The AFL’s off-field dramas haven’t stopped the competition’s 18 clubs cumulatively attracting more members this season than ever before.

The AFL on Thursday announced a record club membership tally of 756,717, a 6.94 per cent increase on last year.

Eleven clubs broke their own membership records, including Collingwood, whose 78,427 members are more than any club has had before.

Hawthorn (63,353) and Richmond (60,321) also topped the 60,000 mark.

The AFL’s two newest clubs, Greater Western Sydney (12,681) and Gold Coast (12,502), have tallies that are clearly the competition’s lowest, although both increased on last season.

Battlers Melbourne (33,177) and St Kilda (32,707) were the only two clubs to have membership decreases.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said membership remained the backbone of the game.