Country matches

[FlyingHigh]

I'd like to see South play at Easter every year at Encounter Bay as these seem to have ben a pretty good success, and then four country games each year amongst the other 8 sides, so each club hosts a game in their zone every two years.

Won't happen as South want Good Friday Footy, which last season was their biggest crowd of the year by miles

My mistake. Maybe another weekend then, early in the season.

[DoublebluTiger]

I'd like to see South play at Easter every year at Encounter Bay as these seem to have ben a pretty good success, and then four country games each year amongst the other 8 sides, so each club hosts a game in their zone every two years.

Won't happen as South want Good Friday Footy, which last season was their biggest crowd of the year by miles

My mistake. Maybe another weekend then, early in the season.

Agree with the Easter weekend but i understand South's pursuit of Good Friday being their own. Generally no country leagues play over Easter either because they haven't started (if Easter is early) or they just have the weekend off from the local sport. If you could identify the major regional holiday spots that are populated by tourists, campers etc who have come from city then you could get a good crowd to a country game.

Factors to consider, standard of the oval - Changerooms facilities etc plus gate etc. Encounter Bay did a heap of upgrades (which was needed anyway) to get it up to scratch for SANFL expectations. All this takes money.

South weren't helped with their Encounter Bay experience by getting pumped by Sturt a couple times which wasn't great for neutral or South supporters.

[Keefy]

I'd like to see South play at Easter every year at Encounter Bay as these seem to have ben a pretty good success, and then four country games each year amongst the other 8 sides, so each club hosts a game in their zone every two years.

Won't happen as South want Good Friday Footy, which last season was their biggest crowd of the year by miles

My mistake. Maybe another weekend then, early in the season.

Agree with the Easter weekend but i understand South's pursuit of Good Friday being their own. Generally no country leagues play over Easter either because they haven't started (if Easter is early) or they just have the weekend off from the local sport. If you could identify the major regional holiday spots that are populated by tourists, campers etc who have come from city then you could get a good crowd to a country game.

Factors to consider, standard of the oval - Changerooms facilities etc plus gate etc. Encounter Bay did a heap of upgrades (which was needed anyway) to get it up to scratch for SANFL expectations. All this takes money.

South weren't helped with their Encounter Bay experience by getting pumped by Sturt a couple times which wasn't great for neutral or South supporters.

Got pumped by the Eagles a few years ago too at Encounter Bay.

It's a good day out down there when the weather is nice

[Sojourner]

Playing at Encounter Bay is not entirely off the agenda, yet as stated above the Easter weekend is selected for our own match on Good Friday which is something the club is working to build on in terms of getting a decent gate in for it. I am not sure the club would not be opposed to playing a match on the South Coast at another time if the other sides were in agreement with travelling there.

Its my opinion that each SANFL club should be required to play a match in its country zone once every two years to promote SANFL footy in the country areas and to engage better with their allocated area.

I am surprised that Woodville-West Torrens are not more proactive on getting a match organised on Easter Saturday on the Moonta oval in their zone. Considering the number of people that are there over Easter they would likely get a very good attendance and make money out of it. Considering their home match attendances are struggling, something like this to have a good week to make up for some of the bad weeks would not be a bad idea, especially considering they do not have access to night footy for home matches.

[PhilH]

Considering their home match attendances are struggling,

Really ??


In 2012

- Eagles home match attendances were up 5.2% on previous year
This was the 4th consecutive year of home match crowd growth, up over 30% in 4 seasons.

- Eagles were the ONLY SANFL club to have home crowd growth in 2012.

- Eagles were ranked 4th among SANFL clubs
- behind Norwood, Glenelg & Port
- ahead of Central, Sturt, North, West & South

[mighty_tiger_79]

why oh why PhilH, do you continually let your factual stats get in the way of assumptions???

[Jim05]

Considering their home match attendances are struggling,

Really ??


In 2012

- Eagles home match attendances were up 5.2% on previous year
This was the 4th consecutive year of home match crowd growth, up over 30% in 4 seasons.

- Eagles were the ONLY SANFL club to have home crowd growth in 2012.

- Eagles were ranked 4th among SANFL clubs
- behind Norwood, Glenelg & Port
- ahead of Central, Sturt, North, West & South

I think it is just most peoples perception the Eagles are poor crowd pullers.
I reckon every time ive been to Woodville the away support outnumbers the home support 3 to 1.

[SDK]

Be fair the Eagles played like shit for 90% of the year and if they increased home crowds that is a good result. Only seems like less Eagles supporters when they are losing, when winning there sounds like 15,000+.
Good Friday in the country sounds like a good idea. Not entirely comfortable with playing on Good Friday but if it works why not. Still think you would need to do something different to make it work though. I would go to Victor Harbor to watch Norwood and South on Good Friday, might even bring the dog !

[Sojourner]

Its great that they increased their figures 5.2% over the previous season, yet what is their average home crowd against the other SANFL sides? What is the minimum number required to break even on the day in terms of the costs of putting the game on? How many times did they get above that number last season?

[robranisgod]

Considering their home match attendances are struggling,

Really ??


In 2012

- Eagles home match attendances were up 5.2% on previous year
This was the 4th consecutive year of home match crowd growth, up over 30% in 4 seasons.

- Eagles were the ONLY SANFL club to have home crowd growth in 2012.

- Eagles were ranked 4th among SANFL clubs
- behind Norwood, Glenelg & Port
- ahead of Central, Sturt, North, West & South

I can think of two reasons the Eagles home attendances were up last year. Firstly they had the Anzac Day game which drew more than 4,000 people which is a lot more than Eagles vs Central would normally draw and secondly as reigning premiers there would be more home match tickets sold. Reigning premiers traditionally have a boost in memberships and home match tickets.

[Macca19]

I'd love a match in Pirie, but the main oval where Lions FC play has an ashpalt track bordering the boundary line on the inside of the fence. Potential disaster waiting to happen

[nwdfanparade]

It takes me approx. 45 mins to drive to Victor Harbor and approx. 70 mins to drive to Elizabeth Oval. Does that make a game at Elizabeth a country match?

I'd love a match in Pirie, but the main oval where Lions FC play has an ashpalt track bordering the boundary line on the inside of the fence. Potential disaster waiting to happen

Edwardstown oval had an asphalt bike track surrounding their oval. Do they still have it? (haven't been there since mid 70s) Have there been any major accidents involving the bike track?

[Brodlach]

Edwardstown does still have the bike track. It's got a fair amount if grass between the boundary line and the track

[CENTURION]

[quote="nwdfanparade"]It takes me approx. 45 mins to drive to Victor Harbor and approx. 70 mins to drive to Elizabeth Oval. Does that make a game at Elizabeth a country match?

of course not, it's in the metro area.

[Mic]

I'd love a match in Pirie, but the main oval where Lions FC play has an ashpalt track bordering the boundary line on the inside of the fence. Potential disaster waiting to happen

North played Port there in 1990 in a Foundation Cup game.

[StrayDog]

Be fair the Eagles played like shit for 90% of the year and if they increased home crowds that is a good result. Only seems like less Eagles supporters when they are losing, when winning there sounds like 15,000+.

Atrocious for the first four or five games. After that performances generally above average (at least, compared to everyone else who wasn't Norwood) and kept pace with a pretty consistent West after that.

Their season's revival wouldn't have done their crowd numbers any harm.