After I started covering football as a journalist, though, I half-expected the passion to start to ebb-way.
Each new season comes with fresh doubts as to whether I’ll still care. I guess I thought there’s only so many times in which you can be disillusioned by the reality of some people involved in your club before you start to become apathetic. Yet the freshly made marks on the table which I watched the 2010 A-League Grand Final on in a Florence hotel told a different story.
In a little over a week, the sixth edition of the A-League arrives and will bring with it a new element, both for the game at large and for me personally: Melbourne Heart FC.
The truth is, I’m torn.
My private allegiance to Ernie Merrick’s men isn’t in doubt, but the Heart fascinates me.
They have recruited some of my all time favourite Australian footballers, bring with them the promise of a “European” approach (hopefully one day we can start calling it “our” approach instead) and I’ve got personal friends involved with the club.
While I hope the Heart will do exceptionally well in their inaugural season and will also be buying a membership, I suspect their presence will matter little to how I feel about their city rival.
Yet I’m not sure the same will be true for all of the Victory’s fans.
I’m not referring to the kind of mass defections Geoff Lord was fearing when the Heart was given it’s A-League license but some will be shaken up.
A close friend of mine admitted to me recently he’s been considering jumping ship to the Heart. He’s never been a Victory member but we’ve shared countless match day experiences at Olympic Park and Etihad Stadium.
I came across a few Melbournians in South Africa who were considering the same thing.
At the end of the day those who do swap clubs will be the same ones who have been left disillusioned by many of the Victory’s off-field decisions over the last five seasons.
It might not be fashionable but can you really blame any Victory fans who start the A-League season in red and white next week?
It’s a myth that being a supporter is for life, especially when the whole league has only been around for a handful of years.
Still, I won’t be joining their ranks.
Earlier in the year, when the coaching staff at the A-League’s newest club would sort through the array of player resumes which were dropped in their mailbox, they’d put them into two piles: For the Heart and Not for the Heart.
The Victory might not have been around for long enough to make me entirely partisan but, once the club begins its competitive existence next Thursday at AAMI Park I’ll be for the Heart, but I’ll also still be For the Victory.
EvertonAndAustralia
Roar Pro
I have nothing against Victory (apart from Robbie Kruse), but if I was a Melburnian, I'd follow Melbourne Heart. If I was from Sydney I would refuse to follow Sydney FC!
EvertonAndAustralia
Roar Pro
As a Roar fan I HATE GCU, but GCU coming into the A-League made me love the Roar more. Also felt more of a connection when Queensland Roar changed the name to Brisbane Roar. Should've been Brisbane Roar from Day One!
pike64
Guest
I can't stand Muscat and his dirty style of play and the apparent inability of Merrick to control him but I had to follow the Victory or have no team at all. Now I have a choice I will be switching to Heart and hopefully their 'truer' football. This does not make me less of a football fan.
victoryblog
Guest
I hate Heart with a passion already. I've supported Victory since the start. Never followed the NSL so they became my team. Heart are the new team and full of Sydney players so they're instantly not likeable at all. Plus I hate all this cocky rubbish talk of targeting "football purists". Load of rubbish in my opinion. I must say though, the only thing I do like about them is the coach. He's really likeable and seems to know what he's doing. He should be good for the league and the game in general. Its great to see coaches wanting to come out here and give it a crack.
jimbo
Roar Guru
Mick, AFL and NRL get the most media coverage and advertising dollars - the A-League isn't even shown on TV. But in terms of people who play sport and watch it, football is actually the number 1 football code across the land (and the globe). This has never been tried before in the A-League, two teams in one major city - so as yet is an unknown. But the signs so far are very good and the combined support for Heart and Victory is going to be much greater than the support for Victory alone. It will get more media attention than the existing A-League games too. Once the season gets underway and the competition hots up, I can imagine AAMI stadium will be pretty full and the Melbourne and Sydney derby games will be sold out in years to come, if not this season. I'll be watching them for sure.
mahony
Guest
JW never, ever made an argument about a lack of football support in Australia - quite the opposite. One should not confuse his 'unite the trbies' mantra with the FFA / Crawford 'one team, one city' mantra. They are different things and the FFA / Crawford position is now out of date from a marketing/risk perspective (if not a commercial one). Time to move on, build the derbys in the big cities and focus on converting 'participation' into commercial success. Bring on the Melbourne, Sydney BrisCoast, F3 (and one day NZ) derbys I say! FNQ, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Tassie (one day) probably don't need the commercial competition.
mahony
Guest
Amen Brother!
mahony
Guest
Yea - by that reasoning the liverpool rivalry is terrible..... And the Milan one is so manufactured. Believe me - the Melbourne rivalry will be big much quicker than people expect. I know far to many MVFC members who are allready very fired up about Heat. It is great.
mahony
Guest
And when the honeymoon is over.........?
mahony
Guest
Changing clubs is completely beyond my comprehension - but that is probably more a comment on my comprehension than anything else. I just want the game to grow and for Heart to be smashed regularly by us. Is that too much to ask for?
roarsome
Guest
Fully agree on that aspect. I couldn't ever support another team other than the Roar even if they finished last the next 3 seasons in a row...been through too much with them...lots of bad times but those few good times make it all worthwhile. On the topic buying 2 memberships for teams from one city, its a very difficult situation and a first for the a-league...all I can say is the more fans and members the Heart can get the better for the league in general...but i'd never condone buying 2 memberships for 2 seperate clubs...but thats me. BRING ON NEXT WEEKEND ALREADY! :)
Rellum
Roar Guru
Coming from Brissy, (and never having any time for the Roar for various reasons) the Victory never appealed to me, they just don't feel right. The setup of the club, their style of football, the manager, the fans, none of it made me feel part of it. Plus not living in Melbourne when the league started didn't help. The Heart tick all the boxes for me. Philosophy, professionalism, staff, colours. Being here from the start doesn't hurt either. I have always called myself a fan of the league, but not of any team. Hopefully now I can say I am a fan of the league and of a team.
Realfootball
Guest
I'm not from Melbourne, but from distance Merrick and his men have been hard to like for much of the last couple of years. Certainly to me, Heart look much more like a team I could support. I like their philosophy, their coach and their squad. But it is a problem. I supported the Roar for 4 seasons through thick and thin, t then along came Gold Coast, much closer to home, so I took out a membership. But could I love them in the same way I loved the dysfunctional, hopeless Roar? No! And of course Miron and Clive made it difficult to love them, and then there was Culina's temper tantrums on the pitch. Anyway, this season I'm back with Roar, even with a much longer travel time to the stadium. I thought a few years of history wouldn't matter, but it did. I'll still go to GCU games, but the Roar will always be my first love. A psychologist would probably say I have battered supporter syndrome - that even after years of awful games at Suncorp, I still go back for more.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
Moo Cow, everyone's motives are entirely their own. The reasons for supporting one team or another, switching allegiances, supporting more than one team or whatever is entirely up to the individual concerned. It doesn't matter what other people want or expect, it's up to the individual making the choice. You are born into countries, you choose sporting clubs. It is the choice, for whatever reason, that makes them special. Your choice matters to people surrounding you, however your motives matter only to you.
moo cow
Guest
Well just to give you people another perspective. I watched started watching at the inception of season 4 of the A-league and therefore went for the Victory because I was a Melburnian. Yet the moment the Victory won the Grand Final and everyone around me was up in arms, I was happy but I realized I wasn't jumping up and down or cheering. I just didn't feel the way I felt when Hawthorne won the Grand Final, and the fact of the matter is I like soccer much more. But why is this? Maybe it was because I wasn't there at the start, maybe I didn't like some of the on field and off field antics of the people. I did like the Victory, I was a fan but knew I wasn't getting everything I wanted out of them then I actually could. Heart came along, started acting in the right ways, felt nice an approachable, I could be there when it was born and it's this combination of things that make me want to be a Melbourne Heart supporter.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
I'm not sure about this, I thought most of the media coverage in relation to the Fury was fairly positive as the club went and proved the doubters wrong. Much the same way the media approached Wellington Phoenix. I struggle with the 'Southern bias' thing though because from where I'm based Townsville is so far South you're practically nestled amongst the icebergs and penguins.
The Special One
Guest
Seeing that the A-league is only 5 years old i think the support for the league is much more important than individual teams. The A-league doesnt have the Collingwood v Carlton city rivalry as of yet. It will develop i guess organically but its a decade or two away at least. Most rivalries are born from class divides ie one team is the rich mans club the other the working class etc. Or based on geographical divides. The Melbourne rivalry really doesnt have either at this stage. Thats why the Sydney FC v Sydney Rovers rivalry will be better. Its a clear distinction geographically and in class as well. East coast snobs v western suburbs battlers !!
Art Sapphire
Guest
Amazing but true Brett, a stadium without stadium membership. Hallelujah !!!
Brett McKay
Guest
Art, no stadium membership, really?!?! Must be the only multi-use stadium in Australia not to!! (even Canberra does!!) Andy, anything else would be unAustralian... ;-)
MVDave
Guest
MV have almost 15 1/2 thousand members signed and if Heart have 3,000 (as stated above) then the 18,500 members so far is well up on this stage last year when only Victory were in operation...so a win for football already. The feeling by the MH supporters will probably be stronger against MV than vice versa...MH fams have already rejected MV for whatever reason. MV fans probably wont have the same level of feeling against MH until they have played and Colosimo has committed his first professional foul or Aloisi has won a dodgy penalty...then the feeling will be ramped up. From that point on you will either be red or blue...nothing in between!