Despite going on to be crowned A-League champions, Victory averaged home crowds of only 17,631 during the 2017/18 campaign, almost 5,000 down on average from the previous season.

The figure was Victory’s worst since the 2010/11 campaign when they averaged crowds of 15,234. It was also the first time they’d drop below 20,000 since 2010/11 too.

The club’s 2017/18 membership figure was 26,095 and they’re currently above 20,000 for the upcoming campaign.

Last week Victory bolstered their playing stocks with the marquee signing of Japanese superstar Keisuke Honda which will aid their attempts to boost their figures.

The club have made it clear that Honda’s signing was primarily around his on-field ability but his profile will also be a marketing boost.

Victory are hosting two derbies this season and Jacobs was confident they’d be able to turn around the downward trend which was felt across the league last term.

“We had a rollercoaster type of season,” Jacobs told FourFourTwo. “We delivered the season a bit differently last season with all five of our Etihad Stadium games at the front end of the year, which we hadn’t done previously.

“Unfortunately we didn’t have one registered win at Etihad Stadium which had an impact on member attendances and daily sales by the time we reached the final Etihad Stadium game of the season.

“It’s fair to say we were also impacted by some inclement weather and extreme weather. We had three games for the first time I can remember that were heavily impacted by rain. From the polar extreme, we had a day down at Geelong that was 45 degrees.

Trent Jacobs embraces Victory captain Carl Valeri. Ashley Perez Photography

“We certainly had an indifferent year and some of that was out of our control, some was in our control.

“We had a rollercoaster year in terms of performances as well, so we probably weren’t as consistent as we have been in other Championship-winning years.

“They’re some of the reasons, not necessarily excuses, why our crowds may have been down.

“We understand that and it’s going to be a keen focus for us as we build towards the 2018/19 season.

“We recognise the authenticity and 90 minutes of the football that we deliver weekly is critical, we understand that our members and fans are looking for a broader experience as well.

“We’ll see some interesting themes and opportunities inside and outside the stadium next year that we’ll look to implement.

“We’ll retain a lot of our staples. We’ll have two home derbies in the 2018/19 year, we’ll retain our Australia Day clash against Sydney, we’ll look to invest in Remembrance Round.

“We recognise some of the challenges but first and foremost we want to deliver an incredible quality of football. From there, we’ll look to build an experience around that.”

Jacobs has long been part of Victory’s administration general management but was promoted to CEO in March following Ian Robson’s departure.

He said he understood the importance of re-engaging the club’s active supporter group.

The North Terrace ceased their support in November 2016 following cited “unsustainable and untenable” impositions by the club.

Victory last month announced changes to aid their active support, including the introduction of designated bays called "North End Standing" bays.

“We’ve been working closely with a new leadership group across the 2017/18 season,” Jacobs said.

“We started to see a return of the atmosphere of our North End active. We’d like to think this will lead to the continued growth of the North End active area for 18/19.

“We acknowledge the 16/17 season saw very limited North End active supporters but we’re confident we’ll continue to see growth next season.”

Less than 7,000 fans attended March's AFC Champions League clash with Kawasaki Frontale

Jacobs added he was hopeful the club’s Championship triumph would help boost their figures too.

“You get a pseudo halo effect into the 2018/19 season and some of that will hopefully flow through from a membership acquisition perspective,” he said.

“We hope it will flow through in the early games of the season.

“In terms of sponsorship we have a large proportion of our kit based inventory already secured. We may not see a significant impact sponsorship-wise.

“It’s likely our front of shirt sponsor may be available. That’ll be a property we might work to see if we can get some benefits.

“For us it’s about what our football club does. Our club prepares and builds a squad for success.

“Our members and fans, who are incredibly loyal, whilst they enjoyed the 2017/18 success, they’ll be eagerly awaiting the 2018/19 season and expecting further success. That’s where our focus is at.”