AFL membership ladder 2022:

[GVGjr]

Richmond is leading the charge to be this year’s first club to roar past 100,000 members as the countdown to the AFL season intensifies.

In the Year of the Tiger, Richmond fans are backing the yellow and black to strike back in 2022 after missing the finals last year.

A month out from the season kick-off, the Tigers have already signed up 84,948 members as they aim to crack the 106,000 mark for the first time this year.

Despite missing the top-eight, the Tigers finished second on the AFL’s 2021 membership ladder last year – with a club record 105,084 – passing the 100,000 mark for the fourth year in a row.

Richmond was the first club to break the 100,000-member mark in 2018.

n a pre-season analysis of club members, the Tigers came out well in front of Collingwood, which was second with 70,000 members.

But West Coast, which topped the league’s membership ladder for the second consecutive year last season with 106,422 members, chose not to divulge its pre-season figures but hoped to build on last year’s club record total.

Richmond said its membership drive centred around getting the Tiger Army back together at the MCG.

“We have just launched our 2022 membership campaign ‘Year of the Tiger Army’,” the club said.

“This year is all about getting back together for our home games at the MCG and recognising the incredible support we have received from our members over the last two years in particular.”

Under new president Jeff Browne, the Magpies are aiming to break through the 100,000 member barrier for the first time this year.

Richmond 84,948
Collingwood 70,000
Carlton 67,928
Essendon 60,678
Hawthorn 60,100
Port Adelaide 52,164
Geelong 49,055
St Kilda 43,500
Melbourne 43,000
Adelaide 40,000 +
Fremantle 40,000
Western Bulldogs 38,824
North Melbourne 38,756
Sydney Swans 35,722
Brisbane Lions 29,318
GWS Giants 25,094
Gold Coast 8,721
**West Coast declined to provide current membership total

[GVGjr]

Port and Hawthorns numbers are stronger than I think they should be.
You have to wonder why the Saints are in a strong position.

[bornadog]

Of the Vic clubs we are about on par with North ie last

[GVGjr]

Of the Vic clubs we are about on par with North ie last

Hopefully we get somewhere close if not exceeding the 50K target.

[Hotdog60]

I think this is were the community matches are important and should be more accessible to the fans because a good showing in those matches may generate more belief if you are humming and haring on if they want to sign up for the year.
You don't need to sway the hard core but the fringe may be a different story.

[Prince Imperial]

You have to wonder why the Saints are in a strong position.

Their finals win over us in 2020 certainly helped and they finished 9k ahead of us last season.

I'd make two points:

- This Moorabbin club almost certainly have a bigger supporter base than us (as reflected by average home crowds at Marvel since its opening and Roy Morgan surveys). The principal reason for this I believe has been the overwhelmingly Anglo-Celtic nature of their Bayside heartland. I reckon their supporter base is about 10-12% bigger.

- The AFL has in recent years allowed "no minimum spend" memberships to be counted and they probably have given away more than us. A lot of this would be to kids in their area which is a very strong junior football zone - the South Metro Junior Football League has nearly 11k players.