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.
Da`
Roar Rookie
** Tongue firmly in cheek** Would have to be Manila or Macau or Madras, so it can be another MCFC?
NUFCMVFC
Roar Guru
The other side of this is that you wouldn't necessarily say it is a reflection of growth as such, after all there is a league here in the first place, what we have now is an increasingly internationalised footprint where the ownership structures are crossing national borders, in this case we have a Mansour empire stretching to various continents It's one example, but what would people think of a scenarios where half of A a league teams are extensions/ branches of international sporting empires instead of extensions of the city they are based in? Even if there is lots of money and it's a healthy competition Is that a good scenario? Speaking as an Englishman the EPL isn't exactly fantastic for football in England, but people are generally club > country As for what this means for "Melbourne Heart", far from becoming "huge", this is their death knell . The new Melbourne City franchise that is taking it's place has the potential to be quite large depending not he resources pumped in, but as the Heart example shows, there's a difference between having sympathisers of the novelty and the brand and fans who turn up consistently
Ben
Guest
Honestly you're all being a bit precious here and somewhat sanctimonious. If you were genuinely concerned about human rights, you would be vociferous in condemning the purchase of one of our local clubs by the deputy prime minister of a country which is a human rights black hole, rather than getting yourselves all worked up over an inane and irrelevant cartoon in a local rag.
Bondy
Guest
Rumour has it that City want to buy the Docklands set up or better known as Etihad stadium .
Ben
Guest
Obviously you are a typical afl fan (ie: typically of subnormal intelligence) if you can't comprehend the difference.
Mark
Guest
Is this like when Rangers FC bought Northern Spirit? I hope history does not repeat. Maybe the MH will be a feederteam to the UAE.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Not just a Melbourne thing I'm sure. Sydney's Daily Telegraph prints similarly racist BS almost daily.
Stevo
Guest
This is probably the most important story so far. I welcome investment from new owners as long as they take us supporters with them and respect our wishes. Many comments here just silly.
Stevo
Guest
Again, welcome to Melbourne. We've lived with this attitude for decades but somehow what the Herald Sun does can be ignored by the powers that be but a spat between supporters can be blown up into a full scale riot. The hypocrisy is breath taking.
Stevo
Guest
I couldn't be happier. Move on.
1860melbourne
Guest
One of only two clubs that made a profit. Just heard Sidwell on radio . They have biggest sponsorship base of any team in the league.
1860melbourne
Guest
The fact that City chose the A League shows the confidence they have in Australian football. They could have gone to markets such as China Japan Indonesia India. But they chose Australia. Now I know what Gallop meant when he said FOOTBALL IS UNSTOPPABLE! I wonder what other pleasant surprises he has in store?
1860melbourne
Guest
+1
premy
Guest
With the new Asean Super League to start in 2015 one would think a Singapore City or Jakarta City is on the cards too.
Chocco
Roar Rookie
None more obvious than hitting a ball with your head, the other football codes attempt to avoid concussion.
pete4
Guest
Have to say the Herald Sun has sunk to new lows with that depiction Fly Emirates is an AFL club major sponsor and you wonder what they would say about it
fadida
Guest
Manchester United were once called Newton Heath and played in green and yellow halves. How have they gone since the change?
fadida
Guest
yet you'd be delighted for Hellas to swallow Heart? Your problem isn't the takeover, but that your boys are stuck in the wilderness
fadida
Guest
It will if the club are exclusively Greek and looking to target one community......
fadida
Guest
Spot on Matt