Sunday’s Collingwood-West Coast game at the MCG drew the second biggest home-and-away crowd ever for a contest between the sides.
The official attendance of 52,560 fell just short of eclipsing the previous best for a Magpies-Eagles home-and-away game, which was set in round 10, 2008 when 52,968 watched the Magpies win by 100 points at the MCG.
The 1990 drawn qualifying final (57,546) and the qualifying final replay (53,520) a week later, both at Waverley, sit number one and two on the list of biggest crowds ever for Collingwood-West Coast games, making the Magpies’ 52-point triumph on Sunday the fourth largest crowd the teams have played in front of together, including finals.
Collingwood supporters continue to flock to matches in awesome numbers, with the club averaging 70,647 to each of its six MCG matches so far in 2011. Three of those matches drew crowds in excess of 80,000 (round three v Carlton, round five v Essendon and round eight v Geelong).
This Saturday night’s highly anticipated clash of the 2010 grand final teams, a home game for Collingwood, promises to attract another massive crowd.
The Magpies sit second on the ladder with eight wins and one loss, while St Kilda has found form with two wins on the trot, including an impressive victory over Fremantle in Perth on the weekend.
In addition to attracting the biggest crowds of any team in the AFL, Collingwood continues to generate huge television audiences.
Collingwood’s membership currently sits at 70,465, a record for any club and the first time any club has ever surpassed 60,000 members.
