"But the term member is somewhat of a misnomer. There is no form of election, but the member elect planks down five shillings for a piece of cardboard, which franks him into the reserve on the local ground, and into the popular portion of the opposing ground.

For his dollar he thus obtains about a guinea's worth - a splendid investment. Of course, everyone realises this puesdo membership affects the gate, but the raison d'etre is that, almost without exception, the clubs are "stony" at the beginning of each season, and this inrush of members of the "almighty dollar" is thankfully accepted to restore a healthy shape to the depleted money-bags."

Referee (Sydney) May 27 1908, p9

Total Members

Year	Number	Cost	Other Information
1864	-	-	Club officially formed in July. There was a Carlton Football Club formed in May 1861. Perhaps it morphed into the Royal Park club as the Carlton Cricket Club did.
1865	40	-	Earliest recorded Carlton matches. However, there is anecdotal evidence of earlier games.
1866	-	-	Revision of playing rules. Carlton's Tom Power a leader in improving the rules. Jack Conway perhaps the Blues' most influential player begins his Carlton career.
1867	-	-	-
1868	-	-	Earliest known photo of any football team, Carlton Football Club.
1869	50 (in excess of)	-	Carlton premiers, this claim is disputed with Melbourne.
1870	50 (in excess of)	-	-
1871	68	-	Carlton premiers
1872	93	-	-
1873	-	-	Carlton premiers
1874	200-	-	Carlton premiers
1875	190	5/- shillings (50 cents)	Carlton premiers. 5/- approx $68 in 2019
1876	-	-	-
1877	215	-	Carlton premiers. Largest membership in the VFA. Albert Park 130 Formation of the VFA
1878	291	-	Largest in the VFA. Melbourne 200. Era of the Kelly Gang see Tom Gorman
1879	320	-	Largest in the VFA. Melbourne 200
1880	300	-	-
1881	-	-	-
1882	-	-	-
1883	-	-	-
1884	-	5 shillings	-
1885	-	-	-
1886	450	-	-
1887	-	-	Carlton premiers
1888	653	-	Earliest known "action" photo of Australian Football. Image of Carlton playing in Tasmania.
1889	-	-	Melbourne's property prices begin to collapse.
1890	1,186	-	-
1891	-	-	Severe economic depression 1891 - 1894
1892	-	-	-
1893	967	-	-
1894	604	-	-
1895	-	-	-
1896	298	5/- shillings (50 cents)	Carlton, final year of playing in the VFA.
1897	-		Carlton, a foundation member of the VFL
1898	-	-	-
1899	-	-	-
1900	473	-	-
1901	-	-	Federation January 01
1902	-	-	Women receive the right to vote in Federal elections
1903	473	-	-
1904	1,530	-	-
1905	1,870	-	-
1906	2,074	-	Full list of all member names download annual report - https://www.blueseum.org/1906+Annual+Report
1907	2,811	-	-
1908	4,247	-	-
1909	4,679	-	Largest in the VFL. South Melbourne 3,767
1910	3780	-	-
1911	-	-	-
1912	5,000	-	-
1913	5,098	-	-
1914	4,977	-	Revenue: £2,600 Largest membership in the League by 500 Total m/ship 28,363
1915	3,735	-	Ticket sales £933 World War 1
1916	-	-	VFL Membership Total 3,469# Revenue: £864 Due to WW1 Fours teams only contest the VFL season
1917	850	-	Carlton largest membership in VFL by 200. WW1
1918	-	5/- shillings (50 cents)	WW1 ends Nov 11. "Spanish" 'Flu (H1N1) pandemic sweeps Europe
1919	-	5/6 (55 cents)	Spanish 'Flu arrives in Aust.early Jan.15,000 deaths in Australia and more than 30 million world wide. Football continues. Pandemic ends mid year.
1920	5,624	5/6 (55 cents)	-
1921	7,156	5/- (50 cents)	-
1922	5,623	7/6 (75 cents)	-
1923	6,030	7/6 (75 cents)	Largest in VFL
1924	6,598	7/6 (75 cents)	Second largest just behind Essendon
1925	4,578	7/6 (75 cents)	4th largest in the VFL. Geelong 6,405
1926	5,482	7/6 (75 cents)	3rd largest in the VFL. Geelong 8,114
1927	7,200	7/6 (75 cents)	New club record Largest in the VFL. Gate receipts £2335 Membership tickets £2750
1928	7,400	7/6 (75 cents)	New club record. Largest in the VFL.
1929	6,470	-	Largest in the VFL.Great Depression. Aust. economy suffers badly during the 1930's
1930	5,844	8/- (80 cents)	Largest in the VFL.
1931	4,123	8/- (80 cents)	AGM Feb 04, Mr. J. Bailey a member for 50 years was presented with this years' ticket.
1932	5,382	8/- (80 cents) 18 matches & 6 prac. matches	Largest m/ship in VFL Australia's unemployment rate 32%
1933	6,114	8/4 (85 cents)	8/4 equals approx $42.00 in 2020. Largest membership in the VFL
1934	5,957	-	-
1935	5,996	8/4 (85 cents) child 5/- (50 cents)	G. Hooper 50 years a member & E. A. Powell for 57 years
1936	6,285	-	-
1937	6,142	-	-
1938	6,143	8/4 (85 cents)	-
1939	7,753	-	New club record. Largest in the VFL. WW2 begins Sept. 03
1940	5,937	-	Australia's unemployment 11% World War 2
1941	5,834	-	Second largest. Players paid £3 per match. WW2
1942	1,971	8/6	WW2 Darwin (N.T.) bombed Feb 19, first of 64 raids.
1943	3,705	8/6 (85 cents)	WW2 Collingwood 2,122
1944	4,747	8/6	WW2 Largest in the VFL. Collingwood 2,913
1945	9,617	10/6 ($1.05) child 5/- (50 cents)	WW2 ends August 15 Carlton premiers
1946	10,365	10/6 ($1.05) child 5/- (50 cents)	VFL record New club record, first club 10K plus. 10,365. 8,822 adults 1,543 students. in comparison the VFA total Membership 15,170
1947	11,213	10/6	Carlton premiers. New club record. VFL record "Carlton Football Club's huge membership, envy of all other League clubs is expected to be even larger this season." (Herald April 24 p24)
1948	9,821	13/6	"Carlton who have the biggest football club membership in Australia." Alf Brown Herald July 07.
1949	9,947	13/6 ($1.35) child 5/- (50 cents)	Largest membership in the League
1950	10,052	13/6 ($1.35)	-
1951	8,606	18/6 ($1.85)	-
1952	9,491	22/6 ($2.25)	PM Bob Menzies accepts No.1 membership ticket." To them (most club officials) Carlton represent the largest membership and the greatest drawing power of any club in the League." Argus Aug 27 p8
1953	9,371	22/6 ($2.25) child 7/6 (75 cents)	Mr. Arthur E. Page (88 in June) received his 71st consecutive members ticket Some years before, he had presented Carlton with a set of members tickets dating back to 1874. (Herald March 04 p26) KIngs Cross London UK. An almost empty stolen purse was found in a rubbish bin, all it contained was a Carlton Football Club membership ticket No.5159. (Herald Dec 14 p9) A few weeks later the owner Elsie Mason of Elsternwick who has been a member for 50 years was reunited with her ticket. (Herald Jan 05 p14)
1954	8,659	25/- ($2.50) child 7/6 (75 cents)	-
1955	9,872	-	-
1956	8,259	30/- ($3.00) child 10/- ($1.00)	-
1957	9,474	-	-
1958	8,718	-	-
1959	9,420	35/- ($3.50) child 10/- ($1.00)	-
1960	8,743	-	-
1961	8,989	-	-
1962	8,866	40/- ($4.00) child 10/- ($1.00)	-
1963	10,582	45/- ($4.50) child 10/- ($1.00)	-
1964	10,183	45/- ($4.50) child 10/- ($1.00)	"Carlton Club sell the most season tickets about 10,500, 40% of the buyers are women" Aust. Women's Weekly May 06 p23
1965	8,191	60/- ($6.00) child 10/- ($1.00)	-
1966	7,041	$6.00 child $1.00	-
1967	7,626	$6.00 child $1.00	Last year of entry of membership tickets to both home and away games. $6.00 is approx equal to $72.00 in 2020
1968	5,724	$5.00 child $1.00	Lowest total since 1944 Entry to home matches only. Carlton premiers.
1969	9,668	$5.00 child $1.50	-
1970	8,678	-	Carlton premiers
1971	10,019	-	-
1972	10,065	$6.00 child $1.50	Carlton premiers
1973	12,477	-	New club record
1974	11,618	$9.00 child $1.50	-
1975	11,712	$10.00 child $1.50	-
1976	9,548	$15.00 pensioner/student $5.00 child $1.50	-
1977	10,145	$15.00 pensioner/student $5.00 child $1.50	-
1978	10,003	$16.00 student $10.00 pensioner $5.00 child $2.00	-
1979	12,131	$17.50 student $10.00 pensioner $5.00 child $2.00	Carlton premiers
1980	12,029	$20.00 student $12.00 pensioner $5.00 child $2.50	-
1981	12,614	$25.00 student $15.00 pensioner $4.00 child $3.00	Carlton premiers New club record
1982	13,458	$30.00 student $17.00 pensioner $5.00 child $4.00	Carlton premiers New club record
1983	13,071	$40.00 student $22.00 pensioner $7.00 child $5.00	-
1984	12,723	$40.00 student $22.00 pensioner $7.00 child $5.00	-
1985	13,571	$40.00 student $22.00 pensioner $7.00 child $5.00	-
1986	15,279	$40.00 student $22.00 pensioner $7.00 child $5.00	New club record
1987	11,118	$48.00 concession $ 22.00	Carlton premiers
1988	10,877	$50.00	-
1989	10,343	$54.00	-
1990	10,457	$58.00	-
1991	12,736	-	-
1992	12,354	-	-
1993	14,856	-	-
1994	15,113	-	-
1995	18,581	-	Carlton premiers New club record
1996	23,278	-	New club record
1997	24,984	-	New club record
1998	25,402	-	New club record
1999	25,719	-	New club record
2000	27,571	-	New club record
2001	27,725	-	New club record
2002	26,503	-	-
2003	33,253	-	New club record
2004	32,445	-	-
2005	33,534	-	New club record
2006	28,756	-	-
2007	35,341	-	New club record
2008	39,360	-	New club record
2009	43,294	-	New club record
2010	40,296	-	-
2011	43,771	-	New club record
2012	45,800	-	New club record
2013	50,561	-	New club record
2014	47,485	-	-
2015	47,305	-	-
2016	50,202	-	-
2017	50,557	-	-
2018	56,005	-	New club record
2019	64,269	$215 home games (general admission*)	New club record. COVID-19 detected in China late in the year.
2020	67,035	-	New club record. COVID-19 pandemic halts all matches after Rnd 1 until June 13. No crowds. After Rnd 5 all Carlton games played in QLD, SA & WA with reduced quarters, a 17 Round comp. and limited crowds. Fifth on AFL membership tally.
2021	81,302	-	New club record, 5th largest in AFL. COVID-19 lockdowns still affecting the AFL fixturing & attendance. 22 rounds, full length games resumed. 100yo Aileen Castillo, a member for 87 years talks to David Teague: https://www.carltonfc.com.au/video/853549/aileen-s-special-100th-birthday?videoId=853549&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1611601200001-
2022	88,776	-	New club record. 4th largest in AFL, 14,121 behind leader West Coast. AFL extended the membership cut-off date from July 31 to August 31

Note: 2022 record broken 05 May 2023, 88,777 Final tally for 2023 is 95,277. 4th largest in AFL. 11,193 behind leader Collingwood. Over the years, increasingly Carlton began to create membership campaigns in support of each annual membership drive. (see below) .* Various packages available.

• Excludes Melbourne

.*** total not finalised.

1. Referee August 18 1917 (p1)

Trove; Age April 24 1931 (p13) Despite winning the flag in 1927,1928, 1929 & 1930 Collingwood's membership languished behind many clubs. The Blues topped the membership ladder in those years Once again the Blues are top of the membership list. Trove; Herald March 23 p23 1950

How your membership contributes to the bottom line and governance of your AFL team.

Article compares Carlton of 1910 with 2022 and other clubs. To read The Age article, 23 June 2023 by Cody Atkinson and Sean Lawson click link. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-23/what-membership-means-to-afl-clubs/102513546 _

Links

Supporters | Membership Campaigns