3 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Gotta love some of the Richmond turkeys on Bigfooty, stating that Melbourne are damn lucky that a power house like Richmond let Melbourne play this game.

That what is meant when people say "the sleeping giant has woken" ...... the giant sense of entitlement.

28 minutes ago, old dee said:

So more than three quarters of the membership Chris?

Not one in five where I was.

Watching from the  packed terraces  MCC ground level opposite the Blazer Bar our support was at least 60% . Only in the last quarter did the Tiger fans really spark -up . 

Scurrying past Gate 4 with a couple of minutes to go , I could see  feral Toig supporters who traditionally loiter in that northern-side  pocket up on their feet in their hundreds chanting unintelligibly at departing  Dees fans . 

6 minutes ago, dee-eee said:

Scurrying past Gate 4 with a couple of minutes to go , I could see  feral Toig supporters who traditionally loiter in that northern-side  pocket up on their feet in their hundreds chanting unintelligibly at departing  Dees fans . 

"YELLOW AND ......... um .......... um .... YELLOW AND  ........ ummm .... chooka, do youse know what we're supposed ta shout?"

"I fink it's a colour?"

"Don't be shtoopid. It's somefink to do with our jumper."

"Oh I know! YELLOW AND BINGLE! YELLOW AND BINGLE!"

5 hours ago, deebug said:

You should of seen them in the 80s they had their own cheer squad it was called the Richmond grog squad; i only know this because one time at the footy with my dad they sat in front of us and had Richmond grog squad shaved in the back of their heads.

They're still there, standing room section Punt Rd end. Annoying as hell and massive bunch of feral bogans.

As an aside it is interesting to look at the inner city clubs of the earlier years. Richmond and Collingwood went on from a supporter base but Fitzroy and St Kilda did not.

Melbourne had its own pluses and minuses which goes some way to explaining why we are where we are but really Fitzroy and St Kilda came from the same place as Richmond and Collingwood.

Even Richmond is strange... no premierships between 1943 and 1967 but they then had four more including their last win in 1980. Perhaps it was the MCG move in 1966(?)

North Melbourne is another one but to me they never really had the historic supporter base. (I could be wrong... which I often am.)

It underscores how brittle/fickle public opinion is and how we really have to do something about getting the MFC back on track.

Edited April 26, 20178 yr by Diamond_Jim

1 hour ago, Diamond_Jim said:

As an aside it is interesting to look at the inner city clubs of the earlier years. Richmond and Collingwood went on from a supporter base but Fitzroy and St Kilda did not.

Melbourne had its own pluses and minuses which goes some way to explaining why we are where we are but really Fitzroy and St Kilda came from the same place as Richmond and Collingwood.

Even Richmond is strange... no premierships between 1943 and 1967 but they then had four more including their last win in 1980. Perhaps it was the MCG move in 1966(?)

North Melbourne is another one but to me they never really had the historic supporter base. (I could be wrong... which I often am.)

It underscores how brittle/fickle public opinion is and how we really have to do something about getting the MFC back on track.

Fitzroy is the weird one - dominated the comp from its inception until the mid-20s. Massive rivalry with Collingwood and another with Carlton. Obviously only one flag post 1922 hurt (they had 7 to that point, the most in the comp) but you would've thought they'd have consolidated a bit of a supporter base by then. Collingwood did off the back of their early success (11 flags to 1936 and only 4 since) however I guess they have still been a powerhouse onfield in terms of finals/GF if not premierships which would help explain it.

I think the Saints have a lot of dormant support just a culture of failure (27 wooden spoons and 1 flag) has crippled them. Also the fact it's impossible to build a massive membership/support base out of Docklands.

Sorry... I missed Carlton .... not really sure where they are going on the power club stakes but I get the feeling that their supporters are not exactly rusted on a la Collingwood... more like Hawthorn who have yet to mange a sustained downturn

4 hours ago, old dee said:

So more than three quarters of the membership Chris?

Not one in five where I was.

Plenty of non member supporters out there. 

7 hours ago, old dee said:

Sorry there were not IMO 30k there on Monday night. If lucky we had one in four which means out of 85K we got 21.5 even one in three only gets  28k.

I don't believe it was as high as every third person there was a Dees supporter.

Were you there, OD?

7 hours ago, A F said:

Were you there, OD?

Sadly yes A F with a couple of Tiger mates. 

There were far more than 20k Melbourne supporters there.

1 hour ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

There were far more than 20k Melbourne supporters there.

ok 21!!

12 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Fitzroy is the weird one - dominated the comp from its inception until the mid-20s. Massive rivalry with Collingwood and another with Carlton. Obviously only one flag post 1922 hurt (they had 7 to that point, the most in the comp) but you would've thought they'd have consolidated a bit of a supporter base by then. Collingwood did off the back of their early success (11 flags to 1936 and only 4 since) however I guess they have still been a powerhouse onfield in terms of finals/GF if not premierships which would help explain it.

I think the Saints have a lot of dormant support just a culture of failure (27 wooden spoons and 1 flag) has crippled them. Also the fact it's impossible to build a massive membership/support base out of Docklands.

Geographically, Fitzroy was the small suburb (in area) squeezed between the bigger Carlton and Collingwood. It may simply have been the geography that kept Fitzroy's numbers of supporters small.

Just about any melb tiges game ive been seems about 25% us...rest them.

Other night seemed similar. Gets bit distorted with many of us in one area...then spread amongst the ground they seem very numerous ( cos they are )

17 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Just about any melb tiges game ive been seems about 25% us...rest them.

Other night seemed similar. Gets bit distorted with many of us in one area...then spread amongst the ground they seem very numerous ( cos they are )

That is my reading too bb.

20 hours ago, deebug said:

You should of seen them in the 80s they had their own cheer squad it was called the Richmond grog squad; i only know this because one time at the footy with my dad they sat in front of us and had Richmond grog squad shaved in the back of their heads.

They still exist. Go to Richmond games a few times a year because half of my family and what seems like all of my mates go for the Toiges (although they're all bangwagon supporters without memberships who rely on my AFL membership to get into games). They stand behind the goals at the Punt Road end. They're pretty funny if you're "part of the crew" but they jeer and chant towards any opposition fan that walks by. They're very soccer-esque in their support.

16 hours ago, Wrecker45 said:

It was heavily Melbourne in the MCC.

From the Southern Stand, seemed like 100% Melbourne in the MCC. Which was weird because where I was sitting, it was 50 Richmond supporters for 1 Melbourne supporter. They were LOUD. The ground was literally shaking (not exaggeration). 

49 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Geographically, Fitzroy was the small suburb (in area) squeezed between the bigger Carlton and Collingwood. It may simply have been the geography that kept Fitzroy's numbers of supporters small.

Their home ground probably had something to do with it too - whereas Princes Park could hold up to 45k and Vic Park 35?k Brunswick St would've struggled to hold 20k I would've thought. After moving from their they became nomads, playing far from their spiritual home on the other side of the Yarra at Junction Oval, then the other side of the Maribyrnong later on at Western Oval with stints at Vic Park & Princes Park in between.

19 minutes ago, praha said:

They still exist. Go to Richmond games a few times a year because half of my family and what seems like all of my mates go for the Toiges (although they're all bangwagon supporters without memberships who rely on my AFL membership to get into games). They stand behind the goals at the Punt Road end. They're pretty funny if you're "part of the crew" but they jeer and chant towards any opposition fan that walks by. They're very soccer-esque in their support.

"More porn on SBS" usually gets a run

2 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Their home ground probably had something to do with it too - whereas Princes Park could hold up to 45k and Vic Park 35?k Brunswick St would've struggled to hold 20k I would've thought. After moving from their they became nomads, playing far from their spiritual home on the other side of the Yarra at Junction Oval, then the other side of the Maribyrnong later on at Western Oval with stints at Vic Park & Princes Park in between.

Without the MCG we might have suffered the same fate a few times in the last 50 years Dr.

2 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Their home ground probably had something to do with it too - whereas Princes Park could hold up to 45k and Vic Park 35?k Brunswick St would've struggled to hold 20k I would've thought. After moving from their they became nomads, playing far from their spiritual home on the other side of the Yarra at Junction Oval, then the other side of the Maribyrnong later on at Western Oval with stints at Vic Park & Princes Park in between.

Now you mention it Fitzroy was very nomadic.

SEN by co-incidence had a remember the old grounds theme late last night. Lots of talk about toilets.

They mentioned Moorabbin and were saying it was "state of the art" when built. Only went there once and stood on the outer terraces.

North stayed all those years at Arden Street but they never cracked the supporter market. Perhaps as LDC says like Fitzroy, North as a population base were squeezed between the relatively bigger clubs.

Then there was the Swans............?

History has a lesson for the present clubs .... perhaps the most vulnerable is Hawthorn

2 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Now you mention it Fitzroy was very nomadic.

SEN by co-incidence had a remember the old grounds theme late last night. Lots of talk about toilets.

They mentioned Moorabbin and were saying it was "state of the art" when built. Only went there once and stood on the outer terraces.

North stayed all those years at Arden Street but they never cracked the supporter market. Perhaps as LDC says like Fitzroy, North as a population base were squeezed between the relatively bigger clubs.

Then there was the Swans............?

History has a lesson for the present clubs .... perhaps the most vulnerable is Hawthorn

Only if they do an MFC for the next 50 years DJ

3 minutes ago, old dee said:

Only if they do an MFC for the next 50 years DJ

Just have that gut feel that many Hawthorn members are not rusted on and as they meander downwards those members will change to supporters and then to occasional attendees.

The Tasmanian deal papers over some matches that would have low attendances if played in Melbourne.

Time will tell and who knows it would not surprise me if they won their next five or six games and were back as boring old winning Hawthorn !

6 hours ago, old dee said:

ok 21!!

Definitely 30,000+. The MCC was sold out and was at least 80/20 Melbourne's way. We had a great portion in Gate 3 as well and in the Punt Road pocket. 30,000 easily. It's just whether there were 35,000+.

22 hours ago, Ted Fidge said:

That what is meant when people say "the sleeping giant has woken" ...... the giant sense of entitlement.

I have always said, even having lived through 2 Collingwood flags, 2 Essendon flags, and a Carlton flag, that a Richmond flag would be the end of civilization.

I've always considered them to be bigger than the other "powerhouses". Our city will be a warzone the night of a Richmond Grand Final win.

3 hours ago, old dee said:

Only if they do an MFC for the next 50 years DJ

One can only hope OD