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On any given Melbourne Heart match day there are a few noticeable features. John Aloisi’s Italian crafted suits, Hayden Foxe’s pizza boy outift, and a mixture of home-grown talent and veterans taking the pitch.
And of course the bays and bays of green seats.
For an A-League enthusiast it is a sad sight, especially because Melbourne is the sporting capital of Australia. As evident with the Victory, the people in Melbourne love their football.
Average attendance is a real issue for the club, and one they haven’t been able to solve.
Although they can’t make the finals, the Heart played some attractive and attacking football at home this season, and had an outstanding home record.
However, their crowds don’t reflect this. Their average for season 2012/3 is just over 8000, but we must remember this was helped along by the Melbourne Derby.
Besides the derby fixture, they have failed to engage the people of Melbourne and draw the people in.
Now I am not saying that the Heart are the only ones struggling (look at the Mariners, for example), but there is a clear underlying factor behind the Heart’s attendance issue, and if addressed, can solve it.
If you take a look to the Wanderers, who were established only eight months ago, they have been able to engage with the people of Western Sydney and have drawn the people into Parramatta Stadium.
This has a lot to do with results and the efforts of the Red and Black Bloc but they have disproved the theory that you need time to build up a supporter base.
Many Heart supporters I have spoken to claim that give the Heart time, let them win a title, and the people will come.
But I don’t believe that time is what the Heart need, rather, it is an identity.
In Sydney, there are two distinct teams. Generally speaking, the Wanderers represent the people of Sydney’s western suburbs (population roughly around two million).
Then of course there is Sydney FC, the original team in the city, the team that represents everybody outside of the west (particularly eastern suburbs).
The two teams have their own identity and there is a clear divide between them. However, the Heart lack this identity.
They fail to differ in any way from the original team in Melbourne, the Victory. There is no real social or geographical differentation.
The Heart are thus a team for the eight or so thousand disenchanted Victory supporters (generally speaking).
However, this identity crisis is one that can be solved. Because like in Sydney, there is a strong community of football enthusiasts that can be defined in terms of a distinctive geographical location.
I am referring to South Melbourne.
You may remember the days of the NSL when South Melbourne Hellas were one of the most strongest and well-supported team in the country.
The club has not fallen off the face of the earth, but are now playing in the Victorian Premier League.
There is a real passion for football in this area, and I believe that it would be in the best interests of both the Heart and FFA to relocate to this area.
There is a perfect sized stadium in the South with a capacity of 15000 (Lakeside Stadium) and would be a perfect size for a South Melbourne A-League club.
Derbies could be moved to AAMI Stadium, but these are details that can be negotiated.
In saying this, there are of course issus that would rise from such a move.
First you have to consider the role that the South Melbourne Hellas Club would play in such a move, and whether the club would be associated in any way with the Greek community.
One would assume that if you were to truly engage the people of the South, there would have to be some connection with the Hellas Club, its name and colours.
This is of course problematic because the A-League and its clubs were deliberately formed, unlike the NSL, without any specific distinct ethnic ties.
I am not saying that an ethnic associated club is a bad thing, but it is safe to say the FFA wouldn’t be too comfortable with such a prospect.
Perhaps there the name Heart could be kept and its colours (thus becoming South Melbourne Heart), but FFA needs to make sure that it connects with the people of the South.
It is hard to know exactly whether playing at the Lakeside Stadium alone would be sufficent in achieving this.
Despite these potential issues it is important that the Melbourne Heart and FFA and sit down, negotiate, and form a second club in Melbourne with its own distinct identity.
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