Essendon supporters have rallied strongly behind the club in the lead up to the 2000 season with memberships double what they were at the same time leading into the 1999 season.

As of midday, Essendon Football Club had sold 12,506 memberships for 2000 compared with 6,056 at the same time last year.

Essendon membership manager Bernadette Dargan is understandably thrilled with the membership rush.

"It is fantastic to see these people throwing their support behind the club. Members are the lifeblood of AFL clubs and Essendon is very fortunate to have such a strong supporter base," Dargan said.

Dargan said that 97 per cent of those people purchasing memberships were also buying reserved seats.

"The premium A seats have been very popular and we aren't far away from reaching capacity in that seating area," she said.

The reaction of supporters is a great vote of confidence as the club edges towards making its debut at Colonial Stadium.

Essendon will play nine games at Colonial Stadium next season (seven of those home games) while four of its blockbusters will be played at the MCG.

Existing seatholders have until the end of this week to ensure their arrangements from last season continue in 2000.

"We expect ticketing to be with people by the last week in January. That is a little slower than in previous years but it has come about because of the different ticketing arrangements," Dargan said.

She said the part-payment system had been particularly successful with a number of members choosing to take up the option.

"Christmas stretches everybody's budget so it was an option we put in place to try and ease that burden for people," Dargan said.