Where are the young supporters?

[Junction Oval]

I was in the Victory room after the GWS match and was amazed at the age group in there - most would have been in the 50+ bracket. Very few in-between.

I wonder whether this is reflective of the age mix of our overall membership. If so, the Club has a real problem with future membership growth.

[whiskers3614]

I was in the Victory room after the GWS match and was amazed at the age group in there - most would have been in the 50+ bracket. Very few in-between.

I wonder whether this is reflective of the age mix of our overall membership. If so, the Club has a real problem with future membership growth.

Send young (hip?) players like Templeton to schools and footy camps?
Surprised with the young people at work, many having no interest in AFL and others a very superficial one.
I see Kevin Murray about once a month and trying to explain his place in the pantheon to a couple of people in their mid 20's told them he was a contemporary of Ted Whitten and Bobby Skilton and considered of similar greatness.

Neither of them knew who Whitten and Skilton were!!!!
(Maybe they should have gone on Australian Idol)

[Kate]

Might also be an indication of the cost of Social Club membership. People in the "young family" age group will find it hard to meet the cost when that cost must cover their children too. Teens and younger adults are not as cashed up as the 50+ set.

[evertonfc]

- Going to the footy is quite expensive.
- Our support is very middle-aged (dominated by "GET OFF MY LAWN" types).
- Our support is passive, not active.
- We're not finals bound.
- The club is not seen as an exciting.
- The social club used to be where you'd mingle with players keen for a chat. Now you'd be lucky to get a player who didn't even play rolling in, reluctantly at that.
- The social club isn't seen as inclusive, fun or informative. It used to be at Moorabbin and Waverley. Geez, it was wonderful there post-match.
- What is the benefit of actually going there these days? (I say this as 20+ year SC member).

The Social Club, in effect, has gone the same way as the Cheer Squad. Both are seen as staid, tacky, socially awkward constructs.

At least I expect the finals-bound thing to change soon.

[SainterK]

You'll find the young fans in the upper decks mostly.

Who can afford family memberships?

I have one child, and that's expensive enough.

Was heaps around us yesterday.

[prwilkinson]

I'm 30 and was in the Victory Room before the match. I had other things to do after the game so left straight away.

[PremiershipSaint]

I'm 17 but I don't know anyone else my age that support the Saints.

[Dave McNamara]

I was in the Victory room after the GWS match and was amazed at the age group in there - most would have been in the 50+ bracket. Very few in-between.

I wonder whether this is reflective of the age mix of our overall membership. If so, the Club has a real problem with future membership growth.

Send young (hip?) players like Templeton to schools and footy camps?
Surprised with the young people at work, many having no interest in AFL and others a very superficial one.
I see Kevin Murray about once a month and trying to explain his place in the pantheon to a couple of people in their mid 20's told them he was a contemporary of Ted Whitten and Bobby Skilton and considered of similar greatness.

Neither of them knew who Whitten and Skilton were!!!!
(Maybe they should have gone on Australian Idol)

Think St Kilda Bowlo', think the SKANC... then think Saints based at the Junction Oval.
The social club will be rockin', and all the young ones (local and international ) will know who we are...
and so will sponsors...

[saintspremiers]

Eli is massive for our club. I hope he can handle the media and our club educates him properly before turning him into the PR machine he could be.

[SinCitySainter]

I am in my mid 40s and so are the people I go to the game with.
We were surrounded by young supporters up on the third tier.

We are social club members but rarely go to the room after the game as the only thing of interest there is getting the players and staff to come and have a quick word.
The problem is though the players are so mediated in what they say it is just cliche after cliche and really usually quite dull.
Not their fault they are trained to be that way.
When a member of staff talks it is more interesting but you don't know who is going to be there before the game.

The club should make at least one senior staff member or a member of the board come each week.
Announce that they will be talking after the game in the members email during the week.
You might find more people willing to go if they think they might hear something interesting or at least be made to feel more like they are part of the club.

[plugger66]

My daughter went with 10 girls on saturday and she is 18. None went in the victory room though as she is the only SC member. Also she has bugger interest in the victory room.

[spert]

I know quite a few younger Saints supporters, but they don't necessarily hang around post match, and don't see Etihad as a place to chill out after a match- there's a lot more attractive places to hang out these days than in a traditional footy social club bar after a game. We need a Saints social entity close to the CBD in a pub/ club environment. We are not a club with much public profile right now, and definatily not up-market and funky. Get to work Saints marketing people!!

[Dis Believer]

I went on Saturday - but I didn't go to the Victory room afterwards - I was busy following a large group of 18 year old girls out of the ground !!!

[dragit]

What would be the appeal of the Victory room for anyone under 30?

A bunch of footy obsessed 50+ men is probably not the ideal draw card.

I don't think football is very "cool", young people will still go, but their social life afterwards isn't related to the team they follow.

[saintsrus]

What would be the appeal of the Victory room for anyone under 30?

A bunch of footy obsessed 50+ men is probably not the ideal draw card.

I don't think football is very "cool", young people will still go, but their social life afterwards isn't related to the team they follow.

Yep this and the fact an imported beer is $9.50

[I Love Peter Kiel]

You should go to the Locker Room, not the Victory Room!
The Locker Room is Bogan Central, but I've gone in after both games.

Saw Gilbert McAdam in there....and 'Tex' Perkins (a Saints supporter!)






PS
Young people are doing other things after the game and definitely don't want to hang around with a bunch of 50 yr-olds.

[sverik25]

I'm 18 and I sit with my family on the Moorabbin wing. There are another couple of families with kids behind us, but other than that not too many young supporters near us. I was a Social Club member from 2010-2013 and would usually go in the Victory Room before the games and there would be some kids but not many - people were generally of the older generation. I think the costs associated with going to the footy these days would have an impact of the number of families with reserved seats, but I also know a LOT of my friends couldn't give a stuff about footy and some even say they hate it. Being from the Mornington Peninsula (supposed Saints territory) I think that this a big problem for the club. One thing it does show is that there is plenty of room for growth down here though.

[ShanghaiSaint]

i'm 32 been a member for the last 6 years. i don't pay for the extra's just a normal membership. I had my 2 year old with me in saints colors. around me where mostly families with young kids all in saints colors. so i think there are a lot of young supporters out there. on level two on the rail there where about 20 supporters all in the 18-29 age range.

Last week i was surrounded by middle aged guys.. but i was in the level one reserved seats.

Think it has a bi to do with where you sit. I think the crowds are very balanced age wise.

[saintspremiers]

I'm 18 and I sit with my family on the Moorabbin wing. There are another couple of families with kids behind us, but other than that not too many young supporters near us. I was a Social Club member from 2010-2013 and would usually go in the Victory Room before the games and there would be some kids but not many - people were generally of the older generation. I think the costs associated with going to the footy these days would have an impact of the number of families with reserved seats, but I also know a LOT of my friends couldn't give a stuff about footy and some even say they hate it. Being from the Mornington Peninsula (supposed Saints territory) I think that this a big problem for the club. One thing it does show is that there is plenty of room for growth down here though.

Does Eli help? A young cult figure

[cps]

Slightly OT (but related) - I think we need a venue in or near St Kilda where we can watch interstate games. I remember there being a bar near the beach on The Esplanade somewhere that showed some games however they didn't have Foxtel and didn't show interstate games.

I used to enjoy watching the "Big Screen" at Moorabbin - why did they stop that?

[plugger66]

I went on Saturday - but I didn't go to the Victory room afterwards - I was busy following a large group of 18 year old girls out of the ground !!!

How was it?

[GrumpyOne]

Where are the kids?

At home playing games on their ipads.

[Dr Spaceman]

Where are the kids?

At home playing games on their ipads.

Do these games have scores?

[Dis Believer]

I went on Saturday - but I didn't go to the Victory room afterwards - I was busy following a large group of 18 year old girls out of the ground !!!

How was it?

The game was good, but at my age, following a large group of young women anywhere gets tiring after a little while................

[plugger66]

I went on Saturday - but I didn't go to the Victory room afterwards - I was busy following a large group of 18 year old girls out of the ground !!!

How was it?

The game was good, but at my age, following a large group of young women anywhere gets tiring after a little while................

Luckily Nicole did athletics. She said her speed came in handy after the game. At the time I didnt have a clue what she was talking about.