Why raise funds in this way?

Competing in the national leagues is very expensive and Waterloo has simply run out of money. Sponsorship is harder and harder to come by and gate receipts are not enough to keep the club going. This venture has been created to give Waterloo a fighting chance of survival initially and then hopefully playing success.

What happens to my £25 subscription?

Firstly, let’s be absolutely clear. No individuals are making a single penny of profit out of mywaterloorugby.com. We will publish accounts to demonstrate this.

It obviously costs money to create and run the website, to video matches and so on. After these costs are met, every penny goes towards helping Waterloo field the best possible team, properly equipped.

We will ask you regularly to vote on how your money is spent – should we buy a particular player, should we perhaps invest in a new scrum machine and so on – so the final say is always yours. The money we receive goes where you, collectively, want it to go.

What’s all this about voting?

Every week we’ll send you an email inviting you to vote on a particular issue. It could be about absolutely anything, from player signings to gate prices or an issue you’ve raised on the forum. What ever you collectively decide, is what Waterloo will do!

How does the Wooden Spoon fit in?

We think there’s no better charity to support and so we’d like to make a donation to the Wooden Spoon for every subscription we receive. But in the true spirit of this site – we want you to decide how much! So in a few weeks we’ll ask you to vote on the amount we donate. We will of course keep you updated on how many subscribers have signed up and how much we’ve donated.

Click here for more information on Wooden Spoon.

How did this get started?

Back in January 2009, Waterloo member Phil Rylance read about a broadly similar idea in operation at a football club. He mentioned it over a pint in Waterloo’s bar to fellow members, Simon Yarwood and Dave Raywood and ever since all three have been working flat out to develop the concept and launch mywaterloorugby.

We think this idea is a winner – here’s hoping you do too!

What do I get for my money?

You get to run a famous but frankly struggling, and cash-poor, rugby club.

You get the chance to win a range of prizes and cash as a result of your performance as a manager.

Maybe, just maybe, you will get to be a Premiership manager in few season’s time but even if not, you can be proud of being part of a truly unique adventure.

What’s all this about prizes and cash?

Every time you pick a team, you’re playing “fantasy” rugby – but with a very real team. So if lots of other people agree with your picks, then your players will take the field on Saturday and earn you points. And as the game is played you will earn (or lose!) more points. Every tackle, missed tackle, try, line-break, scrum against the head and so on will contribute to your points total. Then every month there will be a prize for Manager of the Month and there will be a massive prize (up to £10,000!) for Manager of the Year.

How do I keep track of my points?

You don’t have to do anything – we do it for you. As you pick your teams and matches are played, the database is updated automatically. When you login you can check your points total and league position.

How do you collect the statistics?

Every game is videoed and we have an army of volunteers who will record every stat for every player. Following each game we will post match highlights and stats online.

Can I join if I live overseas?

Absolutely yes! We’d love to create a global community of managers from all over the world. There are ex-Waterloo players involved at all levels of the game, all over the world so we really do hope to see you on here. Maybe you belong to a club called Waterloo somewhere else in the world? We know of Waterloo rugby clubs in Belgium and Canada but there may be many more!

Why launch the site now, at the end of a season?

We want you to have the chance to make ALL the important decisions. That means we need to launch early enough to give you a say in next season’s kit, signings and so on.

Will you really let us pick the team?

Yes, absolutely. The coach will of course have a few picks for each game in case he strongly disagrees with our selections (remember he’s always going to be most up to date on injuries etc) but normally the team is picked by simple majority vote. Of course if the coach overrides your collective selection and is proved wrong, he’ll have you all to answer to! We are serious about giving power to the people, with no issues excluded from a potential vote.

What’s the Forum all about?

This is your place to discuss anything and everything about Waterloo, from performances to suggesting voting topics and anything else you can think of. The Forum is moderated to ensure content posted is legal and not offensive, but apart from that there is no censorship whatsoever.

What if I forget my login?

Just contact us and we’ll get you back up and running.

Why should I be interested in Waterloo?

We all love an underdog. And we all love to see established orders challenged and overturned. Waterloo has no chance to progress without significant funding and may even face closure if they do nothing. If this model works, there’s no reason why other clubs can’t follow suit. There are enough rugby fans to go around lots and lots of clubs. But someone has to be first and Waterloo has been daring enough to give it a go – so give them your support and create a new world order!

Why do some parts of the site say “coming soon”?

We need to launch now, to give you the opportunity to choose the playing kit and so on. But the games don’t start until August so there are no matches to video or compile statistics for, we haven’t chosen a kit supplier yet so our online shop hasn’t got anything in it at the moment and so on. Over the next few weeks the site will be completely finished, but if we’d waited to do this before launching we’d have been too late to make a difference this coming season!