Essendon >>> popular than St Kilda could ever hope

[saintspremiers]

There was an article in The Age today about Essendon's "poor" crowd of only 28K for their game against Brisbane.

Now, how does this relate to St Kilda?

Simple - we got a lousy 21K vs Port a few weeks ago, and only 33K against the Tigers.

Now, if we can only draw 5K more against a well supported Melbourne based team ranked 3rd on the ladder than a team that is third bottom vs an interstate side, something is a bit amiss.

I have massive concerns for our viability in Victoria if we have a sustained period in the bottom 4.

We would, from a crowd perspective, be right down there with North IMO.

Thoughts?

[Superboot]

There has been some comment recently about players being bored with the home and away season.

I suspect the same might be said about some of the fans.

I have to own up to having been to fewer games this year than last. I've been waiting for the finals.

[Saint Bev]

Obviously their fans are more committed than ours.

[3rd generation saint]

Lets not forget that we played Port Adelaide who struggle to get 25,000 at their home games even when they are a top team, plus Richmond supporters generally don't like Etihad.
Brisbane still have some Fitzroy supporters who go to their games.
We also still hold the record for the largest attendance at Etihad for a football game.
I am not concerned because we have a good supporter base, but it would be helped with a few premierships.
Essendon have got 16 of them.

[ChicagoSaint]

Obviously their fans are more committed than ours.

garbage

[Saint Bev]

Obviously their fans are more committed than ours.

garbage

Why is is garbage? They go when they are loosing, we don't go when we are winning.

[HSVKing]

Obviously their fans are more committed than ours.

garbage

Why is is garbage? They go when they are loosing, we don't go when we are winning.

More supporters. Simple.

The entire stadium is ticketed for every Essendon match. Why? See above.

[saintsrus]

I suspect a premiership would keep our crowds at a consistent high level

[Stillwaiting]

Lets not forget that we played Port Adelaide who struggle to get 25,000 at their home games even when they are a top team, plus Richmond supporters generally don't like Etihad.
Brisbane still have some Fitzroy supporters who go to their games.
We also still hold the record for the largest attendance at Etihad for a football game.
I am not concerned because we have a good supporter base, but it would be helped with a few premierships.
Essendon have got 16 of them.

What you have said explains it perfectly. Add to that we seem to get rather crap time slots.

[Con Gorozidis]

Obviously their fans are more committed than ours.

they re out to see blood and an execution like the old romans or a guillotine like the french. or even a publi stoning like the saudis.

publc punishent brings the punters in.

and knights must have his head on the block and the blade must be lossening for its final fall...

[spert]

Nothing new that the Dons have a hige fan base compared to us, but also their fans demographically are probably closer to Etihad & MCG than Sainter fans, so less effort to go to a game

[Beno88]

Essendon had 29,000 vs Port Adelaide at Etihad on a Saturday arvo after a strong win against Hawthorn.
St.Kilda have 24,000 vs Port Adelaide at Etihad on a Sunday (early) after not winning the previous three matches.

Essendon drew 26,000 vs West Coast at Etihad on a Saturday night
St.Kilda drew 29,000 vs Adelaide at Etihad on a Saturday night.

Our home game vs Essendon this year Sunday Twilight - 39,000
Essendon's home game vs us this year Friday night - 37,000

[BAM! (shhhh)]

Not sure that I'd say they're mroe popular than we could ever hope for.

Just more popular than we are.

It's not rocket science - Essendon has a cupboard full of premiership cups, St Kilda has 1. More to the point, over the course of a number of generations they've had stability and success. St Kilda has had a sustained reputation for the elements that have come to be associated with Richmond in recent times.

It's been postulated that the real major product of Sporting Clubs is hope. Hope's a tricky thing that's difficult to quantify, but over the cours of the last century, if you were a Bombers supporter, it was rewarded frequently enough to become habitual. If you were a St Kilda supporter, the faith has been sorely tested.

Could we sustain a lengthy period in the bottom 4? Perhaps. I'm given to suspect a lot of St Kilda supporters are die hards... on the other hand, I can recall some pretty empty stadiums in the early parts of the decade. iHowever, In a burgeoning market with dollars allacated down to the cent, Free Agency is likely to put a lot of pressure on underperforming Melbourne teams.

I think what's got to be remembered if you're looking at St Kilda, the Western Bulldogs or even North Melbourne is that if you can buck one iteration of the cycle at the top, and have a genuinely sustained period of success, that level of popularity is there to be had.

[bozza1980]

There was an article in The Age today about Essendon's "poor" crowd of only 28K for their game against Brisbane.

Now, how does this relate to St Kilda?

Simple - we got a lousy 21K vs Port a few weeks ago, and only 33K against the Tigers.

Now, if we can only draw 5K more against a well supported Melbourne based team ranked 3rd on the ladder than a team that is third bottom vs an interstate side, something is a bit amiss.

I have massive concerns for our viability in Victoria if we have a sustained period in the bottom 4.

We would, from a crowd perspective, be right down there with North IMO.

Thoughts?

Yes we are sitting 3rd and yes Richmond are a well supported club but that is only half the story.

We had just come off two thumping wins them two losses.

It had all the signs of massacre written all over it, the sort of game people don't need much of an excuse not to go to. Was there anything happening on Saturday that every adult person in the country had to attend to??

On the flip side the Bombers were short favorites expected to make short work of the Lions.

As for the talk of us not surviving in Melbourne if we have hard times, seriously?? Our club's history is one of hard times, we have lost nearly 2/3rds of our matches and we have a strong supporter base.

We will always survive but it might be fair to question whether we will ever be in the upper echelons of supporter bases though.

[plugger66]

It is pretty simple really. We arent in the top drawing clubs. Never have been and probably never will. We are in the second tier which is better than the third tier. I premiership will help short term but in the long term we probably need to accept where we are in the pecking order.

[ChicagoSaint]

Obviously their fans are more committed than ours.

garbage

Why is is garbage? They go when they are loosing, we don't go when we are winning.

More supporters. Simple.

The entire stadium is ticketed for every Essendon match. Why? See above.

I'll admit that I had my figures wrong on the Round 8 game (I thought the number was 49,000)
However, I found your attitude absurd Bev. Glass Houses. I'll assume that you don't get down to Melbourne for every home game so why pot the crowd of ppl who get along every week by suggesting a lack of commitment.
The only thing you seem to be in commitment of Bev is living in QLD.

saintsrus, yes every latent supporter will get on board when we win the flag. We'll do a Hawthorn and Membership numbers will hit 50,000.

get stuffed Bev!

[saintsRrising]

If they keep Knights for another season, just watch their Membership and attendances plmmet.

If they say talked Roos into coaching them..watch them soar.

[Duggie]

Oh my goodness!!
Cant you people see that it all comes down to the 'Bean Counters' Its a vicious circle. The media (electric and printed) respond to those with the biggest memberships who they know watch and read their garbage.
This is why the Filth and Bummers will aways be news , even on trivial stuff, and so the cycle is repeated.
This is also why we will always get those two clubs playing on Anzac Day irrespective of where they are on the ladder.

[kosifantutti23]

There was an article in The Age today about Essendon's "poor" crowd of only 28K for their game against Brisbane.

Now, how does this relate to St Kilda?

Simple -

Our last five games against Brisbane at Docklands.

30673
35760
46105
52539
30313

Pretty simple as far as I can see.

We haven't had a crowd less than 28000 at home against Brisbane since 2000.

[ChicagoSaint]

If they keep Knights for another season, just watch their Membership and attendances plummet.

good call, rational call, informed call, quality call.
they'll be lucky to have 35,000 if they keep him.

perhaps Bev is blinded somewhat by the commitment that she may or may not have to the Titans and the fact that she has NFI what she is talking about??> wake up Duggie!

good call Kosi23

[Thinline]

There was an article in The Age today about Essendon's "poor" crowd of only 28K for their game against Brisbane.

Now, how does this relate to St Kilda?

Simple -

Our last five games against Brisbane at Docklands.

30673
35760
46105
52539
30313

Pretty simple as far as I can see.

We haven't had a crowd less than 28000 at home against Brisbane since 2000.

Yes, but nights? Days? Time of year? Which day? Where was who on the ladder at the time? What happened the week before?

There's more to it than numbers.

[ChicagoSaint]

bringing it back to the OP the essendon faithful are falling away - FACT!

[Batnoe]

Obviously their fans are more committed than ours.

garbage

Why is is garbage? They go when they are loosing, we don't go when we are winning.

More supporters. Simple.

The entire stadium is ticketed for every Essendon match. Why? See above.

I'll admit that I had my figures wrong on the Round 8 game (I thought the number was 49,000)
However, I found your attitude absurd Bev. Glass Houses. I'll assume that you don't get down to Melbourne for every home game so why pot the crowd of ppl who get along every week by suggesting a lack of commitment.
The only thing you seem to be in commitment of Bev is living in QLD.

saintsrus, yes every latent supporter will get on board when we win the flag. We'll do a Hawthorn and Membership numbers will hit 50,000.

get stuffed Bev!

Get your hand off it Chicago!

You have no idea how much Bev bleeds St.Kilda. Just because she lives 2000km away from Melbourne doesnt mean she has no idea about us.

I can see what Bev is saying. Geez, we're lucky we have been going well for a few years because if you go back to the year 2000 and check out our attendances then you will know what she is saying.

We were on the bottom, we were making a loss every home game at Etihad, i know that if we were down the bottom again, although being well followed that our supporters wouldnt turn up.

After reading this thread and people saying they are getting bored of the H &A season they can get fked.... What about Geelong? They have lost 8 in their last 90 and still get massive crowds... So is it s*** now that we are winning that supporters dont want to turn up?

I say well done to the Dons for turning up to their games even knowing they probably arent going to win. If i lived in Melbourne, i would go to every game, even if we were to lose.... even if we were to win... The people that dont turn up and then rant over a good or bad game arent supporters in my opinion...

Chicago, before you go abusing St Bev, how about your learn a little about her and what her and other long suffering saints fans have been through.... You are a fking useless mate!

[Animal Enclosure]

Obviously their fans are more committed than ours.

garbage

Why is is garbage? They go when they are loosing, we don't go when we are winning.

No they don't Bev... a former girlfriend was a Essendon supporter so I went to see them plenty of time from the mid to late 90's & during the years that they were poor their crowds dropped away significantly.

[kosifantutti23]

Yes, but nights? Days? Time of year? Which day? Where was who on the ladder at the time? What happened the week before?

There's more to it than numbers.

If the OP is going to pull out an Essendon Brisbane crowd figure as evidence that the sky is falling in, it is more relevant to look at St Kilda Brisbane crowds over the last few years than to look at a St Kilda Port crowd.

All things being equal, Essendon will get bigger crowds than us because they have more supporters. But we are certainly heading in the right direction and it's hardly a time for panic.