Why the Victory should play in Geelong

I reckon if they were so loyal, point 2 is irrelevant then. Loyal fans certainly don't care if their team is playing against a 'lower drawing club' when making their decision to attend or not, surely.

I'll have a stab at the reason why Victory have been 'the team that is referred to simply as "Melbourne" over the course of the A-League.' Because Victory was the only Melbourne team before Heart came in? Am I close?

The team is the "Victory" and it has a giant "V" on the jumper. You don't think that's deliberately designed to appeal to all Victorians? Is this guy serious?

"Are these the only fudged figures, or is there a systematic rorting of the attendance figures across all AFL venues? " Yes that's it. There is systematic rorting of attendance figures across all AFL venues. The hundreds of thousands of people you see every week are actually just digital creations which are somehow added in to all live games.

Any reason that the pitch was so narrow? I assume Skilled/Simonds/Kardinia Park Stadium is wide enough for a wider pitch, or am I wrong? The lack of width seemed to help Muangthong more than Victory.

"Maybe ARules fans need to spend more time researching & engaging with the sport they allegedly love …. rather than trying to hang off every word uttered during football discussions?" Interesting comment. Of all that people that comment on the Roar, on the AFL tab, Football tab, whereever...Fuss obsessively mentions "AFL" more than anyone.

Agree, Not sure why they haven't thought to play a regional round game in Geelong before, but for me personally much more preferable to Launcestipn which isn't as easy to get to 8k is about right, seems most people were put into the TV arc ala Wellington matches

Dead right, the game should have been at somers st or Lakeside.

They should of played the game at Sunshine George Crosses ground, were Kevin first played his senior match in the NSL.

Are you serious, Lakeside Stadium with a running track, is better than Kardinia Park. Give me a break. Before the Man City takeover of the Heart, you were spruiking the idea of a South Melbourne Hellas take over and playing A League matches at this athletics field. Surely with the millions of tax payer money being spent at Geelong, surely its a better venue than Lakeside.

just my two cents. but i think 8000 is an awesome crowd for what was effectively an away match against an unknown opponent. that's about how many WSW fans travel to Gosford which is about the same distance. most big asian clubs get a fraction of their usual crowd at ACL matches.

I can't believe all the debate over kardinia park. This was a one off fixture and i don't think football should be too invested ie. funding football freindly changes at an afl ground. Anyway anyone who has been to a big game at a rectangular stadium knows where football belongs

And in what year was seating made mandatory Fuss? Cause the SCG once held 78,056 for a rugby league match between St George  and South Sydney on the 18 September 1965. Currently, the capacity is 36,000 with the upgrades looking to take it too 48,000. Still nothing close to that 78,056 attendance.

Cpaaa Couldn't agree more this should've been at the Mlb Knights homeground connecting back to grassroots club football instead we're playing on other sports grounds where the ultimate benefits dont flow on to our sport but others . Why couldn't we use Docklands can't they give a little lee way, it seems incredibly tight.

@Rob Are you suggesting official attendance figures of greater than 23k for VFL/AFL games at Kardinia Park in the 1980s are fudged? Are these the only fudged figures, or is there a systematic rorting of the attendance figures across all AFL venues? If Kardinia Park's capacity was 23k prior to expansion, it means the AFL have been providing fictitious attendance figures for the past 30 years?!

For me it simply dosnt make any sense. Fuss raises a valid point. “How would have supporters received news that they were to play the ACL qualifier at Melbourne Knights stadium, had it been proposed?” One of the founding NSL clubs gets a boost from ground hire and food sales. A-League connects with its traditional roots, possibly a few Knights fans getting first hand view of a HAL club. Not to mention playing at a proper Football ground. This is also memory Lane for players, coaches and fans, even for television viewers. BUT ! instead we get this scenario… 1st- Melbourne Victory cant play at their home ground because “the Boss” booked it first…fair enough 2nd option – We cant play at Etihad Stadium because the AFL says we cant even though there are no games played…. Well it is their stadium, almost, they do what they want anyway. 3rd option- lets play an hour away at another AFL Stadium where stadium hire goes back to the AFL. Not to mention memory lane, where any memory a Melbourne fan would have had, would be something to do with Geelong Cats and sirens. What message does this send to Asia that Football is played on Ovals and and that this was a third choice venue. Not a very good look for the FFA. So when David Gallop says in regards to expansion “fishing where the fish are, and the FFA Cup will connect all past and present Football Clubs….” What the F@#^k does he mean exactly? When all games that are played outside home grounds are played on Ovals, Hobart, Aubury, Geelong. Seems that Football is always giving a free kick to other codes and what is said and done at FFA are 2 totally different scenarios.

Until the latter stages of 2013, the capacity of Kardinia Park was about 23,000. Hence the ground was almost sold out for the previous14 years. The expanded capacity was increased late last year due to a major stadium expansion, and is now 33,500. As usual you are tangling with the truth and facts. And more predictably, you had to bring AFL into the debate, as if to cover your inadequacy and garbage earlier in this blog.

@Dmak "Until the renovations (add 7000 seats)the ground had a capacity of under 24000" I was at Kardinia Park on 29 August 1987 when the official attendance is recorded at 27,030 ... or, are you saying the AFL were fudging the figures? I remember the game clearly .. it was the last game of the season, Geelong were leading all day & had to win to make the finals. Hawthorn already had the double chance so had nothing to play for. Geelong choked in the final quarter .. stadium full of devastated Geelong fans. Quickest car trip out of Geelong ever - no one could believe their team had just blown the finals. So, your figure of "under 24k capacity" is pure nonsense. In 1984, matches against Collingwood & Essendon at Kardinia Park attracted more than 26k fans. But, in 1984, matches against St Kilda & Sydney only got only 10k fans ... remember this is to watch allegedly the best ARules players in the world & the locals, who allegedly love ARules couldn't be bothered to turn up to the game. Maybe ARules fans need to spend more time researching & engaging with the sport they allegedly love .... rather than trying to hang off every word uttered during football discussions?

anything over or even around 15k would be awesome.

Thanks for providing that info Dmak. I thought there would be a logical reason as I know the Cats supporters are pretty loyal.