Round 1: Bulldogs vs Double Blues

[Grand Central]

I recall 11,000 at Elizabeth Oval against Sturt. Dunno when. Reckon it was a public holiday. Certainly post-Crows.

[MST]

Sturt, as always, will have great representation at the game. I know our group is looking forward to the occasion immensely. I think the game will pull 6-8,000 spectators which will ensure a great atmosphere.

Plus, we play our best footy under lights!

Strewth MST! 6-8,000? I hope you are right! But I think the days that Sturt v Central could draw crowds like that outside of finals are a thing of the past. If they draw more than 5,000 I'll jump on a plane to Australia and buy you a beer.
Glad to hear that you are making the trip however, I only missed the Elizabeth game maybe three times in all my years in Australia. Wish I was there to lend some vocal support. Should be a corker.
GO YOU MIGHTY BLUES!

Spelly may be able to help me out here. I am reasonably sure that when we played Central at Elizabeth in 2002 the crowd figure was pushing 8-9,000. It was about round six or seven and obviously both sides were going very well. Central won by three or four goals from memory but I do remember distinctly Sturt making a charge in the last quarter, Michael Curtis taking a mark on the grandstand wing with all the momentum in our favour, Marco Bello held onto him to slow things up and Curto tried to break his grip by swinging his arms at which point Bello threw himself to the ground like he had been shot and the umpire took the ball off him. Central went straight down the other end, goaled and it was all she wrote.

I would suggest Kris Grant and Co. would be hoping for 6,000 and nothing less.

[sturtpeter]

I recall that game too, MST.

Not sure of the figure but I was at Elizabeth in 1971 or 72 when Sturt Vs Doggies drew a then record of over 13,000.

Those days are history but given a good evening without rain etc I would hope at least 7,000 turned up on April 1st to celebrate the beginning of Night SANFL Footy at HHO:)

[Jimmy]

love your work MST and SP

[MST]

I recall that game too, MST.

Not sure of the figure but I was at Elizabeth in 1971 or 72 when Sturt Vs Doggies drew a then record of over 13,000.

Those days are history but given a good evening without rain etc I would hope at least 7,000 turned up on April 1st to celebrate the beginning of Night SANFL Footy at HHO:)

I am not positive of the year or the exact figure but I am certain the record crowd at any game at Elizabeth was around 27,000 (v Sturt) and I have late 1970's in mind as the time. I have seen archive aerial photo's and they were packed in like sardines.

On the round one encounter, Sturt v Central games have averaged 3-4500 per game over the last five or six years so if they can't get at least another 2-3,000 on top of that for a historic round one encounter then I don't know SANFL footy.

[westside]

Sturt, as always, will have great representation at the game. I know our group is looking forward to the occasion immensely. I think the game will pull 6-8,000 spectators which will ensure a great atmosphere.

Plus, we play our best footy under lights!

Strewth MST! 6-8,000? I hope you are right! But I think the days that Sturt v Central could draw crowds like that outside of finals are a thing of the past. If they draw more than 5,000 I'll jump on a plane to Australia and buy you a beer.
Glad to hear that you are making the trip however, I only missed the Elizabeth game maybe three times in all my years in Australia. Wish I was there to lend some vocal support. Should be a corker.
GO YOU MIGHTY BLUES!

Spelly may be able to help me out here. I am reasonably sure that when we played Central at Elizabeth in 2002 the crowd figure was pushing 8-9,000. It was about round six or seven and obviously both sides were going very well. Central won by three or four goals from memory but I do remember distinctly Sturt making a charge in the last quarter, Michael Curtis taking a mark on the grandstand wing with all the momentum in our favour, Marco Bello held onto him to slow things up and Curto tried to break his grip by swinging his arms at which point Bello threw himself to the ground like he had been shot and the umpire took the ball off him. Central went straight down the other end, goaled and it was all she wrote.

I would suggest Kris Grant and Co. would be hoping for 6,000 and nothing less.

2002 round 6 crowd at Elizabeth - 7,905.

[Jimmy]

Sturt, as always, will have great representation at the game. I know our group is looking forward to the occasion immensely. I think the game will pull 6-8,000 spectators which will ensure a great atmosphere.

Plus, we play our best footy under lights!

Strewth MST! 6-8,000? I hope you are right! But I think the days that Sturt v Central could draw crowds like that outside of finals are a thing of the past. If they draw more than 5,000 I'll jump on a plane to Australia and buy you a beer.
Glad to hear that you are making the trip however, I only missed the Elizabeth game maybe three times in all my years in Australia. Wish I was there to lend some vocal support. Should be a corker.
GO YOU MIGHTY BLUES!

Spelly may be able to help me out here. I am reasonably sure that when we played Central at Elizabeth in 2002 the crowd figure was pushing 8-9,000. It was about round six or seven and obviously both sides were going very well. Central won by three or four goals from memory but I do remember distinctly Sturt making a charge in the last quarter, Michael Curtis taking a mark on the grandstand wing with all the momentum in our favour, Marco Bello held onto him to slow things up and Curto tried to break his grip by swinging his arms at which point Bello threw himself to the ground like he had been shot and the umpire took the ball off him. Central went straight down the other end, goaled and it was all she wrote.

I would suggest Kris Grant and Co. would be hoping for 6,000 and nothing less.

2002 round 6 crowd at Elizabeth - 7,905.

great year

[therisingblues]

2002 round 6 crowd at Elizabeth - 7,905.

I have been out of the country too long, a bit of good news to hear.
I guess I am basing my pesimism on the turn out for Sturt vs the Magpies at Adelaide Oval under lights last year. I think that the crowd was just a little over 5,000. That got me thinking that perhaps the days of the minor round blockbuster were over.

[westside]

2002 round 6 crowd at Elizabeth - 7,905.

I have been out of the country too long, a bit of good news to hear.
I guess I am basing my pesimism on the turn out for Sturt vs the Magpies at Adelaide Oval under lights last year. I think that the crowd was just a little over 5,000. That got me thinking that perhaps the days of the minor round blockbuster were over.

The Sturt v Port game got 5,811. Not too bad I thought.

[therisingblues]

Not too bad, but Sturt v Port is traditionally the combination that pulls in the big record crowds. Perhaps the Port mob had only a minimal interest in the game as they had just won an AFL premiership, but I would have thought the Sturt supporters would have beefed the figure up regardless. I think that there was no rain that night, and it was a Friday night under lights, Jack's back theme and Port will refund dough for their members etc. Would have thought 8,000 would be a good turn out. 5,811 however, is at best "not too bad".

[giffo]

Magpies games do not draw the crowds anymore as their supporter base has shifted to the Power, however a bad year for them could see a lot of people swing back. As far as poor planning by putting a the Central v Sturt game against a Power game at AAMI, my only interest is hoping Dew and co play crap so they can be dropped back to Central.