Turncoat…

Question: What do you call 20,000 Melbourne Victory supporters at AAMI Park?

Answer: An away derby

This week will see the twenty-eighth and arguably the least significant ‘Melbourne Derby’ either team has witnessed.  At the end of the ninety-minute contest current Melbourne City’s active supporter group ‘Melburnians’ will effectively retire and with than end their short but passionate involvement with the club.  For numerous reasons the supporter group have chosen to effectively dissolve when many would argue their withering franchise needs them most.

Much has been said about the state of Melbourne City and things will effectively only get worse before they improve.  Currently sitting fourth on the A-League table the squad isn’t even within the frame in comparison to Perth, Victory and Sydney when it comes to quality and off field things have reached boiling point for a large number of supporters.

The recent spat between Warren Joyce and Bruno Fornaroli has continued for four weeks too long and whilst you can argue Joyce has won on a points decision there are no winners in this dispute and Fornaroli will never play for the club again.  Fair play to Joyce for sticking to his guns, he is the head coach and the buck stops with him but he’s been handled this as badly as he possibly could’ve.  It all would’ve taken was Joyce or a club official to get on the front foot and be straight up about the situation instead of ducking and weaving at any given opportunity.

 

 

The franchise already lost me before the start of the season, but this recent saga has now dragged on any many fans will follow suit.

Thankfully I was greeted with some better news last week, the inclusion of the Western Melbourne Group (WMG) as the eleventh A-League team in 2019/20.  Don’t worry people I have included the following for your reference…

turncoat

noun: turncoat; plural noun: turncoats

a person who deserts one party or cause in order to join an opposing one.

 

Changing football clubs should be a tough and emotional decision but thankfully City Football Group and made this a very simple one.

The inclusion of football clubs shouldn’t drag people away from existing clubs but grow the game but sometimes you are left with little choice.  Personally, I would’ve liked to see the inclusion of Canberra with Western Melbourne but this wasn’t the case, hopefully Canberra will join in the next few seasons but not at the cost of Wellington Phoenix.

 

 

The enormity of clubs controlling their own stadium should not be lost on anyone and this unique opportunity shouldn’t be that rare in a sports loving country like Australia.  Many clubs across Europe have ownership of their stadiums and also have control over income streams such as catering and club shops.  They also don’t have to bow to the needs of monster trucks, other sporting codes, concerts a few days before games or any other such activities.  Sadly in Australia the cost of stadia is far too great and we also have the train of thought of bigger is always better; sadly this is not the case.

The WMG was a bid I closely followed and I was extremely happy when the decision to grant the licence was announced.  The first few years will be a huge challenge for the club and potentially being based out of Kardinia Park in Geelong is a huge hurdle.  Playing football on ovals is far from ideal and considering this temporary base will never feel like home for the new club is concerning.   Maybe WMG could consider a similar marketing approach taken by Melbourne’s Super Rugby team (Melbourne Rebels) and offer a very affordable entry level membership.  Next season is $89 for all eight home games.

We have seen what affect poor stadium choice has had on the juggernaut that was Western Sydney who are all but a shadow of their ACL Championship winning days both on and off the pitch.  Their new stadium will be spectacular but it will need to be if the club is to regain the support generated just a few seasons ago.

The new stadium will be definitely worth the wait and I plan to be there on opening night but let’s not kid ourselves of the challenges ahead.  When Melbourne Heart first entered the league this was a club I could really get involved in with their ideals and pristine home base of AAMI Park but sadly as we all know too well the rest is history.

There is some very good football people involved with WMG and given what challenges lay ahead will make getting the licence the easier part of the deal.  You have to remain realistic but you cannot contain the excitement to #DreamBig and once again be part of a football club that will change the landscape of Australian football.

Maybe by the time the stadium is built we can drive electric cars so we don’t have to fill the pockets of the enemy.

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