Talking Footy

Fantastic news on the game's development front, particularly when you consider the increased interest created in Soccer after the World Cup.

[quote]More chase Sherrin than before
Jake Niall | June 20, 2007
http://realfooty.com.au/news/news/we-lo ... 17471.html

WHILE Australia's appearance at soccer's World Cup took the round-ball code to new levels of popularity, the AFL has released figures saying that Australian football has never been as popular as now, and that it has nearly 200,000 more participants than soccer.

On Friday, the AFL's game development department will present participation figures to the commission that show the game has more than 600,000 players for the first time.

Forecast figures for 2007 say Australian football has 615,549 players compared with soccer's estimated 426,000 participants (the latter revealed by that game's chief executive and former AFL executive Ben Buckley). The AFL total included about 150,000 registered Auskick players, whose number grew by 11,000 in 2007.

The AFL total figure in 2006 was 581,839 â€â€

Garbage figures. Complete and absolute garbage figures.

That doesn't equate at all with thenumber of clubs that have been lost at thegrass roots level. And I wonder what the figures say about retention rates? The turnover will be much bigger now that it ever was as the Auskick figures fail to translate in senior footy clubs. But of course they don't go after figures like that!

The only states where a rise is likely over the long term would be in NSW and Queensland. In all other states - especially Victoria - it will have fallen. Long term. We've past the bottom of the barrel may be, but I would like to see the figures for seniors only. THAT is where the problem is!