NO WONDER THESE GUYS ARE SMILING AFTER THE RELEASE OF YESTERDAY'S OFFICIAL MEMBERSHIP FIGURES PORT Adelaide is no longer a basket case after securing the No. 1 mantle for AFL memberships in the SA market.
And that critical change in image - just three years after being on football's death row - will propel Power president David Koch's mission to get his club off the AFL's welfare system from next season. "We are not a cot case - we are a club to be proud of," Koch told The Advertiser last night.
Koch reaffirmed the Power would report a profit this season for the first time since 2007 after using its new image on the national stage to sign record corporate backing. 
CONTINUED PAGE 61 Port Adelaide now the team for more South Australians FROM BACK PAGE Port Adelaide has claimed Adelaide's long-standing title of the best-supported AFL club in the SA market - by membership numbers. The AFL audit has the Power with 54,057 members, up 86 per cent on the AFL club's record low of 29,092 in 2010.
The count is ahead of the Crows (52,920, down 2.45 per cent on last season) for the first time since Adelaide became a two-team town in 1997.
Adelaide chief executive Andrew Fagan described the figures as "interesting but not relevant". He emphasised the Crows this season had deliberately cut sales of 11-game memberships at Adelaide Oval by 2500 to allow more fans to access the venue.
Fagan listed sell-outs at the Oval - where the Crows repeatedly sell 52,000 tickets - and fan engagement as more important to his club.
Port Adelaide's crowd figures at Adelaide Oval are at club records too - 44,319 this season compared with 44,364 last year. The Crows' home attendance is 46,673 this season, slightly down on last year's league best of 48,046.
Port Adelaide chief executive Keith Thomas described the change in the SA membership landscape as confirmation of the Power having a genuine, sustainable model to not only survive but thrive in the AFL.
He paid tribute to the club's former board, led by Brett Duncanson, that in 2010 pushed for the reunification of the Power in the AFL and Magpies in the SANFL as "One Port Adelaide" at Alberton.
"We were told Port Adelaide's brand couldn't attract enough members and supporters to remain sustainable," Thomas said. "This justifies our 'One Club' unification." The membership figures will drive much debate on how the AFL counts the 18 clubs' members. The audit recognises only those who paid at least $50 for their membership, had a ticket to at least one game and had their name and address listed in a club data base.
The Port Adelaide and Adelaide numbers are significantly different to the 60,475 listed at Alberton and 65,000 at West Lakes. There is a "double-count" of 8000 - those with seats in Adelaide Oval's western stand - in both memberships before the audit.
The AFL still could not get an accurate split on these 8000 and assigned them on historical data 66-34 (5280-2720) in favour of the Crows.
Port Adelaide's "extra" 6000 members include the 5280 Oval members and 600 pet memberships. The audited figure has 38,500 11-game members and 5000 three-game members. There is no one-game package. Adelaide has 42,000 11-game members.
POWER 54,057 CROWS 52,920
AFL MEMBERSHIP CLUB 2014 2015 CHANGE %CHANGE Collingwood 79,347 75,037 -4310 -5.43% Hawthorn 68,650 72,924 4274 6.23% Richmond 66,122 70,809 4687 7.09% Essendon 60,646 60,818 172 0.28% West Coast 58,529 60,221 1692 2.89% Port Adelaide 48,968 54,057 5089 10.39% Adelaide 54,249 52,920 -1329 -2.45% Fremantle 48,777 51,433 2656 5.45% Sydney 40,126 48,836 8710 21.71% Carlton 47,485 47,305 -180 -0.38% Geelong 43,803 44,312 509 1.16% North Melbourne 39,060 41,012 1952 5.00% Melbourne 35,911 35,953 42 0.12% W Bulldogs 31,538 35,222 3684 1 1.68% St Kilda 30,739 32,746 2007 6.53% Brisbane 24,012 25,408 1396 5.81% Gold Coast 13,478 13,643 165 1.22% GWS Giants 13,040 13,480 440 3.37% TOTAL 804,480 836,136 31,656 3.93% Source: AFL audit 2015 * Member defined as fan who spends at least $50 on a package with a game ticket and has name and address recorded at club.
ADELAIDE OVAL Crowds at AFL home-and-away games since the rebuild at Adelaide Oval last year. 2015 2014 CROWS 46,673 48,046POWER 44,319 44,364