- Moderator
- #26
But in my opinion Fitzroy as a founding club and 99 years of competing in the VFL/AFL they deserve a spot, if you can really stand up and make a real case to the AFL I can be sure you will get the Victorian public on your side.
And so? Does than translate into sponsorship and memberships?
It's fanciful, pie-in-the-sky stuff.
As for the AFL it cannot stay the same forever, people are already starting to get sick of the AFL corporate, just look at the reaction to the rule changes and the "safety awareness officers" or whatever they are called at the of the season this year.
The attendances don't reflect that opinion. In 2019 AFL broke its all-time season attendance record for the third year in a row.
AFL home and away season total attendances 2014-2019
2019 - 6,954,187
2018 - 6,894,770
2017 - 6,732,601
2016 - 6,306,333
2015 - 6,351,578
2014 - 6,384,742
And as long as that continues to happen, the current situation will prevail.
Why would the AFL re-issue a licence to Fitzroy? It would involve either another Brisbane re-branding which will have a negative impact on the game in Queensland, or Fitzroy would have to adopt another new identity which means that people would/could stop following them, thus limiting their ability to function as a successful AFL club. It's just not going to happen.
As for a home VFL ground, Victoria Park is relatively close to Fitzroy and is used as a VFL venue, if you want to go back there, understandable if you want to go though collingwood, I wouldn't either.
Victoria Park has a capacity of 15,000 and Collingwood currently uses the ground for its own VFL and women's teams.
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