Why will you Re join the saints next year

[Megsie]

" STRENGTH THROUGH LOYALTY "

They are my team, my club & I will never abandon them.

[Bernard Shakey]

I'm a St Kilda member and have been since 1961, why wouldn't I sign up again?

[mr six o'clock]

member since 95 , social club since 98
I financially support the club for all the right and wrong reasons.
keeping the flame that has been burning for so many years is not easy but it just the done thing .
life has its ups and downs but one constant is STKFC , so you stay the course and always hope for the ultimate success.
I go into each year thinking we can win the GF if we play our best footy !!
thats why i reckon we can win this year , after friday night we will be on the right side of the win/loss ratio for the first time this year !
so look out everyone , here we come !!!!!

[St Michele]

The question really should be 'Why wouldn't you join??' Could not imagine not being a member of this great club, where else in life can you experience such highs and such lows in such a short time.

[Moorabbin Saints]

I love this club and everything about it. Every week I look forward to seeing the Red, White and Black give their all.

I will never ever forfeit my membership. It's way too valuable for me regarding the chance we make Grand Finals to ever give up. I am going to be there when we finally get it done!

[shmic_s]

I have always been a saints supporter growing up. My parents grew up in East Bentleigh, Dad came from a family of Carlton supporters and Mum from a family of Collingwood. They were never members, but they both supported the Saints. They would go on dates together to Morrabbin in the early 70's.

I was raised out in the 'sticks', and stuck by the Saints through primary school years, when many of my bandwagoner 'mates' switched teams. "You're not allowed to change teams," my Dad said.
When getting full-time work after uni and moving to McKinnon, i started to regularly attending games. After about 3 games, I decided to purchase an 11 game membership.

Prefering to go on my own, I just loved being there with all the fellow Saints supporters around.
To the lovely ladies that have given me home made sausage rolls and choc chip cookies.
To the kids that have jumped out of their seat with excitment pointing and yelling "Harvey!", when the great man ran clear of another stoppage.
And to the random supporter behind me that I hugged at the G, and didn't reciprocate with a punch to the face, thank you for making St Kilda great.

6 years later, I'm living 3 hours from Melbourne, but still pay my full membership fee every year and get to most day games. My 14 week old daughter will be signed up for 2012, and I've just purchased my younger brother a 3 game membership for his birthday. I still have to work on my Texan, Mrs. shmic_s.
So we'll have another couple on board.

With our newly renovated home almost ready to move into, I'll be living bayside. (Stoked!!!) And I will once again be able to be there for every part of the ride. From lows of sitting in the rain watching the final seconds against Geelong. To the sheer excitment of Milney kicking 11 goals against Brisbane. I've loved it all.

This great club is on the verge of being even greater.
The foundations are being set both on and off the field.
We are part of this club. We form part of these foundations.
And I couldn't imagine not being part of it!
Fortius Quo Fidelius

[evertonfc]

I'm all for joining, but I feel that my membership fee is merely a donation in exchange for a seat at an entertainment complex.

Surely you join a club to be part of something?

I've been a consecutive member for over 20 years, and the feeling of club has slowly - but clearly - dissipated rapidly. Even in 2009 and 2010, when we were playing well, it felt like the whole club was in a bubble, isolated from the fans.

It used to mean something to be a member of a club, but now I just feel like it's throwing money at a business. I'm less and less easy about it every time I go to renew.

Of course, I will renew, because deep down I love the club, care too much about it and would do anything for it. They happily take advantage of that loyalty, and I can't complain, I have a choice. But I also want to have a voice, and in the world of AFL, you have no right to a voice if you're not a member. Fair enough.

I just wish that would be recognised now and again with the odd bone for my loyalty - and others who've been on the journey longer than I have.

I'm here to support the club, but I'm not here to be fleeced.

Bring us back into the fold. We're part of the club, not apart from it.

[hungry for a premiership]

I've been a member every year since 1990, and will be a member every year until we win a flag. When we win a flag, i'll re-assess the situation.


And can I just say amongst all this St.Kilda member love that I really HATE the St.Kilda cheer squad chant "We want another one, just like the other one, goal, goal, goal, wooooo."

[kosifantutti23]

I'm all for joining, but I feel that my membership fee is merely a donation in exchange for a seat at an entertainment complex.

Surely you join a club to be part of something?

I've been a consecutive member for over 20 years, and the feeling of club has slowly - but clearly - dissipated rapidly. Even in 2009 and 2010, when we were playing well, it felt like the whole club was in a bubble, isolated from the fans.

It used to mean something to be a member of a club, but now I just feel like it's throwing money at a business. I'm less and less easy about it every time I go to renew.

Of course, I will renew, because deep down I love the club, care too much about it and would do anything for it. They happily take advantage of that loyalty, and I can't complain, I have a choice. But I also want to have a voice, and in the world of AFL, you have no right to a voice if you're not a member. Fair enough.

I just wish that would be recognised now and again with the odd bone for my loyalty - and others who've been on the journey longer than I have.

I'm here to support the club, but I'm not here to be fleeced.

Bring us back into the fold. We're part of the club, not apart from it.

I guess it's harder to make you feel like you are close to the club when you are one of 40k odd members whereas you were probably one of 10k members when you first joined.

[Austinnn]

I'm all for joining, but I feel that my membership fee is merely a donation in exchange for a seat at an entertainment complex.

Surely you join a club to be part of something?

I've been a consecutive member for over 20 years, and the feeling of club has slowly - but clearly - dissipated rapidly. Even in 2009 and 2010, when we were playing well, it felt like the whole club was in a bubble, isolated from the fans.

It used to mean something to be a member of a club, but now I just feel like it's throwing money at a business. I'm less and less easy about it every time I go to renew.

Of course, I will renew, because deep down I love the club, care too much about it and would do anything for it. They happily take advantage of that loyalty, and I can't complain, I have a choice. But I also want to have a voice, and in the world of AFL, you have no right to a voice if you're not a member. Fair enough.

I just wish that would be recognised now and again with the odd bone for my loyalty - and others who've been on the journey longer than I have.

I'm here to support the club, but I'm not here to be fleeced.

Bring us back into the fold. We're part of the club, not apart from it.

I totally agree. By your name, I'd imagine you're aware of the supporter culture in the English Premier League. More specifically the team I support, which is Liverpool. I know our 2 soccer teams have plenty of differences, but I hope that won't stop you from recognising how strong both teams' supporter culture is, and how positive their reputation is.

By creating this kind of environment at St Kilda, we have a membership that us more than money, and a club that is more than a business.

We need songs and banners.

Hungry, if you don't like that song, please get another one started. Don't rely on the Cheer Squad. Let's get it happening all round the ground. At least don't discourage other Saints from singing. Stand together. A half-arsed song is better than no song at all.

[saintspremiers]

Or conversely, what would you do if there was no longer a St.Kilda F.C. to join up to?

Either:

1. Find s bridge that doesn't have a big fence on the side of it.

Or

2. Live somewhere warmer!

[saintbrat]

I.

6 years later, I'm living 3 hours from Melbourne, but still pay my full membership fee every year and get to most day games. My 14 week old daughter will be signed up for 2012, and I've just purchased my younger brother a 3 game membership for his birthday. I still have to work on my Texan, Mrs. shmic_s.
So we'll have another couple on board.

Maybe tell her you are sure the Captain's Texan Friend is a member....

[Thinline]

Or conversely, what would you do if there was no longer a St.Kilda F.C. to join up to?

Either:

1. Find s bridge that doesn't have a big fence on the side of it.

Or

2. Live somewhere warmer!

Sometimes I ponder what I would do if Saints disappeared.

I suspect, like my Dad before me when his Roys folded, I'd remain forever ambivalent, and most likely revert to following a WAFL, SANFL, or VFL side instead...

He's fond of the Garlic Munchers, Glenelg and Port Melbourne BTW.

[Leo.J]

Because they are family.

They've been an integral part of my families life for a few generations now.

We've been through thick and thin together.

[gringo]

Habitual behaviour.

[Dr Spaceman]

I'm all for joining, but I feel that my membership fee is merely a donation in exchange for a seat at an entertainment complex.

Surely you join a club to be part of something?

I've been a consecutive member for over 20 years, and the feeling of club has slowly - but clearly - dissipated rapidly. Even in 2009 and 2010, when we were playing well, it felt like the whole club was in a bubble, isolated from the fans.

It used to mean something to be a member of a club, but now I just feel like it's throwing money at a business. I'm less and less easy about it every time I go to renew.

Of course, I will renew, because deep down I love the club, care too much about it and would do anything for it. They happily take advantage of that loyalty, and I can't complain, I have a choice. But I also want to have a voice, and in the world of AFL, you have no right to a voice if you're not a member. Fair enough.

I just wish that would be recognised now and again with the odd bone for my loyalty - and others who've been on the journey longer than I have.

I'm here to support the club, but I'm not here to be fleeced.

Bring us back into the fold. We're part of the club, not apart from it.

I guess it's harder to make you feel like you are close to the club when you are one of 40k odd members whereas you were probably one of 10k members when you first joined.

And easier to feel like it was "your" club when they were begging, sorry, asking you to buy shares

[SinCitySaint]

I'm all for joining, but I feel that my membership fee is merely a donation in exchange for a seat at an entertainment complex.

Surely you join a club to be part of something?

I've been a consecutive member for over 20 years, and the feeling of club has slowly - but clearly - dissipated rapidly. Even in 2009 and 2010, when we were playing well, it felt like the whole club was in a bubble, isolated from the fans.

It used to mean something to be a member of a club, but now I just feel like it's throwing money at a business. I'm less and less easy about it every time I go to renew.

Of course, I will renew, because deep down I love the club, care too much about it and would do anything for it. They happily take advantage of that loyalty, and I can't complain, I have a choice. But I also want to have a voice, and in the world of AFL, you have no right to a voice if you're not a member. Fair enough.

I just wish that would be recognised now and again with the odd bone for my loyalty - and others who've been on the journey longer than I have.

I'm here to support the club, but I'm not here to be fleeced.

Bring us back into the fold. We're part of the club, not apart from it.

I agree with what you are saying completely.
I will renew my membership next year and the year after and so on ad infinitum.

However, the issue with the club at the moment is that they are trying to embrace a professionalism that this club has never seen before. They think that one of the ways to do this is to treat the supporters as revenue streams separate from the main club rather than as an integral part of the club itself. The players are placed on a pedestal and kept well away from the fans. They are treated as if they are so much better than the average man in the outer by virtue of the fact that they are highly paid to kick a bag of pig skin around. Is it any real surprise that the players cannot relate to mainstream society when the club ensures they do not have to mix with them. Even when the players come to the social club after a game they are kept behind a barrier. Or is it that we the great unwashed are kept behind a barrier? Surely at least the younger players who are made to come to watch the game should mingle with the social club members.
I am also a member of the rebels at the end of the last game of the season everyone was invited onto the ground and you could have a chat to the players. I had a two minute chat with Afusipa Taumoepeau who had just played, its not much but it is something. Every week I get emails and a short video (2-3 minutes) from the club which is usually Adam Freier, a senior player for the uninitiated, talking about the last game and the preparations for the next. These are all small things but things that make you feel part of something.

[matrix]

yeah i guess we'll be on board till we cant afford it

if the club wasnt around?

id have more money in my pocket each month as i wouldnt become a member of another team
if it was a merge with someone else...i'd still have to think about it.

[GrumpyOne]

St Kilda is my religion, and I don't change religions annually.

[Marcus1232]

Because I for one am addicted to this rollercoaster ride that is the St.Kilda Football club.

I think back to the moments that make me so proud to be a st.kilda supporter.

The gang tackle on mckernan in the 97 prelim, aussies goal in the 97 GF, Maxxies pain after losing to the dogs by a point, Roos mark at sydney, Harveys game in the 05 prelim, Blakeys second half against hawthorn in 08.

For those heartbreaking losses. Adel 97, WB 2000, PA 2004, Syd 2005, Geel 2009, Coll 2010.

For those wins that we will all never forget. Carl 96, NM 97, Bris 03, Bris 04, Bris 05, Ess 2008, Haw 2008, Geel 2009, Coll 2009, WB 2009, Geel 2010.

But most importantly for me its the fact that i have always been a member and i just don't know any different and i wouldnt have it any other way.

[Rosco]

because it's the closest thing to a religion that i have

and you know how the topic of "which team do you support" comes up almost anytime you spend a small amount of time with someone? i like being able to say that i actually support the saints by being a member rather than just 'following' the saints.

[longtimesaint]

I started as a member in 1958 at age 10 (great old days at Junction oval drumming our feet on the floor of the old wooden stand), then to Moorabbin for some great years.
Remained a member right through the four wooden spoons when you could arrive at 1.30 on a Saturday and get a seat in the stand.
It amazes me that anyone would think of dropping off when we have had such great times these last 8 years.
I am a Diamond member and will always re-join.

[wasoncestkil58]

I have always been a Saints tragic and have managed to get my family involved as well (it helps if I pay their memberships each year) and I am now a Social member and only get to 3 or 4 games per year as I live in WA. As long as I can afford it I will always be a paid up Sainter.
Strength Through Loyalty. Just love it.

[plugger66]

About time I became a member and did my thing to help the club. I suppose one extra member will help.

[joffaboy]

Its what you do.

I've been a Saints supporter since the age of 6. Never followed Aussie Rules that much as i grew up in Sydney.

My local team in rl was the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. We won our first premiership in 38 years in 1980 and have won 5 since.

I have had the feeling as a 20 y.o, seeing the team i love win a flag after a long wait.

I moved to melb in 1988 and saw my first live match of Aussies Rules at Moorabbin. We played Melbourne, had WoW Jones in the ruck, and some fat bloke in the goal square belting oppo players and kicking goals.

I was hooked, and have been so ever since. Because a member in 1991 and will always re-sign.

I want you all to experience the feeliong of our club winning the flag, as i did in 1980 with Canterbury.

it is addictive, and I want it again. This time with the Saints.