Official Club Stuff 2015 Membership - target 60 000+ REACHED

[Andre]

Im glad I returned to SA in 2010 after 18 years living outside the state. I thought I would be back for only 12-18 months. IM not sure I could have handled shit of 2010-12 period on and off the field living 1,500 kms away I probably missed 3 of those 33 home games but sitting thru the shit has fortified my passion for the club. It also gave me an understanding of why our fans hated Footy Park so much. Living in Adelaide meant there was no excuse for me not getting off my arse and trying to do my bit to help the club out. I took the Ron Barassi philosophy of footy and life - if its meant to be its up to me. If I was still living in Sydney I would have became frustrated - not saying I would have walked away - but I think I would have become depressed like a few mates in Sydney became - couldnt see the light at the end of the tunnel.

But being in SA when times were tough and making an effort, getting back to Alberton especially when we lost allowed me to get to meet players, staff, executives and board members. It meant people saw you around the place when times were tough and they still come up and say g'day wben times are good.

As frustrated as I became about our situation I never gave up and feared for our club. I knew that if we got rid of the massive shackles we had imposed on us I knew we could fly if we got the right people on board and a few $$$.The bad times saw those with passion and a bit of innovation step forward and say to the club, I want to help - let me give you a hand. No better example than Big Footy's own @LockhardtRoad and his Hong Kong and China efforts.

The bandwangonners are needed. But lets make sure they become a smaller percentage of our true solid rusted on base supporters.

I moved back start of 2008. Ooops. Before AO, it was one thing to know Footy Park was increasingly being turned into Crows Park and hating going there. It took living in Melbourne though to really appreciate how god awful it was. I got so used to getting off a train at Spencer st. or a tram to the MCG and getting lunch/dinner at South bank / Crown or Lygon St. before / after games that going out to the Westfields carpark, just as we hit rock bottom really sucked balls twice over.

That 2011 AO game where we finally had AFL footy in the city was the ray of light in bleak times. I love Adelaide, but geez coming back to travelling to the middle of nowhere for footy, was in my top 3 of things I hated about SA (the 1970's 'let's not change anything' attitude is less, but still prevalent and don't start me on having to wait till 11 am to shop on Sundays after 24 hour Coles and Woolies in Melbourne). That game showed, as long as we kept dragging the troglodyte SANFL and Crows biddies wedded to Footy Park by the hair along, our club, our city and our state could be great again.

 

[floodbuster]

Talking to a woman at work today and she took her 6 yr old out to Auskick last week and when they got there virtually all the kids were wearing teal, she said it was like a sea and her kid was the lonely one wearing Crows colours, she said she was horrified and her boy started crying.

The point being is that I think these large membership numbers are not just a dormant supporter base but also the complete media saturation that the club has put into place to go along with the attractive football the team is playing. If we go on a decade long period of strength I don't think this club will ever experience those dark days again.

 

[Changaneen]

I'll put my speil here as everyone has.

My grandad was a Sergeant Major in the Pom Army. He just decided to emigrate to Australia, and he ended up in Adelaide. At the Port Adelaide Docks. My Grandad and my Dad were full on soccer supporters, but when they ended up here, they took on Port, and they stayed in Alberton for many months to get on their feet, i wasnt even born.........so i had no choice. Nor did i want a choice. I'm Port Adelaide thicker in my blood than many realise.

It was so good for me following the Magpies. Then i went through the crap when the camrys entered the AFL. It hurt my heart. To see Anderson, and whover else play for a plastic team that i didnt have any passion for.

I'm happy now. Have been since 1870. Always will be.

 

[Shaxx Attaxx]

Just saw the membership TVC. Yes I know it's not a big deal but can we please stop hearing about the 'dark days'. It's not good when your club puts an image of a 100 point thrashing in a commercial. Yeah I get why they did it but sometimes you've got to let things go and move forward.

Tiring hearing the media constantly go on about how bad we were.

Also yes it's classy for them to thank the fans but still. Let's move on and continue to turn ourselves from the Cinderella story to the team that people fear to play.


By the way I'm referring to the commercial not our banter.

 

[TeeKray]

A big part of the reason why we were where we were from 2008-2012 was the lack of revenue leading to reduced spending in our football department relative to the rest of the competition. And a big part of the reason why we lacked revenue was stagnant membership and free falling crowd numbers. As far as I am concerned, those people who 'jumped off' during those years were as much a part of the problem as any individual player, coach or administrator. It's that simple really.

 

[Portress Hill]

A big part of the reason why we were where we were from 2008-2012 was the lack of revenue leading to reduced spending in our football department relative to the rest of the competition. And a big part of the reason why we lacked revenue was stagnant membership and free falling crowd numbers. As far as I am concerned, those people who 'jumped off' during those years were as much a part of the problem as any individual player, coach or administrator. It's that simple really.

ok thats glass half empty approach. glass half full would be to say that part of our reival has been thanks to the thousands of people that are now coming out to support the club.

 

[Portress Hill]

Talking to a woman at work today and she took her 6 yr old out to Auskick last week and when they got there virtually all the kids were wearing teal, she said it was like a sea and her kid was the lonely one wearing Crows colours, she said she was horrified and her boy started crying.

The point being is that I think these large membership numbers are not just a dormant supporter base but also the complete media saturation that the club has put into place to go along with the attractive football the team is playing. If we go on a decade long period of strength I don't think this club will ever experience those dark days again.

sleeping giant

 

[Smartys Power]

I'll put my speil here as everyone has.

My grandad was a Sergeant Major in the Pom Army. He just decided to emigrate to Australia, and he ended up in Adelaide. At the Port Adelaide Docks. My Grandad and my Dad were full on soccer supporters, but when they ended up here, they took on Port, and they stayed in Alberton for many months to get on their feet, i wasnt even born.........so i had no choice. Nor did i want a choice. I'm Port Adelaide thicker in my blood than many realise.

It was so good for me following the Magpies. Then i went through the crap when the camrys entered the AFL. It hurt my heart. To see Anderson, and whover else play for a plastic team that i didnt have any passion for.

I'm happy now. Have been since 1870. Always will be.

I'm very similar. My grandad from Scotland got a job here in Adelaide in 1990. He brought grandmother, mum and aunty with him while my uncle moved down to Perth. Being from Scotland, my grandad loved soccer and didn't take much interest in AFL. My uncle from Perth followed a little but not to much. His mate from work managed to get tickets to the 1992 (maybe 94?) Grand Final, so my uncle asked my grandad if he wanted to go. He said no at first because he wasn't interested in the footy. So after much convincing my grandad ended up going. Keep in mind this is the 1ST EVER game he has seen live. A BLOODY GF. AND HE LOVED IT!!!

He started to take a little more interest and when he heard a new team was coming to Adelaide (Port obviously), he jumped at the chance. He, as well as the rest of my family, signed up as a member in 1996. The season before we joined the league. And he has been a member ever since.

So even though not neccessarily born into Port Adelaide, he is Port Adelaide through and through. Attends every game, buys a shit load of merch and NEVER, EVER stops talking about footy.

As for me, I was born in December of 1996. So you can bet I was brought up Port Adelaide from the get go.

Thanks all for listening to my short story.

 

[Portress Hill]

I'll put my speil here as everyone has.

My grandad was a Sergeant Major in the Pom Army. He just decided to emigrate to Australia, and he ended up in Adelaide. At the Port Adelaide Docks. My Grandad and my Dad were full on soccer supporters, but when they ended up here, they took on Port, and they stayed in Alberton for many months to get on their feet, i wasnt even born.........so i had no choice. Nor did i want a choice. I'm Port Adelaide thicker in my blood than many realise.

It was so good for me following the Magpies. Then i went through the crap when the camrys entered the AFL. It hurt my heart. To see Anderson, and whover else play for a plastic team that i didnt have any passion for.

I'm happy now. Have been since 1870. Always will be.

my grandpa worked the docks too. I shamfully must admist that i did get a bit swept up in the crows hysteria of the mid 90's and even was supporting them in the GF's. naturally as soon as port came to the afl i started my journey of hating the crows. have to say i dont hate them as much anymore though. i still want them to lose every week, but i no longer seem to care about them as much

 

[Dylan8]

ok thats glass half empty approach. glass half full would be to say that part of our reival has been thanks to the thousands of people that are now coming out to support the club.

People showing up is a byproduct of spending on footy dept though, something which could have been helped earlier if more people were payed up circa < 2012.

Basically spending on footy dept -> good football -> people turning up, paying up -> more money for footy dept -> etc. We just didn't have a financial base to work from and as such were continually slashing football dept spend until KT and Koch.

 

[Portress Hill]

People showing up is a byproduct of spending on footy dept though, something which could have been helped earlier if more people were payed up circa < 2012.

Basically spending on footy dept -> good football -> people turning up, paying up -> more money for footy dept -> etc. We just didn't have a financial base to work from and as such were continually slashing football dept spend until KT and Koch.

i really dont blame people for not going. I stopped going too. i still had a ticket, but just hated going to AAMI. it was a shit hole, it was shit to get to, was shit to get home, was shit to get a beer, was shit to be cold there, and the team was playing shit.

i still used to watch every game, but chose to do so from the comfort of my local pub.

 

[ab56452001]

A big part of the reason why we were where we were from 2008-2012 was the lack of revenue leading to reduced spending in our football department relative to the rest of the competition. And a big part of the reason why we lacked revenue was stagnant membership and free falling crowd numbers. As far as I am concerned, those people who 'jumped off' during those years were as much a part of the problem as any individual player, coach or administrator. It's that simple really.

Sorry disagree there , i suggest it WAS because of the board , coach etc ., that both players and supporters dropped off .

 

[Dylan8]

i really dont blame people for not going. I stopped going too. i still had a ticket, but just hated going to AAMI. it was a shit hole, it was shit to get to, was shit to get home, was shit to get a beer, was shit to be cold there, and the team was playing shit.

i still used to watch every game, but chose to do so from the comfort of my local pub.

I'm not saying anything about people who stopped going, just saying how it is.

I wasn't a member as I didn't have a job (I'm only 18 now) and I didn't go to home games (Melbourne based), so I can't claim moral high ground there.

 

[Eddie Dingle]

I'm jumping off today I think.

I really enjoyed the shit times. Listening to The Smiths on the way to and from the footy. Not knowing if footy or Morrissey was more depressing. I really enjoyed that. It was like being a Woodville supporter in the early 80's. It couldn't get any worse. Even when people hung shit on us I enjoyed it. Losing by 300 points over two weeks was awesome and it never occurred to me to question the direction of the club because they provided such mirth in my home. You can't defend that rubbish so you relax and enjoy it. But now we are ok again I don't like it. Listening to Boston and going to games with expectation just doesn't do it for me.

If Port don't become shit again I'm leaving and and I'll never be back this time.

 

[Smartys Power]

I'm jumping off today I think.

I really enjoyed the shit times. Listening to The Smiths on the way to and from the footy. Not knowing if footy or Morrissey was more depressing. I really enjoyed that. It was like being a Woodville supporter in the early 80's. It couldn't get any worse. Even when people hung shit on us I enjoyed it. Losing by 300 points over two weeks was awesome and it never occurred to me to question the direction of the club because they provided such mirth in my home. You can't defend that rubbish so you relax and enjoy it. But now we are ok again I don't like it. Listening to Boston and going to games with expectation just doesn't do it for me.

If Port don't become shit again I'm leaving and and I'll never be back this time.

Yeah I can't wait until we play in front of 17,000 die hard supporters while winning all our games.

 

[Duck Farmer]

I'm jumping off today I think.

I really enjoyed the shit times. Listening to The Smiths on the way to and from the footy. Not knowing if footy or Morrissey was more depressing. I really enjoyed that. It was like being a Woodville supporter in the early 80's. It couldn't get any worse. Even when people hung shit on us I enjoyed it. Losing by 300 points over two weeks was awesome and it never occurred to me to question the direction of the club because they provided such mirth in my home. You can't defend that rubbish so you relax and enjoy it. But now we are ok again I don't like it. Listening to Boston and going to games with expectation just doesn't do it for me.

If Port don't become shit again I'm leaving and and I'll never be back this time.

There's a Light That Never Goes Out to replace NTUA.

 

[Eddie Dingle]

Yeah I can't wait until we play in front of 17,000 die hard supporters while winning all our games.

Oh no.

The 17,000 sounds great but the winning would be terrible.

2004 was the worst year of my life.

All that happiness

 

[Portwon]

A real likefest the last few pages. Really enjoyed reading that. Thank you.

I salute all that join us as a member and supporter irrespective of whether they joined in the last 5 minutes or 50 years ago. They are all welcome and are helping to put us back where we belong. Hopefully we engage them all and they continue with us on our journey.

I have been a member for years and have been going to Alberton since I was a young teenager but there have been times when life threw curve balls (particularly when I was younger) or when I had really young kids when although I went to many games (borrowed memberships , begged a friend who had a footy park membership to let me use it for Port games) I didn't have a membership just didn't have the dollars. I feel bad about that but it happened didn't make me less proud of my club.

Took me into my twenty's to get on a firm footing financially. As a lad growing up around Angle/Mansfield Park there wasn't a lot of spare cash. In fact we were that poor I remember one night we got home to find the whole house looking like a teenage boys bedroom, chairs overturned drawers open etc. Obviously they didn't find anything and felt bad as they left a note on the kitchen table that said sorry and attached a Ten Dollar note. (True story- cue the we were so poor jokes).

Anyways my point is that I don't think its always about the money or the length of service. Its about the passion and the feeling of being part of our family. I was at the 140th and those other games and went every week to watch the magpies earn another "honourable two goal loss" (or so it seemed) around the same time but don't begrudge you if you weren't able to. Life happens. Welcome aboard. Having said that I agree that we should recognise long term members better and have absolutely no problem with someone who pays more than me getting better access to tickets.

What I will say though for those that weren't able to or for whatever reason didn't stick fat is if you weren't around then then you might not understand why when in the last quarter of the PF last year when I thought we were a real show I started getting tears in my eyes. When the wife looked at me and said why are you crying I couldn't really explain I remember just thinking about all those cold and wet nights, the feeling of helplessness, the absolute hatred of that hole AAmi mixed with the feeling that I love watching this club and that we have come so far and we just might do it. All I to do at the time was mumble "this club" and turn away.

Apologies for the long post (and its probably why I don't post that often as I tend to womble on) but reading the last few pages really made me think.

 

[Smartys Power]

Oh no.

The 17,000 sounds great but the winning would be terrible.

2004 was the worst year of my life.

All that happiness

2014 must be quite high up on the list.

Bet you loved the 07 GF?

 

[Smartys Power]

2014 must be quite high up on the list.

Bet you loved the 07 GF?

I felt dirty and ashamed writing that last bit.

 

[Portmanteau]

I started supporting Port because of the teal. If it were up to me our guernsey would be just solid teal.

 

[Smartys Power]

I started supporting Port because of the teal. If it were up to me our guernsey would be just solid teal.

I would preferably go this...

You think this is a mother******* game?

 

[Dylan8]

I started supporting Port because of the teal. If it were up to me our guernsey would be just solid teal.

One of the main factors for me following Port when I was like 7 was the colours, pacifically teal tho #bradthebrain

 

[Portmanteau]

One of the main factors for me following Port when I was like 7 was the colours, pacifically teal tho #bradthebrain

One can dream

 

[SgtSchulz]

One of the main factors for me following Port when I was like 7 was the colours, pacifically teal tho #bradthebrain