Bob Robinson embodies what it means to be a Swans member. He has faithfully paid his membership dues for the last 28 years and has watched the club evolve from a Sydney curiosity to a perennial AFL powerhouse.
Robinson entered the ballot for grand final tickets, desperately hoping to land one of the Swans’ allocated 17,500 seats in a stadium that holds 100,024. But was unsuccessful.
Robinson and his wife, Denise, planned to make the long drive to Melbourne on Thursday without a ticket, happy just to soak up the atmosphere among fellow Swans tragics.
Happily, though, he managed to secure tickets at the last minute through family in Brisbane. He appreciates just how lucky he has been.
“In previous years, I was more confident,” Robinson said. “Because I had a membership, I always apply [for grand final tickets]. The reality always was that getting tickets wasn’t all that difficult to do in the past – it’s never been really hard.
“I’ve never missed out on the grand final before, but this time, I knew it would be harder. And I knew it would be harder because, one, we had a mountain of extra members, and two, because my view is that the Swans are now the hottest ticket in town.”
Sydney Swans fans celebrate after the siren against Port Adelaide.Credit: Getty Images
Nic Bulley, a university student from Balmain, grew up supporting the Swans, enjoying the rollercoaster ride of each season with his family. The 23-year-old will drive to Melbourne in the hope of securing a ticket.
Bulley, too, is frustrated by the club’s small allocation. Melbourne Cricket Club members will take 23,000 tickets, 15,500 of which will go to AFL members and 7,000 distributed under AFL contractual obligations.
“It’s pretty annoying,” Bulley said. “I feel like that’s been the case of the grand final for the past couple of years now, as it’s kind of accepted that it’s more of a corporate crowd and that it’s only 17,500 per team, so that’s only 35,000 proper members of the clubs [in the MCG].
“Then the rest of the stadium, a lot of them will probably be neutrals or invited because they’re a sponsor. It does take away a lot from the game, I feel, especially when you consider the grand final is the most important game of the whole year. But I guess that’s just how it is.”
AFL clubs have different tiers and prices of memberships, with the top tier guaranteeing members access to grand final tickets if their club is successful, and the rest of the members ending up in priority two and three.
The Swans’ priority-one tier is available to “Redback” members (limited to 200 fans and costing $1281 for the best seats in the SCG alongside other exclusive perks), cheer squad members who meet the attendance requirements, premiership club members (a sold-out $120 add-on to any full-season membership), SCG Premium members, BLOOD5 five-year members and life members.
About 23,000 Swans members registered for the ballot, with all priority-one members successful and 80 per cent of priority-two members getting tickets.
AFL Fans Association president Ron Issko has been consistently pushing for a greater allocation of tickets for fans.
In July, AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon announced an additional 1000 tickets would be allocated to fans of both competing clubs, but Issko hopes for an even greater increase in the future to ensure more members get a chance to barrack for their club in the biggest game of the year at the MCG.
“There’s a lot of fans, and even clubs, saying for the members of the two competing clubs, there’s not enough tickets”, Issko said. “There are too many going to the corporates, too many go to sponsors, too many go to MCC members, too many go to the AFL members, and we want more of those fans that have been there every week in rain, hail or shine to get tickets.”
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