Can North Melbourne reach 40,000 members in 2014?

North Melbourne Football Club is the club that’s first to be brought up when talk of clubs folding or relocating arises.

It’s been the club that for years has been butt of jokes about empty stadiums, dilapidated facilities and having no fans, the club that was so close to becoming the Gold Coast Kangaroos back in 2007.

And yet, at the dawn of 2014, seven years later, the club is aiming for 40,000 members.

This is not a delusional target either, at the time of writing, the club have already notched up 26,406 members before a NAB Challenge (traditionally the period of greatest membership growth) ball has even been bounced.

Once permanently at the bottom of the membership ladder, the club is now ahead of three fellow Victorian clubs – Western Bulldogs, Melbourne and St Kilda as well as the Brisbane Lions (and of course the expansion clubs).

While all those clubs haven’t performed particularly well on-field in recent seasons, neither has North Melbourne.

They’ve finished ninth, ninth, eighth and 10th in the last four years, with 2013 being perhaps the most frustrating and disappointing season a club has produced in recent memory.

St Kilda and the Bulldogs have also come off the back of periods of sustained success at the top of the ladder, something, it is becoming increasingly apparent, that both clubs (but especially the Saints) failed to capitalise on.

This is the same a mistake North made during the Carey era.

In 2007, at the peak of the relocation struggle, the financial situation was dire. The club was facing a huge and growing debt of $8 million, while at the same time having the lowest football department spend in the competition.

There seemed to be no way that North could compete and the AFL’s deal of $100 million dollars to ditch Arden Street for the sunny Gold Coast must have been tempting.

Highly acclaimed Age journalist Caroline Wilson predicted a bleak future:

“Should the Kangaroos choose to remain at Arden Street – and the smart money is on Demetriou getting his way and overseeing a relocation – the club faces an uncertain future and a decade of hard slog and drudgery simply to remain alive.”

When newly-elected president James Brayshaw announced at Dallas Brooks Hall that North would be staying in Melbourne, there was a lot of scepticism and many thought it was the wrong move.

Fast-forward to the end of last season and James Brayshaw and CEO Carl Dilena were able to announce a $1million profit and a debt now under $3 million, which is projected to be completely payed off by 2015.

North are also now increasing their football department spend. While still considerably constrained in comparison to the big clubs, North have managed to put together an impressive, albeit small list of back-room staff.

The well publicised additions of Geoff Walsh from Collingwood as Head of Football and the highly-respected Leigh Tudor from Sydney as senior assistant reflect North’s now stable financial situation.

The financial achievements are even more remarkable considering North Melbourne is the only Victorian club that refuses to draw revenue from Pokies.

Carlton drew the most money of all clubs, raking in $19,121,239 from their 300 machines last year.

There is still a long way to go for North Melbourne. They remain heavily reliant on monetary payments from the AFL. These are often referred to as ‘AFL hand-outs’ in the media but this is a misnomer, it should really be thought of as compensation for the awful deals that small Victorian clubs suffer though at Etihad stadium.

North Melbourne is locked into a stadium deal with the Etihad administration that means they need more than roughly 30,000 people to turn up to a home game to make any money at the gate. This means most of the time they lose money at home games.

This is in stark contrast to clubs like Geelong who make 100% profit at games at Simmonds or Essendon who, due to a more lucrative deal with Etihad, only need roughly 10,000 at the stadium to start making a profit.

The AFL needs North Melbourne to play at Etihad to meet the amount of games and attendance they have guaranteed Etihad in the contract that eventually sees them take complete ownership of the ground in 2022.

This issue must be resolved for the club to be fully independent and competitive.

The club’s marketing team are also doing an impressive job. A quick look at for example the YouTube figures makes for a surprising read.

1. Collingwood – 7818 subscribers, 1294 videos.
2. Carlton – 6529 subscribers, 1315 videos.
3. Essendon – 6518 subscribers, 1220 videos.
4. North Melbourne – 4983 subscribers, 1436 videos.
5. Port Adelaide – 3968 subscribers, 1541 videos.
6. Adelaide – 3529 subscribers, 1323 videos.
7. West Coast – 3433 subscribers, 915 videos.
8. Richmond – 3361 subscribers, 337 videos.
9. Fremantle – 3223 subscribers, 1624 videos.
10. Hawthorn – 2656 subscribers, 332 videos.
11. St Kilda – 2533 subscribers, 513 videos.
12. Sydney – 2339 subscribers, 461 videos.
13. Brisbane – 2225 subscribers, 1108 videos.
14. Geelong – 1684 subscribers, 82 videos.
15. Gold Coast – 1595 subscribers, 1007 videos.
16. Western Bulldogs – 1484 subscribers, 714 videos.
17. Melbourne – 1343 subscribers, 785 videos.
18. GWS – 1290 subscribers, 404 videos.

North are still quite low placed on the Facebook and Twitter ladders.

On-field, the list couldn’t be healthier.

In the midfield they boast elite ruckman Todd Goldstein, a powerful inside trio of Andrew Swallow, Ben Cunnington and Jack Ziebell, and very impressive outside trio of Daniel Wells, Nick Dal Santo and Boomer Harvey.

The North Melbourne clan is also eagerly awaiting the debut of their much hyped father-son pick Luke McDonald.

There is nothing better for the commercial and membership sides of a club than being near the top of the ladder and this is the next step for North. And although North is the buzz team this summer, 2014 is shaping up to be a hugely competitive season with almost every fan believing their team can play finals.

It remains to be seen if Brad Scott’s men will be able to deal with the pressure of expectation that’s on their shoulders.

Cameron Ling has been brought in as a part-time coach to work predominantly with the leadership team. The team has to win close games this season if they are to make finals and most importantly prove to the wider AFL world they are not mentally weak.

The whole AFL should be glad North Melbourne have turned things around and look to have a bright future ahead.

Port Adelaide has gone through a similar story in recent times and their renaissance has made for a better AFL.

The perception of North Melbourne as the downtrodden, nothing club that is lucky to even exist is now outdated. It is standing on its own two feet and its supporters should be proud.

If they can finally get some on-field success, win a few close ones, and (whisper it) Majak Daw can fulfill the potential we’ve all seen, who knows what the future will hold.

I think the Kangas will reach 40,000 this season and what a remarkable story that will be.