AS I LOOKED over the half-empty Telstra Dome last Friday night, my mind went back 25 years.
It was a cold April day and the damp chill from the old wooden VFL Park seats was already seeping through the blankets into our bones.
I’m not sure why, but we had made the trip to Waverley to watch Geelong play St Kilda.
Two ordinary sides. Even taking into account the superdogs and sauce, it was a day for diehards.
My father struck up a conversation with an elderly St Kilda supporter sitting a couple of rows back.
This old chap didn’t have a lot of hope for his club. It was halfway through a decade with few wins and even fewer dollars (Save our Saints and 22 cents in the dollars), but he would follow them anyway – accompanied only by a scarf and transistor radio.
Listening to the old bloke I felt genuine empathy for another team’s supporter for the first time.
St Kilda fans probably don’t need reminding how tough football life was in the early 80s, but neither should they forget the perilous situation the club was in. The Saints were often mentioned as potential candidates for mergers or relocation.
The early and late 90s at least bought some hope, and finals appearances under Ken Sheldon and Stan Alves. I had no idea there was that many St Kilda supporters waiting to come out of the woodwork.
After another period of disaster the Saints became the first team to truly recognise the importance of the draft (Riewoldt and Koschitzke at selections one and two obviously helped) and put together an exciting team.
Under Grant Thomas the brand of football was attacking, and a premiership seemed inevitable. Membership and attendances swelled. There was a vibrancy and pride you could feel walking into shops and factories in the southern suburbs.
The premiership didn’t arrive and we all know what happened next. The rights and wrongs are for another day, but the going has been more difficult under Ross Lyon.
Fortunately sound management has seen debt reduced and with long-term sponsors in place it appears the club is in good shape.
But football clubs remain fragile. Bad financial decisions can hurt severely. Even Collingwood looks set to record a deficit this year.
St Kilda still doesn’t have its training base completely confirmed for the future. What happens if this group of players falls short, and doesn’t even threaten for the flag again? How would their fans cope with another re-build?
Last week’s St Kilda-Fremantle crowd of 22,440 was the lowest Friday night crowd in almost five years. It was also the Saints' lowest home crowd in Melbourne since 2003.
It was 1560 less than when the teams played in round 21 at the same venue on a Saturday last year. Their previous meeting before that at the Dome in 2004 attracted 35,000.
Okay so it wasn’t a great night, and it was against a struggling Fremantle. But the signs are there. Numbers are dropping off.
Membership is crucial, and so are attendances when it comes to negotiating stadium deals.
It was great to see Ross Lyon put his own stamp on the club by omitting Nick Dal Santo last week.
With the injuries and omissions it was a reasonable and successful strategy for last week’s game.
Of course Lyon will argue it’s not about being defensive, simply playing two-way football.
Unfortunately the fans and players remember how much more fun footy was under Thomas. It’s a bit like going back to vegemite on toast for breakfast after eating bacon and eggs.
If the Saints continue to play that way under Lyon, it had better produce results.
At least last Friday night there was a lift in passion. Unfortunately there just weren’t as many people there to see it.
I’m not sure what became of the old man at Waverley but if he is still around he will be following the Saints through thick and thin.
Just in case things don’t go as planned, let’s hope there are plenty of others like him.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
