- Sep 22, 2011
- 44,246
- 98,174
- AFL Club
- Essendon
It’s certainly an issue is that area as it is in many.
Every year there are senior clubs going under in Vic and this year has been an acute case, feels like 5-10 have gone out of business.
The problem in every case has been playing numbers.
One thing I am noticing is I think we are seeing the rise of really big clubs (in metro areas anyway) which surely must be having an impact on other clubs ability to get significant playing numbers.
It is hard in footy, in basketball or cricket you can basically have a club with five or ten blokes and a few fill ins.
You need a minimum of 50 players for a senior footy club which puts the pressure on smaller clubs.
It’s not just footy or sport, in all walks and businesses, it often seems that the big get bigger and the small get squeezed and pushed out. People want to get involved and be associated with the big successful clubs and numbers breed more numbers.
The big VAFA clubs, I mean some have seniors, reserves, 2x thirds, 2x Under 23s, 2x U19s… up to eight men’s teams. It must impact other clubs.
Every year there are senior clubs going under in Vic and this year has been an acute case, feels like 5-10 have gone out of business.
The problem in every case has been playing numbers.
One thing I am noticing is I think we are seeing the rise of really big clubs (in metro areas anyway) which surely must be having an impact on other clubs ability to get significant playing numbers.
It is hard in footy, in basketball or cricket you can basically have a club with five or ten blokes and a few fill ins.
You need a minimum of 50 players for a senior footy club which puts the pressure on smaller clubs.
It’s not just footy or sport, in all walks and businesses, it often seems that the big get bigger and the small get squeezed and pushed out. People want to get involved and be associated with the big successful clubs and numbers breed more numbers.
The big VAFA clubs, I mean some have seniors, reserves, 2x thirds, 2x Under 23s, 2x U19s… up to eight men’s teams. It must impact other clubs.




