received charitable donations from the merchandise pot.

"I'm not going to be behind the door when talking about money. When we started doing this one of the main drivers was getting Derry people wearing Derry City stuff.

"The second thing was to have another income stream for the club and merchandise has been one of the great revenue streams that has come into the club over the last few years. "The Merchandise group over the last month were able to hand over £100,000 into the club. And £100,000 to Derry City is an astronomical amount, it really is. "That can be used for so many things that people might not think about. You have to have insurance for the players.

"It could pay for the buses for the underage teams. Pitches for the underage teams. "It's not all going back to Derry City either. We're trying to develop a community element within the club where we put some of our merchandise profits back into the city for the benefit of the city. "A football club is a business. Derry City isn't just a business. It's an integral part of the community.

You need to help the community out at times of need. "We'll donate signed jerseys to charities. We do that every month of the year. There's a really long list of charities that come to us.

"There's a limit to what we can give out but we give it out. They can use those for raffles and generate a lot more money than the £50 jersey we're giving them. "We've actually put in cash and food into local food banks which are coming from Derry City's merchandise group as well.

"It means our supporters are putting money into the club and getting something in return."

Not ones to rest on their laurels, the team are continuously searching for their next venture.

"Maybe we need to step up a wee bit and think a bit more. If I had £1 for everybody who contacted us asking why we don't do an Undertones top then we could wrap up the merchandise now and just retire. "We can't rest on our laurels.

"If you do, you end up going backwards. We always need to be changing it up and look at trends and fashion trends. What are players wearing and supporters buying across the world?

"We try to keep the prices for our supporters low so we get more people wearing it but that means less profit for the club.

"So we have to weigh that up and make sure we keep the price point very low so Derry people keep buying it. "I do like to think our merchandise group led the way because there was no one else doing what we were doing over the past few years.

"There's been other clubs asking us how we built up our merchandise offering and we have helped other football clubs north and south of the border."

Derry people aren't normally great at blowing their own trumpets but £500,000 isn't a drop in the ocean and maybe it's about time Derry City's merchandise group started shouting from the rooftops.