FRESH from a record-breaking come-from-behind win against the Bulldogs, St Kilda today created more history smashing through the 32,000 members mark.
This is the first time the Saints have seen an increase in membership since 2010 (a Grand Final year) and is a significant increase on last year’s total of 30,739.
Michael McKenzie is one of the most recent supporters to sign up, and having admittedly 'drifted away' from the club after being a member in 2009 and 2010, he was keen to get back on board this year.
"After 2009/10 I invested a lot of time in St Kilda. The Grand Finals took it out of me," McKenzie told SAINTS.com.au.
"I like what I see. We’re definitely heading in the right direction a) with the way we’ve recruited and b) with the transparency shown to the general public with re-building and not being a plodder or middle of the range the team."
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Passing the 32,000 milestone is the latest in a raft of positive announcements by St Kilda since the end of the 2014 season including:
- Re-signing 19 young players as part of Saints Future Fest
- Re-signing Nick Riewoldt until the end of 2016 and Jack Steven until the end of 2020
- Drafting No. 1 pick Paddy McCartin and recruiting former Swan Tim Membrey
- Signing Dare Iced Coffee and SEEK as new corporate partners
- Bringing the popular Ahmed Saad (rookie list) and Danny Frawley (defensive coach) back to the club
- Appointing Jamie Cox as GM – High Performance
Speaking ahead of the round seven clash with the Crows, Finnis said if the positive momentum continued the club could reach 35,000 members this year.
“Like the place where it was born, St Kilda Football Club is the great equaliser where everyone belongs - there’s something magic about being part of it and our supporters are really getting behind their club and becoming a member,” he said.
“We have had some great wins on and off-field but the reality is that there are more than 9,000 club members from the past five years or so who have not re-signed and hundreds of thousands of supporters who have never been a member that we need to have join the club,” he said.
“Now is the time to really get behind the club and be part of the regeneration that is taking place.”
St Kilda is also breathing rare membership air with the retention of 2014 members hitting 90 per cent - the best of the Victorian clubs.
Finnis said it was incredible that nine out of every 10 members from last season had signed back on.
“We knew St Kilda people were loyal and passionate but to have the best retention rate of any Victorian club is amazing,” he said.
“That said, we can’t stop because, put simply, we need more members. We are committed to taking the club to our supporters in new and engaging ways because we want to reconnect with our large fan base and get this club back to where we all want it to be.”
You can’t buy drama like this… Oh wait, maybe you can? http://t.co/Kf6KXaCpyg http://t.co/xRdmSpwDev
— St Kilda FC (@stkildafc) May 12, 2015