Friday 8 January 2016

Why aren't you a member?

After reading the call to arms a few weeks ago, and more recently HNK Hajduk Split explaining why it is important to become a member of the club it really made me wonder why we don't have a lot more members than we currently do. Is it that people don't understand what comes with being aa member, or is just that interest in our club is genuinely that low?

Fans of many clubs around the world would die for what we have. Something perhaps our community can better understand is the ongoing struggle of Dinamo Zagreb fans. A club that has been hijacked by one family for their own financial benefit, and there is almost nothing any of the members can do about it. Something that at our club would not have lasted, because the members hold the power.

How many A-league fans would like to have what we have? I bet there is a fair number of them that would pay any price to own a share of their club. To be able to put their hand up and have their say on what goes on at the club. To decide who should run their club. But they can't. There isn't one person that can walk up to an A-league club, buy a membership of the shelf, and with that own a share of the club and be eligible to vote at general meetings.

Melbourne Knights Back to Back NSL Champions
WE CAN DO THIS! THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE! But for some reason it's like we just don't want it. People don't seem realise how lucky we really are. Our club is at least for me, and may be for a lot of fans, the club that you dream of. A club that through the blood, sweat and tears of it's members and volunteers was built from nothing, was twice crowned the best in Australia, is 100% member owned, and is worth more than most A-league clubs (even with their guaranteed 2.whatever million a year in TV rights).

For as little as $60 a year, you can own your share of the club. The same share as every other member in the club. You can put your hand up and be heard. You can have your say on the future of the club. You can decide who will run the club. The club is in our hands. So why aren't we jumping at it?

With talk of promotion and relegation increasing each day, the chance to return to the top fight and once again be crowned the best in Australia get's closer and closer. If and when that time comes, it is important for the club to be in a strong position, and one of the greatest measures of a club's strength is it's number of members. 

Don't allow our club to die a slow death. Don't wait until it is too late. Stand up, buy a membership, own a part of Australian football history, and most of all be proud to call this club your own. Because that is ultimately what it is!