Membership cracks 30,000 mark
4:11 PM Tue 3 July, 2007
By Michael Tormey,
for richmondfc.com.au
THE RICHMOND Football Club has cracked the 30,000-member milestone for the first time. The Tigers fell just under 600 members short of the figure last season, but a 2 per cent rise has pushed that to 30,044 in 2007.
The result is a huge boon for the club and shows that ts fans are among the most loyal in the competition, a point reiterated by coach Terry Wallace.
"We're really pleased to hit 30,000 members for the first time as a club," Wallace said on Tuesday.
"I think in the circumstances of where we are on the ladder I reckon it's a real credit to our supporters, who have continued to come to games.
"They've been really vibrant and they have a real understanding of what it is we're trying to do as a club. They've done that by joining up and giving us our highest membership ever … and I reckon they deserve a real pat on the back for what they've done with us this year."
Wallace said Tigers fans had been unfairly maligned over the years and the fact the club had been able to achieve record membership numbers during a season in which they hade won just one game to round 13 was a sign of the fans' undoubted passion and belief in where the team was headed.
"They are passionate and when things aren't going well they'll let you know, but when things are going well they'll let you know as well.
"But I think they have been terrific in understanding what we are trying to achieve. Unfortunately it takes time and it takes a little bit of patience.
"I know football and patience aren't two words that go together too well but I think the Tigers supporters have shown they have a pretty good understanding of that."
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