2499 at Hamra Homes Oval - fantastic

[Brucetiki]

The attendance at Centrals v South yesterday of 2499 is fantastic IMO considering:

- The Showdown
- ABC telecast
- It was against South (not a big drawing game - but I did see quite a few more South supporters there than normal which was great to see)

Interestingly, it's more than what Centrals v South games get at Noarlunga normally...

[CENTURION]

That's a crap crowd! Centrals have more than 2498 supporters!

[Brucetiki]

In 'normal' circumstances, 2499 is crap, but considering what the game was up against, it was quite good. Could have been alot worse.

[spell_check]

About what I expected.

Elizabeth: 2,469
Woodville: 3,438
Prospect: 3,120
Unley: 3,339
Total: 12,366

[Dan The Man]

In 'normal' circumstances, 2499 is crap, but considering what the game was up against, it was quite good. Could have been alot worse.

I was surprised that there were that many.It didn't look like it on TV.

[Wedgie]

How many North supporters were out there last week, 1500?
That means about 2500 Centrals supporters went missing when there was an AFL game on.
Bandwagonners.

[Grahaml]

Boo to that south supporter not bringing a mate to get the 2500.

[MagareyLegend]

Can anyone tell me who #22 was for Centrals Ressies on Saturday please?

[MightyEagles]

According to the Budget, No22 for Central is Andrew Hayes.

[MightyEagles]

South have supporters?

[Sojourner]

South have supporters?

Are you really that far up yourself or are you just trying to be funny?

[Dogwatcher]

He's trying to be funny...but South do have a very low supporter base (and I'm not having a crack here).
Personally I know very few South supporters (three that I can think of at this point - one of whom played for the club), but I know plenty of supporters from other clubs.

Sojournor...I'm not sure what this says about me or the club, but it brings up a good question....has the move to Noarlunga reaped the benefits that everyone hoped it would in terms of developing the supporter base?

[StrayDog]

South have supporters?

Ssssssmmmmaaaash! - There goes another glasshouse.

Full marks to all those who went for putting their league first, especially the Southies for making the trip.

In 'normal' circumstances, 2499 is crap, but considering what the game was up against, it was quite good. Could have been alot worse.

I was surprised that there were that many.It didn't look like it on TV.

Very valid point. As usual, crowd concentration around the western side. I'm sure at least one camera on the far side would tell a better story, would certainly be a better advert for the competition.

[Sojourner]

Sojournor...I'm not sure what this says about me or the club, but it brings up a good question....has the move to Noarlunga reaped the benefits that everyone hoped it would in terms of developing the supporter base?

Unfortunatley I would have to say that has not been the case.

I grew up in Morphett Vale in the 70's and at our local school, at least 75% of the kids there would have barracked for Glenelg, Port had a few supporters, then the rest were interdispersed between the various other SANFL clubs. Unlike Central in their area, South never had a connection with the area, St Marys on the other hand was certainley a strong South Adelaide area.

Some of the old Southies still get annoyed at how the redistribution went where South were pushed further south by the SANFL with their older areas being divided between Glenelg and Westies, its water under the bridge as far as I am concerned, yet I do find it interesting that it was made to happen at the time, in the WAFL teams didnt want to move, so they made the new side - Peel Thunder instead. I am not sure if given the choice what South would have done. I would much rather have seen Panther Park finished off properly and the club stayed there, I moved to St Marys and lived around the corner from the club and Panther Park which suited me just fine!

South always played at Adelaide oval and struggled constantly, there were a few years where we came damm close to losing the lot as was the case with Fitzroy, added to that the success rate of the club dived, so the hope of generating interest in the Southern Area was always going to be a problem, now the club is in a position of trying to shut the gate once the horse has bolted and are doing a good job of promoting the club and SANFL footy in general.

I agree with the current club managment that if South want to be taken seriously in the area that the Oval needs major upgrades to pick up the standard, hence the 3 million being poured into it. I also think that if it did so happen that South won a grand final you might well see a number of people jump onto the club and inflate the numbers. Ultimatley it is only going to be a reasonable measure of success that regenerates the club, getting over the losing culture that can exist makes it somewhat of a vicious circle at times though!

[westside]

How many North supporters were out there last week, 1500?
That means about 2500 Centrals supporters went missing when there was an AFL game on.
Bandwagonners.

Wait until the undefeated Port takes on the undefeated Bulldogs at Elizabeth under lights in round 7. That'll redefine the word bandwagon.

[Dogwatcher]

Thanks for the quality post Sojourner.
I've always been interested in South - mainly because they're in a similar situation to Centrals with their zone being at "the end of the world". Also the fact they won their last flag in 1964 - an important time for the CDFC - is of note as a Doggies supporter.

It's nice to see an intelligent post to an otherwise difficult subject.

[Wedgie]

Sojournor...I'm not sure what this says about me or the club, but it brings up a good question....has the move to Noarlunga reaped the benefits that everyone hoped it would in terms of developing the supporter base?

Unfortunatley I would have to say that has not been the case.

I grew up in Morphett Vale in the 70's and at our local school, at least 75% of the kids there would have barracked for Glenelg, Port had a few supporters, then the rest were interdispersed between the various other SANFL clubs. Unlike Central in their area, South never had a connection with the area, St Marys on the other hand was certainley a strong South Adelaide area.

Some of the old Southies still get annoyed at how the redistribution went where South were pushed further south by the SANFL with their older areas being divided between Glenelg and Westies, its water under the bridge as far as I am concerned, yet I do find it interesting that it was made to happen at the time, in the WAFL teams didnt want to move, so they made the new side - Peel Thunder instead. I am not sure if given the choice what South would have done. I would much rather have seen Panther Park finished off properly and the club stayed there, I moved to St Marys and lived around the corner from the club and Panther Park which suited me just fine!

South always played at Adelaide oval and struggled constantly, there were a few years where we came damm close to losing the lot as was the case with Fitzroy, added to that the success rate of the club dived, so the hope of generating interest in the Southern Area was always going to be a problem, now the club is in a position of trying to shut the gate once the horse has bolted and are doing a good job of promoting the club and SANFL footy in general.

I agree with the current club managment that if South want to be taken seriously in the area that the Oval needs major upgrades to pick up the standard, hence the 3 million being poured into it. I also think that if it did so happen that South won a grand final you might well see a number of people jump onto the club and inflate the numbers. Ultimatley it is only going to be a reasonable measure of success that regenerates the club, getting over the losing culture that can exist makes it somewhat of a vicious circle at times though!

Excellent post and one Ive considered many times as the only south supporters I know don't live anywhere near Noarlunga and having spent a bit of time down south I never once encountered a South supporter in almost 10 years of playing footy and cricket down there.

[BenchedEagle]

The attendance at Centrals v South yesterday of 2499 is fantastic IMO considering:

- The Showdown
- ABC telecast
- It was against South (not a big drawing game - but I did see quite a few more South supporters there than normal which was great to see)

Interestingly, it's more than what Centrals v South games get at Noarlunga normally...

Also remember the game was on the same time as the first round of the amatuer league. Including the local Elizabeth Derby. Which was advertised and had a fairly good crowd. A lot of them i know usally are at Centrals games. Think Central will be happy with that figure.

[Grahaml]

I think south made the right call to move to be honest. In the dramatic change the SANFL underwent when the crows, then power went to the AFL, the things that suffered the most were corporate sponsorship, media coverage and supporter numbers of the old SANFL clubs. It signalled the end of the 10 team comp with the merge, it nearly claimed Sturt a few years ago and even Port and Norwood have struggled to cope. The only club that really did well was Centrals, and they did this by cementing a strong feeling that the CDFC represented the community of Elizabeth and some of the areas north of there right up to Gawler. South unashamedly tried to copy that recipe since the way they were going was only going to signal the end. Whether that end was 10, 20 or 30 years later is debatable, but IMHO was going to happen. By moving to Noarlunga, they have distanced themselves from the other clubs' supporter bases and decided to represent a community much like Elizabeth in that it is more isolated from the other areas of the metropolitan area. In the process they have probably alienated those supporters from their old heartland, but given the choice of long term viability you would be disappointed if they went down the slow death path. They now have greater corporate opportunities because there isn't another club which gets the same coverage in the Noarlunga area and with time, work and a bit of success I believe their supporter base will increase slowly to eventually be a similar amount to the other SANFL clubs.

[Dogwatcher]

I think if you put Graham's post alongside Sojourner that you have two very good perspectives on the South situation.

I believe that if they can harness that community feeling - there's no reason why South can't become a very strong club, like the Dogs have done.