Something seriously wrong with the club (Part 3, August 2022)

[Bacchusfox]

@PipetoNul

standing in the “pigpen” on the wing at windy hill.

What was the pigpen ?

[PipetoNul]

The Pigpen is what my mother called it. At Windy Hill there was a fenced off area at the front of the Allen Hird stand where the Football/Social Club members could stand and watch the game. It was accessed through a door with access to the club bar. An added bonus.
After the game (being tween to teenage at the time) I would go into the foyer and have my dad paged so he would come and get me. The place was always jumping if they won. The players used to attend the nightclub that was upstairs.

[darkknightpheonix]

@PipetoNul

Back in the 80’s my Dad was paying 300 wallabies a year to be a member of the football/social club with the benefit of standing in the “pigpen” on the wing at windy hill.
When you convert that to modern dollars thats a horrendous amount of money. The club has been charging like wounded bulls for decades.

yep, it’s because they know they can, as they know they have a big enough supporter base that enough people will pay it out of a misguided sense of loyalty. as with the original reply i made that you quoted, that generation and blind loyalty will die out with said over 50’s generation very shortly, and then the club will be ■■■■■■, as there will be no recent history of success for the youngsters to form a lasting emotional attachment to where you throw a fair amount of money away each year on a poorly run organisation.

[stander2]

@darkknightpheonix

as with the original reply i made that you quoted, that generation and blind loyalty will die out with said over 50’s generation very shortly, and then the club will be ■■■■■■, as there will be no recent history of success for the youngsters to form a lasting emotional attachment to where you throw a fair amount of money away each year on a poorly run organisation.

So your original reply contained all the junk you have just brought up again but you had to repeat it.
It’s like you have this insatiable urge to impose your polluted line of misery at every opportunity.
For the record, many of us over 50’ have done a good job with our ‘youngsters’ and they don’t just need success to form ‘a lasting emotional attachment’ to EFC.

[Bacchusfox]

@PipetoNul

The Pigpen is what my mother called it.

Your Mother is a wise woman.

I should have added @PipetoNul that back in the 1970s and 1980s, we lived opposite the ground in Napier Street, but usually as I was not a Member we stood in the outer on the hill. My best Mate worked with Paul Doran in the Dept of Aviation, and Doran was also social club manager at the time. He sometimes got us into the Members, and I recall the “pigpen” was a particularly feral place. Especially if the Bombers lost, this part of the crowd would be incredibly abusive to the players. Reckon they were much worse than pigs.

[JBOMBER]

@darkknightpheonix

@Cheese

I’m a little late to the party here, just catching up on posts now.

But seeing all of these posts about people cancelling memberships and then posters getting on their insufferable high-horse about why that’s wrong, implying that each supporter has some sort of obligation to support the club financially - it really makes me angry.

It is the choice of every person how they spend their money and I don’t blame anyone at all for giving up on being a member given what the club has served up the last 2 decades. I myself finally decided to make the decision until dodo is gone and I stand by that.

The club is not entitled to memberships, it is that simple. They need to earn them and they need to farking realise that. And before anyone says, this doesn’t mean them being successful every year, that’s obviously not possible. But it does mean that they are seen to make an attempt to be the best they can be and I am not at all convinced they are doing that.

I think you’ll find it’s generally the older generation that are of that thinking( generally those 50 years and over) They are still stuck in the thinking from the 80’s and prior when it was a semi professional sport that relied way more on support from members.

a few people use it as a badge of honour to justify they are better supporters than others, cos they will continue to throw money at such a poorly run non for profit organisation, like somehow they are a magical plaque at the end of the year that grants them all these special powers.

That’s a bizarre take given that membership numbers at all clubs were very low in the 80’s. As an example our membership was less than 8000 in 1989. Clubs are for more reliant now on membership revenue & more than ever before, membership is required to attend games & get access to finals tickets.

Personally I respect any member who may have maintained their financial support for say 30,40,50 years. Those people have contributed to the club & I appreciate that dedication even if the club itself may not look like it cares especially lately. You don’t have to shyte on supporters to also recognise the club have been a basket case for the last 20 odd years.

[jonovdp]

AFL club memberships are like ordering a happy meal these days.

The amount of membership types that are around is just ridiculous.

They should be just counting the revenue. You cannot trust the number of memberships which each club brags about.

3 game members, pet memberships, baby memberships, away memberships, memberships given away to sponsor employees, etc etc. it’s a joke.

[JBOMBER]

While I agree that revenue from memberships is really all that matters, I’m almost certain the official tallies from the AFL don’t include things like digital, pet or other non game access memberships. Hawthorn were the classic example of bosting high member numbers that didn’t actually translate to the highest revenue or attendance numbers.

[jonovdp]

Hawthorn were giving away 3 game Tasmania memberships, through their sponsorship with Tasmanian Government.

[Cheese]

Not sure if your post was to me or the response to my post. But to be clear, I wasn’t trying to hang ■■■■ on supporters who have backed the club financially for several decades. In fact, I have enormous respect for their loyalty and decision to do that, especially through the dumpster fire that has been the last 20 or so years.

What I have an issue with is people hanging ■■■■ on supporters who have decided that they are going to put their money elsewhere. Times are tight right now and most supporters are not wealthy, and the club hasn’t really rewarded their loyalty. Also, on here at least, most of them are doing it because they fundamentally disagree with decisions the club has made and continues to make (i.e., dodo), and have decided that they can’t justify it anymore.

I personally think no less of any supporter who has decided that they can’t justify forking out the cash for a membership anymore or until meaningful changes happen.

[JBOMBER]

I was replying to darkknight suggesting that older posters are stuck in the past by being members. As I pointed out its a newer development that every club have far more people become members than in the 80’s & 90’s.

I think I’ve been very clear in my criticisms of the club so I agree that there is very good justifications for past members to have dropped off without even considering the financial strains some may be facing. I’m not attacking anyone who’s chosen to not renew, for any reason but it appeared to me that DKP was attacking people who have chosen to remain as members long term which I think is poor form.

[Bomber1408]

@darkknightpheonix

@PipetoNul

Back in the 80’s my Dad was paying 300 wallabies a year to be a member of the football/social club with the benefit of standing in the “pigpen” on the wing at windy hill.
When you convert that to modern dollars thats a horrendous amount of money. The club has been charging like wounded bulls for decades.

yep, it’s because they know they can, as they know they have a big enough supporter base that enough people will pay it out of a misguided sense of loyalty. as with the original reply i made that you quoted, that generation and blind loyalty will die out with said over 50’s generation very shortly, and then the club will be ■■■■■■, as there will be no recent history of success for the youngsters to form a lasting emotional attachment to where you throw a fair amount of money away each year on a poorly run organisation.

There is plenty of Bomber kids to fill the space left by the baby boomers. Yes we have been ordinary for a couple of decades, but we will remain a “big” club for the foreseeable future.

BTW, the person I hold responsible for the clubs failures over the last decade is gone… e.g. the delusional Xavier Campbell. Campbell thought he could inspire & control the entire club using spreadsheets. A typical accountant thought fallacy repeated worldwide in many large organisations

[Bacchusfox]

@Bomber1408

. A typical accountant thought fallacy repeated worldwide in many large organisations

Except Xavier C is much worse than a humble accountant, he is an economist !

[darkknightpheonix]

@JBOMBER

@darkknightpheonix

@Cheese

I’m a little late to the party here, just catching up on posts now.

But seeing all of these posts about people cancelling memberships and then posters getting on their insufferable high-horse about why that’s wrong, implying that each supporter has some sort of obligation to support the club financially - it really makes me angry.

It is the choice of every person how they spend their money and I don’t blame anyone at all for giving up on being a member given what the club has served up the last 2 decades. I myself finally decided to make the decision until dodo is gone and I stand by that.

The club is not entitled to memberships, it is that simple. They need to earn them and they need to farking realise that. And before anyone says, this doesn’t mean them being successful every year, that’s obviously not possible. But it does mean that they are seen to make an attempt to be the best they can be and I am not at all convinced they are doing that.

I think you’ll find it’s generally the older generation that are of that thinking( generally those 50 years and over) They are still stuck in the thinking from the 80’s and prior when it was a semi professional sport that relied way more on support from members.

a few people use it as a badge of honour to justify they are better supporters than others, cos they will continue to throw money at such a poorly run non for profit organisation, like somehow they are a magical plaque at the end of the year that grants them all these special powers.

That’s a bizarre take given that membership numbers at all clubs were very low in the 80’s. As an example our membership was less than 8000 in 1989. Clubs are for more reliant now on membership revenue & more than ever before, membership is required to attend games & get access to finals tickets.

Personally I respect any member who may have maintained their financial support for say 30,40,50 years. Those people have contributed to the club & I appreciate that dedication even if the club itself may not look like it cares especially lately. You don’t have to shyte on supporters to also recognise the club have been a basket case for the last 20 odd years.

to be fair, I was hanging ■■■■ on a very specific subset of supporters who use them giving money to the club, even when run poorly, as a weapon to justify they are better supporters than others.

you want to give the club money, go nuts, again it’s when a cerstain subset of said supporters who use that fact as some sort of moral superiority that they are better cos of it, thats when i’ll ■■■■ on them, and have done so for years on here when they do it on here.

thankfually generally those people are now mutually blocked, so I don’t have to witness it as much anymore.

[Bacchusfox]

@darkknightpheonix

very specific subset of supporters who use them giving money to the club, even when run poorly, as a weapon to justify they are better supporters than others.

There are a few I know like that, but thankfully very few. You can watch some strut around like the Club and Players belong to them, and not to us all !!!

[simmo41]

@jonovdp

You cannot trust the number of memberships which each club brags about.

they don’t care what you think

they’re telling sponsors “we have 100,000 entries in our edm database that will probably open the emails we send them”

[PipetoNul]

I’m going to have a both ways opinion on this.

I actually agree with the premise that if the club continues this ABSOLUTE dearth of success (we haven’t even won a final) the club will experience a gradual decline in following as fans just give up.

At the same time, I have said it before, I have indoctrinated my children into following The Bombers or pack your bags and leave home. So the decline will be gradual, but it will be there. The club REALLY needs to find some modicum of success soon. The trope used here many times is that success is not a straight line. But if you dont have years of continual improvement then, well, your not improving and you are doing what we have been doing for the last 20 years and languishing in no mans land.

[Elsternwickbomber]

@Bacchusfox

he is an economist

That reminds me of something the sometime senator, minister for industry, etc. the late John Button once said: ‘Economists are people who are good with numbers but don’t have the personality to be an accountant.’

[Bacchusfox]

Probably a valid comment. Though John Button was a very boring bloke and it was his plan that started the end of the local car industry. Then again he was a Lawyer.

[bigallan]

The opposite in my dealings with him. His office came up with just about every plan in creation to save the local vehicle manufacturing industry. It got us into trouble in a WTO dispute.
He held a lot of power in Cabinet and usually got his way. He was up against foreign manufacturers pulling out unless they got even higher subsidies than they were receiving. He ignored some compelling reports by the then Productivity Commission on the sustainability of the domestic industry in its then form.
He could also be witty .