Andrew Pridham: How Sydney Swans keep making ‘millions of fans proud’ with sustained success

Swans president Andrew Pridham says there are a few key reasons behind the Swans’ sustained success in Sydney, and tells JON RALPH the club is reaping the rewards.

Sydney chairman Andrew Pridham says “putting football first” in every key decision is the secret to the Swans’ incredible five-Grand final run in the past 13 seasons.

The club’s rock-solid culture and stability in coaching and administration have helped the Swans become one of the AFL’s most respected franchises.

But Pridham said this week a determination not to lose focus on footy was also a key element in the club’s success.

Sydney has 73,757 members including 10,000 Melbourne members, 1.9 million fans and had 500,000 fans attend their SCG home games this year (averaging 38,000 attendees).

Recent surveys showed that of those competition-leading 1.9 million fans, 646,000 described themselves as “avid” fans.

While the Swans are happy to dodge the code wars between the AFL and NRL, they can legitimately claim bigger support in most of Sydney’s key markets apart from the city’s west.

Pridham has been a Sydney board member since 2004 and the club’s chairman since 2013, thrilled with the club’s progress.

“We are very proud of what we have achieved. It’s a reflection of our consistency and the blueprint set down by Richard Colless and Paul Roos. John has continued it, following on from Roosy and I have tried to follow on from Richard,” Pridham told the Herald sun.

“It seems incredible when you look at it to be in so many Grand Finals and they are incredibly hard to get to in a very competitive competition.

“It’s a reflection on the football department and players and coaches and an overall determination to put football first. That is one of our keys.

“In life it’s important to have a focus and a direction in how you make decisions. It’s about where your focus is and ours is very much that we are a football club. You can get distracted by other things, including politics and those things. We are a football club.

“We always keep that in mind. Remember that you are always about winning games of football and making millions of fans proud.”

He believes the Swans are making key inroads into the Sydney market in a year where the SCG was a rollicking venue heaving with young fans.

Jake Lloyd celebrates with Sydney Swans chairman Andrew Pridham after defeating GWS in the first preliminary final. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images.

“Those fans are more and more engaged. If we keep being successful we turn those fans into members and turn them into people who go to our games,” he said.

“Walking around Sydney you can feel it. There are people walking around in red and white most of the year. It was great to win the minor premiership but we are also really pleased our fan base keeps growing.”

Coach John Longmire is only contracted for the 2025 season, with Sydney’s initial plan this year to consider a contract extension next year.

But with Longmire at the peak of his powers the club will get through the Grand Final before considering his future.

The club has said he can coach the team for as long as he wants given his success so it would be surprising if he was not extended over summer.