Unless you’ve been living under a rock, any followers of the A-League will not have failed to notice the controversial issue of the day – the concept of a consortium representing former NSL powerhouse South Melbourne FC making a $3.5 million bid to at least buy into (if not all of) Melbourne Hearts’ shares, with a view to taking over the license.
There is some conjecture as to whether this would take the form of a merger or an outright takeover, and has proved to be a highly divisive issue for the football fraternity.
The issue is two-fold. Firstly, there is the matter of how the bidding process for the second A-League license in Melbourne was handled by the FFA.
The fact that this situation has arisen has the FFA facing its demons, in terms of the decisions it made during that process during the Buckley era and the rationale that underpinned those decisions.
Secondly, there is the matter of the so-called “Old Soccer” and “New Football” dynamic that was necessary between eight and ten years ago to forge the strong perception of a “clean break” from the problems that afflicted the domestic league in the past.
The football fraternity in the post-Buckley era needs to ask itself whether the need for a clean break has successfully run its course, and whether the time has come where it might be within their interests to move the A-League in Melbourne forward by rectifying the mistakes of the expansion process.
The first matter that the FFA need to face is that Melbourne is not Sydney. Unlike Sydney, it is not too much of a stretch to say that the “unite the tribes” vision was successful. This led to Melbourne Victory having a dynamic and multi-cultural fan base across the entire geographic spectrum.
Sydney FC struggled for cut-through in western Sydney, and there was a much-clearer need for a second team in Sydney to accommodate for this.
This was not so much the case in Melbourne.
Unlike the situation in Sydney, there is no sizeable segment of the committed Melburnian football fraternity which would have the capacity to form the core support for a new team.
The expansion process has the same hallmarks of the “top-down” approach of the previously failed bids.
Contrast this to Western Sydney Wanderers for example, where there was strong groundswell interest from the football fraternity, but a lack of willing investors. The FFA stepped in to finance the deal while engaging closely with the local community, and the venture has been a spectacular success.
Meanwhile, Melbourne Heart has subsequently failed to capture the imagination of the Melbourne public and the Melburnian football fraternity.
Perhaps it is time to face the demons of expansion and recognise that this is because the Heart Franchise is in Melbourne, but not truly of Melbourne.
In Melburnian terms, the only possible viable and sustainable alternative to Melbourne Victory is a team that in some ways represent aspects of the Melburnian football fraternity which by definition is the very opposite of what Melbourne Victory was born to represent.
That is the “Old Soccer” element of the Melburnian football fraternity.
Indeed, the only organic push from the Melburnian football fraternity is coming from precisely this quarter in the form of South Melbourne consortium bids.
The rationale against South Melbourne entering the A-League usually seems to be based on the fears of what “might” happen and the notion of bad headlines.
What is the worst that could happen?
Could it be any worse than the media hysteria that followed when Heart fans ripped out seats at the Etihad Stadium and threw them onto the pitch? Could it be any worse than having a Heart fan blatantly assault a Western Sydney fan in front of the Fox Sports cameras? Could it be having crowds in the region of only 5,000-7,000 outside of derbies?
Did the FFA avoid what they wanted in opting for the Heart consortium over South Melbourne?
Similar to Western Sydney Wanderers paying homage to the history of football in the region in the adoption of their moniker and the Poznan occurring in the 80th minute of each match, the presence of South Melbourne – one of the most historically rich clubs in the city and Australia – will be the Melburnian football fraternity’s form of paying homage to football past in that city.
It needs to be recognised that there is nothing wrong with the Melbourne “market” having two teams of vastly different sizes (eg., a broad-based powerhouse besides a smaller, niche club) that have a deep distinction not on geography, but on perspective.
Brisvegas
Guest
Have book marked your blog - more for the NUFC part of it than the MVFC part.
Midfielder
Guest
Good luck with your blogg... I remember when we first met it was on the MV forum on a team in WS ... I posted the break down of the west and its potential ... many on the MV forum some gone [which is good] slag people out but you Gweeds Media Watch and some others stood out and debated things... glad e we still see you around hopefully as often... this site I think has some of the best thinkers in Australia...
Savvas Tzionis
Guest
Wasn't that caused primarily by Victory fans?
NUFCMVFC
Roar Guru
Oh don't get me wrong, I still intend to write articles on here, but I guess it's good to have somewhere to write (or not write, no pressure) whatever I need to write if even for only myself to get stuff off my chest or to brainstorm ideas etc, plus it would allow me to write about English/NUFC related stuff But figured that if I start writing a small post then find myself expanding again into something too long, may as well wither turn it into a Roar article or some kind of blog entry I like sites with lot's of feedback because it gives me new insights seeing what people say and bring up (like what you ahve done above), so obviously in this case I don't have an issue if people don't agree with me as long as there is an intellectual reason etc
West
Roar Pro
Most football fans, myself included, have no problem whatsoever with SM or any other former NSL giants joining the A-League. The problem is the people who own and run the A-League don't want clubs like SM in it. The FFA is also not in the mood for any expansion teams at the moment. Put your team and plans together, get it all sorted, do well in the VPL and the FFA Cup and then come back in about 3 or 4 years with a bid to join the A-League. Its pointless going on about it right now.
Stevo
Guest
And just to add, HeartFC has been in existence for only 3 yrs with a reasonable average attendance and financiallly viable (yes I can sense the ridicule already) - with growth to follow. Give it 5-10 years before proclaiming it a success or not.
Stevo
Guest
Agree that FFA has stuffed up but not how you put it. The model that they should have followed was the one proposed by the professional football players association in 2002. It had 3 teams in Sydney and 2 in Melbourne from day ONE. In Melbourne that would have split supporters ~50/50 immediately and both MV and MH would have around 12-15 k members each now. But you propose now to replace HeartFC which has an average attendance at around 7-8k with SMFC who have an average attendance of ???? So you think this will grow immediately they enter the HAL and get to what figure? 10k, 15k or ???? But where will these people come from to join a club with a very distinct 50 yr background? Do you thiink that Knights, Thunder and supporters of other VPL teams will join? Which group of uncommitted football people can you identify that are going to come out to actively support SMFC? This is the question. WSW has support but it was not built on the foundation of Marconi, or Syd Olym or Sydney United. You argue in favour of "uniting the tribes" then advocate that one of the tribes should form the basis of garnering support from the other tribes. Seems fanciful and maybe that was a key reason that the Southern Cross bid didn't get across the line. But what would I know :)
Jake
Guest
Comparing SM derbies with heidelberg, knights etc is a bit of a stretch, when did heidelberg or knights ever take 15-20k travelling fans to sm for a derby? Never, MV make the Melbourne derby what it is...you could put MV up against Green Gully, slap the derby tag on it and 25k will rock up in summer. In the nsl days it was the oopposite, South would get say 12,000 to a derby against Carlton...11,800 of that crowd would be South fans....fair difference. The fact remains the only time Heart games at aami park dont look entirely empty is when Victory is the opposition...or a special event game like adp, this is where the main criticism comes from and quite frankly with the amount of attention the sport gets today its no excuse.
Midfielder
Guest
NUFCMVFC If you want an offline chat sent me a pm on the Mariners forum ... I find the MV difficult to deal with and besides the Mariners forum PM's have them kinda in there own mini forum... site address .... http://ccmfans.net That also applies to any Roar poster that wants a chat...
MV Dave
Guest
SM had derbies vs Heidelberg, Knights etc to boost their attendance and there were guest player stints etc to boost attendance...no different to now IMO.
Midfielder
Guest
NUFCMVFC Sounds great but IMO not a good idea ....there are some real """richards the thirds"""" on the MV forum as well as some very insightful folk ... I think Gweeds may have done something similar in having his own forum and Media Watch is withdrawing.. As we chatted [online on this site or the MV site] some many moons ago .... football needs folk who have the time, skills and want to help write our media as the mainstream seems [especially in Melbourne] almost a anti football feel... But being a lone voice with a few logging in on can be hard and not achieve what you want... Tony Tannous for years wrote his blog and then moved on to the Roar and FFA leaving his blogg of many years.... However I still hold the view that the best sites are the ones that people read and as I have often said that's why I am on here as the Roar is a hugely read site the mods keep things in control ... and you can exchange with other football folk some knowledge.. Yourself, Towser, JB, MVDave, Punter, Kettle, Vinnie and a hoist of others write some good stuff on this site .....I also know as fact via a client this is one of the sites that some of the media players use [I mean advertising types] use as it is a general broadcast site and hits on this site are worth than hits on football forums... For what it's worth I would write your big comment stuff on the roar and link the articles onto the MV forum .... you have a lot to offer this site and this site has a readership who will appreciate your work and this site is growing ... remember the bigger picture i.e to get the message out there read by as many as possible and write well if we can well...... Best of luck whichever way you decide ....
MV Dave
Guest
NUFCMVFC l do enjoy a lot of your posts on other topics but l'm afraid you are seriously misguided in this Hellas push for the HAL...as some other posters have indicated SM will be perceived as a Greek club for a long time to come and they will have to work hard to change that if indeed they want to. It is the public perception which will count and to the general Football public SM are a still a Greek club...no matter the recent efforts to change that perception.
MV Dave
Guest
Fair point...lets see how SM go in the NPL and FFA Cup to see if they can draw a crowd.
NUFCMVFC
Roar Guru
Which is why there may be some merit in having the "unite the tribes" approach and going for what was a clean break and broad-based MVFC team that represented the opposite of NSL clubs before it as I mentioned in the article etc' which was articulated by the "old Soccer and New football slogan" But one of the issues I am putting forth is whether we are moving beyond the need for a clean break and a clear distinction in the minds of the Australian public but more importantly (and specifically) the football fraternity between the broad based A League and the NSL. A clean break has been established and perhaps the time is right for reconciliation as a way of moving the game forward, after all for better or worse the "Old Soccer" segment of the fraternity is still part of the football fraternity and still cntributed productively to the games progress even if it had reached its ceiling and there was a need for a major overhaul. That's why I think the FFA Cup is a good idea but also the notion of allowing SMFC into the league should be seriously considered if they can put a proper case together The issue we are facing now is arguably worse, in the sense that the media are moving beyond some kind of "efnik tensions" line to the utterly irresponsible line that the fans of the game or the game itself is somehow inherently violent (despite there not being any major statistical differences between other sports) when this is not the case
Socrates
Guest
NUCMVFC If your still dirty about Melbourne Victory not allowing the pumpkn seed sellers into Olympic Park, get over it. You can stil buy them at most VPL grounds.
NUFCMVFC
Roar Guru
btw mid, am starting up my own blog, people getting irritated at long posts etc in MVFC.net forum so figured I may as well start my own blog as a place to dump all my articulations and perspectives on Enlgish/Australian football www.nufcmvfcblog.blogspot.com.au/
dazman
Guest
I was watching the SMFC TV show on Ch31 last night and the thing they kept saying was that they want to compete at the highest level in Australia. The soon to be commenced FFA Cup is a chance to do just that. If theyre as big and strong as they claim to be, then they should fairly often get into the mid-latter stages of this comp and probably play against a-league clubs. If they pull big, well behaved crowds to these matches, then we can all sit down and talk. (One thing to talk about: playing in colours other than blue and white to help lose the ethnic tag) If not, then no a-league for SMFC It's all in their hands now. There really isn't much more to discuss at this stage.
striker
Guest
Midfielder well South Melbourne is not one of them full stop.
Gweeds
Guest
NUFCMVFC asks: "The rationale against South Melbourne entering the A-League usually seems to be based on the fears of what “might” happen and the notion of bad headlines. What is the worst that could happen?" That is indeed a good question. And the argument that possible incidents have occurred anyway is a good one. However there is a big difference. The mis-behaviour has occurred amongst fans of teams that didn't have any cultural connection. Despite some in the media tried to do so they couldn't make it stick. However were that team connected with a particular cultural group the perceptions of football being 'non-Australian' and 'ethnic' would come to the fore again and happily fueled by the 'anti sokkah media' (especially in Melbourne). That was the perception that the FFA when it first formed tried to run away from. Now, the abysmal way traditional teams, their supporters and officials - people that carried the sport in very dark times - was treated by the FFA, is another matter.
Peter Care
Guest
In the late 90's the average crowd for South Melbourne was 5-6K not 8k. And that with more derbies. The average total of the 4 Melbourne teams combined was lower the Melbourne Victorys averge alone, last year (excluding the "home" game in Launceston). .