Well, only a few years ago who would have thought that Melbourne Victory would be playing football in a proper football stadium? To many this was just a dream. On Saturday night, that dream became reality.
Melbourne Victory played it’s first ever Hyundai A-League match at the newly built AAMI Park on Saturday, in front of great crowd of 20,358. It was a special occasion, and walking to the stadium you could feel the excitement from the supporters.
The result of the game was not anyone would of wanted or even expected, going down 2-0 to Perth Glory, but nonetheless it was an enjoyable experience for all who attended.
The atmosphere from the fans throughout the game was brilliant. The North and South ends of the ground were in full-voice for the entire game, and with the bubble roof providing much better acoustics than previously at Etihad Stadium. The North, East, South, West chant was fantastic, which got the entire stadium involved in the chanting.
But only a few years ago, none of this existed.
In the first A-League season, Victory played its home games at Olympic Park. It was not such a bad stadium to watch football, but you were just not close to the action with the running track that surrounds the pitch.
At the beginning of the second A-League season, Victory moved from Olympic Park to the Telstra Dome. It turned out to be an immediate success with 39,730 turning up to the first game, to watch Melbourne defeat Sydney FC 3-2. That attendance was double the capacity of Olympic Park, and the biggest the A-League had seen to date.
The attendances got even bigger. 50,333 showed up later in the season to again watch Sydney FC, this time the match ending in a 0-0 draw. It was incredible. Melbourne, in fact, Australia had never seen an attendance that big for a home-and-away season game ever.
Melbourne went on to win the Grand Final at the end of that season, thrashing Adelaide United 6-0 at the Telstra Dome in front of 55,436.
Even with it’s retractable roof and 56,000 capacity, it had its negatives, and that was the Telstra Dome was built for Aussie Rules. The pitch was in the shape of an oval, so you were very far away from the action. This wrecked everything.
I have been to many stadiums around Australia, and in South America, and being in a proper football stadium just does not compare.
Now, finally, Victory have this. A proper football stadium, A place where spectators are right next to the action. A place we can make into a fortress. A place where other A-League clubs will fear to come to. A place called home.
We no longer have to watch football that’s in the middle of an oval, or over a running track. We can feel the tackles, hear the players, the action is right there in front of us. We now have a proper football stadium, and boy do we love it.
Melbourne Victory’s history may be short, but it’s already full of so many achievements, and moving to AAMI Park is the just the beginning of a new chapter. The Victory are finally home.
LoopyLucy
Guest
Why must there always be a constant battle of war among the fans that follow the sports in Australia. Our codes are our codes. They are different and the fans that choose to follow them are just like you and me and all codes, fans. people are all the same, we all want to compare and contrast the best and worst of our favourite sports, we follow passionately, but it doesn't even matter in the end. It's just a way to ruin all codes across the country, for everyone! Fair enough some like AFL, some soccer/football, wheteher it be because they were born into European families who brought the passion and knowledge for the game with them (soccer) or the same thing but reversed, sort of...with fans being born into a culture and coutry who have long standing support and show pride for anything Australian. (AFL) As it should be. All we need to do, is UNDERSTAND each other.
Michael C
Roar Guru
MattS General admission seating is level 3 - - it's not unusual for 15,000 to be relatively packed in level 3 and only 8,000 sparsely distributed on lvls' 1 and 2. Unlike a Carlton or Essendon, I don't think North have a huge number of people taking up level 1 reserved seating for the 11 home games. And StKilda,......they didn't turn up in big numbers to an away game,.......I guess they're saving their dollars for the upcoming expenses of a September finals campaign (I can't blame them, if North were assured, with the kids and all, I'd be doing likewise). Don't forget, it is NOT in Docklands interest to over state any AFL crowd.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
There are a limited few, though I suspect most of them are actually football lovers that are in constant war with themselves over their secret desires. This inner conflict drives them onto this site where they lash out in an attempt to persuade themselves that they are not in rapture with the round ball game and that this is indeed merely a phase that will pass. A sad lot that deserve our pity. Not to be confused with posters like Michael C, Redb, Beaver Fever and others who try to be constructive and add to the discourse. :)
David Manuca
Roar Rookie
With a comment like that, I didn't think he actually read the article. I'm not too familiar with this site yet, only just have signed up recently, but I am guessing there are quite a few football haters on here that like to troll?
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
Deary me, David, you're not seriously expecting those that log just to have a cheap dig at the sport to have actually read the article are you? tsk, tsk.
David Manuca
Roar Rookie
Sorry but where did I ever say I go to the football for the atmosphere, not the game? I said in my article the fact we are now playing in a proper football stadium, was good as the fans are now closer to the action. We don't have to WATCH THE GAME over a running track or on a pitch that is in the middle of a massive oval. Also, what Farqwar said was absolutely spot on.
MattS
Guest
I saw highlights of the AFL game at Etihad and 23,000 my ar$e. What, did the players smell that much the crowd hid in the bleachers?
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
Is the motivation for attending sporting events really crucial? It is important for those marketing the event so they know who to cater for an how, though for those turning up as long as they are enjoying themselves and not causing mayhem then power to them. Certainly I can remember many long days at the cricket where beer and sun was aplenty and part of the challenge was ensuring that at least one of the crowd you were with managed to see a wicket fall so they could explain it to the rest. It certainly didn't diminish my enjoyment of the event.
BigAl
Guest
Who knows ? - but one thing's for sure - " YER DREAMIN' !"l
Mister Football
Guest
fussball both you and Farqwar are doing a similar thing - imagining high levels of "passion", with very little to back it up. I simply referred to one example. Ordinarily, I would view the NT's final training session before it leaves for a WC as quite important, but maybe that's just me.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
MF Surely, you are not comparing a training session for an AFL club before the biggest game of the year (the biggest game the majority of players will ever play in their career) with a training session for the National Team before a practice match!! Gosh, that is the funniest thing I've read for a while! Here's one for you to ponder .... The scene is set ... * it is Friday, 8 July 2022 and the Australian National Football team has its final training session before playing the FIFA World Cup final against arch enemy, England at the MCG on Sunday 10 July 2022. How many do YOU reckon would turn up to watch the National Football team train? I'd be surprised if the MCG would be able to contain the number of people! Heck, I reckon there would be thousands of Aussies flying in from interstate and around the globe for the chance to watch the lads train.
Mister Football
Guest
In fairness, I didn't have anything to say about why people attend any sporting fixture. I'm sure the reasons are many and varied. But you might be over egging the passion thing. For instance, if Collingwood make the grand final, about 30,000 fans will watch them train (at a single open training session) during the week leading up to the grand final. That might happen in other sports in Australia, I'm not sure, but I do know that only about 500 turned up for an open Socceroos training session before they left for the WC.
mahony
Guest
+ 1
Michael C
Roar Guru
fussball - please see reply on the AFL tab.
Farqwar
Guest
Cheers Fussball!
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Farqwar That was one of the most passionate Football posts I've ever read and encapsulates everything I love about our Game. Thank you for a post that will be saved in my Football archives!
Farqwar
Guest
Ok so it's always been the place to be seen in Melbourne, and to be an AFL fan is more important than being a soccer fan. But to say that the passion of soccer fans is an indication that they aren't there to watch the game is ludicrous. The passion of soccer fans is because the game is so good for analysis. It becomes an obsession, every touch of the ball gives you a reading of a players ability or lack of, it's not enough to be big or tall or able to run hard. Every player has to fit into a team and fan's can speculate on players from anywhere in the world coming to play in their team, some of them world superstars. We can compare standards with leagues throughout the world and test our skills against them, we can follow youngsters from our youth team to senior to national team and ultimately to represent our country and team on the worlds biggest stage. Every second of every day 365 days a year we can follow a game of soccer somwhere in the world. AFL for all it's supporters following a comfortable and important cultural practise in Melbourne can only watch their teams play against other Melbourne teams, a couple of SA/WA teams and a few token teams in NSW/QLD. This is why soccer fans are so passionate, they live, breath and eat the game and they share this passion with people throughout the world. And it explains why AFL, despite it's large attendances, fails to generate the same levels of passion. Because outside of Vic/SA/WA the excitement barely generates a ripple. It doesn't mean the local game isn't important it just means that only soccer will ever generate the amount of passion that we see, because it is the world game. And no, I'm not Foz!
Mister Football
Guest
I think AFL support has become a bit of a place to be seen thing. That comment doesn't stand up to scrutiny, not in the least. Australian Football was getting crowds of 10,000 back in the 1860s, pretty much unprecedented in world terms. And the average attendances have remained in the top tier of the World's best football comps ever since. The VFL record for a home and away game attendance wa set in the late 1950s, (99,000+), and the grand final record was set in 1970 (121,000), so in no way can anyone argue that large attendances are a recent phenomenon - they have always existed - from day one. What you can say is that Australian Football is very important in a cultural sense to many Australians, and that population growth, prosperity, and marketing have all contributed to an ongoing growth rate over the last four decades.
JF
Guest
My point is that there IS a huge bandwagon contigent at Socceroos games, just look at the crowds compared to the A-League. They are not all passionate, knowledgeable football supporters, yes the bogans make an apperance, as do many others that are there for various reasons, many of which have nothing to do with watching football.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
JF I've been to just about every meaningful football match (also been to a fair few friendlies) involving our National Football Team since we played Iran at Olympic Park on 14 August 1977 and my heart sank when Dave Harding missed a penalty at the River (South) End, which virtually ended our hopes of qualifying for Argentina 1978. There were no bandwagon supporters amongst the 17k at Olympic Park that winter's afternoon and, I can assure you, there were no bandwagon supporters for the next 28 years ... until that wonderful match in Sydney on 16 November 2005. Additionally, based on my observations attending internationals involving our National Football team, bandwagon supporters tend to be the "Fanatics-demographic" - i.e. basically the Aussie bogan, whose national pride requires him/her to have a Southern Cross tattoo and chant oi-oi-and "skulling" Bundy & Coke from the can ... certainly they're not middle-class arts grads!