“Welcome to a heaving AAMI Park, don’t doubt it, this is a pivotal game.”
These are the words of a certain Mike Cockerill as he began his broadcast of last weekends Melbourne Victory versus Western Sydney match, and indeed the stadium was heaving in front of what was technically a sellout crowd, which sadly still saw 5000 seats empty due to absent season ticketholders.
Their non-attendance was their loss. If there was a buzzword one would have to apply it would have to be ‘potential’, in terms of the potential of what this could be.
What is striking about the fledgling rivalry between Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney is how the atmosphere at the ground is a purely organic creation of the fans voting with their feet, catching administrators and the football media on the hop.
The Melbourne Victory administration were able to think sufficiently ahead to see that the Melbourne Victory versus Sydney ‘Del Piero’ FC may be a sellout, and switched to fully allocated seating with members required to confirm their presence.
They weren’t able to foresee the demand from both home and away fans for the Wanderers match, however.
Listening to the discourse from the Sydney media, one could be mistaken that it was merely the away fans responsible for the sellout signs for this fixture. But the other side of this coin was the unfortunate sight of some fans being turned back because they could not get in.
One hopes this is a mistake that isn’t made next season.
What is secondly striking about the fledgling rivalry is its implications for the cross-city relationship.
The FFA decided to fixture the Western Sydney versus Melbourne Heart game in the same round as the so-called ‘big-blue’ between Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC.
Dubbed the ‘big red’ by the football media, one can’t help but get the impression that the football media and administrators think it would be a great idea to manufacture Western Sydney versus Heart as the alternative cross-city rivalry.
The big question is whether the actual fans on the ground care for this dynamic any more than they care for the meaningless trinket cups they are trying to handout at some of the rivalry games.
One big indication will be to compare the away contingent who makes the trip to Victory versus Sydney FC games to that which makes it down to the same venue against the Heart at the same venue.
So what does the rivalry mean?
At one level we have the team from the country’s sporting capital steeped in football history and culture, responsible for such stars as Mark Viduka and coaching progressives like Ange Postecoglu.
On the other side is the club representing the highest mass of youth participation in the country and a cradle for some of the greatest Aussie players like Harry Kewell and Lucas Neill, with Popovic doing himself a great deal of credit.
At another level we have the largest club in the country up against the club from the grassroots heartland with all the potential that brings, and the ambition too.
While Sydney FC were seen as the major glamour club in the city representing the easern CBD and commercial areas; with Western Sydney as a more suburban club, the possibility has been opened up that Western Sydney may overtake Sydney FC as the city’s biggest club.
If that situation were to eventuate, the next step would be to attempt to match Melbourne’s yearly attendances and membership numbers, were they to ever have ambitions to be the biggest in the country.
What would that mean for the Melbourne versus Sydney FC rivalry?
The next level concerns the active fans.
A precise comparison is problematic, firstly because Western Sydney have one end encompassing one style of active support while Melbourne Victory have two ends encompassing two styles.
Secondly because of the age difference between the clubs and respective active supporter communities, both are at entirely different stages of evolution and face different challenges.
So we are talking apples and oranges.
Nevertheless, there is a genuine feeling that the active supporters of Melbourne and Western Sydney are battling it out for the reputation as the highest quality active fans in the country.
It is to the active fans that this fixture in particular appeals, with Melbourne being in the incumbency position and having set the pace, and Western Sydney being the new upstart in top form and with a sense of momentum.
The story for this weekend was that while there is a feel Western Sydney have swept all before them this season, with many considering them to have outperformed the Cove at the second derby at Allianz, they met their match with the Victory fans moving out of their third gear slumber into fourth and holding the line.
Melbourne fans have preserved their benchmark status for now but the gap has been closed and there is an intriguing “to be continued” feel to it all.
It will be very intriguing to see how it pans out over the coming years.
And the league is all the better for it as active fans are kept on their toes and are strongly challenged to lift their game to another level.
In my experience the atmosphere and competitiveness in the stands on the weekend had more edge to it than for other matches, including the Melbourne derbies.
I can’t speak for the Sydney derbies of course, but having the Melbourne versus Western Sydney play in more compact rectangular stadiums in both Melbourne and Parramatta gives the fixture an extra element of enjoyability.
Sara
Guest
Well, if the Victory vs Sydney FC rivalry is based on the overall rivalry between the city (Although I find the A-league rivalry is much more two-sided than the general city one) then surely some sense of this rivalry would exist when Heart play Wanderers or when FC play Heart (They are dubbed the "Jam Tards") or when Wanderers play Victory. And considering most Heart fans would have at least had some love for Victory before the foundation of Heart, and the same for Wanderers fans with FC, surely Heart would still carry a dislike of Sydney teams and Wanderers would carry one of Melbourne teams. It could be called the "small red", but that would be a little patronising and snobbish. The "big red" works fine I think. Don't know how epic it might get though.
NUFCMVFC
Roar Guru
NUFCMVFC
Roar Guru
Has the potential to be a big club, but as you have often said, ws is kind of broken down into different types of west, so these subtle fault lines might have an impact, thing with Melbourne and MVFC is that docklands and to a lesser extent aami park are smack bang in the middle, it is a bit more of a unitary city without the fault lines so engagement is a little less complicated. Docklands is on city loop, all train lines through it and we get an extra 3k or so compared to aami park, which is near mcg and tennis precinct but just off centre, so have to change lines Add to that demographic estimates which suggest melbourne will have a higher pop'n in 30 years or so, plus as we can see with afl vs NRL where the Victorian sport just has that extra little edge making it a bit bigger a comp despite higher rugby tv numbers and pop'n in nsw, think MVFC will just edge it Will be interesting to see though, can go either way Will put a bit of everyone on sbs, but especially the MVFC vs heart derbies and the wsw vs sfc derbies at parramatta will be big deal. Part is scheduling (has to be Fridays) inter city games will be on Saturdays and a friday to allow for away fans
NUFCMVFC
Roar Guru
It's an interesting topic, sfc are closer to the commercial centre, so may always have an edge in terms sponsorship/revenue etc and media attention, easier to entice glamour marques etc But if wsw get higher average attendances and more members/season ticket holders etc one day the question needs to ba asked if they have become bigger. Might not be an entirely bad thing, because a lot of weight was put on sfc's shoulders and this is tricky when trying to achieve representation of both east and west. Now though they can totally embrace the 'bling' tag, and as an outsider I don't think it is too much of a problem if they become an inner city/eastern niche club Much of it boils down to what one considers a big club. Juventus are considered a big club obviously despite not having as many fans as some other Italian clubs. I'll be an interested observer from afar, and it will take a while because we will have to see how wsw and sfc compare to ups and downs that come with a salary capped league
Qantas supports Australian Football
Guest
7NA----SFC will always be considered the biggest club in Sydney: 1) they play out of the most famous state-of-the-art ground connected to club football steeped in history and traditions recorded over 50yrs 2) Most football celebrities are seen in the stands of SFS when SFC are playing home fixtures 3) Football stars from the AFL, Rugby and NRL attend SFC home fixtures of SFC---FOX always picks them out scanning the members stand 4) You always see Holger Oiseck, David Gallop, and Frank Lowy in the corportate boxes at the SFS even socceroos like Tim Cahill when he comes home to Sydney and takes in a SFC home match This is why SFC are know as the Football Bling club because of our celebrity appeal... And this is only the beginning of an exciting 100yr club football history..
nordster
Guest
well it may not be a crime if you've been blinded by pepper spray...who knows...
Titus
Guest
I think so nordster, I can actually see them working together on campaigns, such as, "punching police officers is not a crime".
Simmo
Guest
fan video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b7EAm-LQmM
Ian
Guest
Hi to my aunty and uncle at MacMaster's Beach.
AndyRoo
Roar Guru
Maybe 24 months I would agree with you Fuss but 12 months ago things were on the up and we had Kewell & Emo leading a ratings and crowd resurgence. There was about 3 weeks at the end of the season that was a bad time (Tinkler leaving and rumours the Bakkries and Sage also wanted out). I guess that is pretty bad but at the time because the on field product was so good I wasn't worried one iota. Pretty much since about 3 games in of Brisbane's first championship season I ceased worrying about the future of the game. Palmer getting the boot was fantastic. It was the moment Buckley seemed to turn the corner and actually stand up for our game. I think there were some much worse things before that when the A league really did feel in danger. I have since forgotten them though and the only lasting bad memory I have of recent football events was the 4 nil against Germany.
Midfielder
Guest
Fuss, MV Dave, NUFCMVFC and other Mexicans Rain and wind on the coast today... when it rains the heavens just open .... I do wonder if the match will go ahead as Bluely is not the best ... nay the worst wet weather ground... A travel hint for any long suffering Mexicans ... don't stay in Gosford if you travel it's a hole of a place the locals try and avoid... suggest you stay in Ettalong or Terrigal... surfs up, waters warm so bring your rashie... best beaches and kept within a relatively easy reach of Bluey are Avoca & McMasters.. Listen to 107.7 on the radio for the best coverage on the match on the coast ...
Midfielder
Guest
Brilliant article .... I said this before but it is worth repeating ... WS is the home to eight former NSL clubs.... three major state league team ... five associations... with close to 100, 000 registered winter players in the 11 aside game... Broader WS can be divided into four areas .... East of Parrmatta.... South West from Parramatta, North West from Parrmatta and say a central west from Parrmatta.... GWS want the areas North & East of Parrmatta ... generally called the Hills for the North & the Northern District for the East ... Football is first with daylight second in the South West.... The Hills and Northern District have massive player numbers an increasing awareness of the technical side of the game but have never had a team to call their own of any code... everybody wants this area ... I read somewhere if you add the players numbers in the NRL [say 22 K] RU [say 4K] AFL [actual count estimated at 2.5K] add them together you get lets say 30 K .... or about 30% at best the football player numbers .... My guess is you will see WSW on SBS .... WS is a big battle ground the AFL's budget of 100 million over five years [well thats what I have read] says it all... BUT back to the dirty smelly Mexicans and Centrelink Bogan FC .... if as I have said a number of times .... if WSW can unite the football tribes and the FTA can get football better accepted then WSW will be Australia's biggest club of any code...
Ian
Guest
yes i was supporting the a-league 12 months ago. true - clive's licence revocation and possible failure of the jets were not pretty. i was thinking of the quality of the football, crowd stats and fox ratings - that the a-league was on an upward trajectory. as it still is this season.
nordster
Guest
Is there a chance MV-WSW will be a friendlier rivalry borne more out of mutual respect, compared to say MV vs Smurfs? There is more than one type of rivalry. I know myself i followed MV in the early years of the league as i couldnt bear the thought of supporting an East sydney based team. MV are sort of like the older brother WSW are looking to outdo.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
You remained 100% positive about A-League 12 months ago, when: * FFA revoked Clive's licence * Clive & FFA went to court about the revocation * Tinkler walked away from NUJ etc? I'm fully committed to A-league, but those were dark days indeed. Fair enough if you remained 100% positive. Or, maybe, you're new to A-League & weren't involved 12 months ago?
Titus
Guest
If having the biggest profile doesn't make you a big club, what does, pray tell?
Ian
Guest
which A-League fans were struggling? MV fans perhaps? all i remember are articles talking about how great the A-League was and new heights had been reached again. oh - and the A-League is having another great year no doubt.
Ian
Guest
interesting statistic. sure that will be denied explained away as an abberation by some. i know you're being sarcastic. but how WSW can be classes as a biggest club is beyond me. i'm happy for their success. can't argue with being 2nd. they cheer loudly. i hope it continues. but some other clubs do have bigger average crowds than WSW. its a bit much even when MV, being beaten and out passioned by WSW call them the second biggest club. they have the potential - but they aren't.
7NA
Guest
sfc is not a big club. Buying high profile players does not make you a big club. Just ask Man city.
Titus
Guest
Big clubs attract big players Striker.........the photo's of ADP re-signing that were beamed all around the world couldn't happen at any other club in this country. Will be amazing to see our national team captain take the field this weekend also.