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Manchester City involved in the A-League? It’s safe to say no one saw it coming. But what does City’s stake in Melbourne Heart say more broadly about the forces of globalisation in football?
Yesterday was one of those days when the A-League flexed its muscle on Australia’s crowded sporting landscape, and reminded everyone it was a major player.
It may have been somewhat inadvertent, given the fact not even Heart’s owners were aware of City’s interest until the last minute, but the news that the English giants are set to buy an 80 percent stake in the beleaguered Heart saw the A-League splashed all over the mainstream media.
After an outpouring of analysis and some frenetic keyboard activity, it seems that for the majority of fans, Heart’s sale to a consortium of City and Melbourne Storm (who purchased 20 percent) investors is an overwhelmingly positive one.
Certainly the Heart couldn’t have been faring any worse on or off the pitch.
And though City – or more accurately Sheikh Mansour and his associates – will be investing in a salary-capped league, the nouveau riche Manchester club’s bulging bank account and off-field expertise will hand the Heart a sorely-needed competitive advantage.
In a 10-team competition, the A-League could no longer afford to carry the Heart.
But amid all the talk about how City’s takeover will transform the Heart – and let’s face it, the club in its current form is dead and buried – there wasn’t a whole lot of reflection on the broader global context of the rebirth of ‘Melbourne City Football Club’.
It will join Major League Soccer newcomers New York City FC under the Mansour portfolio, and it’s worth taking a quick look at how recent events in the Big Apple have unfolded.
City have certainly made all the right noises about investing ethically, but then they’ve already got Austrian energy drink provider Red Bull to use as a model in how to avoid alienating fans.
In 2006, Red Bull took charge of the New York/New Jersey Metrostars and opted to “completely re-brand the franchise, changing the name, colours, and logo,” as Wikipedia succinctly describes it.
It was shortly after Red Bull had taken over the licence of storied Austrian club Salzburg and promptly declared “this is a new club with no history”.
Chastened by a massive fan backlash to the Salzburg takeover, Red Bull forged on regardless and soon set its sights on Germany.
After being rebuffed by violent fan protests from Sachsen Leipzig supporters, the company decided to plough its money into nondescript SSV Markranstädt instead.
Following millions of euros of investment, a name change to RB Leipzig (to circumvent the German Football Association’s strict anti-commercial laws) and a couple of promotions, the club now plays in the third division.
It won the league last season without tasting defeat and has clear ambitions to become a force in the top flight.
Think a drinks company’s domination of provincial leagues is not important? Red Bull is now actively pursuing a stake in Leeds United.
It goes without saying that Manchester City’s investment in football is a very different proposition to Red Bull’s.
City may indeed be looking to build brand awareness, but the Eastlands outfit also has a genuine interest in developing talented footballers.
And in saying that they’ll “respect the history” of Melbourne Heart, they’ve already distinguished themselves from Red Bull’s unedifying slash-and-burn takeover tactics.
But then, there have already been overtures to change Heart’s name and potentially colours as well.
And while a more competitive second team in Melbourne is fundamentally a good thing for the A-League, it comes at the potential cost of turning one of our clubs into Manchester City-lite.
Perhaps that’s simply the price we have to pay.
Where once the Heart were Melbourne’s second team, in years to come they could very well turn into Manchester City’s seconds.