Aaron Howey on promoting Cork City in the social media age

As the League Of Ireland Premier Division return for Cork City FC edges ever closer, one man who will be very much at the coalface of the action is Aaron Howey.

From looking after the graphics and content on the club social media pages to dealing with interview queries and press conferences for the media, Howey has a very diverse and varied role.

“I really enjoy it and that is the main thing. My role has evolved over the last couple of years. When I first came in, I came in almost like a glorified volunteer really helping Declan Carey who was going the socials and the graphics.

“Over time it has become everything that the club puts out pretty much comes from me. That is in terms of the social media, the graphics and that kind of thing. We have a team of volunteers that come help with videos when we do stuff with that.

"I do our merchandise designs, I look after our LOITV Live Streams. So it is hard to try and say it is a media or a merchandise job because there are so many different aspects of it and corners of the club.

“Everything that I do for our men’s team, I also do for our women’s team. 

It is pretty much seven days a week time. You have your Monday to Friday, you have your men’s match on a Friday night. You have a women’s game on a Saturday.

“But I really enjoy it. Anyone that knows me knows that I am a massive Cork City fan. So to be on the inside and essentially get paid to watch Cork City and to be a part of Cork City is brilliant.” 

COUNTDOWN

The excitement is building ahead of the return to Premier Division football, with a thrilling Valentine’s Date with the John Caulfield-managed Galway United to open up the season.

When the action gets underway, much of the content supporters will see online or on social media will be directed by Howey.

Another element of his role is being the co-host of the Rebel Army Podcast, the official Podcast of Cork City FC with Stephen Ryan.

There have been a good variety of guests from right across the football club, from first-team manager Tim Clancy to the popular kitman Mick Ring. While Howey provides the inside track and updates for City fans on the goings on at the club.

Last September Howey helped the club celebrate their 40th anniversary with a live podcast show at Cork Opera House.

City legends were on the stage reflecting on their memories of playing at the club including John Caulfield, Dave Barry and Stuart Ashton, alongside iconic broadcaster Trevor Welch.

This was followed by a panel discussion on the modern-day Cork City FC with Gearóid Morrissey, Pat Dolan, Alan Bennett and Ruairi O’Hagan from Cork’s RedFM.

“We wanted to do it in such a way, where you will see with our podcast we have had Mick Ring, who is the kitman, we have had volunteers, Philip Long and Ruairi O’Hagan the commentators,” said Howey on the thought process behind creating the Rebel Army Podcast.

“As great as it is to hear from the players and managers, everyone wants that. But for example, kitman Mick Ring’s episode was one of our most listened-to episodes because he has great stories.

“The idea of it was to get everyone’s stories and not just the players. When you let a volunteer on or a fan on, that is where you get the good stories.

UNCHARTED

“The live show was a really good night and was really enjoyable. It was unchartered waters for us as a club, but we did it and it went well.

Everyone enjoyed it. I didn’t get any negative comments or feedback after it at all.

“That is something we want to grow. If you look at the numbers this year, there is an audience there that really enjoyed it. 

"I really enjoy it and Stephen really enjoys it, which is important as well because if we weren’t enjoying it, it wouldn’t be a fun show to listen to.

“Definitely massive plans for the podcast for this year. We want to do more, we are looking at potentially doing another live show. That is something we are going to be doing a lot of work on this year.”