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Swans no longer history down south
By Richard Hinds
April 30, 2004
When the Swans run onto the MCG for tomorrow's important match against Essendon, they will enjoy, as usual, the vocal support of their strong group of Melbourne fans.
In a crowd expected to be in excess of 50,000, about one-third will be barracking for the Swans. Last year, at matches against Carlton and Melbourne, it seemed there were more fans backing Sydney than the home teams.
Such a strong show of support is not new. Since they reached the 1996 grand final, many of the disenfranchised South Melbourne supporters still angry about the club's relocation returned to the fold. The Swans have worked hard to welcome them back.
However, this year the club has taken its efforts to retain and recruit Melbourne supporters to a new, more professional, level. "It's something that is obviously an asset to us," Swans chairman Richard Colless says. "And rather than run it at a cost as it has been in the past, we're looking at it as a source of profit."
To that end, the Swans hired former star half-forward Tony Morwood as their Melbourne manager. After completing his outstanding playing career, Morwood returned to live in Melbourne in 1991 but continued his involvement with the club, acting in recent times as master of ceremonies at club functions.
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While Morwood says the Swans' efforts to cater for the old South Melbourne fans - and any other Melbourne-based supporters - have been appreciated, one of his goals is to make them feel as valuable as the Sydney-based members.
"We had a family day and the coach and the top 10 players came down," he says. "It was really a step up on what we'd done for people here before.
"I think in the past there was a feeling that what was done for the fans in Sydney was always pretty spiffo, but in Melbourne they had to watch the dollars."
That was largely because it was costing the club money to service its Melbourne membership.
Morwood has set about correcting that. At the family day, $11,000 worth of merchandise was sold. Only $4000 worth had been sold through the club in the whole of last year.
Morwood has set the target of signing 10,000 Melbourne members in the next few years, an ambitious goal given there were just 4400 last season. He expects the figure to reach 6000 after the club's first match in Melbourne on Saturday and, given good on-field performances, to get to 10,000 within the next three years.
But given it is 23 years since the Swans migrated to Sydney, the core of former South Melbourne supporters is ageing. Where does the next generation of Melbourne-based Swans fans come from?
Morwood says people who have moved from Sydney to Melbourne, kids who like watching the Swans on television and, most significantly, the children and grandchildren of South Melbourne supporters will keep the link alive. He cites the case of one of the mascots for tomorrow's game. The young boy wrote to the club telling how his recently deceased grandfather had given him his first Swans jumper when he was two years old.
"We've got even more support down here than Brisbane [who merged with Fitzroy], but they've done a terrific job harnessing that," says Morwood. "It was costing them somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000 to run their Melbourne operation and now they are doing well out of it."
Besides the potential financial benefits, the Swans' Melbourne fans provide a competitive advantage on match days. The great frustration for those fans is that the Swans do not play in Melbourne more often. Sydney will play just five times in Melbourne this year, plus a game against Geelong at Skilled Stadium.
Morwood says: "It's another eight weeks before our next game here. I think it's important for the team to be playing here, too, because, in the end, this is where you've got to win finals. This is where you win it."
By Richard Hinds
April 30, 2004
When the Swans run onto the MCG for tomorrow's important match against Essendon, they will enjoy, as usual, the vocal support of their strong group of Melbourne fans.
In a crowd expected to be in excess of 50,000, about one-third will be barracking for the Swans. Last year, at matches against Carlton and Melbourne, it seemed there were more fans backing Sydney than the home teams.
Such a strong show of support is not new. Since they reached the 1996 grand final, many of the disenfranchised South Melbourne supporters still angry about the club's relocation returned to the fold. The Swans have worked hard to welcome them back.
However, this year the club has taken its efforts to retain and recruit Melbourne supporters to a new, more professional, level. "It's something that is obviously an asset to us," Swans chairman Richard Colless says. "And rather than run it at a cost as it has been in the past, we're looking at it as a source of profit."
To that end, the Swans hired former star half-forward Tony Morwood as their Melbourne manager. After completing his outstanding playing career, Morwood returned to live in Melbourne in 1991 but continued his involvement with the club, acting in recent times as master of ceremonies at club functions.
Advertisement
Advertisement
While Morwood says the Swans' efforts to cater for the old South Melbourne fans - and any other Melbourne-based supporters - have been appreciated, one of his goals is to make them feel as valuable as the Sydney-based members.
"We had a family day and the coach and the top 10 players came down," he says. "It was really a step up on what we'd done for people here before.
"I think in the past there was a feeling that what was done for the fans in Sydney was always pretty spiffo, but in Melbourne they had to watch the dollars."
That was largely because it was costing the club money to service its Melbourne membership.
Morwood has set about correcting that. At the family day, $11,000 worth of merchandise was sold. Only $4000 worth had been sold through the club in the whole of last year.
Morwood has set the target of signing 10,000 Melbourne members in the next few years, an ambitious goal given there were just 4400 last season. He expects the figure to reach 6000 after the club's first match in Melbourne on Saturday and, given good on-field performances, to get to 10,000 within the next three years.
But given it is 23 years since the Swans migrated to Sydney, the core of former South Melbourne supporters is ageing. Where does the next generation of Melbourne-based Swans fans come from?
Morwood says people who have moved from Sydney to Melbourne, kids who like watching the Swans on television and, most significantly, the children and grandchildren of South Melbourne supporters will keep the link alive. He cites the case of one of the mascots for tomorrow's game. The young boy wrote to the club telling how his recently deceased grandfather had given him his first Swans jumper when he was two years old.
"We've got even more support down here than Brisbane [who merged with Fitzroy], but they've done a terrific job harnessing that," says Morwood. "It was costing them somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000 to run their Melbourne operation and now they are doing well out of it."
Besides the potential financial benefits, the Swans' Melbourne fans provide a competitive advantage on match days. The great frustration for those fans is that the Swans do not play in Melbourne more often. Sydney will play just five times in Melbourne this year, plus a game against Geelong at Skilled Stadium.
Morwood says: "It's another eight weeks before our next game here. I think it's important for the team to be playing here, too, because, in the end, this is where you've got to win finals. This is where you win it."
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