Ranking Victorian clubs by size

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Only ever seen 2 people wearing team colours in the UK. A North hat at my son's soccer match a few years ago and a Bulldogs jumper in a Wales 2 years ago. That turns the rankings round a bit. Here to help.
Though do find the geographical splits of fans within Melbourne more interesting.
 
Pies drawing over 60,000 at the G against Port is nothing short of astounding. Biggest home and away crowd in the history of Port Power by over 7000 people. Their biggest home crowd is 53698 and they have only drawn over 50,000 in Victoria once before and that was of course against Collingwood when 51,883 attended. Over 60,000 plus is insane
 
I've only be watching for about 6 years. Though do remember a 30 minute show about 1990 in UK.
These rankings of the clubs are interesting for the first couple of times.
I did ask my mate now in Melbourne who adoped his wife's team, Collingwood.
I asked him why it isnt seen as a big 5 with Hawthorn in modern times in Melbourne. He said he couldnt believe it either as there loads of Hawthorn supporters and as he lives in Brunswick it was hardly Hawthorn central.
Also had some doubts how big Carlton anymore looking at it were but last 12 months has answered that.
 
South of the Yarra said:
Pies drawing over 60,000 at the G against Port is nothing short of astounding. Biggest home and away crowd in the history of Port Power by over 7000 people. Their biggest home crowd is 53698 and they have only drawn over 50,000 in Victoria once before and that was of course against Collingwood when 51,883 attended. Over 60,000 plus is insane
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Yes I agree. It was a ‘needle mover’ crowd. It had everything going for it, including no amateur footy, ‘sexy’ team, a rampant Power, relevant in the media ‘rivalry’, opposition club actively promoting game by organising trains over from Adelaide and fan March from Fed Square. And footy broadly riding a wave of euphoria with most crowds exceeding expectations. Not denigrating the crowd though, just listing that this was a crowd coinciding with a sweet spot of factors lining up. It was wonderful and a great sight on the day. Most argue rightly the Pies are without pier. Not by as much as some suggest though.

Selfishly, I was separately reassured with the Bombers crowd on Sunday at Marvel. 33,000 against the Suns was close to the clubs record at this venue and a real sign that despite little reason supporting such a strong crowd, they game in strong numbers. It reinforced the view that a tsunami is waiting to be unearthed when this club re-emerged as a genuine finals winning contender. I can only imagine the scenes when Essendon win thst first home final on the MCG. Let alone win a premiership.

Broadly speaking the crowds have been great so far this season. The footys exciting, the big clubs are winning (so far) and the crowds are responding. .
 
dave10 said:
Yes I agree. It was a ‘needle mover’ crowd. It had everything going for it, including no amateur footy, ‘sexy’ team, a rampant Power, relevant in the media ‘rivalry’, opposition club actively promoting game by organising trains over from Adelaide and fan March from Fed Square. And footy broadly riding a wave of euphoria with most crowds exceeding expectations. Not denigrating the crowd though, just listing that this was a crowd coinciding with a sweet spot of factors lining up. It was wonderful and a great sight on the day. Most argue rightly the Pies are without pier. Not by as much as some suggest though.

Selfishly, I was separately reassured with the Bombers crowd on Sunday at Marvel. 33,000 against the Suns was close to the clubs record at this venue and a real sign that despite little reason supporting such a strong crowd, they game in strong numbers. It reinforced the view that a tsunami is waiting to be unearthed when this club re-emerged as a genuine finals winning contender. I can only imagine the scenes when Essendon win thst first home final on the MCG. Let alone win a premiership.

Broadly speaking the crowds have been great so far this season. The footys exciting, the big clubs are winning (so far) and the crowds are responding. .
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This would be the first time in a while that Essendon is actually positive on the win loss count at seasons start. That helps immeasurably
 
Gavin Excell said:
This would be the first time in a while that Essendon is actually positive on the win loss count at seasons start. That helps immeasurably
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Their fans are hardly kid off though. Two weeks ago they were in the doldrums and reeling from crisis. They will still likely finish bottom six so this is a little bit of fools Gold. At least they get some deserved respite and joy.
 
Gavin Excell said:
When are 2023 memberships figures announced? Is it usually end April?

Suspect after the season they had last year, and the flying start this year, Collingwood could set a new record
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Early August final figures. Must be an update today. Collingwood will comfortably lead the membership tally this year. Back where they belong I think. They might push 110,000 this year.
 

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The Supercoach Teams supported list (only listed Vic clubs) provides a good guide to the younger generation of supporters of Vic clubs and I assume would be pretty accurate percentages. More accurate than fan engagement on socials which fluctuates depending on the teams current fortunes, and based on a game which really is independent of your teams current ability when you decide to play it.

1. Collingwood 21,284 - 17%
2. Essendon 19,028 - 15%
3. Carlton 16,535 - 13%
4. Richmond 14,670 - 12%
5. Hawthorn 13,068 - 11%
6. Geelong 12,442 - 10%
7. St. Kilda 7,765 - 6%
8. Nth. Melb. 7,553 - 6%
9. Western Bulldogs 6,808 - 5%
10. Melbourne 6,228 - 5%

Would be there abouts give or take 2% each way IMO. Surprised Saints are so low but they wouldn't have attracted many younglings over the last 50 years.
 
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shotgun_blues said:
The Supercoach Teams supported list (only listed Vic clubs) provides a good guide to the younger generation of supporters of Vic clubs and I assume would be pretty accurate percentages. More accurate than fan engagement on socials which fluctuates depending on the teams current fortunes, and based on a game which really is independent of your teams current ability when you decide to play it.

1. Collingwood 21,284 - 17%
2. Essendon 19,028 - 15%
3. Carlton 16,535 - 13%
4. Richmond 14,670 - 12%
5. Hawthorn 13,068 - 11%
6. Geelong 12,442 - 10%
7. St. Kilda 7,765 - 6%
8. Nth. Melb. 7,553 - 6%
9. Western Bulldogs 6,808 - 5%
10. Melbourne 6,228 - 5%

Would be there abouts give or take 2% each way IMO. Surprised Saints are so low but they wouldn't have attracted many younglings over the last 50 years.
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Very close I think.

I’d go in order
1 - Collingwood
2 - Essendon
3 - Carlton
4 - Richmond
5 - Hawthorn
6 - Geelong
7 - Melbourne
8 - St Kilda
9 - Bulldogs
10 - North
 
shotgun_blues said:
The Supercoach Teams supported list (only listed Vic clubs) provides a good guide to the younger generation of supporters of Vic clubs and I assume would be pretty accurate percentages. More accurate than fan engagement on socials which fluctuates depending on the teams current fortunes, and based on a game which really is independent of your teams current ability when you decide to play it.

1. Collingwood 21,284 - 17%
2. Essendon 19,028 - 15%
3. Carlton 16,535 - 13%
4. Richmond 14,670 - 12%
5. Hawthorn 13,068 - 11%
6. Geelong 12,442 - 10%
7. St. Kilda 7,765 - 6%
8. Nth. Melb. 7,553 - 6%
9. Western Bulldogs 6,808 - 5%
10. Melbourne 6,228 - 5%

Would be there abouts give or take 2% each way IMO. Surprised Saints are so low but they wouldn't have attracted many younglings over the last 50 years.
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This is consistent with how the clubs were ranked in the Dreamteam competition too. This ranking is almost identical to SuperCoach Club rankings going back around a decade ago as well.This is a national survey and reflects the national supporter base size of the Victorian clubs pretty accurately.

These statistics remove bias driven by recent or current on field success and reflect accurately the national support ranking better than anything else, unlike attendances, membership, digital statistics and other forms of statistics subject to fluctuations..
 
shotgun_blues said:
The Supercoach Teams supported list (only listed Vic clubs) provides a good guide to the younger generation of supporters of Vic clubs and I assume would be pretty accurate percentages. More accurate than fan engagement on socials which fluctuates depending on the teams current fortunes, and based on a game which really is independent of your teams current ability when you decide to play it.

1. Collingwood 21,284 - 17%
2. Essendon 19,028 - 15%
3. Carlton 16,535 - 13%
4. Richmond 14,670 - 12%
5. Hawthorn 13,068 - 11%
6. Geelong 12,442 - 10%
7. St. Kilda 7,765 - 6%
8. Nth. Melb. 7,553 - 6%
9. Western Bulldogs 6,808 - 5%
10. Melbourne 6,228 - 5%

Would be there abouts give or take 2% each way IMO. Surprised Saints are so low but they wouldn't have attracted many younglings over the last 50 years.
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It should be included in the overall ranking of how big a club is but 16,535 Carlton supporters is only one fraction of their overall support base. Another ranking you could include is AFL membership
1.Coll
2.Car
3.Ess
4. Rich
5.Haw
6.Gee
7. StK
8. Melb
9 WB
10 North
It has not changed in 30 years but again only a fraction of the supporter base.

I don't play supercoach and I'm not an AFL member but I google Carlton FC daily am a club member, attend games visit their website a couple times a month, follow on instagram and watch interstate games on TV.
 
What else we can do said:
It should be included in the overall ranking of how big a club is but 16,535 Carlton supporters is only one fraction of their overall support base. Another ranking you could include is AFL membership
1.Coll
2.Car
3.Ess
4. Rich
5.Haw
6.Gee
7. StK
8. Melb
9 WB
10 North
It has not changed in 30 years but again only a fraction of the supporter base.

I don't play supercoach and I'm not an AFL member but I google Carlton FC daily am a club member, attend games visit their website a couple times a month, follow on instagram and watch interstate games on TV.
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Attendance a very good indication.
 
What else we can do said:
Currently it's 1 Collingwood then Carlton, of all time again it's 1 Collingwood then Carlton. This also takes into account form and they were the last two Vic clubs to leave there suburban grounds.
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I'd say your rankings are spot on perfect mate.
 
beerbandit said:
Carlton are a massive club, I just think Essendon have more supporters then them. It would be very close though.
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I agree in that it is very close before the late 90's you got to remember Carlton were a level above Essendon. Since then I think Essendon picked up a huge amount of young supporters and we have had to rely on massive support from our over 45/50 yo supporters passing it on to the next generation.
 
Not sure what we are trying to measure here?

…but if more off-field stuff, then I’d have a sort of weighted sum of the below criteria:

a) Total Club $ Turnover
b) Merchandise Sales,
c) Membership No’s , and
d) Game attendances
 
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