The AFL has announced a record-breaking club membership figure of 1.1 million members.

AFL chief executive, Gillon McLachlan, announced the new record yesterday, with the 1,113,441 members surpassing the previous record of 1,057,572 that was set in 2019.

The 2021 total consists of 726,897 adults, 99,807 concessional members and 286,737 juniors, with one in 23 Australians now a member of an AFL club.

“On behalf of the AFL, I want to say thank you to every single person who has signed up this year.” McLachlan said.

“The connection that footy supporters have with their clubs is unmatched in world sport.

“The COVID pandemic has meant we have had another challenging season with border closures, crowd caps, no crowds, week by week fixtures, moving matches and even home games in different states, but the one constant has been the loyalty and unwavering support of members,” he said.

Growth was achieved by 16 of the 18 clubs, with 10 AFL clubs breaking their all-time records: Brisbane, Carlton, Geelong, Gold Coast, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Richmond, St Kilda, and West Coast.

West Coast topped the AFL membership tally for the second straight year exceeding 100,000 members, with the reigning premiers Richmond, also surpassing 100,000 members.

AFL executive general manager of customer and commercial, Kylie Rogers, said: “Regardless of the hurdles, when the opportunity has been available the members have continued to sign up and turn out.”

“With AFL matches having nine of the top 10 attendances in Australian sport since the pandemic, including at the time, the biggest attended sporting event in the world for the Anzac Day match at the MCG.”

“On behalf of the AFL and all the clubs, thank you to all the members for your ongoing support and commitment to your clubs and the game,” she said.