We have all heard in Wisconsin that Packers fans are everywhere; but sometimes, we cannot truly comprehend the extent of that statement.
Just ask the UK and Irish Packers fan group, which is, according to the club and my research, the largest Packers fan group outside of the United States of America.
This week, according to UK and Irish Packers founders Ryan Peacock and Stephen “Ste” O’Brien, the club will be leading a group of 30 people to Wisconsin to visit Lambeau Field to see the Packers play the San Diego Chargers on Sunday, October 18. An option also exists on the trip for the group to come to Madison to watch Wisconsin play Purdue on Saturday, October 17.
Click here to see the itinerary for the trip.
Peacock and O’Brien contacted Sconnie Sports Talk over the summer about their trip to Wisconsin, and I couldn’t help but share their story.
The Founders
I spoke with both Peacock and O’Brien on a few Skype conference call over the past two weeks, and their stories are both unique and telling of the Packers’ brand around the world.
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Ryan Peacock, co-founder of the UK-Ireland Packers.
Peacock, from just north of London, grew up in a lower-income household where Christmas presents for he and his brothers meant something special. One Christmas, Peacock’s mother bought all of her sons sports video games. Ryan was given Madden 2000 with the Packers’ Dorsey Levens on the cover, who was only on the European version cover. Because he didn’t know who to follow and had never followed American football, Peacock chose the Packers as his team since Levens was on the cover. This was his first introduction to the NFL, and Peacock further explained that the Packers “had a quarterback that was pretty good named Brett Favre.” The best part? Peacock could have been a Bears or Lions fan if he had a Nintendo GameCube, as John Madden was on the cover with a Bears player tackling Barry Sanders in the background.
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The Madden cover that made Peacock a Packers (and football) fan.
O’Brien has a more traditional story. Before he picked up the Packers as a team of interest, O’Brien already followed American football. He was writing for NFL Ireland and other publications for several different teams, including, at one point, the Houston Texans as his assigned team for a site called Second City Fanatics. Regardless, he rooted for the Green Bay Packers early on. The idea of the Packers being the small town team that will never move and is owned by the public attracted Ste. He also came to realize a few similarities between Wisconsin and his home country of Ireland, explaining to me that “Wisconsin and Ireland are both farming communities and love their beer, so it gives me an even better reason to root for the Packers.” This will be Ste’s first trip to Wisconsin, but he already feels like he’ll be right at home in the midwest.
Establishment
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O’Brien and Peacock with Aaron Rodgers’ look-a-like Tom Wrigglesworth.
There have been several attempts of Green Bay fan groups in Europe. “Every time one started, they seemed to fail,” Peacock told me.
During the years leading up to the group’s formation, Peacock went to several Super Bowl parties for the UK New England Patriots, a successful group according to Peacock. He decided that he wanted to achieve what they had with their strong community, so he started up the Twitter account and website.
Very quickly and early on, O’Brien contacted him with previous writing experience, which was what Peacock was lacking in terms of content and editing for the site. It wasn’t until a year online that they actually met in person, and the rest is history.
The Key to Success: Social Media
Primarily utilizing Twitter (over 6,000 followers) and Instagram (over 11,000 followers), @ukpackers has blown up on social media and has provided Packers fans that live quite distant from Lambeau Field with a place to come together.
Their Twitter account receives thousands of retweets on gameday with people sending pictures in from where they are watching, which includes several places around the world outside of the UK, Ireland, and US. According to their Twitter analytics, their account receives between 750,000 and 1,000,000 impressions per month, which is incredibly impressive for an American football fan group outside the US. In reference to their social media clout, O’Brien had only a few words to describe it: “It gets insane.”
Lots of times, accounts will even just tweet at them to ask what channel a game is on or what bars to watch the game at in a certain area in the UK and Ireland. Their social media presence and viral memes are a product of globalization from the Internet.
Peacock and O’Brien’s success can be measured through their clout, but sometimes they even lose track of how big UK and Irish Packers has become. During a game this season, Peacock was sitting at a bar with some other club members when they noticed an American man sitting by himself. Per usual, the group asked him to join them and get a drink. As he sat next to Peacock, the American saw that Peacock was tweeting from the group’s Twitter account. The gentleman became extremely excited and took a Snapchat with Peacock to send to his friend telling him he had met the guy that runs the @ukpackers account.
The Global Packers Community
The club meets up for important games such as opening week as a way to come together in person. One of their biggest gatherings will be coming up in November, as they have arranged a Thanksgiving party to watch the Packers-Bears game that starts at 1:30 AM at a casino. They told me that the guy that hosts at the casino is actually a Bears fan, but he is very willing to welcome the group to watch the Thanksgiving game. Peacock regarded the event as a great way to come together as a community, as even some American guys in London will be there to celebrate their native holiday. As of right now, 15 people have already RSVP’d to the event, which was only posted two days ago.
Nowadays, with the Internet connecting people from London to Sydney to Green Bay, brand communities are becoming more and more popular. But, the Green Bay Packers are not a traditional brand; there is something special about the Green and Gold that retains fans for generations and attracts new ones every day all over the world.
This week, the UK and Irish Packers will finally get to experience the tangible Green Bay Packers’ community. They cannot wait for their trip, as they finally get to see the community they feel is part of their identity.
Author’s Note: Peacock and O’Brien encourage anyone attending the October 18th game against the Chargers to come up to their group, which will be at the Bart Starr Plaza Tailgate Party before the game.