Fascinating question.
Last time both clubs missed the finals in the same season was 2006. Their membership numbers back then were about 30,000 each. In todays numbers this would make both of them a little bigger than the Gold Coast Suns and smaller than the GWS Giants. Since then both clubs have experienced considerable success sitting at 6th and 7th on the current membership ladder with Hawthorn significantly ahead.
We know Geelong is reliant on sustained success to maintain support, its followers being infamous for abandoning their club at the very first hint of challenging times ahead. Who can forget them abandoning their home ground en masse in the 4th quarter of Cory Enrights 300th game. They weren't even being smashed. They were less than 4 goals down. Or the embarrassing display they put on as they fled the MCG in the 2nd quarter of their 2017 qualifying final. So it's well known that, should Geelong fall off a cliff on the field, their supporter base will do much the same off it.
Hawthorn at their zenith had the highest membership in the AFL. Rumours of wealthy coterie buying 10's of thousands of cut price memberships and the inclusion of pet memberships etc. were never confirmed. Today, of course, they pad their numbers by doubling the size of family memberships as well as other dodgy practices, so perhaps their membership numbers aren't as superior to Geelong's as an initial cursory glance at the figures might suggest.
In any case, having memberships in the middle of the table is quite an achievement for these historically very small clubs who have both typically relied on large tax payer funded handouts to survive. I wonder who has the greater support base, and which one, if not both, might be forced to merge, relocate or fold in the foreseeable future.
Last time both clubs missed the finals in the same season was 2006. Their membership numbers back then were about 30,000 each. In todays numbers this would make both of them a little bigger than the Gold Coast Suns and smaller than the GWS Giants. Since then both clubs have experienced considerable success sitting at 6th and 7th on the current membership ladder with Hawthorn significantly ahead.
We know Geelong is reliant on sustained success to maintain support, its followers being infamous for abandoning their club at the very first hint of challenging times ahead. Who can forget them abandoning their home ground en masse in the 4th quarter of Cory Enrights 300th game. They weren't even being smashed. They were less than 4 goals down. Or the embarrassing display they put on as they fled the MCG in the 2nd quarter of their 2017 qualifying final. So it's well known that, should Geelong fall off a cliff on the field, their supporter base will do much the same off it.
Hawthorn at their zenith had the highest membership in the AFL. Rumours of wealthy coterie buying 10's of thousands of cut price memberships and the inclusion of pet memberships etc. were never confirmed. Today, of course, they pad their numbers by doubling the size of family memberships as well as other dodgy practices, so perhaps their membership numbers aren't as superior to Geelong's as an initial cursory glance at the figures might suggest.
In any case, having memberships in the middle of the table is quite an achievement for these historically very small clubs who have both typically relied on large tax payer funded handouts to survive. I wonder who has the greater support base, and which one, if not both, might be forced to merge, relocate or fold in the foreseeable future.
