Attending the Melbourne derby, my first A-League game, I had no option but to barrack for the relative newcomer, Melbourne Heart.
An article describing their extremely modest training facility – a graffitied tin shed sitting next to a generic sports field in far-flung Bundoora – also drew me to them.
If I was a betting man it made sense too. From seven games Heart had achieved three wins while Victory had managed only one. Also, the omens were good for a team dressed as candy canes at Christmas time.
When I arrive at AAMI Park it’s usually shrouded in mist or there’s a freezing southerly blowing. This was a gorgeous summer evening: a perfect night for sitting in the nearby botanical gardens, or watching an alternative brand of football.
I’d come from a bar in Federation Square where the only sign of the upcoming derby were some lonesome Heart fans sipping strong Belgian ale. According to Roar guru ‘Fussball ist unser leben’, the Cricketers Arms was the place to be, for hundreds of Victory fans at least.
And I have to say that the support for Victory at the northern end – swaying banners, boisterous singing and chanting, and choreographed movements which continued unabated throughout the match – easily outdid the efforts of the more sedate Hearts fans at the opposite end.
In fact, on one occasion, a ballboy (if that’s what they’re called) was so mesmerised by the Victory supporters he didn’t notice the goalkeeper screaming for the ball.
For a while the smaller Heart contingent looked like a meek collection of little Santas until it redeemed itself with an enormous Batman and Joker banner and another emblazoned with a skull and top hat.
In the 11th minute, a bright orange luminescence appeared. No, it wasn’t the sun setting on a perfect summer day but the incandescence of a lighted flare at the northern end. The southern end also produced one after the Heart’s equaliser in the eighty-first minute.
Fussball commented after the game: “Yeah a couple of flares were lit. No harm done; no one got killed, no one got blinded, no one had an asthma attack.” That’s true, but the danger still remains.
It must also be said that the intense glow produced by these devices is a great spectacle. Unfortunately, they can’t be produced without heat and smoke. Also, how are they smuggled in through such tight security – strapped to the inner thigh like Sir Les Patterson’s wooden appendage?
It’s strange that the most intense rivalries are often between teams from the same city. However, if you take some divisive issues, like class, and add a long history of tight memorable contests, you’ll see a real contempt develop.
Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart have only been at it for two and a half seasons and as far as I could tell their was little to distinguish their fans in socio- economic terms. There was no contempt but clearly there is a strong rivalry.
Naturally, Victory – the older sibling – felt slighted by the new arrival in 2010, hence the banners present at the first derby proclaiming “We Are Melbourne”.
The precocious Heart won that first encounter and seem to leave their best for Victory.
A most obvious point to make is that this is a game of legs. At this venue I’m used to watching powerfully built men work their shoulders in anticipation of the inevitable impacts.
It soon became apparent that in football the legs, ankles and groins of attackers and defenders take a significant beating hence the complex leg stretching exercises performed by players on the sidelines.
Before the game, Mark Bosnich, referring to Archie Thompson and Marco Rojas, made the telling remark: “One good ball to one of these two and they’re in.”
Now despite being a novice I did annoy my companion throughout the game with the repeated observation that if Heart didn’t score with their superior possession, then Rojas or Thompson ( in his new low carbon emission boots) would make them pay.
For the poor Heart supporters the bill came with only a minute to go when Thompson scored in front of them.
So what did I think of my first game of professional football? Everything aligned to make it an enjoyable evening: the weather, the crowd, and the contest.
I enjoyed it, and I get it.
Kasey
Guest
Have to agree with that robbie ..what is Everton but NOT-Liverpool? Heart can surely Emulate the Toffees and be NOT-Victory. I like that our football league is devoid of sectarian or class driven divides. WE are all football and by God after 8 years WE are doing a good job. Andrew you have inspired me: This coming year I resolve to tick off one of my sporting bucket-list items and attend my first live Rugby League game: SOO 1 in Sydney. Later on in the year I will write a piece documenting my experiences, starting with my current knowledge of League and why I am doing it, being that as a football fan I am normally too occupied with my own code to look around and even then being a South Australian if I had to choose a 'winter' sport, it would most likely be the VFL/SANFL.
robbie
Guest
Give me a pure football rivalry over a social/ethnic/religious football rivalry any day. Had a great night.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
should say, "doesn't mean derby games don't have extra added significance", sorry
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
I am merely saying that just because a person supports a different code doesn't mean that derby games have extra added significance, regardless of the sport. Please read the comment I was replying to in order to gain the context you appear to have missed
Kylsey
Guest
HAHAHAH SWANS V GWS HAHAHAHAHAH! Wow, there's one to keep me smiling through a long day at work tomorrow :D As for the others... come on, are you seriously comparing AFL rivalries with an A-league match for passion and intensity? You really want to go down that path?
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Might be a bit tough for someone from Melbourne to grasp however anyone who has been to a West Coast - Freo, Adelaide-Port or Swans - GWS game will get it.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
I meant 'most Newcastle NRL youngsters'.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
Malarky, It's probably a legacy of Newcastle kids sometimes following the NRL team their dad followed prior to the Knight's formation in most cases. Having said that, I reckon most NRL youngsters still support the home team, and that that will only increase in the future. When the Jets were formed, their were basically, no existing allegiances, so the choice of team was an easy decision to make for the majority.
Andrew Sutherland
Roar Guru
That's alright Fussball. The Roar Gurus of all codes should be quoted more often.
Andrew Sutherland
Roar Guru
Possibly kellett, although that seemed unlikely after his response to my West Ham -Tottenham piece! :)
gawa
Guest
Sounds like a reasonably good first date with the A League, you certainly chose a good looker to try it out. Was there enough to warrant a second date?
Malarky
Guest
One thing I don't get with the whole Euro v a-league debate is simple geography. If you love football, you support your local team no? Not every Italian supports ac Milan do they? I live in Newcastle. I support the jets. They are in the a-league. I also watch epl but only as a neutral. On a side note, whenever I ask kids my high school classes which nrl team they support I usually get about six different responses, usually not the Newcastle knights, but when I ask which a-league team it's unanimous for the jets. What the hell is that all about?
Rusty0256
Roar Rookie
I am so sorry RC, I hope you didn't get the impression I was trying to make a meaningful contribution; indeed my needless, derogatory and hyperbolic response to you was entirely driven by my efforts to cover up the real truth that yes, we A-League fans do spend our entire football-supporting life striving to copy our European brothers. Even this afternoon, I've been busy boning up on the latest football chants from Euro matches overnight, getting ready to mimic them at the Victory v Newcastle match tonight. As you don't go to A-League matches you probably don't realise they actually replay EPL matches on the big screen at AAMI and those chants you hear on Foxtel (you know the ones you hear briefly as you are changing the channel from 'Footies Greatest Hits' to the replay of a real derby between GWS and the Swans), are actually all of us aping the chants of Manchester City and Manchester United fans on their terraces in back in the UK. So there you have it; you were right all along.
Kasey
Guest
RC, It's just a little difficult to ignore when they(zealots of other sports) are constantly here neck deep in football discussions imparting their pseudo-colonialist (i.e. superior by virtue of code followed) attitude(we'll just tell socckah how it should be done, shall we?) It bloody painful at times and the moderators just let it all happen.
Bondy.
Guest
Rgh Conduct , Have you seen TC around lately, I cant find hi'm anywhere.
house of love
Guest
Good article, glad you enjoyed it and now you've picked your side, its time to be a football supporter, where one week your team makes you feel like your 20ft tall or too often in my case lately, your team makes you weep in to your beer with their latest (non) performance, one things you MUST not do however is switch your support, you've gotta stick with Melbourne Heart through thick and thin, bit like a marriage but without the divorce get out clause!
mahonjt
Guest
Yea - you understood my post perfoectly. Indeed, you provided compelling evidence for one of its main assertions. Clown.
Rough Conduct
Guest
I am surprised any player could even walk off the pitch after 90 minutes of “constant, full-blooded kicks to the shins and ankles”! How did they not all get red-carded? Maybe the ref was Anglo-Australian, thus rendering him unable to take his eyes off the upper bodies of the players.
Rough Conduct
Guest
Well, at least we are all down in the code-war gutter now Fuss. So much for football fans not caring about what the ‘other codes’ are doing.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"it is disappointing to see some Football posters immediately go for the needless, derogatory and hyperbolic comparisons..." Now you have some idea how disappointing, frustrating & annoying it is for Football fans in AUS to read needless, derogatory & hyperbolic comparisons from Football-outsiders every day on The Roar.