Passionate support for the Fremantle Dockers has seen the club’s loyal members help set a new membership record, The West Australian reported on Friday.
The club had 55,121 members as of Thursday.
“That is not only a record for the club and the first time we have gone past 55,000, it is in line with what we forecast for the 2018 season,” Fremantle CEO Steve Rosich told The West Australian.
While he acknowledged that Fremantle’s rebuild presented challenges, Rosich said when viewed in the context of the competition the club remained in a strong financial position
The shift to the new 60,000-seat Optus Stadium had been the catalyst.
“We had a very successful transition to the new stadium with less than three per cent of our members from the prior year not shifting,” Rosich told The West Australian.
“We are at capacity at both the top end and the affordable end of seating, but we still have some capacity to fill in the middle-range seats.
“In terms of our attendances we are currently averaging just under 46,000 for our home games (excluding the bought game against Gold Coast), which is around 14,000 higher than at Domain Stadium last year.
“Last season only four clubs had an average attendance of above 46,000. Optus Stadium has been a big driver of that.”
The size of the Purple Army has grown by more than seven per cent in 2018 and is 3000-plus more than the club’s previous record of 51,889 set in 2016.
To celebrate the membership record, Fremantle is offering members the chance to win a Grand Final package for either 2018 or 2019, with the winner selected from all members who attend the club’s remaining six homes games for 2018.
“A big thank you to all of our members for their outstanding support in 2018, which has seen the club set a new membership record,” Rosich said.
“We want to acknowledge that support by giving all members the chance to be in the running to win a fantastic prize by attending our remaining six home games at Optus Stadium.
The lucky winning member will win flights, accommodation and Grand Final tickets for two people.
The first of Freo’s six remaining home games kicks off on Sunday when Fremantle take on Adelaide at Optus Stadium.
The winner will be announced at half time on the ground at the Fremantle v Collingwood game in round 23.
