Following a season of highs and lows, both on and off the pitch, Ulster Rugby has released its Annual Report for the 2023/24 season, which is available to view on the club’s website.
Read the full Ulster Rugby Annual Report 2023/24 below.
As the Governing Body for the sport in the province, a professional rugby club competing on a world stage, and with a newly established charitable foundation, the Annual Report provides a wide-ranging update on rugby in Ulster.
Key takeaways from the Ulster Rugby Annual Report 2023/24 include:
The domestic game in Ulster...
- 1000th girl registered in the province’s Youth game
- 60% increase in participation in Disability rugby in the past twelve months
- 15 different clubs claiming silverware across 20 domestic cup and subsidiary competitions
- 20 new referees join the USRFR this past season
- Return of a number of key domestic fixtures to Kingspan Stadium following the installation of a new 3G pitch
Senior Men’s and Women’s Performance Rugby...
- Historic win for the Senior Women in Cork in last summer’s Interpros
- Play-off rugby for the Senior Men secured in the United Rugby Championship, and in Europe, for the 2023/24 campaign
- Qualification for the Champions Cup 2024/25 locked-in for the season ahead
- Departure of nine professional players who represented the province collectively on 420 occasions
Club Finances...
- Challenging year financially, but robust financial plan in-place, with expectation that the club will be breakeven in two to three seasons
- Adjustment of the year end to July 2024 in-line with the IRFU and player contracts
- £5.1m of UK Government Levelling Up funding secured for 29 clubs in Ulster
- Entertained over 200K+ ticketed spectators across 45+ professional, domestic and international fixtures
Ulster Rugby Foundation...
- Launch of the Foundation in August 2023
- Charitable status secured for the Foundation in February 2024
- Total of over £30k raised across the 2023/24 season, through the generosity of supporters, sponsors and the general public
- Key focus areas of Youth, Women & Girls’, and Disability rugby established for the charity
On the release of the Annual Report 2023/24, Ulster Rugby CEO, Hugh McCaughey, said:
“It’s encouraging to see, after the challenges that the club faced on and off the pitch last season, the progress that has been made across rugby in Ulster over the past twelve months.
“In the grassroots game, we are seeing an increase in participation, the game becoming more accessible to all ages and abilities, and the return of key domestic fixtures to Kingspan Stadium – with our new charitable Ulster Rugby Foundation set to further support this progress.
“From a high-performance perspective, our Senior Men’s and Women’s teams are continuing to benefit from a pipeline of talent coming through our Player Pathway into the squads, which will be the foundations of our Ulster team for many years to come.
“As I said on the announcement earlier this week that I will remain as CEO of Ulster Rugby until December 2025, I am excited about what we can achieve between now and then. We will continue to face financial challenges in the time ahead, but we have a robust plan in-place with the IRFU, which is set to see us breakeven within the next two to three seasons. I believe we will improve on and off the pitch for each of the next three years, and that continual improvement in everything we do is our goal.
“My thanks go to our departing Ulster Branch President, Denis Gardiner, for his service across last season, and to our staff, players, volunteers and committees who, through their passion and dedication, are continuing to progress the sport that we are all passionate about. I would also like to thank our fans and sponsors, whose passionate and committed support is what helps to make up the Ulster Rugby family that so many of us love and value.”
More detail on the Ulster Branch’s finances will be provided at the second part of the province’s AGM in November, in-line with other provincial branches.