Leave our game alone

[Rik E Boy]

Wedgie Crows might have 20,000 more members so how come last year they could not fill AAMI stadium week after week ???? fans are not as passionate in some cases the love affair with the AFLis waning.

If you start 0-6 the bandwagonners jump off. Nothing new there.

regards,

REB

[Hondo]

I have no problem with individuals not liking AFL and saying so. It's when they decide to speak for these assumed masses that I stop and question. Or they can't just walk away from the game they've got to loudly announce they are doing so. Note I am not accusing Apache here of all of these things. It's just comments I read round the place.

I remember a guy on another forum complaining about rule changes and how it was turning him off the game. It was turning him off so much so that he stated that he now only watched 5 games per week in full instead of 8 I think he just liked to complain.

[Wedgie]

An article from last July when membership figures for each year are finalised:

AFL CLUB memberships have passed the 600,000 mark for the first time in the game's history.

AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou said on Friday the AFL's official membership audit showed that clubs had 614,251 members at June 30, a rise of 4.48 per cent on last year’s record tally of 586,748.

Demetriou said 11 clubs had recorded increases on their 2009 memberships - the Brisbane Lions, Collingwood, Essendon, Fremantle, Geelong, Hawthorn, Melbourne, the Sydney Swans, St Kilda, West Coast and the Western Bulldogs.

Collingwood recorded a rise of almost 20 per cent, taking its total membership to 57,408 - a record for any club and making the Magpies only the third team behind Adelaide (2006 and 2007) and Hawthorn (2009 and 2010) to top 50,000 members in a season.

St Kilda recorded the second largest increase of 18.23 per cent, while the Western Bulldogs also recorded double-digit growth.

Demetriou said seven clubs now boasted membership bases of more than 40,000 - Adelaide, Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Geelong, Hawthorn and West Coast - with Geelong joining this elite group for the first time on the back of its 2009 premiership success.

Club membership has risen every year since the 2001 season, with the only drop over the last 20 years in 2000 when the season was brought forward by a month to accommodate the Sydney Olympic Games.

"On behalf of the AFL, I wish to thank every single person across Australia who supports our game and who makes the commitment to join an AFL club," Demetriou said.

"I would like to congratulate the players, staff and coaches at each of our clubs, who work so hard to make our game a success.

"Membership continues to be the lifeblood of our clubs, and the AFL's single most important indicator of the game's health remains attendances at our matches and the commitment of our supporters to become a member of one of our clubs.

"The AFL clubs deserve great credit for their work in drawing supporters to the game and I want to particularly highlight the tremendous role of our AFL players, both for the standard of our game they are producing on the field and for the work they are doing off the field in engaging with communities across our nation."

The figures showed a significant increase in junior memberships.

"On the field, our game is constantly re-invigorated by new young stars coming into the game and the influx of children as club members is tremendously important for our long-term health," Demetriou said.

Record attendances (3rd largest averages in the world behind NFL and Bunderslagia), record memberships, record TV rights.
I bet the AFL are quaking in their boots about the people leaving in their droves!

I think some people meant to post on the Australian Soccer forum but got lost and accidentally came in here!

[Apachebulldog]

Dont think so Wedgie AFL manipulates the figures to sound all rosy hey i got lots of mates Crows/power who have not renewed their memberships and could not be bothered in attending games surely they are not lying to me.

[Booney]

Dont think so Wedgie AFL manipulates the figures to sound all rosy hey i got lots of mates Crows/power who have not renewed their memberships and could not be bothered in attending games surely they are not lying to me.

Apache, I've bee watching this debate and at this stage you are down 6-1, 6-0, 5-0 and 0-40 on your serve.

[cripple]

Dont think so Wedgie AFL manipulates the figures to sound all rosy hey i got lots of mates Crows/power who have not renewed their memberships and could not be bothered in attending games surely they are not lying to me.

How do you manipulate membership figures??? If you think they are lying about membership numbers then just say that. Everyone that is a member in whatever form means they are supporting their club or the game and have an interest in it. Considering your point is that interest is waning, any type of membership would suggest otherwise.

[Wedgie]

LOL, straws clutching at.
I think Booneys being generous, the match was well and truly over a while ago!

[Gingernuts]

I blame the Communists. and Terrorists. and Aliens.

They're all working together to ruin our great game and are causing people not to renew their memberships.

It's a traversty.

[Darth Vader]

I blame the Communists. and Terrorists. and Aliens.

They're all working together to ruin our great game and are causing people not to renew their memberships.

It's a traversty.

you forgot about the Muslim Brotherhood - I reckon their hidden agenda has the AFL in the sights

[Gingernuts]

I blame the Communists. and Terrorists. and Aliens.

They're all working together to ruin our great game and are causing people not to renew their memberships.

It's a traversty.

you forgot about the Muslim Brotherhood - I reckon their hidden agenda has the AFL in the sights

And lets not forget those blasted Rebels hey Darth? Flying around in their X-Wings trying to take down the Empire - who do they think they are??

[Darth Vader]

I blame the Communists. and Terrorists. and Aliens.

They're all working together to ruin our great game and are causing people not to renew their memberships.

It's a traversty.

you forgot about the Muslim Brotherhood - I reckon their hidden agenda has the AFL in the sights

And lets not forget those blasted Rebels hey Darth? Flying around in their X-Wings trying to take down the Empire - who do they think they are??

Yeah and I heard this morning while doing breakfast in Manuka that Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard were bi-partisan on opposing the rule changes.

[JK]

Im not arguing the membership figures as facts are facts, but whilst this is pure speculation, I reckon there would be a lot of members that still dont prefer the direction the game has taken, but they are mad in their support of their club and attend regardless.

[Apachebulldog]

Nah i blame my yozuri squid lure gotcha !!

[Apachebulldog]

Well said permie !!

[Darth Vader]

Im not arguing the membership figures as facts are facts, but whilst this is pure speculation, I reckon there would be a lot of members that still dont prefer the direction the game has taken, but they are mad in their support of their club and attend regardless.

And that is what the AFL movers and shakers - in Melbourne of course - play on. They know they can do anything to the game and people will still barrack for their team. This is why they dont poll supporters or club members (that I know of so I could be wrong) on such mundane things as "what do you think of..." before implementing any of these silly reforms.

[tipper]

I blame the Communists. and Terrorists. and Aliens.

They're all working together to ruin our great game and are causing people not to renew their memberships.

It's a traversty.

You mean it isnt North Adelaides fault?? Woo Hoo

[Wedgie]

That can't be right CP, apparently they're leaving in drives!

PS You're spot on with that point when it comes to me and the SANFL.

[JK]

That can't be right CP, apparently they're leaving in drives!

PS You're spot on with that point when it comes to me and the SANFL.

Na I don't support the theory that supporters are leaving in droves (hope I didn't give that impression) .. Maybe some clubs are experiencing dips (like the two SA clubs), but the game appears healthier than ever in Melbourne in terms of support and that forms the bulk of the national figures naturally enough.

I don't know any of the figures, but it seems as though the traditional VFL/AFL clubs are still much better supported when they're struggling than the interstate clubs are when they're carp.

[Mr66]

I blame the Communists. and Terrorists. and Aliens.

They're all working together to ruin our great game and are causing people not to renew their memberships.

It's a traversty.

I thought the Jews were too blame for everything?


...or is it the Illuminati?

[Wedgie]

I actually got around to watching a few games this weekend and thought the new boundary line rule was fantastic and hope they bring it in forever!