A New Melbourne War Ignites
By Amos Rojter on Wed, 04/08.2010
Australia’s Premier competition of Football begins this week, and it promises to be an exciting season ahead, particularly in Melbourne.
As the A-League continues to expand, it now features the all important ‘state civil-war’. Building on the Brisbane verse Gold Coast rivalry, we now have our own home grown grudge match, Victory verse Heart!
Melbourne will certainly benefit from a bit of healthy rivalry. Previously we looked to Adelaide and Sydney for our serve of spiteful chanting. While that won’t change, it does will only be a fraction of the tension we can expect between the two new neighbours. The winning team can chant the losing team all the way to their door-step. Expect to get home and hear ‘nahnah nah nah…nahnah nah nah…nah nah nah….goodbye’ as you shut the door.
Rivalries within the same city have a famous history in football. Glasgow has the Rangers and Celtic and London has Arsenal and Tottenham. Will Melbourve Victory against Melbourne Heart measure up to these? Unlikely but certainly not inconceivable!
Melbourne has great history when it comes to cross-city rivalries. Carlton and Collingwood in the AFL, South Melbourne and Melbourne Knights in the previous Soccer league, Melbourne Tigers and S.E Melbourne Magic late last decade in the NBL, and judging on the current rivalries with Sydney and Adelaide, the A-League may just be the next vehicle for a serious Melbourne divide.
It is hard to fathom just where Melbourne Heart is getting their supporters from. With the success of the Melbourne Victory so far in the first several years of the A-League, surely the majority of Melbourne’s football supporters are snapped up? Surely no fan would change teams? That is against sporting law is it not?
Somehow, some way, Melbourne Heart supporters are springing up around Melbourne, and vertical red and white striped shirts are becoming a feature of Melbourne’s sporting landscape. This is good news for the A-League, and great news for Melbourne football.
The first Melbourne derby is sure to be buzzing, and an electric atmosphere should be expected. There will be spite in the air, hatred, love, bitterness, hostility and plenty of chanting reflecting all of the above. The new stadium will allow fans to be closer to each other, to the players, and of course to the referee when he makes a (World Cup standard) bad call.
The first Melbourne derby will be an un-miss-able event in Victorian sporting history, and will hopefully set the tone for future meetings between Melbourne’s own A-League tenants.
How will the Heart go in their first season? Are you a Melbourne Heart fan, and if so, why? Can Melbourne Victory maintain their stranglehold on the competition? Who will finish higher?
Comment below, and leave your thoughts on the upcoming season for the Victory and the Heart.
The World Game is alive and well in Melbourne, olay!
www.twitter.com/brotheramos
brother amos, You are spot on
brother amos,
You are spot on with your comments. Victory fans will still hate Sydney & Adelaide and those rivalries will still be hyped up & the stands packed .
But the new Victory & Heart rivalry is a true cross-town rivalry which the A-League has lacked since it's birth 6 years ago. It will only grow with the added team in Sydney called the Rovers come next season. Plus with the new pitch at AAMI Park where the fans are much closer to the action will give these matches a true "football" feel.
And the Heart ain't no pushovers either. They have 6 former Socceroos in their squad, a couple of interesting imports from Holland, and 4 promising Olyroos players.
I expect them to finish in the top 4 in what is shaping up to be a very open & exciting season!
Being a Victory season ticket holder for 4 years now, I for one will be checking them out at an odd game here & there, but come rivalry game day my heart will lie with the boys in the navy blue - VICTORY!!
These stories with their
These stories with their contrivances really annoy me, they presume to speak for a broader culture which barely even knows these clubs exist and couldn't care less about soccer anyway. An "un-miss-able event"? In your dreams.
It's a "fake it 'til you make it" strategy, only you're not kidding anyone really, we all know both these clubs could disappear tomorrow and hardly anyone would even notice let alone care.
Thanks Dwayne, I value a
Thanks Dwayne, I value a variety of opinions on my articles.
It may well flop, and be a non event, but there are many people in Victoria, and indeed in Australia who do have a vested interest in World Football. Melbourne Victory currently have 16,000+ members, and Melbourne Heart nearly 5000 and growing. For these people, and the many thousand more who support these teams, it will be an un-missable event. 50,000 people at the Melbourne Victory V Sydney FC game can't be wrong...and it will be equally (if not more-so) as big with cross-town rivalry.
People WILL notice and DO care. This is why we have a brand new stadium to cater for us open minded sports fans.
I support all sports, and we are very lucky in Melbourne to have a great sporting base to suit all tastes. Bring it on!
Thanks to Heart lack of heart
Thanks to Heart lack of heart membership tie in with collingwood i won't be going to tonight opening home match or to any of their home matches...will still go and watch victory when i can. the success of either team this season is anyone's guess but they will most likely both finish in top 6.
Thanks to Heart lack of heart
Thanks to Heart lack of heart membership tie in with collingwood i won't be going to tonight opening home match or to any of their home matches...will still go and watch victory when i can. the success of either team this season is anyone's guess but they will most likely both finish in top 6.
THERES ONLY TEAM IN MELBOURNE
THERES ONLY TEAM IN MELBOURNE ONE TEAM IN MEEELLLBOURRNEEEEEE
There is ONE TEAM IN
There is ONE TEAM IN MELBOURNE....and a bunch of pretenders disguised as a Barber Shop Quartet (although with more than 4)
The problem I have with your
The problem I have with your article is that you are making stuff up. You have presented these clubs and this event in a way that implies they mean something or have substantial cultural value to this city. They don't and it's offensive to pretend otherwise.
Just because I am not buying into your propaganda doesn't make me closed minded, it makes me objective, something you clearly are not. The inconsistency with which you have fibrillated between the possibility of being an unmissable event and a flop only proves me right.
What happened by they way?
Not too sure what "stuff" you
Not too sure what "stuff" you think I made up, but you are entitled to an opinion.
World Football means a great deal to a lot of people. This is why it is The World Game. We live in a hugely multicultural society in Melbourne, and indeed Australia. While Melbourne Victory or Melbourne Heart may not be a Manchester United or AC Milan, they are the local teams that are accessible to the Joe Publics of Melbourne, who can get involved in supporting their teams from the terraces week in and week out. I sit with these people each week, and know that they all cannot wait to take part in our very own cross city rivalry. For all the guys and girls on the terraces, this will be a must see event...and AAMI Park will be capacity.
Attendance numbers and memberships in Melbourne continue to be strong over the 5 years of the leagues existence. You are close minded if you think for one minute no one cares, because they do. Numbers are proof.
What happened? The opening round was a success, 18,000 at the first home match, and plenty of voice and atmosphere. Shame you missed out. Sorry you took offence to an article about something you clearly have no interest in...you must have a lot of spare time.
Warning - There is no Propaganda in this article. Apologies if you were expecting otherwise.
Melbourne Heart and Victory
Melbourne Heart and Victory are excactly what the A-League needs. A great rivalry will be established in early October and hopeful continue for a long time. With the AFL constantly changing the rules of the game, the Melbourne sporting public will be out in force for the best of the A-League derbies
Post new comment