Expansion Plea to all Football Fans - Buy a North Melbourne Membership

[TheBuzz]

1300 36 32 31


This is a plea to every football fan, from every team, in every state.

I'm just another footy fan, like you. However, unlike you, us Kangaroos Members are in the fight of our lives. Literally a fight for survival. 140 years of history facing extinction.

There have been heartwarming stories in the past of "Footy Fans" digging deep & buying a membership when other clubs have faced serious trouble, Footscray is a good example.

There are examples this week of North Melbourne members buying additional memberships, which have been donated back to the club or will simply lie dormant. I have done the same.

I have SO often heard the cliches about how much spirit we play with, can never be underestimated, Never Say Die attitude, best value for money team in the competition, etc, etc, blah blah. People love to say that stuff. If you really enjoy what you see, we need you to back it up.

PLEASE HELP US SURVIVE - CALL 1300 36 32 31 & BUY A MEMBERSHIP. PLEASE!


You can Buy a $50 junior membership, or more if you like. This club means alot to many people, it would be a tragedy to see it die.


Thank you.

 

[Ron]

Would buying a membership for one year help though?

Wouldn't North need 3-4 years of higher memberships to help them.

I'd buy a membership for this year if i knew that it would help keep the Roos in Melbourne permanently, but thats a guarantee no one can give.

 

[jackson_rules]

fight alone roos, at least 1 team needs to leave melbourne and you guys are the weakest link

 

[catfan29]

Ill do it. just coz im a good bloke

 

[blues4flag]

fight alone roos, at least 1 team needs to leave melbourne and you guys are the weakest link

As much as I feel for the Roos, that's the crux of the issue right there.

 

[Devoid]

fight alone roos, at least 1 team needs to leave melbourne and you guys are the weakest link

I'm not going to be quite this harsh but I don't think I'll be rushing out to buy a North membership.. If the AFL immediately cut off all funding then I might buy one for a season or 2 but that would be it.

At some point if they are going to survive they have to do it on their own two feet.

 

[thewest]

i'll do it cause no team should have to move, whats 50 bucks...

 

[TheBuzz]

Ron, every little bit helps. Its now or never time I'm afraid.

Jackson_Rules, I'd like to know why one team has to leave, but I don't want this thread to be overcome with negativity. So please save it for another thread.

Its merely a plea to those who appreciate our team for what it is, are sympathetic, & do not like seeing us bullied by the AFL.

 

[yeah-nah]

Wouldnt even miss you. Youre pathetic. Been in trouble for years supporters done nothing and now youre almost gone you beg. Weak.

 

[BLue_Bloys]

I admire North don't get me wrong, but token gestures from opposition supporters would only prolong the inevitable temporarily.

Good luck, maybe if I wasn't a student I'd buy one.

 

[thewest]

Wouldnt even miss you. Youre pathetic. Been in trouble for years supporters done nothing and now youre almost gone you beg. Weak.

your the reason your supporters get a bad name......(that and all the cars they steal)

 

[TheBuzz]

Catfan29, thewest - thankyou. I am seriously grateful.

This may have come across quite desperate, but such measures are called for in desperate times.

I have been a NM member for 14 years, since my teens, have been to every grand final we've been in since I was born, been to hundreds of games. Have been through alot, from being spat on at AAMI stadium, to the ecstacy of winning on that last Saturday in September. My club is staring death down both barrels. I've gotta try something, however lame it may seem to some.

 

[Nubby]

As much, as i would like to see the your mob stay in Melbourne, There is no way in hell i would give any money to another team.

However i did give the Melbourne 45% of my Donation to cancer research and treatment once.

If they came out with some kind of foundation to help people with no home or food ect and a % of it went to your club for advertisement i think you would attract more people to put a bit of cash to your club, rather than asking supporters from another club to buy a membership.

Be Honest here, how many supporters from the other 15 clubs really give a rats ass if your team goes to the gold coast? it does not affect them in anyway except when they play you away it might not be @ the Dome or the G.

 

[Dylan12]

Mate been there done that with Fitzroy - will say it again, it does not work, however I don't want you guys in Qld and until SOMEONE finally outlines some form of long term viability option I would rather donate a few bucks to the bums in town.

My point is - for days you North people are asking for favours etc but no-one has outlined a sustainable long term plan, so I will make a deal with you Buzz - post some detailed viability plan and I will kick in a family membership for an underpriveleged North family - sounds fair.

 

[Mr Relax]

Tigers are the only ones getting my money

 

[TheBuzz]

Thanks Mantis, again I'm seriously grateful.

Mate been there done that with Fitzroy - will say it again, it does not work, however I don't want you guys in Qld and until SOMEONE finally outlines some form of long term viability option I would rather donate a few bucks to the bums in town.

My point is - for days you North people are asking for favours etc but no-one has outlined a sustainable long term plan, so I will make a deal with you Buzz - post some detailed viability plan and I will kick in a family membership for an underpriveleged North family - sounds fair.

Dylan12 - I appreciate your offer, fortunately people much smarter than me are on the case. It does not help when the AFL move the goal posts on us, earlier this year Demetriou came out & categorically stated that ther was no alterior motive for the Kangas beyond the current agreement they lured us away from Canberra with. Now its effectively "Relocate or Die", Which is really Die or Die in imho.

But I'll have a crack for another membership:
- Reinstate "North Melbourne" as the team name.
- Lets bring all home games back to the Dome, develop (get back to) a week-in, week-out following/Culture.
- Get club Stalwarts Glenn Archer & Denis Pagan on the Board, have them drive our membership campaign, no-one can stir the heart of a north fan like the #11.
- Reconnect with the local community & youth. Promote the game with junior match tickets for the local community, target new immigrants who are reasonably prevalent in Melbourne's inner north/west. Hopefully generating paying members down the track.
- Lobby for equality within the AFL draw, let us play the "big teams" as much as the other "big teams" do, generating additional match day revenue.
- Have the board come out unified, vocal & resolute about our future. Rally the troops.
- Target Sponsorship from Industry, linking in with the immigrant/working class strategy on the development of local community support. Working class sponsorship for a working class team.

How am I going? Its all strategy & I dont have numbers to back it up on the fly, but its a viable direction.

 

[yeah-nah]

Don't be an arrogant loser, every club has had their troubles including yours. Don't forget your club asked the AFL for help in the 90's and was going to get screwed.

If Collingwood of the 90's had the exposure and supporter base of North you would have folded long ago, show some respect you moron.

Resoect for what? A team that had unprecedented success in the 70s and 90s but was too dumb to capitalise? A bunch of supporters who let their club get controlled by a minority of shareholders and shut them out so they have no say? Havent heard boo from Norf supporters for years. Now theyre about to go under or move they beg for help when the horse has bolted. How can I respect that. Its pathetic. They have always had a chip on their shoulder and nothing has changed.

 

[yeah-nah]

But I'll have a crack for another membership:
- Reinstate "North Melbourne" as the team name.
- Lets bring all home games back to the Dome, develop (get back to) a week-in, week-out following/Culture.
- Get club Stalwarts Glenn Archer & Denis Pagan on the Board, have them drive our membership campaign, no-one can stir the heart of a north fan like the #11.
- Reconnect with the local community & youth. Promote the game with junior match tickets for the local community, target new immigrants who are reasonably prevalent in Melbourne's inner north/west. Hopefully generating paying members down the track.
- Lobby for equality within the AFL draw, let us play the "big teams" as much as the other "big teams" do, generating additional match day revenue.
- Have the board come out unified, vocal & resolute about our future. Rally the troops.
- Target Sponsorship from Industry, linking in with the immigrant/working class strategy on the development of local community support. Working class sponsorship for a working class team.

How am I going? Its all strategy & I dont have numbers to back it up on the fly, but its a viable direction.

And why werent you doing this 5 years ago instead of after the horse has bolted? Its like when you get dumped cos youre an ass to your girlfriend and you promise to change. Its too late!

 

[Dylan12]

Thanks Mantis, again I'm seriously grateful.



Dylan12 - I appreciate your offer, fortunately people much smarter than me are on the case. It does not help when the AFL move the goal posts on us, earlier this year Demetriou came out & categorically stated that ther was no alterior motive for the Kangas beyond the current agreement they lured us away from Canberra with. Now its effectively "Relocate or Die", Which is really Die or Die in imho.

But I'll have a crack for another membership:
- Reinstate "North Melbourne" as the team name.
- Lets bring all home games back to the Dome, develop (get back to) a week-in, week-out following/Culture.
- Get club Stalwarts Glenn Archer & Denis Pagan on the Board, have them drive our membership campaign, no-one can stir the heart of a north fan like the #11.
- Reconnect with the local community & youth. Promote the game with junior match tickets for the local community, target new immigrants who are reasonably prevalent in Melbourne's inner north/west. Hopefully generating paying members down the track.
- Lobby for equality within the AFL draw, let us play the "big teams" as much as the other "big teams" do, generating additional match day revenue.
- Have the board come out unified, vocal & resolute about our future. Rally the troops.
- Target Sponsorship from Industry, linking in with the immigrant/working class strategy on the development of local community support. Working class sponsorship for a working class team.

How am I going? Its all strategy & I dont have numbers to back it up on the fly, but its a viable direction.

Its getting there but yeah-nah's analogyabout the girlfriend is spot on - As i said Buzz I want you guys to stay well clear of GC and it is the top end of town and sponsorship that will ensure survival not extra members for one-two years.

But Buzz last week some Kanga posters were talking about non-Kanga AFL supporters buying or setting up a fund that people could buy memberships and then donate them back to underpriveleged Kanga family's, because as noble as it is everyone saying they will buy memberships, if the support on game day is not present, the passion etc gets lost.

I would prefer giving out memberships to these people or new ethnic groups who if converted will create a new generation of Kanga supporters who hopefully purchase merchandise etc etc and then the dollars potentially could roll in, but let everyone know where and when this donate a membership deal will occur.

 

[Mr Meeseeks]

Whenever I floated this a while back I had North fans down my throat saying we've done it before we'll always be ok and then they would proceed to get stuck into the Tassie Hawks and their piss/poo jumpers..

Sorry, North have always been my second team until I joined bigfooty. If money was not an option for me personally, I would still look at it but I agree with the posters who say that its a short term fix, opposition supporters are not gonna do it for a prolonged period, I think they should look at moving, if the AFL get a 17th team, they are dead men walking.

Just my two cents worth... good luck

 

[Crow-mo]

Why?

 

[GoOsH]

supporters from other clubs buying a membership this year won't help, next year you'll be back at the same point again, and still heavily in debt.
You need a plan to generate revenue forever, and you do that by either recruiting more actual roos fans who buy memberships every year, or by generating revenue from non footballing businesses and investments.

 

[TheBuzz]

i'm well aware we need a long term solution, & one off memberships will not provide long term revenue.

I'm also aware of other campaigns to help the club amongst other BF NM people. I understand it is the 11th hour, but this ultimatum has only just been placed on us by the AFL. We had been PROMISED 2 more years to assess the GC project, until this weeks backflip.

If we can drive membership up for this year alone, at the least it will be easier to fund & implement long term survival strategies from $0 debt than the $-4.25m we are facing at the moment.

All support is helpful, so please don't try & convince others it is not.

I wish I was not so desperate, but this situation is what it is.

 

[clobba]

I'm sorry for you guys and also dont see a team up there being particularly viable, but Vlads got a bee in his bonnet so the AFL is going to get themselves a team there regardless.

Buying a membership from you guys is a pointless short term solution anyway and I would probably be more likely to buy a fellow saint one to avoid this happening to us....that is if I could afford to in the first place

 

[garethb83]

Its all well and good to sit from your lofty position being a Hawthorn supporter or a Bombers supporter or any other Melbourne club and say, good luck, get stuffed, one has to go etc, but what if it was you?

Whether this is a good idea, who knows? But if you haven't got anything good to contribute, bugger off you clowns. Ever heard of the saying don't kick a man while he's down? Maybe you should take note and stop acting like a two year old pee-brain.

Talk to Fitzroy supporters, talk to South Melbourne supporters. Sure its happened before, it may happen again... doesn't mean its right. When the Swans won in 2005, it was supposedly all good, two clubs working together etc etc, yet there are still many South supporters who can't bring themselves to call them the Sydney Swans, the pain is that raw. Sure you say, they should have done something etc etc but hindsight is a beautiful thing, and you don't have to be rich to have the ultimate passion in our game.

Not every supporter has the money to go out and buy season tickets, with the way interest rates, fuel, groceries etc in this country at the moment, not everyone has an extra $300 or whatever to get a season ticket. Some people are lucky to be able to get to 2 or 3 games a year due to financial constraints, but cheer in their loungeroom every frickin weekend for their team. Does it make them any less of a supporter of a footy club?

I don't know whats required to resolve this and keep North right where they belong, but something has to be done, perhaps a rally or something to begin with, get the media attention, stick it in Mr Demetriou's pipe and make him smoke it, the turncoat.

Unfortunately not all clubs have a billionaire as a supporter who will turn around and bankroll the club's future, otherwise North would be sweet!