A-League Which Melbourne team do you support and why?

[Steven Gerrard]

Never actually heard that reference, but it doesn't stand up to the slightest bit of scrutiny.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015–16_A-League#Attendances

Mid-range attendances, within 250 of Adelaide's average and within about 1500 of Brisbane's average. Over 11% growth in attendance between 2014 and 2016. Where's the issue there for a relatively new club?



I'm guessing you weren't at the Cup semi-final then, because trust me, despite being a Victory home game, it was about 50/50. A more cynical person might point to Victory's recent flogging at the hands of City as the reason behind their supporters deciding they had better things to do that night.



Yes and what happened when Port became good? They started to sell out Adelaide Oval. Criticism of Melbourne City due to attendances is ridiculously short-sighted, quite ironic when you're bemoaning a lack of vision. They could pack the stands at some NPL shithole if they wanted, but what would be the point of that? They play at AAMI because it's the best place to play and watch soccer in Melbourne and if they put a good product on the field, the crowds will continue to improve.

If you have not heard the term Green Seat Elite, maybe join the many many AL and Australian football banter pages on social media. Whether you like it or not, it does stand up to scrutiny. Having rich owners does not make you bigger then the next club. Would you say City is bigger than United? Manchester City never feature in any 'what is the biggest club in the world debate'. Same applies here. City bigger than Victory? You've had some of the biggest names in the league thanks to oil money, note, oil money, through no doing of your own, yet you still have crowds on par with Adelaide United. You have been in the league now long enough to start making some inroads. And again, I will keep referring back to my original point, this is through no fault of the City Group or the club itself, it's the Heart owners who had no vision to have a point of difference with an existing club already called, and already based in, Melbourne. Look at WSW for goodness sakes as the standard for being the second club into the AL, they don't need mega rich owners, unlike City. No joke, you blokes are as reliant on oil money, not football money, as a 2 week old baby is reliant on his mum. And you think the Heart owners did good because their massive fails paved the way for the City Group take over. Yea lets all plan to fail on the off chance a mega rich Arab sees us as vulnerable enough to want to take us over. No thanks.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Steven Gerrard would be a huge signing... if were five years ago. Now he's 36 and hasn't played in the Premier League for a year and a half. Crowd drawing novelty would wear off quick.

 

[Tulip]

Been Victory since day dot, but have never fully bought in. Flirted with Heart, but couldn't get up for them either.

 

[Tulip]

Steven Gerrard would be a huge signing... if were five years ago. Now he's 36 and hasn't played in the Premier League for a year and a half. Crowd drawing novelty would wear off quick.

He would be a massive signing regardless. Unthinkable he would have ever joined the A-League five years ago.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

If you have not heard the term Green Seat Elite, maybe join the many many AL and Australian football banter pages on social media.

I'm not arguing that the term exists; I'd just never heard it, because I really DGAF what other clubs' supporters think of us.

Whether you like it or not, it does stand up to scrutiny.

And it's a by-product of having a big stadium. A stadium, by the way, that half of the captains in the league think is the best venue for football in the league. Our attendances are mid-range, in comparison to the rest of the league, what is wrong with that, considering how little success this club has enjoyed in its six seasons of existence? We're not exactly Robinson Crusoe, in terms of A-League clubs that struggle to fill 33% of their stadiums. Should City move out of the best stadium in the league, because a few green seats aren't aesthetically pleasing to some armchair critics?

Having rich owners does not make you bigger then the next club. Would you say City is bigger than United? Manchester City never feature in any 'what is the biggest club in the world debate'. Same applies here.

I don't care how we factor in a biggest club in the world debate. We'll be judged on silverware and I'm more than comfortable with that. The fact that we're the little guy in terms of Melbourne teams in the A-League is part of the appeal for many of us. I'm not aligned to any Premier League club, so I instinctively like the little guys. I do have a soft spot for Manchester City, but that's because heaps of my friends supported them in the early 00s when they were a battling club and it was fun to like the underdog.

We're in a unique position where, despite not being a powerhouse in Australia in terms of attendances, it's quite easy to see that we might be the only team in the league that many people in Europe and North America have ever heard of, due to the link with CFG. As we've seen, we're plenty big enough to entice some pretty special international talent and some rock solid home-grown talent. It's not exactly a stretch to see why a player in Kamau's position would choose City as his preferred destination out of all the A-League clubs.

City bigger than Victory?

I didn't say that. I said that the crowd at the recent Cup SF was roughly 50/50. What can that be put down to, besides Victory's underwhelming form to that point and being absolutely annihilated by City little more than a week earlier?

You've had some of the biggest names in the league thanks to oil money, note, oil money, through no doing of your own,

WTF does this actually mean? Why should I care how our owners earned their money, or that they are (shock, horror) not dinky di Aussies?

If you have a problem with foreign interest in the league, perhaps you should see how your team would go without any visa players in the Reclaim Australia Football League. City's owners have shown a willingness to commit more money to this club than any of our rivals, to make them a success and that's great, for us supporters. Any negative comments from outside reek of jealousy.

yet you still have crowds on par with Adelaide United. You have been in the league now long enough to start making some inroads.

What are you on about? The club has made inroads. The last two seasons have been the best for the club in terms of on-field performance and the 2014-15 and 2015-16 represented a 21.2% and 11.2% increase on the equivalent 13/14 home game seasons in 2012-13 and 2013-14, respectively. Now, maybe that's not good enough for you, but it doesn't really matter what you think.

And again, I will keep referring back to my original point, this is through no fault of the City Group or the club itself, it's the Heart owners who had no vision to have a point of difference with an existing club already called, and already based in, Melbourne.

And I've already addressed why this point is utter rubbish, several times.

Look at WSW for goodness sakes as the standard for being the second club into the AL, they don't need mega rich owners, unlike City.

Wanderers made the best football decision based on the population distribution of Sydney, and the abundance of rectangular stadiums scattered throughout the city. Heart made the best decision based on the population distribution of Melbourne and the presence of exactly one A-League calibre rectangular stadium in the state. And if they'd committed the money that CFG had from the start, they would have been an on-field success from the start.

No joke, you blokes are as reliant on oil money, not football money, as a 2 week old baby is reliant on his mum.

Oh noes...not oil money! Bloody outrageous for the owner of a sporting club to be paying the bills, I know.

And you think the Heart owners did good because their massive fails paved the way for the City Group take over. Yea lets all plan to fail on the off chance a mega rich Arab sees us as vulnerable enough to want to take us over. No thanks.

Where did you get that from? I've got no love for Sidwell and co. and their shoestring budget and I'm glad they got out of the way for a group that was willing to spend the money to make City a success. But if they'd founded Heart and stuck them in Geelong, or the outer suburbs somewhere, I would never have got on board in the first place.

 

[go you pups]

City, was a Heart fan from day dot, happy the club is resourced well though so they can hopefully succeed and establish themselves over time to rival Victory's support/achievements.


Never ever bought into the Melbourne Victory hype or wanted to back 10 years ago, out my way all my mates who supported struggling "big 4" clubs at the time like Carlton, Richmond and Essendon seemed to jump on the Victory so there was a very big glory hunting element about them imo

 

[giggler99]

City, was a Heart fan from day dot, happy the club is resourced well though so they can hopefully succeed and establish themselves over time to rival Victory's support/achievements.


Never ever bought into the Melbourne Victory hype or wanted to back 10 years ago, out my way all my mates who supported struggling "big 4" clubs at the time like Carlton, Richmond and Essendon seemed to jump on the Victory so there was a very big glory hunting element about them imo

Can you blame them really? 10+ years later and their still struggling
Clubs! At least Victory have given them something to cheer about!

 

[go you pups]

Can you blame them really? 10+ years later and their still struggling
Clubs! At least Victory have given them something to cheer about!

Guess so

These blokes support Utd, Goons etc also though so it only strengthened my glory hunting views on them.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

When the Jets were in limbo, I was genuinely wondering which club I would change to (in the event the Jets lost their license and left the league).

I think I lean slightly towards City over Victory - nothing against either club. Victory have (IMO) the best supporters and atmospheres in the league. And I personally like the City Group's football model (Man City/New York City and Melbourne City).

I think my preference goes back to when the league was just starting up and a lot of the 'footy' drop kicks at school (went to a country school mind you) who showed no previous interest in the code (until the Socceroos made the WC) jumped on Victory and acted like they were seasoned code fans. They started supporting big European clubs overnight, wearing football shirts etc.

Mind you, Heart/City have red and white vertical stripes (Sunderland colours) so I could never feel comfortable supporting them haha.

 

[Jozzy]

I began to get interested in football at the time Melbourne Heart were granted a license into the league, I "supported" Victory prior to that but I just went to one game for a mates birthday party (I think I was 13 at the time), I just went for them becuase my mates did and they were the club closest to where I live but when Heart came into the league I thought it was a perfect opportunity to build my interest and knowledge in football alongside Heart growing as a club. I've loved them since day dot and It's so good to see the club finally going somewhere!

 

[Steven Gerrard]

I'm not arguing that the term exists; I'd just never heard it, because I really DGAF what other clubs' supporters think of us.



And it's a by-product of having a big stadium. A stadium, by the way, that half of the captains in the league think is the best venue for football in the league. Our attendances are mid-range, in comparison to the rest of the league, what is wrong with that, considering how little success this club has enjoyed in its six seasons of existence? We're not exactly Robinson Crusoe, in terms of A-League clubs that struggle to fill 33% of their stadiums. Should City move out of the best stadium in the league, because a few green seats aren't aesthetically pleasing to some armchair critics?



I don't care how we factor in a biggest club in the world debate. We'll be judged on silverware and I'm more than comfortable with that. The fact that we're the little guy in terms of Melbourne teams in the A-League is part of the appeal for many of us. I'm not aligned to any Premier League club, so I instinctively like the little guys. I do have a soft spot for Manchester City, but that's because heaps of my friends supported them in the early 00s when they were a battling club and it was fun to like the underdog.

We're in a unique position where, despite not being a powerhouse in Australia in terms of attendances, it's quite easy to see that we might be the only team in the league that many people in Europe and North America have ever heard of, due to the link with CFG. As we've seen, we're plenty big enough to entice some pretty special international talent and some rock solid home-grown talent. It's not exactly a stretch to see why a player in Kamau's position would choose City as his preferred destination out of all the A-League clubs.



I didn't say that. I said that the crowd at the recent Cup SF was roughly 50/50. What can that be put down to, besides Victory's underwhelming form to that point and being absolutely annihilated by City little more than a week earlier?



WTF does this actually mean? Why should I care how our owners earned their money, or that they are (shock, horror) not dinky di Aussies?

If you have a problem with foreign interest in the league, perhaps you should see how your team would go without any visa players in the Reclaim Australia Football League. City's owners have shown a willingness to commit more money to this club than any of our rivals, to make them a success and that's great, for us supporters. Any negative comments from outside reek of jealousy.



What are you on about? The club has made inroads. The last two seasons have been the best for the club in terms of on-field performance and the 2014-15 and 2015-16 represented a 21.2% and 11.2% increase on the equivalent 13/14 home game seasons in 2012-13 and 2013-14, respectively. Now, maybe that's not good enough for you, but it doesn't really matter what you think.



And I've already addressed why this point is utter rubbish, several times.



Wanderers made the best football decision based on the population distribution of Sydney, and the abundance of rectangular stadiums scattered throughout the city. Heart made the best decision based on the population distribution of Melbourne and the presence of exactly one A-League calibre rectangular stadium in the state. And if they'd committed the money that CFG had from the start, they would have been an on-field success from the start.



Oh noes...not oil money! Bloody outrageous for the owner of a sporting club to be paying the bills, I know.



Where did you get that from? I've got no love for Sidwell and co. and their shoestring budget and I'm glad they got out of the way for a group that was willing to spend the money to make City a success. But if they'd founded Heart and stuck them in Geelong, or the outer suburbs somewhere, I would never have got on board in the first place.

Too much to respond to. Sydney Detby on this weekendand and again all I see is how much bigger and better the Syd derby is and how it's because City is not doing its part.

 

[Dadadadaaaaaa]

It really started supporting Melbourne Victory (and Football in general) after the 2006/7 A-League grand final. At the time I was very young and only about 5 or 6 but my parents had no interest in the game what so ever, in my family it had always been AFL, Cricket, Tennis and Racing, but my dad still tells me the story that he was at the TAB on grand final day and they had the game on a TV screen, it was the first live game he had seen. What a game it was to be hooked on! Victory scored 6 goals, Archie scored 5 and we won the title. Eventually as I got older I started watching the game and started going to the games in the 2010-11 season, I have been a member now since the 2012-13 season and have loved every moment of supporting the biggest and most successful A-League club.

Have loved the rivalry with the Heart/City since day 1!

 

[Harry#7]

Always Heart/City. Never Victory. Don't care for the image or colours, can't stand Kevin Muscat.

 

[Vdubs]

Always Heart/City. Never Victory. Don't care for the image or colours, can't stand Kevin Muscat.

I think the anti- Muscat feeling gives City many of its (few) fans.

 

[tigs2010]

Always Heart/City. Never Victory. Don't care for the image or colours, can't stand Kevin Muscat.

The colours are same as Geelong

 

[Vdubs]

The colours are same as Geelong

Or Carlton which is not so great.

 

[catempire]

Was Victory at the start but when Heart came along there was something about supporting a team from the ground up that appealed to me. Can’t say it has been that rewarding (yet!) but it has been an “interesting” experience at least.

It has meant that I don’t have the same intense feelings about derbies that others do. I actually still watch Victory games with a hope they’ll win. Weird eh?

 

[Vdubs]

Was Victory at the start but when Heart came along there was something about supporting a team from the ground up that appealed to me. Can’t say it has been that rewarding (yet!) but it has been an “interesting” experience at least.

It has meant that I don’t have the same intense feelings about derbies that others do. I actually still watch Victory games with a hope they’ll win. Weird eh?

*fence-sitting, ambivalence, can't lose...
*bit weird, maybe.

 

[Harry#7]

The colours are same as Geelong

True, same as Carlton also. But on the victory shirt its like a Big V....so I probably meant more the design than the actual colours.

 

[go you pups]

City, was a Heart fan from day dot, happy the club is resourced well though so they can hopefully succeed and establish themselves over time to rival Victory's support/achievements.


Never ever bought into the Melbourne Victory hype or wanted to back 10 years ago, out my way all my mates who supported struggling "big 4" clubs at the time like Carlton, Richmond and Essendon seemed to jump on the Victory so there was a very big glory hunting element about them imo

Guess so

These blokes support Utd, Goons etc also though so it only strengthened my glory hunting views on them.

Here's your answer Zidane98

 

[Zidane98]

Here's your answer Zidane98

I've been a member since day 0, 2 kids also members now. No glory hunting here!

 

[typeclub]

Western United because they're ******* hilarious. From the supporter group to the 'stadium' to the awesome logo. The fact FFA approved this means we need to keep them around as long as possible to laugh at the FFA. I am going to try to become a captain of their supporter group.

 

[typeclub]

Was Victory at the start but when Heart came along there was something about supporting a team from the ground up that appealed to me. Can’t say it has been that rewarding (yet!) but it has been an “interesting” experience at least.

It has meant that I don’t have the same intense feelings about derbies that others do. I actually still watch Victory games with a hope they’ll win. Weird eh?

Unlike WU those two other clubs Victory and City actually take themselves seriously. They're unironically trying to be real clubs which is pretty funny to be quite honest.

 

[giggler99]

Victory but dont go anymore,lost the passion,seen them win the championship live while my beloved Richmond still miles away from success which breaks my heart and drew my heart away from Victory.
Watch a bit here and there on the TV.
Waiting for Melbourne town to explode when Richmond win there next,I may be 6 foot under or some ash by then.

bump.

This post hahaha didn't have to wait that long afterall. How you feeling now smasha A lot happier i'm guessing

 

[Quivorir]

Why is the Victory thread locked?