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The Geographical divide

Posted on March 20, 2013 by in Features // 1 Comment

The geographical divide hasn’t been kind to Melbourne Heart, Victory will always mean football to most Melbournians; it has since day one in the A-League, and probably always will to most.  So why didn’t the FFA decide to make a point of difference when naming Melbourne Heart? This could have chosen to place a North, West or East in front to help with establishing the identity of the club, but chose not to.  To me this was because Victory had already established a stranglehold in Melbourne.  The FFA made a critical error not placing two Melbourne teams in the original A-League but that is one mistake that cannot fix.

Room for two

So where to for Melbourne Heart, season three has come and gone without any significant growth.  The club has established a small loyal fan base, but need to find new ways avenues for continual growth.  Should we rename the club Northern Melbourne Heart to reflect the training base of the club, or should we go the other way and establish ourselves in the East, Melbourne’s growth corridor.  I say neither, let’s keep the Melbourne Heart identity and learn to coexist with Victory.  If it’s good enough for Pepsi or The Age, it should be good enough for a football club.

Like Victory, Heart fans are scattered amongst all areas in Melbourne, there is no one concentrated area in Melbourne.  Playing out of the same stadium doesn’t give the club a point of difference, that’s where playing style, club culture and football results come into play.  Our club culture is building, but as for playing style and results that’s a different story.  Under John Aloisi the club have struggled for adapt to a playing style that suits the club, sure there has been injuries and player movements but visually Heart have been very ugly to watch in season 2012/13.

It is difficult to establish key areas in Melbourne for a club against such a powerhouse in Victory, does the club concentrate on some suburbs, and ignore others?  That is a question I cannot answer but I think we need to work closer with the clubs in the Victorian Premier League and encourage those fans to embrace the national competition.  One only has to see the support for the Socceroos or various English premier league clubs to know Melbournians love their football.

One area where Heart officials have erred is there constant efforts to promote the game in Morwell.  Times and resources were spent with little return from the Morwell community.  A poor choice from the beginning and one the club is now regretting no doubt.  A puzzling choice considering the Latrobe Valley (Gippsland Falcons) was once home to Victory’s favourite son Archie Thompson.  This is not to say Country Victoria isn’t a great way for fan engagement opportunities for Heart.

All Aboard

Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong all represent fantastic opportunities for the club and should be explored through both preseason campaigns and local marketing.  All three locations are well populated, have excellent public transport services to and from Melbourne and have the potential to reach 420,000 people (Geelong 220,000 Bendigo 105,000 Ballarat 95,000) Yes this is only 10% of the Melbourne population but Heart must explore all avenues to attract potential members and fans.

Heart must appreciate that Victory will always be bigger than them, but bigger doesn’t mean better just remember the inaugural Melbourne Derby.

About David Hards (482 Articles)
The Founder of FTSAUS. A foundation Melbourne City man who is more than willing to voice his opinion, no matter how wrong it could be. An average goalkeeper or makeshift right back who had more bad days than good on the pitch, but still loved every minute of it. Follow on Twitter: @Hardsy05
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  • Stevo

    Good article but maybe we’re all too anxious about a club that’s barely 3 yrs old. The club has said that it wanted to break even and have a sustainable model. This appears to be the case this year but it’s how we move from here that will be interesting. The way to increase fans/members is to have onfield success. I hear that we are doing very well at the grass roots level getting out into the community but that is a long term project in terms of increased members/crowds. This includes connecting with areas and towns outside of Melbourne. But in the shorter term we need to win and play attractive football to entice people. This is what we haven’t done this year under our L-plate coach JA. Hopefully he has a clean out of players during the off season and recruits well. He also needs a mentor alongside him to provide additional guidance and support during coaching and game days.

    On the question of geography, Sydney is a case where geography plays a part but in Melbourne I’m not so sure. However I don’t feel that La Trobe Uni is a good place for us. To me the west of Melbourne is fertile ground for football people. Then areas around Knox and just further south would be useful. HeartFC seem committed to La Trobe because of potential financial assistance from government to develop a sporting complex but Is it really of benefit to the club to be remote from where the fans are?

    For me the main reason that a club exists is to win silverware. All else is secondary. We need to articulate how we are going to win the premiers plate and/or grand final. When that is our focus then all decisions about player recruitment, playing style, coaching staff etc will naturally follow. Then people will have a reason to come to games to see a side busting to be the best. Sorry, but telling a story about community engagement and youth development as our goals is fine and all clubs should do it but it hardly excites the sporting public.

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