TIGERS COP 20-YEAR WORST IN SIGN OF LOOMING DARK TIMESThe rise of the Richmond Army through their dynasty era at the end of the 2010s was something to behold.
Those first two finals in 2017, with 95,028 at the qualifying final vs Geelong and then 94,258 at the preliminary final vs GWS were incredible atmospheres - particularly when the latter was 99% fans of the yellow and black persuasion.
The good times have rolled since then, and even over the last one and a half seasons, the Tigers have enjoyed five crowds of over 80,000 with a staggering 92,311 making the trip to the MCG for Dustin Martin’s 300th.
But that may have been the last visit to the ground some Tigers fans are planning to make for some time.
Sunday’s loss to GWS saw a 20-year low for a Richmond home game at the home of football (excluding the Covid seasons), with just 19,040 making the trip to the MCG.
It’s a figure admittedly impacted by a cold and wet day, but it’s also their worst figure since Round 12, 2004 and a loss to Fremantle.
At that time the Tigers were battling through a third consecutive poor campaign, and there would be eight more seasons without finals footy until their 2013 return.
There’s been much less pain to this point, though they are sitting 18th for the first time in club history, so you can understand why Richmond fans aren’t particularly motivated to watch their side in person right now.
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Richmond’s lowest MCG crowds this century19677 vs Fremantle, Rd 3 2003
19519 vs Fremantle, Rd 19 2002
19226 vs Adelaide, Rd 18 2010
19040 vs GWS, Rd 18 2024
18666 vs Fremantle, Rd 12 2004
Covid-impacted 2020 and 2021 seasons excluded---------
Crowd figures like this will spark some suggestions the game should’ve been played at the smaller (and warmer) Marvel Stadium, but that’s a poor idea for competitive balance reasons.
After all, if we just always send the smaller non-Victorian teams to Marvel, they’ll never get to sample the MCG; this was just the Giants’ third win at the ground this decade, and they’ve been a solid team for much of that period.
Just like Hawthorn had enormous membership bases and crowd figures during their glory years, and then saw much lower numbers over the past half-decade, the Tigers are set for a lull.
Winning always dictates these things. That’s just the reality of footy fandom.
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