PORT ADELAIDE now has the most members of any football club in South Australia, as confirmed by the AFL’s audited membership figures published today.
The final audited figure of 54,057 represents year-on-year growth of 10.39% to Port Adelaide’s membership tally which has, for the first time, overtaken the Adelaide Crows.
The league annually audits the membership tallies of its 18 clubs to produce a number which accounts for all membership products allowed under the AFL’s audit criteria as a means of standardising membership comparisons across the competition.
Only memberships which have a member’s name, address, receive a membership pack and cost more than $50 are included in the final audit figures for AFL clubs, with the league always removing categories such as pet memberships from its final figures.
Port’s increase is made more significant considering the new system used by the AFL to allocate Adelaide Oval stadium football members.
Introduced in line with the new revenue sharing model at the Oval in 2014, this system distributes stadium members on a 36/64 basis based on historical SANFL data.
That means just 2,883 of the 22-game Adelaide Oval memberships go to Port Adelaide, while 5,126 are handed to the Adelaide Crows.
No. 1 in SA "just the start" of the journey…
The 2015 tally continues an upward trend of Port Adelaide memberships and comes after the Power was last year the biggest ‘growth’ club in the competition.
It was third highest for growth this year, behind the Sydney Swans (21.71%) and Western Bulldogs (11.68%).
As a result, Port Adelaide now sits in the top six of AFL clubs for memberships, trailing Collingwood (75,037), Hawthorn (72,924), Richmond (70,809), Essendon (60,818) and West Coast (60,221).
INFOGRAPHIC: How the memberships have changed
The journey to Port Adelaide’s new record started in 2010 when the club campaigned to reunite its community.
When Port Adelaide was successfully awarded the second AFL licence for South Australia for the 1997 season, it was required to effectively split into separate operations in the national and state competitions, with neither able to maintain a formal connection.
Effectively dividing the Port Adelaide community along league lines, the reunification of the club was the critical first step on the path to rebuilding a strong and successful club at Alberton.
Port Adelaide’s chief executive Keith Thomas says the continued growth of its membership figure since the Power and Magpies were reunited in 2010 is a testament to the strength of the club and its supporter base.
“It wasn’t long ago when outsiders were telling us that Port Adelaide’s brand wasn’t strong enough to attract enough members and supporters to remain sustainable,” Mr Thomas said.
“Today, for the first time in our AFL history, Port Adelaide has the most official club members in South Australia.
“This is a remarkable achievement many outside observers would never have thought possible – it is truly a testament to our people and the way they have backed our club over the last few years with passionate support each and every week, whether it be at Adelaide Oval or at Alberton Oval.
“Since reunification in 2010, we’ve seen consistent growth in members and supporters, particularly from young adults, families and a strong response from many lapsed members returning to the club.
“The great thing about Port Adelaide is the generational support that exists within our membership - we have grandparents who watched Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval in the ‘50s and ‘60s and now bring their grandkids to see us play every home game there in 2015.
“Now these kids are part of the Port Adelaide family.
“We’re committed to growing bigger with a game day and club experience that is world-leading, fun and accessible for everyone. This is the focus of Port Adelaide going forward – to build on the strengths of our two years back at the Oval and give everyone the chance to experience what it means to be a member of Port Adelaide.”
The Port Adelaide game day experience remains one of the prime drawcards to Power home games [pic: AFL Media]
Weight of numbers
Port Adelaide’s crowds at the Adelaide Oval have been among the AFL’s biggest, and certainly most energetic, since the club hosted the first game at the redeveloped ground in 2014.
Holding the two biggest non-Showdown attendances for a home game at the ground, the Power has also demonstrated its ability to bring huge crowds to the Oval.
It is also one of the ‘heavy lifters’ of the AFL in terms of average crowd attendance - having the fourth-biggest average for an AFL home crowd behind the Tigers, Magpies and Crows.
This, according to Mr Thomas, points to an exciting future for Port Adelaide supporters.
“A united, engaged Port Adelaide Football Club community is very powerful, and the popularity of the move to Adelaide Oval, which was strongly supported by our people from the very first game there in 2011, has been justified by the consolidated increase in our membership,” Mr Thomas said.
“But our consistently high game attendance, which is against interstate teams for 10 of our 11 home games, is also one of the best home attendance figures of the competition.
“This result is all about our people – the supporters who make our club – whether they’re supporters who’ve been barracking for us for 50 years, or those who may have gone to their first game in the last couple of seasons, ours are the loudest and most passionate in the nation and our growth as a club is a testament to their love of their footy club.
“Our supporters make our club strong.”
Port Adelaide’s 2016 membership campaign will begin in October.
