Adelaide Crows reach record level of AFL members

THE Crows continue to fly as one, smashing their membership numbers for the second consecutive year.

Adelaide Crows captain Taylor Walker with junior members Henry Bannister, 4, Zander James, 4, Matilda Selth, 5, and Max Poole, 4. Picture SARAH REED

ADELAIDE is celebrating breaking its membership record for the fifth consecutive season on the back of last year’s grand final performance and high expectations for 2018.

The new mark of 82,699 members comes as women’s team members have more than doubled and a spike in the club’s digital We Fly As One membership.

Chief executive Andrew Fagan said the club’s membership’s figure was expected to continue to grow with three-game bronze memberships and Victorian general admission memberships still available.

“We are thrilled to surpass 80,000 members for the second year in a row and once again break our all-time membership record,” Fagan said. “Our members are the backbone of the club and we are blessed to have such a loyal, enthusiastic and passionate following, not just at home but wherever we play across the country.”

Fagan said much of the growth could be put down to the move to Adelaide Oval, which had led to significant growth in spectators for both South Australian clubs.

Regularly making the finals was another reason for the continued growth, with Crows fans signing up with the lofty hope of being part of a premiership year.

The club will celebrate breaking its own membership record with a series of giveaways for members in the coming weeks, kicking off with Friday night’s home game against Collingwood.

“For the past five seasons, since moving to Adelaide Oval, we have consistently had some of the largest home crowds in the AFL and, no matter what the conditions or the timeslot, we know our members will be at the ground in their colours and the support is never taken for granted.

“Our fans are critical to the club’s success — not only on match days but also through merchandise sales, engaging with our digital platform and backing our community initiatives. The entire club is extremely grateful for their support.”

The AFL’s audited memberships are released in August each year and tend to be significantly lower than those of the clubs as they don’t recognise some of the smaller and more inexpensive categories of memberships.

Last the Crows ranked sixth in the competition with an official membership of 56,865 members.

Collingwood had the highest membership in the AFL with an official figure of 75,879, followed by Hawthorn (75,663), premier Richmond (72,669) and West Coast (65,064).