The Melbourne derby is far and away the best thing to happen to the A-League over the last two seasons. And that’s saying something given the positive developments that came into force this season.
In terms of atmosphere, traction and buzz, it already ranks alongside finals football, if not exceeds it – and the rivalry is still only a season and a bit old. The stats don’t lie: five games in, the lowest crowd was 23,059 in the second encounter, with 16 goals scored across all those matches.
The derby is better than any advertisement/promotion Football Federation Australia could dream up.
Ultimately, its success proves the one club per market model the A-League was founded on was flawed, and that a city such as Melbourne can sustain two clubs, with the rivalry between the two helping to pump up the weaker/smaller.
If anything the success of the Melbourne derby should push the case for a western Sydney team, giving Sydney FC a rival to play off, which, unlike Heart and Victory, would have a distinct geographical base.
Rivalries are what the A-League needs; matches with meaning. It was also in evidence in the Queensland derby hosted by Gold Coast United on Boxing Day, where a crowd of 6927 was over double their usual, measly average.
The one club per market model means the rivalry is out of kilter somewhat; Victory had a five-season head start on Heart that included two premierships, two championships and three grand final appearances.
But points of differentiation will emerge and grow: Victory is more associated with Etihad and Heart with AAMI Park (why it’s important Etihad stays in the mix); hopefully the two clubs will become synonymous with two distinct football cultures and styles of play; and the more matches they play the more the rivalry will grow and create a necessary divide in Melbourne.
Some have suggested there is a geo-political divide the rivalry could exploit; Heart representing Labor to north (and west) of the Yarra and the Victory the Liberals to the south (and east).
But as the AFL found after it moved its Melbourne clubs into two city stadiums, suburban and geographical divides in the city don’t really foster modern day sporting rivals. If the AFL were invented from scratch today, could it really have nine suburban Melbourne teams truly representing their geographical bases?
Perhaps the best point of difference was, in fact, that one club existed from day one and the other was the intruder that butted in five seasons later; and that is the real sticking point that will divide fans.
Some think the A-League should build on this and one day prompt a third Victorian club. Geoff Lord takes this to the extreme with his recent claim that former NSL greats South Melbourne should be instated into the A-League, with Heart moved out to Geelong or the outer suburbs.
But the premise for South Melbourne or another new club is based on Heart being undeserving of their status in Melbourne; some claiming their crowd average of over 5000 is a grave concern.
But those people forget the difficulty of Heart’s task; going up against the established Victory. Now that they are in and the rivalry is building, Heart should only grow – and it’s up to both Melbourne clubs to aggressively attack and carve up as much of the Melbourne market for themselves.
In the aftermath of Heart’s 3-2 derby win and four-goal victory over Sydney FC in Sydney, the talk in the Melbourne media is that the second-year club is now out of the shadow’s of the Victory – in a season in which we thought the Harry Kewell-studded Victory would crush Heart into submission, on and off the pitch.
Heart should take inspiration from NBA franchise, the Los Angeles Clippers, who relocated to Los Angeles in 1984, just as the established LA Lakers’ ‘Showtime’ era began. The Clippers lived in the Lakers’ shadow for decades until a gun draft pick (Blake Griffin) and trade (Chris Paul), combined with a poor season for the Lakers, gave new life to LA’s “second team”.
Melbourne Heart could be on the brink of something similar, and the A-League is better for it.
James
Guest
Trying to associate each club with political parties is preposterous. The whole point and message of the A-League in their advertising campaign this year is that when we come together to support a club, we leave things like that behind and stand as equals. Both Melbourne and Heart have varied demographics in their supporter bases. To say Melbourne represents the Liberal Party is also dubious - FWIW the Eureka Flag, a symbol of Australian working classes, features prominently in representation of the identity of the club. I'm fairly sure the flag was the basis for the club's team colours. I'm sure you'd find Heart fans trying to make out that Melbourne is a big upper-class club with ignorant gravy-train riding supporters... and that they're the tough going Aussie battlers that follow a club with identity etc etc - of course they'd love that idea. But nothing is further from the truth.
The Link
Guest
Spot on Punter. There's no comparison. Easts streak was probably unknown even to the RL faithful. St George's streak is well known to RL (obviously) but is also widely quoted and known. Anyway this is a football thread and we're splitting hairs here, the Roar's streak has been celebrated and quite rightly.
Punter
Guest
What is more relevant to ,those within the football circle, even more so than the unbeaten streak, was the way the Roar played, unseen in football in this country. As far as St George 11 straight premierships, I think this is a world record for any sporting TEAM, so I think this is recognised not only within Australia, but outside of it.
Redb
Roar Guru
Celebrated in RL circles not .Australia. to be fair to the Roar. Both unbroken streaks were relevant to their competitions but had little traction outside of them.
Redb
Roar Guru
yes the recent the record crowd was for AAMI Park. If you take last season the crowd between Victory and Heart looked split, the difference this year appears to be the Kewell factor and some improvement in Heart's fanbase (albeit minor).
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
That might have to do with lessons they learnt from private ownership at brisbane and sydney where clubs were the personal playthings of owners. It might be because the AFL needed to show the QLD and NSW it wasnt some fly by night idea they had on a whim in order to get stadium upgrades and government support. It might be because theres no point doing things in a half assed way, its all the way or not at all. Cant get media coverage? Buy it, even if it costs you money from your rights auctions. The AFL still does this. Contra makes up 10% of the rights deal. In addition theres nothing wrong with debt, as long as its sustainable and is being serviced by the club, at the moment Port Adelaide finds itself temporarily in that position. Sydney actually turned a profit this year. Brisbane would have if it didnt built and writedown spingwood. And its all moot while they have the backing of the AFL anyway.
Stevo
Guest
Really, the "fat cat owner" for both GWS and GCS is the AFL and they realise they'll have to fork out +$100M to keep these sides alive for maybe a decade before they can stand on their own feet. Just look at Sydney (AFL) to see what's might be ahead. It turns out that currently about half the AFL clubs are in debt. So even a long time club with an established supporter base finds it hard to be in the black.
The Link
Guest
The record got up no-one's noses in RL. The Easts record from way back was in no way celebrated in recent times by RL prior to the Roar's run. It was probably the first time many people had heard of it. Saint's 11 straight premierships in RL is way more celebrated in Australia and rightly so.
Anne Tenna
Guest
Herat has its training base at Latrobe University in the north of Melbourne - and no base in Casey (that fell through)
asanchez
Roar Guru
A new club in western Sydney playing out of Parramatta stadium would work well. Regardless of what Sydney FC is doing, im convinced it would take off. There's a massive geographical difference, and plenty of people out west who dont support FC. I think a club in the western part of Sydney would get an average crowd of about 10k, and much more for the derbies. I think the biggest problem the FFA have now is not whether to bring in a team from WS or not, it's a no brainer. But the problem is they need to bring in one more club to make it 12 clubs, and where is this 12th team going to come from? An 11 team competition is unbalanced, and not a good structure. They need not only a WS team, but 6 games a week which will mean more TV money. For me this is the biggest issue. No other region in the country really stands out as needing a club as in WS. Also the league needs a strong WS to get good crowds. If all we needed was a WS team urgently, I'm sure uncle Frank and his billions would start one up for the good of the code, and then find them new owners. However, with an extra club needed to balance things up, it's a different proposition.
Stevo
Guest
Agree. The way to judge the impact of the derby on Melbourne is to look at the Etihad attendance. The figure of 39000 I believe exceeds the combined membership of both clubs so there is a fair amount of general interest in the sporting community in Melbourne.
Axelv
Guest
Also, compare the behaviour between the 2 sets of active fans on the way to the game. Men http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q9nRv7i_4o vs Teenage boys http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV1wsOUFYwo&feature=related
Axelv
Guest
Believe me, there is nothing loveable about this bunch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z40u9_dCJh0&feature=related
Stuart Fazakerley
Roar Rookie
Melbourne derbies seem to me to emulate something like Collingwood v North Melbourne in the AFL - the extremely successful, with-us-or-against-us club against the lovable battler with a much smaller but committed fanbase. I can definitely see the beginnings of Heart taking advantage of the geo-political divide though, and it's what's necessary for the club to grow and take on Victory. Even if it just ends up being the silvertails v the blue collar, it's a differentiator they need to truly set themselves up for the long term. As Cricket Australia have learnt the hard way through the Big Bash, Victorians won't just latch on to anything because it's there. You can't sell support for one team based solely on it not being the other team. Even though I'm a diehard Victory supporter, and don't particularly like the Heart, I do wish them well and want them to be successful. If we can split a full Etihad, half red, half blue, then that's a good thing for football. Sydney, however, I don't have high hopes for. The questionable attendance numbers for their current team makes me worried that a West Sydney franchise will just be another Gold Coast-esque embarrassment. Again, a differentiator is needed for WS to be successful.
JamesP
Guest
I was at the big bash cricket last night at the MCG. I saw over a dozen heart shirts in the crowd and even on the bog screen...not sure if it was planned but a smart move to have the games one after the other.
Qantas supports Australian Football
Guest
Yes Chris I live on the Gold Coast and it's the best derby of the HAL season---a must watch game from any part of the country you live in. And most probably throughout Asia now.. Can't imagine any AFL or NRL game could hold any greater interest throughout Asia
Qantas supports Australian Football
Guest
Yes Chris please do as Dean says and back up your comment.
mobo
Guest
South-East? North West? First time I ever heard of this, wasn't it Victory's CEO or President who wanted the Heart to be a South-Eastern club once upon a time, now he wants them .... in Geelong? Anyway's, I'm from the South-East and I know plenty of supporters who go for the Heart, but I am a labour supporter so I don't know, maybe it is just a political thing.
Dean
Guest
Really? Can you kindly provide evidence. As far as I know there has been 1 attempt to start a 2nd team in West Sydney and this did not proceed. We are heading towards the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression and even the biggest companies and sovereign states find it hard to raise capital. So, not hard to imagine a start-up organisation finding it difficult to raise capital to commence operations in an industry that is notorious for devouring capital and producing little, if any, returns for decades.
Chris
Guest
There have been several attempts to start up a second Sydney team - and all have failed.