Collingwood's decision to withhold their membership figures for the 2018 season could be due to poor sales in comparison to previous years, former Melbourne captain Garry Lyon believes.
Lyon appeared on SEN Breakfast to voice his opinion on why the Magpies refuse to disclose their membership figures and believes maybe they aren't satisfied with the numbers and that the public's perception of the club would be a negative one.
“Apparently the membership figures are not being given out because they have been on a bit of a decline,” Lyon told SEN Breakfast.
“Are they still one of the big four? They’re fourth at a guess on the membership behind Hawthorn, Richmond and Essendon.
“They’re sliding down the ladder a little bit. They haven’t played finals for four years ... I reckon it would be a concern.”
Collingwood held the all-time record of 79,347 memberships in 2014, before Richmond took over with a whopping 90,000 memberships this season, coming off of their historical premiership win.
It is believed that Collingwood are floating around the 65,000 figure mark right now, 10,000 fewer that their 2017 sales of 75,000, according to SEN.
The Pies are on their lonesome, being the only club left to publicise their figures in 2018.
Lyon believes that their memberships will rise as soon as the Magpies climb back into top-eight contention.
“As soon as they start winning again I’m sure they’ll roar back up the membership table,” Lyon explained.
“When your side doesn’t perform well in terms of wins and losses, you’re going to get a drop off in the back half of the year."