To: visiting supporters for 2014/15 season
To help your trip go as smoothly as possible, here is some
information to assist you. We hope your visit to JRFC will be part
of a really enjoyable weekend.
FRIDAY NIGHT
The club will be open on Friday evenings before all league games.
A good chance to meet some 'native' supporters, engage in some
pre-match banter, have a 'recce' of the ground, visit the club shop
and pick up your tickets for the game the next day. The Barclays
Pavilion will be open between 5.30 and 7.30pm, the 'Jersey Pride'
ale will be tapped and Sean Dunne the Club Manager will be
providing free nibbles.
PRE-MATCH ON SATURDAY
There is a pre-match lunch on the day for members, sponsors and
corporate guests in the Clubhouse. Visiting officials are invited,
however beyond this we're afraid lunch is sold out. If you are
interested it may be worth contacting the Club Manager in case he's
had any cancellations - sean.dunne@jrfc.je. As a result,
the Clubhouse is only available (pre-match) to the 200 lunch
guests.
There is also a marquee for selected games - details will be
published in advance of the game and, again, Sean's the man to
contact to check availability and prices if you are interested in
booking.
The Pavilion Bar adjacent to the Clubhouse will be open to all
supporters from 12noon, offering full bar, including 'Jersey Pride'
on handpump, plus food such as 'special of the day', 'posh dogs',
pasties, burgers etc. It gets busy in the hour leading up to
kick-off. Other mobile units around the ground, opening around two
hours prior to kick-off, will also be serving food and drink,
including our legendary Pork Van (on the opposite corner to the
main entrance), the Jersey Pride Bar (selling the ale of the same
name) at the west/ airport end of the ground and the Ashworth &
Bird Bar (adjacent to the scoreboard) selling canned beers, hot
drinks, soft drinks and snacks.
The Club Shop near the main entrance to the ground opens at 1pm on
match-days until an hour after the final whistle.
If you want to get an idea of the lie of the land, see ground plan
HERE.
There are various 'off-site' options for pre-match meals,
including the neighbouring Jersey Bowl which backs onto the club
and does a good trade in rugby lunches, while another 150 yards
away you can indulge your inner plane spotter at the Aviator Café
at the Jersey Aero Club, overlooking the runway.
There are three pubs within walking distance of the ground. Two
are in St Peter's Village: the Star & Tipsy Toad and the St
Peter's Inn, although they're not particularly 'rugby pubs' as such
and are probably 15 minutes walk away. We've had some decent
feedback from some fans about the Star, and there's a betting shop
next door. General de Gaulle had a swift half in the St Peter's in
1940 en route to an important meeting with Winston Churchill in
London. Or there's the Mermaid opposite the airport and adjacent to
the Lakeside Manor Care Home (five minutes walk from the
Club).
Other pre-match options might be some of the restaurants in St
Aubin which is a five-minute taxi ride away. The Boathouse is one
venue that offers transport up to the club, and the Salty Dog,
Cheffins & Old Court House have a rugby lunch as well, while in
nearby St Brelade's Bay the Oyster Box & Sugar Reef have a
similar pre-match option, as does the Prince of Wales in Greve de
Lecq. Or if you want to look at the surf at St Ouen's Bay try
(options going south-north) La Pulente, Le Braye, El Tico, The
Watersplash or Big Vern's. A booking at any restaurant and a taxi
around 45-60 minutes before kick-off should work fine.
THE MATCH
For the match itself Ground Admission is £15, or £5 for full-time
students with suitable ID. Under 18s are free, proof-of-age is
required. Sorry, but there's no senior citizen concession. It's a
good idea to arrive at least 30-40 minutes before the off. Our
small stand is fully subscribed, with the exception of seats for
the invited officials as above. For those with serious mobility
issues, JRFC will try and help out with vacant stand seats, but
these are at a premium and can't be guaranteed. We have allocated
two tiered benches for anyone who has difficulty in standing for
long periods of time. Please call the club on 01534 499929 between
10am and 1pm on Tuesday or Thursday and speak to Vicki if you need
to arrange a seat.
While the game won't sell out, supporters can purchase tickets in
advance to avoid match-day queues. Tickets can be obtained on
Friday evening at the club, or match-day sales commence at 12noon.
Or for those who want to order their tickets before travelling to
the Island, our Ticket Office will be open from 10am to 1pm every
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday to receive orders and the telephone
number is 01534 499929.
Card transactions will incur an additional 50p admin charge per
ticket, cheques can be posted to the Ticket Office, Rue Des Landes,
St Peter, Jersey JE3 7BG.
Once payment has been received an email confirmation will be sent
and this should be used to collect tickets along with photo ID.
Tickets can be collected on Friday evenings 5.30-7pm or on match
days from 12noon. We regret that it's not possible to send out
tickets by post, as there would be a potential liability to pay
VAT.
There's not a great deal of space under cover (standing or
seating) at St Peter, so it's wise to have warm/ waterproof gear in
case of inclement weather, and some sensible footwear. We recommend
Jersey Met Office,
- their five-day forecast is published daily at 9am.
MATCH PROGRAMME
The JRFC match programme was revamped for the 2013/14 season and
features a range of articles, player profiles, statistics and
analysis. Programmes are available on Friday evenings (subject to
delivery in time) and on match days, priced £2.
POST-MATCH
In recent seasons we have had difficulty accommodating everyone in
the Clubhouse after the match. Therefore, and to begin with, access
will once again be limited to players, officials, JRFC members and
anyone in possesion of a wrist-band. Ideally, we do not want to
exclude anyone from the clubhouse and, as soon as we are below our
fire limit, we will let all supporters in, typically within 45-60
minutes of the final whistle. The Pavilion bar stays open all
afternoon from 12noon to approx 7pm, and punters will migrate to
the Clubhouse as the Pav gets ready to close. Normally things start
to wind down around 8pm, when people head for St Aubin or St
Helier. Both the Pavilion and the Clubhouse have screens if there's
rugby on the TV, but we don't show Strictly.
TRANSPORT
For those flying in/out on the day, the ground is less than 10
minutes walk from the airport. A taxi to/from the ground to town
(St Helier) will be around £15. Or there's the No 9 bus to/from St
Helier (£1.80) which stops outside the ground or the #15 to the
Airport (also £1.80; get off at the penultimate stop, The Mermaid,
and it's a 5-minute walk). Return bus times will be posted at the
main gate on the day of the match or you can visit www.libertybus.je . If you have a car, there is
free parking available close to the ground, but traffic can be
busy, so please allow lots of time.
NEWS ABOUT THE GAME
The Jersey Evening Post has a match preview in Friday's
edition (on sale from 12.30pm), with more rugby in Saturday's
edition (on sale from 7am), followed by a write-up on Monday. The
match will be previewed on BBC Radio Jersey between 5.30 and
6pm on Fridays, and on ITV Channel Television between 6 and 6.30pm.
A preview will be posted on Jersey's website www.jrfc.je , with
team news on Friday at 12noon and the latest news is on Twitter -
twitter.com/jerseyrfc or Facebook.
MOBILE PHONES
There has been feedback from some visiting supporters who have
received large phone bills on their return from the Island because
the small-print on their tariffs didn't include Jersey, leading to
higher charges, especially for data if you are roaming. If in doubt
about this, visitors are advised to check out their phone contract
in advance, or use devices sparingly or with the roaming function
disabled.
Finally, we hope you have an enjoyable trip to Jersey and look
forward to your company.
Jersey RFC
Updated 25/08/14
