Power wants members to cough up

New Port Adelaide Power coach Ken Hinkley wants members to help beef up the football department. Picture: Calum Robertson Source: News Limited

NEW Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has been promised a beefed-up football department at Alberton - and it is going to fall on the Power members to deliver.

As Port strives to catch up in the "arms race" in AFL football spend and knows every cent spent at Alberton is heavily scrutinised by its SANFL and AFL underwriters, the members stand as an untapped resource.

Hinkley is expecting a $1.5 million boost to his program at Alberton. Even this uplift will not get the Power into the top half of the AFL football department spend that has broken through the $20 million barrier with Collingwood's budgets.

As Hinkley this week starts Port's pre-season with an AFL-funded game against the Western Bulldogs in London, the Power will launch its 2013 membership campaign directly appealing to 50,000 fans.

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Beyond buying a membership, the fans will be asked to contribute directly to Hinkley's budgets through the member-driven "Port Adelaide Premiership Fund".

Port chief executive Keith Thomas says the fund will be used to "increase the amount we spend on football from near the bottom of the AFL and make the team more competitive in time for the move to Adelaide Oval in 2014".

Thomas also wants to fund an academy at Alberton to strengthen Port's professional development of local football and ensure Port is seen across the AFL as "the employer of choice".

"We have already shown investing in football is a top priority," said Thomas.

Beyond Hinkley, Port has returned fitness coach Darren Burgess to Alberton after his international football experiences.

The Power finally has a coaching director with the appointment of the experienced Alan Richardson.

"But the reality is we are still well behind almost all of our rivals when it comes to our football spend," said Thomas. "We want our members to buy into the program to deliver the success they want."

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