A debate I've engaged in a bit over the past few seasons on Demonland is the idea that Melbourne fans are more apathetic than others. It's an idea I reject, but one that seems remarkably resistant - even in the face of record membership figures on the back of horrendous on-field seasons, and astounding contributions to the debt demolition campaign.

To those who complain that Melbourne's crowd support drops off if the team is travelling poorly, or because it's a horrid day, I acknowledge you have a point. My counter is this isn't unique to Melbourne, and the Essendon experience is just the most recent example:

Win, even win well, against a side with two victories from its past 16 games, and Knights's cause is furthered little. Lose badly, and the revolutionary chorus will become even more shrill.

And perhaps from Essendon's bean counters as much as anywhere. For nothing frightens a football club more than the prospect of lost members and sponsorship revenue, and on that score, the numbers are every bit as alarming as the win-loss tally.

Essendon's crowds are down an average 5000 a game. The turnout for the home game against West Coast five weeks ago was the smallest the Dons had played to for 12 years. And it couldn't even pull more than 60,000 for its two most recent home games against traditional foes Carlton and Collingwood.

The Bomber fans are jumping off in droves. Are they likely to return if, as now seems quite likely, the club limps into 2011 with a list over which there are serious doubts, and with a coach to which it doesn't appear fully committed?

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/feeding-frenzy-over-knights-unlikely-to-slow-down-20100820-138z9.html

I've posted this not to take a dig at Essendon fans, and nor is this quote driven by schadenfreude. Instead, my point is to provide a rebuttal to those who think that Melbourne fans are, in general, uniquely prone to drop off if the team is faring poorly.

If the opinions of those who post on Demonland are a fair reflection of the views of Melbourne supporters on this matter, it's our own that need some perspective as much as the wider football public. Sadly, Melbourne fans seem happy to perpetuate a - damaging, IMHO - myth about the apathy, in general, of Melbourne fans.

With a resurgent on-field and off-field team, it's time to once and for all put to bed the idea that Melbourne's supporters are likely to be any more or less apathetic than any other sides. The first step is for our own supporters to recognise this fact.

Agree totally.

A similar thing happened with Hawthorn earlier this year. After they lost 6 in a row, they then won 3, but they weren't all convincing. In Round 11 they played Port and only 21,287 showed up. This for a club with 50,000+ members and a premiership from two seasons ago.

With Collingwood seemingly the exception, when a club struggles, the supporters drop off.

Tick

Clubs supporters such as Essendons that have been fed a steady diet of success are the weakest IMO as following a winning team is easy . They drop off quickly when things aren't going their way , Carltons and Hawthorns are other examples . It's supporters who've been forged with the tough times that I have the most respect for . Ours , Richmonds , St.Kildas , Dogs even Swans.

I wonder if I could propose the theory that all clubs' supporters are the same. They all jump on a bandwagon, and they all jump off when the wagon hits ruts.

I wonder if I could propose the theory that all clubs' supporters are the same. They all jump on a bandwagon, and they all jump off when the wagon hits ruts.

Or more accurately, all clubs have some supporters who jump on and off.

A Carlton supporter said to me on Friday night that Melbourne supporters are probably the most realistic that he knows. We know when we're going to lose, and we know when we're going to win, and we're honest about our team in a way that no other fans are. Other team supporters call that fickle, but I think it leads to less of a disappointment when things don't quite go our way. Bulldogs fans are similar.

Essendon, Carlton, Collingwood fans cry and winge more than anyone. As with any sporting club, you're always going to see a drop-off in attendance, and that includes with Collingwood. They'd have had 30,000 there last night as opposed to 50,000 had they been last instead of 1st. Still a great crowd, but not as big as it could be.

The thing with Melbourne is that much of our supporter base is based in Melbourne, whereas other clubs have a very broad supporter base. So when things do drop off and our attendances drop, we really have no excuse.

I do honestly believe we have one of the smallest group of bandwagon supporters. Hawthorn and Sydney by FAR have the biggest bunch of bandwagon supporters, and I respect Collingwood and their fans (to be totally honest) - they're there win, lose or draw. Same with Richmond. Richmond need 2 or 3 good years playing finals football and they'll be up there with Collingwood. They've just spent way too much time in the basement for their fans to care.

Essendon supporters can't handle losing, which is fair enough, because they've seen that success recent. We're pretty used to failure. So it's different for us. The demographic is completely different for every Melbourne team.

In saying all of that, when we're up and flying, we're always in the top 5 or so for attendance. That's something teams like North, WB, St. Kilda, even Hawthorn, can't achieve, even when they're flying.

I wonder if I could propose the theory that all clubs' supporters are the same.

If it wasn't clear, that's my point...

Just 28,000 at the Essendon game today

Just 28,000 at the Essendon game today

I was going to post that.

Yeah, I agree. All supporters jump on/off.

From the bottom of that article:

A bad loss to the Lions tomorrow would just about have the Bomber fans torching Windy Hill. Forget momentum. It would be more like an insurgence. A force that a once-strong club in its current state doesn't seem likely to be able to withstand.

Someone call the fire brigade..

Essendon fans are notoriously bandwagon fans.

They tend to have a lot of passionate (and massively overconfident fans), but also have a lot of fans that associate themselves with Essendon, but rarely attend matches.

Unlike their nearest rivals Collingwood and Carlton, they don't have the same amount of fans that will support the club through thick and thin.

After quite a few years of success, they've also developed an expectation of success and tend to get stuck into the team when they don't succeed, but yet still expect success.

As a result, the club tries to rebuild too quickly and they don't have the talent to crack the top four.

I wonder if I could propose the theory that all clubs' supporters are the same. They all jump on a bandwagon, and they all jump off when the wagon hits ruts.

Its just that we are more practised than most other Clubs.