Which club has the larger fanbase - Essendon or Carlton?

[Worm4]

Having lived in Perth for a few years, way more Carlton supporters than Essendon.

 

[Worm4]

Bigger than Carlton by a country mile, and far more loyal. Pitchforks were rife in early 2023 at the blues, and as soon as they had that turn of form, they magically disappeared. Funny that.

The crowd numbers actually don't favour your argument, nor do the memberships

 

[What else we can do]

Carlton based on if you compare all the metrics between the two clubs.

 

[PerthBoy86]

This is the Supercoach club supported rankings from 2023(which is a defacto survey of supporter base).

Around the turn of the century the Bombers were the biggest Victorian club. The herald Sun used to have an annual “supporters survey” back then and we always came out on top. The last 20 years have hurt us and no doubt Collingwood are on top of the mountain again, but we have a far bigger supporter base than the Blues.


Coll 19,921
Ess 19,342

Carl 16,283
Rich 14,223
Haw 12,846
Gee 11,735
St.K 7,670
Kang 7,319
WB 6,645
Melb 6,010

Funny you say that, because when I first really got into footy as a kid in Perth in the mid to late 90s, Carlton and Essendon actually felt more prominent/bigger than Collingwood, which is probably because they had more success in that time period.

 

[PerthBoy86]

Having lived in Perth for a few years, way more Carlton supporters than Essendon.

Probably met more Bombers supporters in WA overall.

 

[Worm4]

Probably met more Bombers supporters in WA overall.

I was there in 92-95 and there was always more Carlton supporters.
Having a heap of WA players ensured that Carlton were extremely popular back then

 

[LeBronco]

1. Collingwood
2. Essendon
3. Carlton
4. Richmond

Has always been the order of the big 4 Melbourne clubs in terms of support. People are saying that Essendon and Carlton are losing generations of support thanks to being bad, but they said the same thing about Richmond and we were reminded of how big Richmond are after they won the flag in 2017. We'll see similar to Richmond 2017 if/when Essendon and Carlton win their next flag.

 

[Shane Heard]

How many times do "Big 4" supporters have to compare wieners with each other before they realise how asinine it is?

People who use the word asinine instead of foolish are usually pretentious dolts who think they are superior to the rest of the human race.

 

[Shane Heard]

Carlton have a bigger representation of supporters in Victoria because of their Vic country fans.

Essendon..Australia wide ..dwarf CFC with total numbers of fans.

It’s a statistical fact.

 

[kid_a]

I'd say they're all.ost dead even tbh

 

[NetworkNerd]

People seem to have forgotten how big Essendon can be. Even with a missing generation of supporters, one sniff of a flag and their crowds will be massive again

 

[dave10]

People seem to have forgotten how big Essendon can be. Even with a missing generation of supporters, one sniff of a flag and their crowds will be massive again

People will certainly know about it when it wakes up. The SuperCoach survey is revealing. It’s not influenced by on field success or otherwise. Its crowds and membership are still very strong despite no success. Their numbers are extraordinary when you think about it.

 

[iameviljez]

Collingwood are widely regarded as the club with the largest fanbase in the AFL, but which club has the larger fanbase out of Essendon and Carlton?

I think you'll find that nobody outside of Essendon or Carlton supporters actually gives the smallest shit.

 

[What else we can do]

I think you'll find that nobody outside of Essendon or Carlton supporters actually gives the smallest shit.

Apart from me most Carlton supporters don't give a shit either.

 

[iameviljez]

Apart from me most Carlton supporters don't give a shit either.

It was probably a bigger deal back in the 1990s, but the abject failure of the 'Big Four' bar Collingwood to win much in the intervening years probably put the Big Club debate in perspective.

 

[What else we can do]

It was probably a bigger deal back in the 1990s, but the abject failure of the 'Big Four' bar Collingwood to win much in the intervening years probably put the Big Club debate in perspective.

I think your spot on prior to the late 90's it was always Carlton even my great Essendon mate Dave10 agreed. But after that you could argue Essendon passed Collingwood and Carlton and it was a big deal back then.

 

[Shane Heard]

People seem to have forgotten how big Essendon can be. Even with a missing generation of supporters, one sniff of a flag and their crowds will be massive again

And there’s little doubt that HFC are right up there in numbers and a clear 5th most supported. More than Geelong anyway.

West coast don’t count because 80% of eagles fans are part time bandwagoners who completely forget the club even exists for years at a time when the joint has a rebuild period.

 

[Shane Heard]

I think you'll find that nobody outside of Essendon or Carlton supporters actually gives the smallest shit.

It grinds your gears thinking about it. Rage jealousy.

We understand.

 

[boncer34]

It was probably a bigger deal back in the 1990s, but the abject failure of the 'Big Four' bar Collingwood to win much in the intervening years probably put the Big Club debate in perspective.

Big 4 have won 23% of flags and competed in 42% of Grand Finals since the end of the 90's.

Pretty impressive.

 

[ItsAllAboutMe]

Its hard to know Carlton have been so poor for so long that when it finally clicks I would expect fans to come from the wilderness and be a juggernaut... however the same could be said for Essendon.

 

[ItsAllAboutMe]

Probably met more Bombers supporters in WA overall.

Bombers fans are usually a little easier to spot

 

[BuffDog]

It’s a tricky one.

Carlton have more members, have had a higher average attendance every year since 2022 and have more insta followers (312k v 278k). On the other hand Essendon had the higher average attendance from 2011-2019 and has more Facebook followers (362k v 326k).

Essendon also rank as the second most supported Vic club in the latest Roy Morgan poll (Carl 3rd), rank second in MCC club support (after Melb) and rank second in total SuperCoach entrants by club supported (Coll first). Now these may all seem like silly measurements but they give a good indication of casual, latent support.

Carlton have had their share of struggles this century and their membership and attendances didn’t really explode until the ‘23 prelim and may have somewhat tempered with recent form. Essendon as we all know have gone decades without a finals win and have struggled to really shake the drug saga.

I’d argue that Carlton are currently bigger but Essendon has greater room for growth, particularly if they can get their act together on field. It’s worth noting Essendon consistently ranked first for members and attendances in the 1998-2004 era - could they reclaim this mantle or has Collingwood simply moved too far ahead?

 

[LeBronco]

People seem to have forgotten how big Essendon can be. Even with a missing generation of supporters, one sniff of a flag and their crowds will be massive again

We saw what happened when Richmond tasted success again despite many people saying that Richmond had lost a generation of supporters due to poor performance from 1983-2016 that yielded just two finals wins. Essendon are going to see a far bigger wave of momentum and support when they taste success again.

 

[iameviljez]

Big 4 have won 23% of flags and competed in 42% of Grand Finals since the end of the 90's.

Pretty impressive.

Essendon: shit since 2005
Carlton: shit since 2002
Collingwood: disappointingly, consistently excellent. We can't have everything, I guess.
Richmond: Utter dogshit since 1983, then unbelievably good for five years, then, refreshingly, back to being utter dogshit.

 

[iameviljez]

It grinds your gears thinking about it. Rage jealousy.

We understand.

Erm, my best mate barracks for Essendon, and put it this way, I don't really want to swap with her thanks.