Thought for a moment this thread was called 2019 Premiership thread .....
Good vibes !!
Good vibes !!
2019 Membership thread - 100k again and growing!
- Thread starter Shazza_
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Their culture has never been built on a large membership base or attendances , they’re a tv Melbourne cup style supporter base come out once a year never To be seen or heard at any other time
Craze
Premiership Player
- Aug 7, 2013
- 3,513
- 7,925
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- Steelers
They're a really interesting one in terms of support/membership. In 1995 they had arguably the most dominant team of the AFL era. Despite this, coming off 7 straight wins and 2 games clear on top they drew 15,000 at Waverley v.'s Fitzroy in Round 17. Then after winning their remaining 6 games (to make it 13 straight wins), they drew a poultry 52,000 against the Bears in their Qualifying Final at MCG, and then only 72,000 in their Preliminary Final v.'s North. Their supporter base seemed to fall off a cliff some time in the early 90's.
If you Youtube any of the GF's from 1970 through to 1982, Carlton certainly outnumbered Richmond in crowd support in '72, '73 and '82, and went close to the Pies in '79 and '81.
A review of the HA tables has them trailing RFC crowds by 10-20% for ea of the years quoted above , they’re top 4 but never no 1
Craze
Premiership Player
- Aug 7, 2013
- 3,513
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Playing at Princes Park, which curtailed them somewhat
Still behind Coll and ess that played at local grounds too , stay relative
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- #382
Hawthorn are now bigger than Carltoon who are a clear 5th in Vic. If Hawthorn didn’t play at tassie and were given primetime fixtures when they were good, they would dwarf Carltoon all things equal.
Essendrugs werent a big club until after the 80s.
Richmond and Collingwood have always been big clubs
Essendrugs werent a big club until after the 80s.
Richmond and Collingwood have always been big clubs
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- #383
As of right now in vic its:
Richmond and Collingwood (we were both top 4 in 2018 and they couldnt outdraw us, also we had like 70% of the support at the prelim, where were their invisible fans ?)
Essendon (bombers played 16 games at the G in 1998 and still didnt get close to our 2018 h and a total)
Hawks
Carlspoon (if they get good one day they might be interchangeable with Hawforn, but certainly not Ess or Rich/Coll
Reckon with a bit more success we can be clear number one. Luckily they Pies can only loose grand finals lol.
We have a huge advantage over the other clubs when attracting new supporters. Our brand is stronger, we have better colours/mascot, the best song, play on the mcg etc
We are easily the most attractive club to young kids. Every kid will choose a Tiger over a Blue (lol) , magpie (a s**t eating bird) or bomber (wtf?)
Richmond and Collingwood (we were both top 4 in 2018 and they couldnt outdraw us, also we had like 70% of the support at the prelim, where were their invisible fans ?)
Essendon (bombers played 16 games at the G in 1998 and still didnt get close to our 2018 h and a total)
Hawks
Carlspoon (if they get good one day they might be interchangeable with Hawforn, but certainly not Ess or Rich/Coll
Reckon with a bit more success we can be clear number one. Luckily they Pies can only loose grand finals lol.
We have a huge advantage over the other clubs when attracting new supporters. Our brand is stronger, we have better colours/mascot, the best song, play on the mcg etc
We are easily the most attractive club to young kids. Every kid will choose a Tiger over a Blue (lol) , magpie (a s**t eating bird) or bomber (wtf?)
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Dr Tigris
Brownlow Medallist
I do reckon the whole Tiger thing kicks arse over all the other AFL clubs. Maybe an Eagle or Lion comes close. Got to get a few kids in just because
Yea it always pissed me off that sheeds took them from nobodies to regular contenders , I honestly didn’t know any ess fans until the mid 80s
Fully concur , all quantifiable evidence suggests we are clear no 1 , the rival case is built on piss and wind alone. As they say in the classics , s**t in one hand , hope in the other , see which ones full first
They had a really strong marketing department and were very innovative, they invested in facilities whilst Richmond just expected it all to come, like we were entitled. Appalling facilities, virtually no marketing. I remember going to AGMs in the 80s and 90s and was always amused at how amateurish we were. I remember at one, I offered to help the old lady that ran the joke of the news letter (Tiger Times I think it was called), I was the editor of a university rag and thought we could make the Tigers one a lot more slick and readable and interesting. Not that I mentioned any of the to her, just offered to help. But apparently she didn't need any. s**t like computers and desk top publishing had been invented by then but we weren't going to employ that fancy, flashy stuff at tough RFC. That was pretty much the attitude of the entire club. In the meantime Essendon was publishing a very slick monthly magazine which they were selling in newsagents. In my mind at the time, that just typified the difference between the approaches of the 2 clubs. By the early 1990's I thought we were pretty much doomed, whilst Essendon were going from strength to strength.
Ironically, in the end, Essendon's arrogance and sense of entitlement is what brought them down too.
I know it as I too used to attend those AGM , I’ve told this one before , a few may not remember. Was at Richmond town hall , crammed in stinking hot , dragged the mrs along for a night out and we got early to get a seat. Following on from the affairs of the night they crossed to the floor for general questions from the audience ,,,,,a rusted on diehard grabbed the microphone and he said ,,,,we all know the umpires have been crucifying us for years ,,I reckon if we pass the hat around tonight , we ll get enough to give them a real serve (finance expected fine) , that stunned silence followed, not knowing whether to laugh or cry
A good example of that amateur pauper status we occupied in 80s and 90s where it was an achievement to survive on our own two feet run on the smell of an oily rag
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- #389
saints board membership thread is worth a read , they still think they’re as big as us and are arguing about it LOL 
Lol you’d have to be kiddingsaints board membership thread is worth a read , they still think they’re as big as us and are arguing about it LOL
It's funny how how they think they are as big as us. Had bit of a chuckle of the claim they should be the "big 5" with us, Collingwood, Essendon and Carlton.saints board membership thread is worth a read , they still think they’re as big as us and are arguing about it LOL
Though the discussion of what affects membership more, success or a club being well run, is an entertaining debate. I'm more of the opinion of the club being well run has the more influence. Our membership started to steadily increase once Gale and March took over.
Carlton appointed Cain Liddle at the start of last year and their membership increased by around 5,000 last year and they are currently around 6,000-7,000 ahead of where they were this time last year (should end in low-mid 60,000 imo). This is after a season where they won only 2 games.
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- #393
Cain doesnt know how tight the carlspoon supporter base are. Will never get close to rfc colonwood , druggoes or hawks memberships total
Interesting discussion all the same...GF success or a successfully run club...sort of like the chicken and the egg conundrum...
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- #395
on what planet where a club has won 1 flag in 122 seasons do they have a large supporter base ?
That goes without saying , quality management is a pre cursor to any success ,
- Oct 4, 2016
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it is called denial.saints board membership thread is worth a read , they still think they’re as big as us and are arguing about it LOL
Denial isn't a river in Egypt!it is called denial.
It's a river in Rwanda!
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