The A-League history books will record that on February 17, 2012, Melbourne Heart defeated what was ostensibly the Gold Coast United Youth Team at AAMI Park by the margin of one goal to nil.
The unconvincing victory, courtesy of a late goal over their depleted opponents, snapped an eight game winless streak.
History will also record how the gallant young Gold Coast team went into the game riding a wave of bad publicity.
The eccentric choice by their billionaire owner to give the captaincy for this match to a 17 year old debutant, Mitch Cooper, led to the suspension of their manager and, yet again, cast into critical light the viability of the unloved, bottom placed team from Queensland.
With a stagnating Melbourne Heart team beset by self-doubt, the match itself did not promise much in terms of entertainment or at the box office. What it did promise was dread.
By half-time the crowd of 4972 had it by the bucket load.
I don’t recall much of what happened on the pitch during the first half. Heart’s play was so insipid and uninspiring that I switched off and spent most of the half discussing the relative merit of the Best Picture Oscar nominees with the film buff sitting next to me.
The second half began pretty much in the same way as the first. A season in danger of sliding into mediocrity, a crowd almost resigned to the prospect.
But something happened.
In the 53rd minute, the Melbourne Heart capo yelled out the chant:
“We Are Melbourne! And We Will Be! The Greatest Team! This City Has Seen!”
Prompted by the capo, the active fans repeated the chant. Considering what was happening on the pitch, any objective observer would have though the chant preposterous.
But this is football where the dynamics of the crowd can turn the ridiculous into the sublime and the collective experience of a season coalesces to produce an event of spontaneous mass consciousness.
And this was the moment when it all clicked. The Yarraside not only repeated the chant, they repeated it again and again and again.
“We Are Melbourne! And We Will Be! The Greatest Team! This City Has Seen!”
By the 60th minute it had become a full scale celebration. The chant now had a momentum that could not be stopped.
Well, actually it did for one minute, the 79thminute to be precise, when Eli Babalj and Matt Thompson came off the bench to combine for the winner.
The referee blew his whistle in the 94th minute to signal the end of the game.
However, the fans were still not finished.
“We Are Melbourne! And We Will Be! The Greatest Team! This City Has Seen!”
On the screen, Fred was named man of the match, but in the stadium everyone gave the award to the Yarraside for their phenomenal performance in the second half.
The A-League history books will not record the events I have recounted from last night. This alternate history does.
Yesterday, Gold Coast United owner and mining magnate Clive Palmer tweeted: “Last chance today to vote for 7 new National Living Treasures. I’m very honoured to be among nominees. Vote at http://www.womansday.com.au”
We don’t have to vote Mr. Palmer.
We know that our greatest National Living Treasures are our football fans.
Athas Zafiris is on Twitter @ArtSapphire
amazonfan
Guest
In which case I have no issues. I simply want the FFA to give Palmer no more than what they would give to any other club. He's not special, he's not entitled, and the FFA should not give in to any demands (how arrogant of him BTW to call them demands) that they wouldn't accept at other clubs.
Clayts
Guest
I think this article was excellent. Yes the knockers will point out that the crowd was below Heart's average, but they were playing the bottom side and after all the negative attention I can understand a bit of a poor crowd. It will be much better against Mariners I think. I did notice the chant and thought it was awesome. Those guys and girls were clearly enjoying themselves when they probably had every right to be sitting there glumly with frowns and yelling abuse at every bad call/Heart player losing the ball but they didn't and had a great time instead. What more do people want? Seriously, any excuse to crticise these days. So annoying
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
From my reading of the TWG article it seems pretty clear that "Point 4" is the only issue where Palmer wants GCU to be given special treatment by the FFA.
amazonfan
Guest
You only have an issue with Point 4? I have an issue with all of them, certainly the last three. The FFA should not give him any help in marketing that they wouldn't give to any other club, they shouldn't give him any help in resolving disputes with past players that they wouldn't give to any other club, and they absolutely must not pay for the full salary cap, unless they would do so for any other club. If these demands would be accepted at other clubs, who do not have Palmer as owner, then I have no issue. Also, Point 1 should only be accepted if the FFA believes it to be in the best interests of people not named Clive Palmer. The problem, however, is that Palmer doesn't understand the word no. He wants to get his own way, and he thinks that because he happens to be wealthy (off our minerals and resources as it happens), he is therefore entitled. He's wrong of course. He is entitled to nothing more than anyone else, and he needs to be reminded as such. As Ian said, he is a bully. He also thinks he's special, and he can't take no for an answer. The FFA should say no to him, and should remind him that he's not special in the slightest. As for his investing $10-20m into the game, that's great, but it was his choice to do so, and it doesn't buy him special treatment. Money can't buy you everything, which is another thing the FFA should remind him about. Oh, and if he gets named a national living treasure, then the world really has gone crazy.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
There is nothing un or pro Australian about any form of singing or chanting. If anything, the term Un-Australian is un-Australian.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Fussball wrote, "he’s like a bull in a china shop". No. He's simply a bully. And if you dont stand up to him, he will continue to escalate his demands. The *only* answer that is any good for the code is 'No, no, no, no and No. And any time you want to walk, we will take the licence back'.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Athas You know how much contempt I reserve for anyone, who dares to sully our Game or our Football League, but, with Clive ... well, he's like a bull in a china shop when he wants to make his point. There seems to be subtlety with the man if he wants a front-page story. We know for a fact that Clive has invested $10-20m in football, so I'm willing to pay more attention to the positives that Clive has actually done for football & the HAL; rather than dwell on what he may or may not have said about the HAL & Football in a newspaper like the Courier Mail. Why didn't the Courier Mail reporter ask Clive some simple questions to explore the obvious contradictions between Clive's comments about the HAL & his large investment in the HAL? If Clive is spending that sort of money on something he hates - either he is a fool, or he's treating the media as fools. And, in Australia, I'm willing to put my money on "the media being the fools" :-)
Its one thing to bag the people running the game and quite another to bag the code. Unacceptable.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Was today's outrageous anti-Football, anti-FFA & anti-HAL diatribe by Clive Palmer simply an attempt to get a sound-bite on the slowest news day of the week, or was Clive being genuine? Let's be honest. Clive Palmer loves a fight and, when he's in a fight, he loves to set the media agenda by making a statement that will form a good media sound bite In the past 2 years we've seen Clive Palmer: a) have a fight with Fed Govt over a Mining Tax and Palmer claimed he would cancel 2 WA projects in the Pilbera which would cost 5,000 jobs. Later Palmer admitted he exaggerated to get attention. b) a few weeks ago, Palmer felt he wasn't getting a fair go in the Australian media so he threatened he said he'd buy one of Australia's 2 major media conglomerates, Fairfax Ltd c) early this year, Palmer launched an $8 billion (yes, that's billion) lawsuit against rail operator, QR National Now, Clive has gained front page exposure for his latest dispute - a stoush with the FFA. And, tomorrow, TWG is reporting Clive will have a meeting with everyone at GCU. It seems Clive is fully committed to the club, as long as the FFA agrees to several key demands. Clive's demands: 1. GCU to play home games to Southport Tigers RL Club * Palmer will invest $250k to redevelop the ground into a 5k all-seating stadium suitable for HAL matches * he will bring in the grandstands from China 2. He wants the FFA to cover the full $2.5m salary cap (currently, the FFA pays a grant that covers 50% of every club's salary cap) 3. He wants FFA help in marketing the GCU 4. He wants FFA to help resolve GCU's disputes with ex-players Source: http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1094123/Gold-Coast-players-at-Palmer-s-mercy Apart from Point 4, I can't see any issue with Clive's demands. And, with his outburst this morning, Clive has certainly set the media agenda.
Bondy
Guest
The Wookie . It's interesting that little experiment the A.F.L. are up to, I know more about Daw than any other afl player, and it probably sounds as though he won't make Pro . How are you going to sell afl to the Sudan if he doesn't ?
Thanks Nevin for your comments. As the FFA have embarrassingly found out with Palmer & GCU, when you marry for money and not love it can end in a terrible mess.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
Depends on what those issues are, in this particular instance what Clive is doing is a disgrace, on the other hand what majak did as a player...not really that bad. Still not my club, so not really affecting me. We arent a hive mind you know.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
So, given your daily desire to engage in football conversation are we then to assume that you - a staunch AFL fan - care more about football issues than issues concerning the North Melbourne AFL team?
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
I would if I cared what north melbourne were doing with their players.
pete4
Guest
Geez the wooden spoon hurts and what a loser Clive Palmer is!! Why doesn't Palmer hand the license back now to FFA?? instead threatening to take FFA to court if they try and take the license off him. The bloke has lost his marbles... seriously
Redb
Roar Guru
I sincerely dislike the way Palmer has treated fans of a club like this. It's disgraceful.
Bondy
Guest
The Wookie . Thank's mate read that already this morning, I'd be concentrating on the somewhat wayward Majak if I was you .
Axelv
Guest
Palmer: "I don't even like the game," he told The Sunday Mail. "I think it's a hopeless game. Rugby league's a much better game." "It's not my decision. Clive Mensink's the CEO. Whatever he decides, I'll go along with," "The club is a very small, insignificant portion of what I do. We've got over $20 billion of projects." "If we wanted to stay (in the A-League) and they (FFA) wanted to take it (the licence) off us, they'd all be in court, and Ben Buckley would run a thousand miles," "That's the reality of it. They can say what they like ... the A-League's a joke. I don't think I'll ever talk to Ben again in my life, to be honest."
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
In a startling admission of his disregard for football, Palmer said he was not even a fan. "I don't even like the game," he told The Sunday Mail. "If we wanted to stay (in the A-League) and they (FFA) wanted to take it (the licence) off us, they'd all be in court, and Ben Buckley would run a thousand miles," Palmer said. "That's the reality of it. They can say what they like ... the A-League's a joke. I don't think I'll ever talk to Ben again in my life, to be honest ref: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/soccer/clive-palmer-slams-football-refuses-to-guarantee-future-of-gold-coast-united/story-e6frey4r-1226274907788
Axelv
Guest
Story with some very harsh words from Clive Palmer towards football. http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/soccer/clive-palmer-slams-football-refuses-to-guarantee-future-of-gold-coast-united/story-e6frepmf-1226274668335 I hope whatever Clive supporters are left wake up and realise what he really is...