The Melbourne City Thread

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Richo is God

Brownlow Medallist
Joined
May 5, 2007
Posts
11,852
Likes
16,149
Location
Melbourne
AFL Club
Richmond
No, but the potential talent share will bring recognizable names in world football down to Australia.Look at how Sydneys crowds leaped when Del Piero joined them, they have had (if I'm not mistaken) the highest away attendances of any club since he joined.

It is mad to suggest Heart/City and Victorys crowd figures will switch wholesale, but it is equally mad not to even consider there will be a fair amount of casual fans who will be more willing to follow Heart/City if the players are there and the performances and ladder position improves.

Each club naturally has their hardcore element that would rather die than support the other, but as the league is so young and the sides all virtually new start ups, there is little to no generational support you see in AFL, so quite a lot of football people are casuals who will go where the best action is. That is the market Heart/City will hope to capture.
Fair point. It will be interesting to see where this takes the A-League in terms of potential other billionaire owners buying into the Australian soccer pending the success of the man city/heart partnership
 

CotchNCo

Club Legend
Joined
Mar 29, 2012
Posts
2,766
Likes
4,418
Location
Melbourne
AFL Club
Richmond
Other Teams
Melbourne Victory, Arsenal
Whilst that is true as well, they can spend $30 million + for a Marquee if they wanted to!
But they wouldn't because that is stupid. I can somewhat understand the argument you're making but you still only get 1 foreign marquee and the player would need to want to come to Australia and play.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Crows_United_FC

Norm Smith Medallist
Joined
Sep 25, 2013
Posts
5,161
Likes
2,651
AFL Club
Adelaide
Other Teams
Adelaide United
But they wouldn't because that is stupid. I can somewhat understand the argument you're making but you still only get 1 foreign marquee and the player would need to want to come to Australia and play.
TBH if the player is shown the right cash, that player wouldn't hesitate to even come to play here in Australia. That being said, there are a lot of players that play for glory, but there's also a lot of players that will go anywhere if offered the right amount of cash!
 

giggler99

Spec Moderator
Joined
Jul 5, 2011
Posts
6,858
Likes
6,634
Location
Melbourne
AFL Club
Geelong
Other Teams
Victory, Napoli, Liverpool, Pens
Moderator #1,667
That Victory is now number 2.
lol at least Victory are still a Melbourne club through and through what ever happens in the future whats Heart arrr sorry City? A Manchester city pawn based in Melbourne.

At least it solved the identity crisis through.
 

Dan Cooper

Victory Salute
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Posts
8,071
Likes
4,801
Location
Red Corner
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Boxing
I fail to understand how thinking that a team getting the financial backing and access to all benefits of the richest team in the world will improve rapidly and become a force is delusional.

What's delusional is thinking it won't happen.

According to you it already has >

Enjoy your current moment Victory.

You are now number 2.
...and that is totally delusional :rolleyes:
 

Hot Pocket

Club Legend
Joined
Oct 10, 2013
Posts
2,587
Likes
1,642
AFL Club
Melbourne
lol at least Victory are still a Melbourne club through and through what ever happens in the future whats Heart arrr sorry City? A Manchester city pawn based in Melbourne.

At least it solved the identity crisis through.

If Victory are Melbourne, why do they have the colours of Victoria while Heart have the colours of Melbourne?
 

Smokin

Norm Smith Medallist
Joined
Jun 9, 2001
Posts
5,081
Likes
1,186
Location
Melbourne
AFL Club
Essendon
can the salary cap be exploited due to the fact that this is effectively a subsidiary of another club?

ie Man City 'loaning' out a player to Melbourne City for waaaay unders, as they will pay him another "European salary" from the Manchester office?
 

Dan Cooper

Victory Salute
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Posts
8,071
Likes
4,801
Location
Red Corner
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Boxing
Extract from the Heart mail-out >

A consortium led by Manchester City Football Club has acquired Melbourne Heart FC effective immediately. The consortium also includes the ownership group of the Melbourne Storm as minority shareholders with a 20 percent stake.

"Manchester City and their Australian partners have made a strategic investment and I welcome them to our growing competition. It’s another sign that the world is taking notice of Australian football.

Regarding its plans for the Club, Ferran Soriano stated: "The first thing we must do is take the time to listen and learn and then to develop our strategy for strengthening the Club over time."

Out of respect for the coaching staff and the players in the middle of the A-League season, the new ownership group will not be making any major announcements until mid-2014.
 
Top Bottom