ONE IN 25 Australians are AFL club members, with the AFL on Monday celebrating AFL club membership numbers surpassing one million this year.

A total of 1,043,604 members have signed up to support their favourite club in 2022, surpassing the one million membership milestone 20 days ahead of the same time in 2021, in a year which saw the league achieve its all-time club membership record of 1,113,441.

The one million membership figure includes AFLW club membership which experienced an 89 per cent year-on-year growth to reach a record breaking 48,712 members for the first-time in the competition’s history.

The West Coast Eagles and Richmond continue to lead the membership tally with strong support from fans, while North Melbourne along with last year’s Grand Finalists Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs Football Clubs have achieved record-breaking club membership figures this season.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said the continued support for the game from fans across the country was a sign of football’s strong return in 2022.

"Australian Football is well and truly back across the country. With full capacity at every venue around the country, the return of general admission access, reserved seat members back in their seats, and now more than one million club members, we couldn’t be prouder of our start to the year," Mr. McLachlan said.

"On behalf of the AFL, I’d like to thank all 18 Clubs for their hard work in engaging with our fans across the country and to every club member whose passion and support makes footy the greatest game in the world."

AFL club memberships are still available, with fans able to sign up via www.afl.com.au/joinus