14,342

[ApplecrossWC]

Re: 13,342

I don't understand why members of this site get so much enjoyment out of sticking the boots into a club and their supporters at a time when they are struggling financially. Comments like 'how funny will it be when they fold' and 'put them out of their misery' do not achieve anything. Similarly, why bother pointing the finger at North supporters on this site?

What you have to remember is a large amount of people who post on this forum are losers who have nothing better to do in life than hang around a football forum making themselves feel better posting crap like that. I'm pretty sure a large percentage of the w***ers on here got beat up at school and still live with their mum, thus get their kicks by trolling football forums. You have to learn not to take these tools seriously. Especially Sydney supporters who are surely taking the piss (their club continually dies ffs!) and Hawthorn supporters like Beckers who have something against North and are just sad, pathetic individuals. You are clearly are far too smart for the main forum, so I'd recommend just staying away!

 

[red+black]

Re: 13,342

A stadium deal where they saw 75-80c from every dollar, as opposed to 30-35c as it currently stands, would go a hell of a long way toward rectifying their current situation.

That's right. Double the crowds of North, St Kilda and the Bulldogs and they still won't have great returns this year. Fixing the stadia deals would have a greater effect on the bottom lines of these clubs.

 

[Papa Juggs]

Re: 13,342

We get Port again up here

Might go watch it if the Doggies name all the guns.

 

[Pessimistic]

Re: 13,342

These crowds happened often enough before the docklands was built.

clubs like freo port (and soon to be wsyd, GC) make it worse.

Why didnt someone at HQ forsee this if the place was designed to break even at 35,000 (waverley was 15,000 - princes park even less)

did they think an extra 20k would turn up because it was a 'world class stadium ?"

The screwed up bigtime. do we think the hawks would be in tassie if waverley still existed? Ian Dicker saw the probelm with docklands on day one wheres its taken the league as a whole 8 years to work out

 

[Moo]

Re: 13,342

Was a shit crowd but not really unexpected, we don't pull a crowd against this mob even when we are flying.

It is just hard to motivate people to go watch Port, not sure why, tonight I went with the fewest number of supporters I ever go, people just don't like seeing us play that mob for some reason.

Our crowd numbers are way off, I mean a lot of members aren't even rocking up to games this year and it is not about winning or losing or that they are not real North supporters. I think it is just a culmination of a lot factors, we were really playing shitful footy and I think a lot of supporters had a gutful of the crap.

It is just a pity guys waited until round 7 to pull their finger out. Late in the game it was looking like Port was going to pinch the game but apart from the last 5 minutes of the game we played 100x better than we had all year and there is still miles to go in terms of improvement, you had players actually running hard for four quarters which was pretty much a first.

I don't blame supporters for having enough really, it is one thing to put in and get beaten by the better side on the day, but to not even put in half an effort and not even putting up a contest is pretty much a no go zone as far as north supporters are concerned.

Had we lost I still would have still been 1000% happier with the effort put in over the four quarters. I think if the players actually put some effort in and play I think more supporters will show up to watch. The result isn't as important as the effort that is put in. Tonight they put the effort in.

This is a game that should be played at Visy Park or Ballarat or somewhere that will make a buck with a small crowd. There is just no point playing a game there that you know isn't going to pull 35-40k. We would have pulled a crap crowd no matter who were were playing given our effort this year, with Port it was just guaranteed to be the lowest crowd.

So in other words not enough support.

It is not Port's fault they don't have enough fans to pad out your numbers, and you may not blame your 30K members for not fronting up - I would.

It is typical Bigfooty though. Port has next to none of the ex-pats in Melbourne, most follow Adelaide as they came out earlier than Port.

North gets 14,342 against Port.

Melbourne gets 14,129 against Crows.

Where were the threads about Melbourne's crowds?

Gees what could the solution be here?

2 very low drawing clubs in one geographical location and the AFL wanting to introduce at least one more team?

 

[gaelictiogar]

Re: 13,342

Get off North's back. Stop having a go at them. They have few fans but are a part of the fabric of Victorian sporting life. Part of the history of the game. I want them to survive. Everyone should want them to survive.

The win will help them.

 

[kirky]

Re: 13,342

Get off North's back. Stop having a go at them. They have few fans but are a part of the fabric of Victorian sporting life. Part of the history of the game. I want them to survive. Everyone should want them to survive.

The win will help them.

We do however they need to become viable. If you in business and one part of your business is pulling the rest of it down, you make decisions to make it viable. That needs to be done here.

Seriously, why is it that Port doesn't attract good crowds anywhere?

Thank god it wasn't a Sunday twlight game!

 

[grayham]

Re: 13,342

Get off North's back. Stop having a go at them. They have few fans but are a part of the fabric of Victorian sporting life. Part of the history of the game. I want them to survive. Everyone should want them to survive.

The win will help them.

They can survive in Victoria. In the VFL. Its the perfect match. Its extremely arogant of their fans to say they will abandon the club if its not in the top league (AFL).

They arent big enough to cut it in the AFL.

 

[Rush Stand]

Re: 13,342

But North have 30,000 members! More like 15,000 donations who find it all a bit boring. What excuse will the spin doctors James Brayshaw and Eugene Arocca come up with this time?

Its time for the AFL to get tough with these welfare sides. The issue should have been forced more sternly when the North to Gold Coast matter came up. Fitzroy had to make way for Port Adelaide coming in. North Melbourne is fortunate that Andrew Demetriou, ex-player is in charge and is afraid to make the tough calls on his financial basketcase former club. The economy is not big enough to sustain 10 professional clubs in Victoria.

 

[Hobdog]

Re: 13,342

it is the lack of consistency which is irritating. When Bulldogs or Melbourne do something equally as poor you hear nothing,

With all due respect Mate. Up until about 2 years ago, every story that was written about financial doom and gloom would use the Bulldogs as an example. Everytime a football expert would give their opinion on clubs in trouble they would mention the Bulldogs. So don't worry we've had our share.

 

[1873 United]

Re: 13,342

This situation is just a problem for the North Melbourne Football Club, one must remeber that Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs (Footscray) aren't swimming in pools of gold either.

It's obvious that stdium deals for all clubs bar Essendon are taking a toll on the profits available to Melbourne based clubs, this sort of situation isn't helped with the GEC (Global Economic Crisis). I don't think that in the year 2030 we will see Footscray, North Melbourne or Melbourne playing football in the top flight competition as we now know it.

Further more, I think that ES managment realise there will be less tenants in the coming years and are trying heavily to cash in now before all dries up and hand over to the League is complete.

 

[W.C. Fry]

On the OP's number - he probably got it from the AFL's website. I too was wondering how low the crowd was and checked the site to see the total. It said 13,342.

AFL's brilliant website strikes again!

 

[fairdinkum]

Re: 13,342

It's only a matter of time. AFL, make the right decision.

The AFL have stated that they are happy with their three-strike drugs policy and will not be changing it any time soon, regardless of how 'right' it might be to do so.

Anyhow, there are other threads to discuss such matters. This thread is meant to be about our crowd, which is apparently the most important thing in footy ATM.

 

[fairdinkum]

Re: 13,342

I don't understand why members of this site get so much enjoyment out of sticking the boots into a club and their supporters at a time when they are struggling financially. Comments like 'how funny will it be when they fold' and 'put them out of their misery' do not achieve anything. Similarly, why bother pointing the finger at North supporters on this site? I'll have a stab and say that if you're passionate enough about footy to sign up to a forum so that you can talk about it all week, you're probably passionate enough to buy a membership and get along to watch your side. North supporters on BigFooty aren't the problem.

Additionally, it should be remembered that, with the possible exception of Essendon, just about every other Victorian based club has encountered serious financial difficulties at some point in the last two decades. To this end, it's pretty frustrating to see supporters of my own club (and most others) finding a humorous side to North's present financial issues when many of our own clubs have been down the same road before. Personally, if I wasn't able to watch my team each week (and I'm not suggesting North supporters are genuinely faced with this prospect, contrary to the alarmists in this thread), I'd be devastated. Selfishly, I don't want to see less Victorian clubs either, because it results in more Hawthorn games being played interstate meaning I'll get to see fewer games live.

In any case, plenty of people remember the way the AFL treated Fitzroy and their supporters in their final few years, and I think it's pathetic that anybody would wish that on another club and their supporters. No passionate supporter deserves to lose their footy club. That aside, the idea that North's future is some sort of foregone conclusion is also ridiculous. A stadium deal where they saw 75-80c from every dollar, as opposed to 30-35c as it currently stands, would go a hell of a long way toward rectifying their current situation.

This guy is too intelligent to be a Hawthorn bigfooty poster. I call 'imposter'.

 

[_Interpol_]

Re: 13,342

I was sitting behind the North goals, the Social Club wing was pretty full and level one to 3 on the not closed wing was nearly full, behind the goals for both sides were average (with Ethiad new ticketing system ). Had a good buzz though, the roar at the end was like there was 30K in the stadium.

oh, well that's ok then. so long as it sounds like 30k

weak, north 'fans', very weak

 

[campbell]

Re: 13,342

Merger, relocation, folding. Same shit ... the NMFC dies.

How come its only about a portion of your supporters, how you feel. Others wanted to go to the Coast.

Selfish imo. Relocation is not dying.

Until your fans decide to support you club by turning up to matches, you are in massive strife. It really is the bottom line.

 

[little hawk gmf]

Re: 13,342

What you have to remember is a large amount of people who post on this forum are losers who have nothing better to do in life than hang around a football forum making themselves feel better posting crap like that. I'm pretty sure a large percentage of the w***ers on here got beat up at school and still live with their mum, thus get their kicks by trolling football forums. You have to learn not to take these tools seriously. Especially Sydney supporters who are surely taking the piss (their club continually dies ffs!) and Hawthorn supporters like Beckers who have something against North and are just sad, pathetic individuals. You are clearly are far too smart for the main forum, so I'd recommend just staying away!

I agree that some of the posters here are just losers who gain some sick perverse feeling of excitement at the prospect of a club going. FFS AFL and the clubs is the heartbeat of the nation for many. We should be looking for ways to work it out because no one really wins from killing a club. Sure South and Fitzroy fans have had some success and compared to their last few years in the VFL it stacks up well. But I am sure they would do anything to for their club to be a successful Melbourne club. I reckon most Fitzroy fans would give their left nut to swap their plight with Melbournes position. Merge, relocate etc = death to a club.

 

[Defacto]

Re: 13,342

They can survive in Victoria. In the VFL. Its the perfect match. Its extremely arogant of their fans to say they will abandon the club if its not in the top league (AFL).

They arent big enough to cut it in the AFL.

you my friend are an idiot. sydney has been helped more than any other club and still does need help. 1 sydney flag is all that has come your way recently (you cant count the south melbourne days).

atleast north wins flags, if they had the help you guys get there wouldnt be an issue.

 

[Ricardo]

Re: 13,342

It is typical Bigfooty though. Port has next to none of the ex-pats in Melbourne, most follow Adelaide as they came out earlier than Port.

North gets 14,342 against Port.

Melbourne gets 14,129 against Crows.

Where were the threads about Melbourne's crowds?

Firstly i will say there is obviously an anti-North brigade on here.

The reason i think many did not mention this crowd is because;
1) It was played in some of the worst conditions i've seen for footy- it wasn't so much the temperature (which was freezing) but the rain and wind...the high flying Geelong got 15,580 at SS, an indication as to how bad the weather was.

2) Because Melbourne have been pretty bad the last few seasons, even with the record membership it takes more to get people to go to games after such a long time down the foot of the table.

3) Sunday Twilight.....the worst slot in the AFL schedule + (you'd think) minimal Adelaide fans flying over for a Sunday twilight with school/work the next day.

....Compared to a Sat night fixture on a resonable day weather wise, with the closed roof at Docklands..

I'm not knocking North for their crowd, it was pretty much expected, but what they need to do now is find a solution to these low drawing games, they cannot lose this much money.
Even with an improved stadium deal these sorts of attendances look terrible and paint a bad image for the club and the league.....
I don't believe the AFL will schedule games to be played at SS, but if they did that is an option, so is Princes Park.

The other alternative is if the WBs pull their interstate games then North could play either:
1 in Canberra and 1 in Darwin
2-3 in Darwin
2-3 in Canberra

As has been stated before it is a long shot but developing a base in Canberra would be tough with the obvious history between the two.....if it worked though Canberra (with no intentions of relocating) would be a good option for North.....(but then the AFL may schedule the high drawing Swans up there and possibly other high drawing games....)

 

[Lance Uppercut]

and to top it all off, you get sooky la-la Laidley saying people wouldn't know who Ziebell was because he plays for North Melbourne! Maybe it's the media's fault that no-one turns up, too

 

[jacko57]

Re: 13,342

I agree that some of the posters here are just losers who gain some sick perverse feeling of excitement at the prospect of a club going. FFS AFL and the clubs is the heartbeat of the nation for many. We should be looking for ways to work it out because no one really wins from killing a club. Sure South and Fitzroy fans have had some success and compared to their last few years in the VFL it stacks up well. But I am sure they would do anything to for their club to be a successful Melbourne club. I reckon most Fitzroy fans would give their left nut to swap their plight with Melbournes position. Merge, relocate etc = death to a club.

Well said!

 

[A Living God]

All this crap of needing 35,000 to break even get old very quickly.

30,000 members at $175 per member is approx $15 per member per game.
North Melbourne made $450,000 from it members, net of the $150,000 they lost on the day is still a $300,000 profit.

North Melbourne makes a profit from their members regardless if they show up or not.

 

[MF]

Re: 13,342

I agree that some of the posters here are just losers who gain some sick perverse feeling of excitement at the prospect of a club going. FFS AFL and the clubs is the heartbeat of the nation for many. We should be looking for ways to work it out because no one really wins from killing a club. Sure South and Fitzroy fans have had some success and compared to their last few years in the VFL it stacks up well. But I am sure they would do anything to for their club to be a successful Melbourne club. I reckon most Fitzroy fans would give their left nut to swap their plight with Melbournes position. Merge, relocate etc = death to a club.

Sorry but please don't talk about subjects you clearly have no ****ing idea about. How would you possibly know anything about what it's like supporting a club that has merged or relocated? Death to a club my arse.

The 8,000 Victorian based swans supporters (of which I have been one for over 20 years) would suggest otherwise. Obviously relocation is a horrible thing to have happen to your football club but life goes on. You still have your colours, the same playing group (initially) and the record books still show your history.

My old man and man grandfather used to tell me stories about all the great south players of their day and they still follow the club as passionately now as they did back then. My kids will one day follow the swans and they will embrace the clubs history just as I have.

North supporters can bleat on all they want about how we're a soulless franchise etc etc and if that's the stance they want to take as outsiders then great but I can tell you right now that it's definitely not the way I and thousands of other loyal south/sydney fans see it.

I honestly do hope north manage to battle on and survive in melbourne but if they do relocate I'm sure many of them will see it's not the end of the world and that their passion for the club will be just as strong, if not stronger for having gone through it.

Mergers are a different story because it's a bastardization of a clubs identity and it's heritage but relocation is definitely not the death of a club.

 

[Messenger]

All this crap of needing 35,000 to break even get old very quickly.

30,000 members at $175 per member is approx $15 per member per game.
North Melbourne made $450,000 from it members, net of the $150,000 they lost on the day is still a $300,000 profit.

North Melbourne makes a profit from their members regardless if they show up or not.

Deals for MCG and Etihad are for the AFL to provide a certain volume of patrons through the door. What NMFC yield from memberships relates only to what they are charged by the operators to reserve seats at the stadium for their members. And those members pay more for that privilege anyway.

So there is a "breakeven" figure.

And allow me to endorse Poison's comments earlier. I've dropped coins in tins for a few clubs (mine included) and I was one of the many who went to throw dirt on the grave of the Fitzroy FC in Round 21, 1996.

Why anyone would wish this upon another club is beyond me.

 

[morgoth]

Deals for MCG and Etihad are for the AFL to provide a certain volume of patrons through the door. What NMFC yield from memberships relates only to what they are charged by the operators to reserve seats at the stadium for their members. And those members pay more for that privilege anyway.

So there is a "breakeven" figure.

And allow me to endorse Poison's comments earlier. I've dropped coins in tins for a few clubs (mine included) and I was one of the many who went to throw dirt on the grave of the Fitzroy FC in Round 21, 1996.

Why anyone would wish this upon another club is beyond me.

Wish it? What about just looking at the cold hard facts. I don't care whether a club lives or dies but something needs to change if clubs like North do survive. Under the current format they do not stand a chance.

Make no mistake their are two winners from the stadium deal at Eithad, the operators/owners who make money now and the AFL who will inherit a stadium for free. In short the clubs that play there are paying off the ground for the AFL. So maybe the AFL should be providing a set formula to compensate clubs for this. The stupidity of it is that when the AFL take possession of the ground the clubs that effectively paid it off (North, Essendon, Dogs and Blues) will recieve a 1/16th share of profits via the AFL distribution. It is a crock but no one in the media will talk about it so the AFL gets away with ripping these clubs off.

Then you have the uneven draw, match fixturing, FTA etc etc. The AFL is addicted to cash so it makes the lot of the struggling clubs harder and harder without providing a set funding formula re compensation for this. Brayshaw recently said the Argentinian clash jumper was selling well, guess what, the royalty income (the easy money) goes to the AFL not the club in question so once again a revenue source is denied.

So as I said, unless things change re the above, it will just get harder and harder. Plus, I still believe the AFL wants to ship North. Vlad is a vindictive bastard and in his eyes North spurned him and he will want his revenge. I think this months matches whereby they cop nearly all interstate games tells you what they are up to.

Anyway good luck with it, I think it will be hard, logic tells me one or two are going to go in some form or another but if the clubs get together and demand a change to some of the matters above then yes clubs like North can survive but it is time that the hand-outs stopped and that proper arrangements were put in place, otherwise they are pissing into the wind.