It shows that it was done by Roy Morgan research and the sample was 7800 people

Melbourne supporters by and large would be too smart to respond to market research. Whenever I get canvassed I always like to start off by asking how long it will take so I can work out if I should charge on a time basis or per question. Mind you they usually don't get to asking me questions.

On the other hand if you're a Collingwood supporter you would probably welcome social interaction with a canvasser or telemarketer and would be happy to bang on about the most important part of your miserable pathetic existence.

I'm tipping that all this survey shows is that Melbourne have a lot of supporters who are on the do-not-call register or who hung-up shortly after saying "mind your own business"

Ah statistics are like a lamp post not so much a source of illumination but something to lean on

Ah statistics are like a lamp post not so much a source of illumination but something to lean on

Unless your a dog, then they become extremely useful!

Not sure about the Hun article, and with the Hun, my advice is to stick to the pictures.

Having said that, Cam Schwab and others at the club have made the point for a long time that, for conversion of supporters to members, we fare amongst the very best.

Our challenge is to grow our supporter base. That is why Casey is an important endeavour, as is China (at least in principle!).

Be better off targeting support from countries that have similar values to us and have English as there main or secondary language.

Countries who also play games of interest that we have an interest in.

Such as India and Sri Lanka who are into Cricket big time, like us, and already have many of the cricket (ie., potential footy) ovals available that are the perfect shape to put on demonstration games and even get embryonic local teams starting to play during the cricket off season.

China is a complete waste of time IMO as we have nothing in common from a cultural/language point of view other than them wanting our mining resources and using them to build hundreds of thousands of buildings/infrastructure projects etc.

Figures never lie but liars often figure .

The Roy Morgan figures on AFL support are collected as part of an 'omnibus' consumer survey that has been run every four(?) years for quite some time.

The website 'Convict creations' used to have a brilliant [censored]-take of every club based on their Roy Morgan Data.

Essendon fans are more likely to eat Mars bars? Go figure. I guess they like things that are soft in the middle.

Meanwhile, Melboune fans were more likely to drink wine or 'gourmet beers', and were more likely to have post-school qualifications, by a considerable margin compared to other clubs.

And yes, the general figure has been around 200,000 for a few surveys, so the 180k in the article is believable.

As for the article, we all already knew the Swans were mostly 'fan light', though there is a core that deserve some kind of respect. But this claim that they are the 'stalwarts' is a bit rich. Like Sydney, they have a core of die-hards (the toothless bums we all know and... erm... know) but then there is a vast wad of hangers-on.

A few points -

1. It isn't exactly an acheivement to have watched a game on TV most weeks, when all your games are free-to-air in prime time slots. Der.

2. If Collingwood has five times as many fans as the Demons, how come their attendances are not even twice ours?

3. In 2004 (8 wins) and 2005 (5 wins/tanking) Collingwood's attendances dropped by 10,000 a game. Soooo devoted.

4. For perspective on that, in 2005 the Demons clocked just 20,000 fewer attendences at home games than Collingwood. That would be Anzac Day right there. Plus considerations for games sold to interstate venues. And that despite a 9(?) game losing streak mid-season.

So, if you are ever in doubt about this club of ours, just remember that Melbourne supporters are about five times as 'devoted' as 'Pies fans.

How often do 'Pies memberships break records in consecutive years of utter on-field disappointment?

It isn't at all surprising that we have the least supporters under 14...