from todays HUN:

CLUB 2006 2005
Collingwood 37,500 38,612 DOWN 1112
Essendon* 35,192 32,734 UP 2458
Geelong 32,102 30,821 UP 1281
St Kilda 31,830 32,043 DOWN 213
Richmond 29,060 28,029 UP 1031
Carlton 28,500 33,354 DOWN 4854
Hawthorn 27,337 29,261 DOWN 1924
Bulldogs 25,370 21,974 UP 3396
Melbourne 23,300 24,805 DOWN 1505
Kangaroos 22,854 24,154 DOWN 1300

Reflection of how bad we are going i guess. Perhaps one of the decisions regarding Pagan may relate to how much further our membership will fall if we keep going the way we have for the last 5 years. Would a new coach give us back 5000 members, would staying as we are lose us another 2-4000 members next year? Maybe that is what the Board will factor in next year if we are considering paying DP out. If it's a possible swing of up to 9000 memberships, that pays him out with profit. Of course we would need to hope any new coach would get us rolling in the right direction to keep a 2005 level membership. Still I can't imagine we could be any worse

hope+direction = membership

If we keep the same win/loss ratio and game style through till end of season and pagan stays, supporters would see neither hope nor direction and membership would be likely to fall

If we keep the same win/loss ratio and but change the game style so it is more positive (again pagan stays), then membership might stay the same


If we keep the same win/loss ratio and but change the coach and provide clear direction then membership will increase

Good point Gerry

I've been thinking along the same lines my self...

On a net basis the cost of continuing on as we are and going to a mid-20K membership could easily be much greater than paying out DP's contract

It is not only direct membership revenue that is lost but also the flow-ons such as sponsorship, merchandise sales etc

There is also a longer term cost given the generational impact on the membership base level

_________________
Carlton - Nothing's changed
I still love you, oh, I still love you
Only slightly, only slightly less
Than I used to, my love

My fear is that we will lose supporters and members forever..... so jacked off with the crap served up on and off the field never to return. You may question their loyalty but everyone has a level of resistance and once broken..........

I don't think the drop in membership is particularly surprising. Until Elliott was booted out we'd never done better than about 27,500. Of those who signed up immediately after there must have been a large percentage who did so because of their grievances with the AFL penalties, relief that Elliott was gone, charity (Dermott Brereton etc) etc.

To hold onto those who bought a membership for those reasons was always going to be difficult. The only way it was ever really going to happen was if we started winning and they found their memberships were a useful purchase rather than simply a political statement/donation of sorts.

The good news is that we appear to have a hard core base of about 28,000 members. This makes us a bit different to the Kangas/Dogs etc who struggle to get 20,000 when things aren't going well. If we do start winning at some point (along with getting our off-field shit together) then I'd expect that to swell markedly.

In a sense we're back to where we were about 2002. We can't expect those who buy memberships for reasons other than ground entry to do it indefinitely.

The way to grow the membership from here is to grow the supporter base and grow the number of people who wish to actually attend games. We're not doing that at the moment for a multitude of reasons.

_________________
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

I think Andrew Dementia has a bigger problem in that nearly 3000 less members joined up for all Victorian teams. If the Aints couldn't increase their membership when they were equal flag favorites, there is something clearly wrong with the AFL.

The CEO should resign in shame!!

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“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.

How ridiculous to agree with the first post. Sack Pagan and members will come? How stupid.
Thank God you're not on the board.

Remarkable that Essendon*'s support base increases despite the team hitting rock bottom. Maybe they believed all the krap the so-called pundits were saying last year about Essendon* being a team to watch in 2006. A lot of 'experts' were revealed as being quite uneducated about our game when they made these calls. "Essendon* will be a contender in 2006" yeah and pigs fly!

How sweet it is. And even better that Carlton put the AFL's love child on the bottom of the ladder. Cop that Demitrispew!

Essendon* look after their members very well and dont over charge them for everything thats why they keep the ones they have and turn young fans into members, more rank and file friendly than us....you want to charge for family days etc then dont expect to compete with the clubs who dont....
Sheedy is a smarter media perfomer than Denis and with blokes like Mark Robinson doing Essendon* stories every day its great advertising.

Our problem will be keeping the 28000 we have next season....especially with this season being such a write off both on and off the field....

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"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

Now there's an innovative concept

Statistics will confirm that Pagan coaches better with a supporter base around 25K.

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Patrick Smith - Just another reason to HATE Essendon*!

Not saying he's right for the job, but I reckon if we appointed a Ratten as coach for example, memberships would skyrocket.

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"I had to eat"

Michael Voss on the coaching panel would definately create interest ....no brainer.

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There's so much I could say...

Sorry Mr Insider, explain to us what is happening and what will happen. We haven't improved in 5 years, our membership is down a whopping 4800 this year, time for steady as she goes - all in order do you reckon? Do you think it will go up next year if we make no change? Perhaps you can advise what we do in the face of this? Nothing perhaps and shed another 4000 members next year. Members aren't going to sign up on the basis of the same old excuses trotted out game after losing game year after year. Tell us, as an insider, what the board is doing to change things because some of us mere mortals are struggling to discern any positive vibes coming out of the club.

Give us something insider, something more than "how stupid", explain why we've lost the members and how we get them back.

Didnt you know? - everytime Pagan bemoans our lack of skill and/or superstars in the closet we sign up another 100 members

here, here Gerry, also to GWS, should we be thankful that we have a better support base then the Kangas and the dogs? Bloody hell if we were in their boats I really would start to question what is going on. From memory the memberships went up the last three years so there is a definate backlash to what has been happening on the field. 1 in 4 games lost by more then 10 goals and no one is accountable

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Between our dreams and actions lies this world

Yeah, they run three websites for them: essendonfc, Lloyd.com and hird.com


Essendon*'s next year will be the interesting membership numbers....They've already hit a few record lows....wagon....jump

The Blues did very well post Ellit and the momentum (or lack of it on the field) was always going to take it's toll. The important thing is to arrest it NOW and start the "hope" wagon with the kids so we can get the members back on board

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“Every single element of the Club has to be the best in the league, meticulously and methodically, and only by doing this will we be elite and challenge for number 17.”
Greg Lee

Did you read my post or just the first paragraph or two?

I think if you read it through again you'll see that I'm suggesting that our onfield performance is what's resulted in the drop.

And yes we should be grateful that we're not in the same boat as the Kangas... but the Dogs? There's a lot of momentum building down there at the moment.

_________________
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

So we are 3K over DP's membership zone. Shit we have a long way to go before we can get that low.

Maybe 2010?

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Revenge is a dish best served cold

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