THE Club has already signed more than 11,500 members just a few weeks after launching the 2011 membership campaign which urges fans to ‘Love their Swans’.

The number of members is well ahead of the figure at the same time last year, as Swans fans get on board after a strong 2010 season where the team finished fifth.

Sydney Swans chief executive Andrew Ireland said the figure of 11,508, as of today, is more than 2500 ahead of the same time last year.

“We’re so pleased to see our fans showing their enthusiasm for next season by getting in early and renewing their membership,’’ Ireland said.

“We’ve also signed a significant number of keen new members, and this has been helped by some very loyal existing members who have done a fantastic job of ‘recruiting’ for us by nominating their mates.

“At the moment our top recruiter has helped us to sign 10 new members under our ‘nominate your mate’ scheme,’’ he said.

But Ireland emphasised there was still much work to do to reach the Club’s 2011 membership target of 35,000.

Sydney Swans coach John Longmire wants all members to know how much their support is appreciated, and how vital it is to his plans for a strong 2011 season.

“Make no mistake, if you buy a membership, you help our players perform on the field. With memberships, the money goes directly to our Club and our football department, which gives us the resources to get the best out of the team,’’ Longmire said.

Longmire says everyone at the Swans would love to see a record number of members signing up for what is shaping as an exciting season ahead.

“Each season we want to get better as a team on the field, and we’d love for you to be a part of helping us reach our targets off the field too,’’ he said.

“The players have been training extremely hard during the pre-season, they’re all very driven to be better than they were in 2010 and a number of them including Nick Malceski and Brett Meredith have been running personal best times.

“And when we got the footballs out for game training last week, the boys eyes lit up with enthusiasm.’’

The Swans thank their fans for showing the same level of enthusiasm as the players by signing up as members - but the pre-season is not over yet on the track, or in our membership department.

We have ambitious targets and we need you to help us meet them. A Swans membership is the perfect Christmas gift, so find out HERE how you can give a Swans fan the perfect present.