THE AFL has revealed that the all-time AFLW club membership record has been broken, reaching 21,319 members.
 
The new record surpasses the previous figure set last season of 20,849 and marks the fifth straight year an AFLW club membership milestone has been achieved since the competition was established in 2017.
 
Eight AFL clubs have also achieved record AFLW club membership in season 2021, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood, Fremantle, Geelong, Gold Coast and Western Bulldogs.

GOING TO THE FOOTY? All you need to know about COVID safety at AFLW games
 
The record number of AFLW club memberships comes following another week of strong crowd attendance numbers, with four sold-out games in round two (Western Bulldogs v Carlton, Collingwood v Geelong Cats, North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos v St Kilda and Brisbane Lions v Gold Coast) taking the total number of sold-out matches to seven across the first two-weeks of the 2021 NAB AFLW competition.

Pumped-up Blues fans show their support ahead of the round one clash between Carlton and Collingwood at Ikon Park on January 28. Picture: AFL Photos

Fans have also shown their support for female football at home, with a total average audience of over 1.7million Australians tuning into the broadcasts for rounds one and two of the NAB AFLW competition – an increase of nine per cent compared to the same time in 2020.
 
The opening Pride Round match between the Western Bulldogs and Carlton last Friday night recorded an average audience of 265,000 viewers (a 12 per cent increase compared to round two in 2020), marking the largest ever Friday night audience recorded outside season openers.

DREAM STREAM How to catch every AFLW match in 2021
 
AFL head of women's football Nicole Livingstone expressed her thanks to clubs, players and football fans across the country for their continued support of women's football.

The fifth season of AFLW has already experienced a strong start, with high ratings, high scores, sold-out matches and now record AFLW Club membership numbers, so we’re excited to see this energy for female football continue to grow throughout the rest of the 2021 season

- Nicole Livingstone

"I want to acknowledge the passion and dedication of everyone in the football community in supporting the 2021 NAB AFL Women's Competition," Ms Livingstone said.

"It's fantastic to see football fans from across the country show their support for the NAB AFLW competition and get behind their teams, whether that be through club membership, attendance at games or tuning in at home, thanks to the continued support of our broadcast partners, Seven, Fox and Telstra.
 
"The fifth season of AFLW has already experienced a strong start, with high ratings, high scores, sold-out matches and now record AFLW club membership numbers, so we're excited to see this energy for female football continue to grow throughout the rest of the 2021 season."
 
AFLW club memberships are still available for purchase for the 2021 NAB AFLW season, with AFLW club members gaining free entry to home matches throughout the year.

Magpies fans show their support ahead of the round one clash between Carlton and Collingwood at Ikon Park on January 28. Picture: AFL Photos

Tickets for round three's opening match between Geelong and Western Bulldogs at GMHBA Stadium will go on sale to home members at 12pm (local time), followed by general public sales at 1pm (local time) on Thursday February 11.

GET YOUR TICKETS Why you must secure your seat in advance
 
Tickets for the remaining round three matches will go on sale to home club members at 10am (local time), followed by general public sales at 11am (local time) on Friday, February 12.
 
Visit womens.afl for all AFLW match and ticketing information.

Did you head to the footy over the weekend? Tell us your thoughts! Take the survey now