Heart, City, Red, White and Sky Blue

With the ink now dry on the Heart/City takeover deal I thought it was time to share my opinion on the topic.  As most of you know I have been on board ‘The Heart’ since day one and will continue to support the club in whatever entity they decide to take until the end, or unless we extend the contract of a certain Maltese ‘striker’.

Over the past four seasons we, as a club have seen our club grow from a seed on the Yarra on launch day, through finals appearances, derby wins of course that run of 19 winless games.  We have seen a steady, yet slow growth of support throughout Melbourne for the underdog club that has continually struggled to compete with big brother Victory.  The tortoise may have beaten the hare in the fable but when you are competing with limited resources and inferior training facilities it is clear who the long term winner will be.

Sadly for all those involved in the club at every level our growth has been profoundly slower than expected and to we have reached a point where we have continually questioned the sustainability of the club over the long term.  The new owners provide the club with that financial stability that is needed throughout the club, and this will give players, coaches and supporters peace of mind going forward.

The two main talking points this week (apart from a tasteless cartoon appearing in the Herald Sun) are name and colours.  The ‘feel’ I get from talking to Heart fans both in person and on social media is the name of the club is up for negotiation and the new owners are free to do as they please.  Let’s put aside the fact this is a takeover, owners only have to convince the FFA about the name change, not the fans.  We may be left in the dark about any of the proposed changes to the club that will be made before the 2014/15 commences.  Let’s face it, you can’t sell a house then demand the new owners keep the original carpet.  Personally I am happy with the name change to ‘Melbourne City’; I think the time is right we walked away from ‘Heart’ and make a fresh start with the new owners.

The colours seem to be the sticking point with fans.  The ‘red and white colours’ seem to identify with fans more than the ‘Heart’ moniker, whether it be the blue v red derby battle or the passion of the club shirt most fans see this as a non negotiable.  Fans throughout the world identify sporting teams through colours, whether it is the red of the Chicago Bulls or the black and white of Juventus fans are drawn to this.  Star players come and go throughout the history of sport, that’s the nature of the business but very rarely do owners dare to tamper with the club colours.

The new owners have registered the ‘Melbourne City’ trademark but no discussion has been publically held in relation to the club colours.  Personally I don’t think sky blue will work with our club; firstly we play in a ten team competition and to be the second sky blue club in the league would be a mistake, secondly our rivals are blue and although a very different shade of blue this simply won’t work(#MelbourneIsaDifferentShadeofBlue).  We could always resort to them wearing their horrific worksite fluoro yellow of last season, but I think our retinas haven’t recovered as yet.

Do we start fresh and forget our last four seasons? I don’t believe so (I apologise for the use of the word believe).  We must always remember those early days of the club, those nights where kickoff was delayed for 2 hours or the first derby win; these moments create memories with fans and keep them coming back for better or worse, till death do us part.

The new owners must work hard on both creating a new identity for our club, whilst working with the current 7000 members of the club; we are the backbone of the club.  Let’s remember Manchester City have experienced success on the field without major changes to the fabric of their club.  The colours stayed the same, but the results have changed.  The new owners want to create a successful Melbourne club, not a miniature Manchester City.

At the end of the day if I had to decide between having access to 36 scouts throughout the world or ‘red and white’ I know what I would choose.

Exciting times are ahead for our club, let’s stand behind the new owners and unite as one.  This city is ours.

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