The latest club membership figures do not make for great reading for James Brayshaw and Co. It seems every year the same issues associate themselves with the proud North Melbourne Football Club.
They rejected the ‘golden ticket’ move from the AFL to relocate to the Gold Coast, where millions of dollars would have been thrown at them and the club would be financially assured with the AFL wanting to the Gold Coast move to succeed.
The board have committed themselves to North Melbourne and Victoria, doing away with selling games to Canberra, Sydney, and Gold Coast, or whoever gave a financial advantage to the failing club.
All this year, the club has been making noise about their new facilities, new coach Brad Scott, and their exciting new list. On-field has been around the mark for where most experts had them at the start of the year, and off field the board, true to their word, are exploring avenues in Victoria.
Even in the halcyon days of Carey, Archer, Simpson and Longmire, the Kangaroos never attracted massive crowds. They were forerunners to Friday night football, when the Krakouer brothers lit up our screens.
The fixture has not been kind financially to the club, with home games of West Coast, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide hardly drawing great crowds.
Where to now for North Melbourne?
The club (fully within their rights) has rejected the AFL’s proposal to relocate for a secure future, and now expect no favours from former player Andrew Demitriou.
They have the worst crowd numbers in the AFL, the lowest adult membership in the competition, and only one Friday night fixture … it does not paint a bright future for those who hold Arden Street close to their hearts.
What is the solution?
Clearly it’s not going to happen in the next few years. North Melbourne should look towards the next generation for their supporter base. With at least 20,000 empty seats at every game, North Melbourne play at why don’t they ‘bribe’ the next generation with free memberships to school children in their target areas.
How much would it cost the club to give away 5,000 junior memberships and maybe throw in a hat or a scarf?
Most of these memberships would probably go straight into the bin, and be seen as a failure. But if you could get a 5 percent success rate, you get 250 North Melbourne supporters for life.
The on-flow effect of this could have a great impact on membership numbers: not next year, not in five years, but in 10-15 years. The club is doing great things regarding off-field work, with clinics at local schools, and even handing out DVDs after home games.
Some great initiatives, but the club is mostly just rewarding current North supporters.
If the move doesn’t work for them, what have they lost? 5,000 pieces of plastic, a few scarves or hats?
Some would say that this would be a costly investment, but for a club that prides themselves on being at the forefront of innovation, this could be a move that takes the Kangaroo off the endangered list in AFL circles.
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