Here We go again

[cos789]

I've said this many times - North you're not going to advance until you get stability .While you've experimented with all these different options you haven't grown your supporter base . Pick an option an stick with it.
IMO , Ballarat seems the logical choice because it's closest to home etc .
Tasmania ,whilst having some mighty good points ,seems like to most that you're seeking that historical white knight ,now picking up Hawthorn's crumbs .Hope you make a wise decision - soon - not later .
.

 

[legend166]

Oh you mean we would have moved like South Melbourne did?

Yeah South have a massive identity in Melbourne. You can't miss all those South jumpers around town at local Auskick venues.

Swans supporters almost out number North supporters when we play you in Melbourne.

 

[Roylion]

Uneducated fools all above...

How ironic. (And by the way I support North Melbourne remaining in Melbourne as a stand alone club)

Fitzroy football club is flying since it relocated to brisbane isn't it ???

Once again.... Fitzroy didn't relocate to Brisbane. Fitzroy lost its licence to compete in the AFL and as a result its AFL club operations were incorporated into that of the Brisbane Bears.

Fitzroy Football Club survived in its own right and the club, which was formed in 1883, now plays in the VAFA. It remains the only football club to compete in the VFA, the VFL, the AFL and the VAFA.

And flying? Yes the club is going along pretty well. Support is growing once again, as the Fitzroy fan base becomes aware that the club they supported in the AFL still exists. 1,500 members (more than some VFL clubs), a merchandise shop, back at our original home ground of Brunswick Street Oval... and all independent of the Brisbane Lions.

Hopefully there will be finals this year and with a bit of luck...maybe a Grand Final appearance and promotion.

Ohhh hang on......Fitzroy Who ?????

That's the Fitzroy Football Club (1883-2011 and beyond). 127 years of existence and counting....

 

[PDJohnson]

"gold coast - should i have said yes ?

no debt - heavy concessions - sponsors everywhere - a flag by now - cash to throw at free agency............

versus

no spare cash - handouts - unloved - treated equally otherwise with the bigger clubs - no friday nights cos low supporter base.

nah give me time to think it over."

Exactly! But this would have been using their brains. We all love our clubs, North fans are no different, so they used their hearts instead. Shame.

 

[myty]

How ironic. (And by the way I support North Melbourne remaining in Melbourne as a stand alone club)



Once again.... Fitzroy didn't relocate to Brisbane. Fitzroy lost its licence to compete in the AFL and as a result its AFL club operations were incorporated into that of the Brisbane Bears.

Fitzroy Football Club survived in its own right and the club, which was formed in 1883, now plays in the VAFA. It remains the only football club to compete in the VFA, the VFL, the AFL and the VAFA.

And flying? Yes the club is going along pretty well. Support is growing once again, as the Fitzroy fan base becomes aware that the club they supported in the AFL still exists. 1,500 members (more than some VFL clubs), a merchandise shop, back at our original home ground of Brunswick Street Oval... and all independent of the Brisbane Lions.

Hopefully there will be finals this year and with a bit of luck...maybe a Grand Final appearance and promotion.



That's the Fitzroy Football Club (1883-2011 and beyond). 127 years of existence and counting....

That's all great and good luck to them .... but its not where we want to end up.

People have short memories ... Melbourne, Richmond, Hawthorn, Carlton have at times, all be basket cases and sitting on the brink since I've been following football.

 

[Ice-Wolf]

That's all great and good luck to them .... but its not where we want to end up.

People have short memories ... Melbourne, Richmond, Hawthorn, Carlton have at times, all be basket cases and sitting on the brink since I've been following football.

Thats the key words there, at times. Norths problem like the others that have had to go before it is that they are always seen to be on the brink.

They needed to move out of North Melbourne 40-50 years ago, needed to move further out to build support, kept the name but moved location to the middle or outer suburbs, like St Kilda did when it moved along the bayside to Moorabbin. Footscray probably needed to do similar.

What has helped St Kilda and Hawthorn has been the ability to move further out into the territory that a lot of the children of the clubs fans moved into.

 

[vjknight]

Spoken by a supporter of a club that will never have to make such an "easy" choice.

yeah true - but lets look at facts - first hand facts.
north entered the 90's with a decent list, and one absolute match winner. they went thru that decade generally ackonwledged as the best of the decade - certainly most consistent. the reward from that period ? 2 flags and..........no real meaningful / comparable increase in members or crowd numbers. yes they get more fans & members than then, but so does every club. but is it sufficient to avoid the constant spectre of financial troubles, wishful deals and handouts. NO.

north were given an opportunity to fairly well dictate a move to GC - driving the changes, taking a very good, recognisable brand (kangaroos) into a foreign market and provided all the help in the world to succeed. BUT NO. we know better. our few thousand fans will be better serviced with a modern but small facility in factory / commission surrounded arden st, promises of better times in all variety of locations inside & outside of victoria. BUT THE REALITY is these deals are short term fixes - the fans you count on DO NOT bring in sufficient cash to support the club - the sponsors arent supportive enough to provide the cash to develop the club in line with others - the AFL clearly allow you to survive on meagre handouts. AND AS A RESULT it will be impossible to bring your side above anywhere than midfield.

this isnt an anti north thing - its not taking the greatest gift offered by being ignorant of reality.

Uneducated fools all above...

Yeah Gold Coast would have been flying but North Melbourne Football Club would be dead......!!!!

Fitzroy football club is flying since it relocated to brisbane isn't it ???

Ohhh hang on......Fitzroy Who ?????

Yawn Yawn Yawn....Go buy some more pubs !!!!

north would not be dead - as i said, they had the chance to drive the move, but knew better.

the fitzroy issue was fully summarised by roy lion.

have a nice day.

 

[Arden]

north were given an opportunity to fairly well dictate a move to GC - driving the changes, taking a very good, recognisable brand (kangaroos) into a foreign market and provided all the help in the world to succeed. BUT NO. we know better.

this isnt an anti north thing - its not taking the greatest gift offered by being ignorant of reality.

Wow, the ironing is delicious.

Maybe you shouldn't talk about issues that you know nothing about, or perhaps stop believing every word that Caroline Wilson publishes.

If the relocation went ahead, the North Melbourne Football Club would have had to hand back it's license to the AFL, for them to appoint it's own board to run the club.

The only trace of North Melbourne that would have remained would have been the Kangaroo logo, big ****ing deal.

Yep, we would have dictated the move and driven the changes.

What were you saying about ignorance?

 

[telsor]

People have short memories ... Melbourne, Richmond, Hawthorn, Carlton have at times, all be basket cases and sitting on the brink since I've been following football.

And all were saved from this state, primarily, by their own supporters.

Unlike North who keep demanding that others save them, and keep whining about the bad lot they've been dealt.

Get yourselves out of debt, and we'll stop saying you're at deaths door.

Get people to turn up to games ( and/or tv ratings ), and you'll get the better timeslots in the draw.

As for "We invented Friday Night Football" line that always get dragged out when you're told to do something for yourselves.

A) That was ~30 years back, get over it.
B) Other teams made it popular (rather than a novety).

 

[Roylion]

but its not where we want to end up.

Did I say it was?

In my opinion you should exhaust every possibility of remaining in Melbourne as a stand alone club in the AFL, before contemplating a merger, relocation or relegation. Fitzroy was forced to 'merge'. In effect though the club was relegated to the VAFA.

The bottom line in any interstate merger or interstate relocation is that supporters of that Melbourne based club (whoever it might be) will be seeing much less of their team in Melbourne - a maximum of six-seven times per year during the season. And without a doubt as time goes on, the interests of the market in their new state becomes the priority over their Melbourne market, which of course declines because of the fact they can only watch 'their' team six-seven times a year, as 'away' supporters compared with the 11-12 'home' games in their new state. Add to that an interstate-centric board of administrators (which is bound to happen) and suddenly the Melbourne based operations lose services and benefits which of course means that their supporter base falls even further. Then the club identity will need to appeal a little more to the new and growing interstate supporter base and changes to the jumper and other aspects of the former Melbourne based club's original identity will need changing as well.

Don't be fooled by promises of extensive TV coverage of the matches of your interstate club either. That'll be forgotten / changed as soon as the next TV rights deal is done. And don't expect on-going support for the Melbourne based supporter group by the AFL. That will also be forgotten as soon as the AFL commission gets what it wants.

Fight tooth and nail for your club, because to any Melbourne based club contemplating some sort of permanent and substantial move interstate (I'm not talking playing two or three home games interstate either), the above is your future.

 

[NQTIGER]

I feel bad for North supporters I would hate for our club to be in a such a desperate state. It seems the only way to save the Roos is for all their supporters to by a membership, is it really that hard to find 35-45k people willing to pay $170 a year to keep teh club they love alive? Begging for the crumbs from Hawthorns plate is just a put off for potential members.

I dont feel sorry for them, Their chairman during our SOS campaign said
" Richmond should just fold" so well the feeling is mutual, they gave up the riches of the GC , Imagine their list with Ablett and co , does any one think that if they went up there the Goon Squad (AFL) wouldnt have given them salary cap concessions?

Well north mcmurdo sound needs a club

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

They are Still Alive Aren't They?

The Swans are. South Melbourne aren't. And there is more of South in Sydney than there would have been North on the Gold Coast. The offer was that of a takeover by a club that didn't even exist; not a move (which I coul;d live with if there was absolutely no option and was a genuine move) or even a merger (which itself is worse than a clean death). Even if the predictions of Caro and the other vultures prove true, North will have lasted longer by saying "no" than the instant death of saying "yes".

That said, Hobart is a terrible choice for our club.
Ballarat is the option we should be chasing harder. And in the interim perhaps Kardinia Park; or anywhere in Vic cheaper than Docklands.

 

[MightyTiger]

I dont feel sorry for them, Their chairman during our SOS campaign said
" Richmond should just fold" so well the feeling is mutual, they gave up the riches of the GC , Imagine their list with Ablett and co , does any one think that if they went up there the Goon Squad (AFL) wouldnt have given them salary cap concessions?

Well north mcmurdo sound needs a club

Exact reason I couldn't give two hoots about NM, a lot of them seem to have a very selective memory when bringing up the past.

 

[nthblood]

Oh you mean we would have moved like South Melbourne did?

Yeah South have a massive identity in Melbourne. You can't miss all those South jumpers around town at local Auskick venues.

We probably have more supporters than you do in Melbourne.

 

[NQTIGER]

The Swans are. South Melbourne aren't. And there is more of South in Sydney than there would have been North on the Gold Coast. The offer was that of a takeover by a club that didn't even exist; not a move (which I coul;d live with if there was absolutely no option and was a genuine move) or even a merger (which itself is worse than a clean death). Even if the predictions of Caro and the other vultures prove true, North will have lasted longer by saying "no" than the instant death of saying "yes".

That said, Hobart is a terrible choice for our club.
Ballarat is the option we should be chasing harder. And in the interim perhaps Kardinia Park; or anywhere in Vic cheaper than Docklands.

Why not Broome, Christmas Island, Mongolia, colac, Mt Gambier?

 

[John Dorian]

LOL. Norf will be dead in a year. Shoooda gone to Gold Coooooste.

That's how these threads go don't they?

 

[baja]

Swans supporters almost out number North supporters when we play you in Melbourne.

Not almost they actually do. Love the way this thread was derailed into a hang crap on South thread, good effort but fail..

I saw a 2011 north membership nailed to a tree when I was out walking the other day so I kept it... you can never have enough nails.

 

[DeadlyAkkuret]

LOL. Norf will be dead in a year. Shoooda gone to Gold Coooooste.

That's how these threads go don't they?

I don't know, ask SLF.

I saw a 2011 north membership nailed to a tree when I was out walking the other day so I kept it... you can never have enough nails.

You should have kept the membership, it could become a collectable.

 

[Groucho]

Not almost they actually do.

How many South Merlbourne members do you actually have in Melbourne?

 

[baja]

How many South Merlbourne members do you actually have in Melbourne?

about twice as many as north if you dont count your 3 game packages, opposition sympathy memberships or pets memberships, how many north members do you have in Tassie?

 

[The Zebra]

North starting Friday night matches isn't really 'hard work' though, is it.

Um, yes - of course it was. Marketing, promotion, player adjustment, member communication, negotiation with AFL.

Bosk is talking about the clinics, training camps, community engagement, (e.g.taking the premiership Cup straight after the 2008 flag), engagement with local businesses etc, that Hawthorn have invested in in Tassie.

Isn't really 'hard work' is it? Flying down to a couple of presentations after a GF. Getting your corporates to speak to local business and collecting millions from the government to do so?

Remember, 5 years ago, St Kilda couldn't wait to get out, and nobody else was remotely interested.

Now that the Hawks are making a good fist of it, in a very mutually beneficial relationship, up come the other hands.

I also remember that no-one wanted to touch Friday nights prior to North, and now every single hand is up and much higher than Tassie.

I don't think North should hold the rights to Friday nights (although i would like to see a much better system of allocation), but don't give me this bullshit about rights for innovation in a segment and then dismiss what has gone on previously.

 

[John Dorian]

about twice as many as north if you dont count your 3 game packages, opposition sympathy memberships or pets memberships, how many north members do you have in Tassie?

Opposition members are long gone.

We had hardly any 3 gamers.

I'm pretty sure we don't count pets.

So please, get ya facts straight.

 

[Perry Pie]

The baiting of north supporters with the "they must close", "they must move" arguments is a bit of a yawn now. Its been done to death. North have just as much right to exist in any way THEY want as any club - the point is that its up to them, not supporters of other teams.

However, the OP has a point in this instance in that the club itself is displaying very poor judgment promoting a half baked, unsupported, not thought through approach to Tassie.

North, pick a future and go for it. If the club wants to play 5 games a season in Hobart and put down roots in the place - do a deal with the stadium operators. Dont wait for the Govt to give a hand out - work up a propper, thought through, long term plan.

Half baked uncommitted kite flying in the press is very damaging because it directly undermines your fans. Being a footy fan is about commitment - being a footy club is about commitment too. As a fan I can smell a lack of commitment at 1,000 metres. Commit to Hobart long term or drop it altogether and FOCUS on an alternative future. Personally I think if the club commits to Hobart - 5 games a year/20 years is enough - it will be well rewarded. Two homes may be better than 1?

 

[TAITA]

Um, yes - of course it was. Marketing, promotion, player adjustment, member communication, negotiation with AFL.

Isn't really 'hard work' is it? Flying down to a couple of presentations after a GF. Getting your corporates to speak to local business and collecting millions from the government to do so?

That's why North have never had success at any of the markets they've tried - they are wombats - eats roots and leaves.

It's funny that you make such a strong case for the 'hard' yards you did with Friday night footy (ie: telling the players to show up a day early) but are so dismissive of what we do in Tassie, and I can tell you, it is a LOT more than you think, a lot more than the contract stipulates.

I suppose you attitude typifies why no city (apart from Ballarat which is a shithole) is remotely interested in your franchise - you have the runs on the board as a bunch of freeloading pricks who have no interest in putting anything back into the community.

 

[Bollox]

Who the **** made the call to tell the media they wanted to organise meetings with the Tassie government?
Do they really believe that any publicity is good publicity?

Very much so.
Going into a season they'll beat up anything they can to get their face in the paper. But then whynot...need members like everyone.
Remember this is the club that deliberately went public over a silly little nothing tiff with bloke from the ANZ bank just for the publicity...actually called in the bored media over nothing. They assumed the no lose sceneario as banks are never popular, and in Brayshaws words they really wanted to show they were somehow hardnuts as a club. Both Arocca and his sideshow bob president both hoping the club would be seen showing some sort of balls and help establish a new public perception of North.