Sydney FC have reportedly lodged a formal complaint with Football Federation Australia after Melbourne Heart applied to change their colours to those of their new owners Manchester City.
Fairfax have reported that Heart have applied for a name change to Melbourne City, and a kit change to reflect their owners: a sky blue shirt with white socks and shorts.
Sydney FC, who play in sky blue shirts and socks with dark blue shorts, are keen to remain the keepers of the ‘Sky Blue’ in the A-League with Chairman Scott Barlow lodging a complaint to the FFA.
He told Fairfax: “Sky blue is much more than just a colour for Sydney FC, it’s central to our identity. Sky blue represents our club, our harbour city and is the traditional colour of NSW.
“We’re extremely concerned about the proposed use of sky blue by Melbourne Heart, and we’ve made our concerns very clear to the FFA.”
Barlow points to the size of the competition as a reason that Heart’s new owners should look at other colours if the club were to rebrand.
“In a competition with only 10 teams, the idea of two teams wearing sky blue is nonsensical especially when sky blue is so closely associated with NSW. I believe it’s critical to the integrity of the A-League that clubs have identities that are also in representation of where they come from,”
The reaction to Sydney FC’s complaint has been mixed, with Roar expert Vince Rugari pointing to the case of Gold Coast United entering the competition with similar colours to Central Coast Mariners.
Sorry Sydney FC but you do not own a colour. CCM didn’t complain when GCU came in, nor should you #rubbish #aleague
— Vince Rugari (@VinceRugari) April 14, 2014
Barlow continued on to says the he believed colours were central to the club’s identity and culture; Sydney FC being founded a decade ago and Melbourne Heart in 2008.
“In football, club colours are sacred, and they should represent where a club comes from and not the identity of its owner,” Barlow told Fairfax.
“Melbourne Heart fans understand and value the history as to why the club wears red and white, and understandably they would want to protest that.”
Just wait until Sydney find out that every other club in the league has FC after its name.
— Aedan Roberts (@aedanr) April 15, 2014
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Classic comment. You got a mention on the Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/apr/17/sydney-fc-melbourne-heart-kit-change
Kasey
Guest
I don't see what all the fuss is about. in the 1800s, many famous clubs played in kits completely unrecognisable to what they wear today. In fact Juve's famous black and white stripes were inspired by Notts County of England and they replaced a fetching shade of Pink IIRC. 2 expansion clubs have joined and stayed with the League since 2009 with Red as a fundamental colour (Heart and WSW.) you didn't see AU getting its panties in a twist as SFC are. FFS it isn't hard..leave the stubborness and stupidity over clashing kits to our friends under Docklands stadium;) Melb City to wear Sky Blue at home & Heart's 'traditional kit' away from Melbourne.
Paul
Guest
Collingwood fans had no say when Eddie moved the club from its heartland and placed it in that of the Demons and Tigers.
peeeko
Roar Guru
pretty sure they are not
Bondy
Guest
It appears that Australians are generally bored with the the same old same old that they get dished up to them with afl and nrl. Interesting AFL's technically an 80 minute sport though game coverage runs for three hours that to me appears to be a sport to sell white goods ,microwaves washing machines etc.
strayan
Guest
something like this would be sweeeeeeeeeet (sky blue shirt with white/red sleeves and sash, white shorts and sky blue socks with white/red trim http://oi60.tinypic.com/1p8q2x.jpg
bbb
Guest
Maybe Melb city could do something similar to Atlético Madrid and have red white and blue in their colours, everyone could be happy then.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"The conversation was about T.V ratings" A total of 19 million people tuned in to watch sockah matches in 2010 played between midnight-7:00 a.m. How about counting the Aussies who tune in to watch European & South American leagues every week? They're all watching sokah, too.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"As for World Cup this has more to do with Australians love of an event." A total of 19 million people tuned in to watch the World Cup with matches played between midnight-7:00 a.m. Honduras v Chile attracted 419k viewers on SBS. Are you honestly saying, these were "Aussies who love an event"? Why don't Aussies tune in to watch major cricket matches in the middle of the night? Why didn't Aussies tune in to watch the AUS RL team win the RL World Cup?
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"Melbourne Heart have effectively folded" This is just so funny coming from an ARules cheerleader. Apparently South Melbourne never "folded" .. even though the club moved 900 kms, changed the shirt design & the words to the club song. Apparently Fitzroy never "folded" ... even though the club moved 1800 kms, changed the shirt design & the words to the club song. Apparently Brisbane Bears never "folded" ... even though the club moved home grounds, changed the shirt design & the words to the club song. Apparently Footscray never "folded" ... even though the club moved home grounds & changed the shirt design. Apparently St Kilda never "folded" ... even though the club moved home grounds & changed the shirt design. But, Melbourne Heart have "folded" even though the club will not move 1km when playing home games, will not move 1km for their training base. Unbelievable!
langou
Roar Guru
Towser, The A-League is the best rating league in this country. As for World Cup and Man U ratings, this has more to do with Australians love of an event. Whether it is the Olympics, Aus open, Melbourne Cup, Australians will tune in for a big event.
langou
Roar Guru
The conversation was about T.V ratings and crowd figures so I assumed that we were talking about watching sport rather than participating in sport. My point was that the reason we get close to the NRL average crowds, yet so far away from their T.V ratings is because League is a popular spectator sport in this country whereas soccer isn’t so much. It just happens that the smallish group of fans that do follow soccer in this country are extremely passionate about wanting the game to succeed and will go out their way to support their team. NRL fans are probably a bit more complacent.
Kane Cassidy
Roar Guru
I think you'll find there were 5 teams that finished below us. What do you call them?
Towser
Guest
Not withstanding also Fuss the 180,000 who watched ManU & Liverpool last year or the viewing audiences for Australia's matches at ungodly hours in the World Cup or indeed the viewing audience for the 2002 World Cup without Australia where the final was beaten at the post in the TV ratings as the most popular of the year by a Masterquiz show. Also that year the Semi-Final at 9.30 followed the SOO which started at 8pm and beat it in the TV ratings. So your spot on Fuss when you state "People need to realise "the sport" is not the same as the "professional league"
Towser
Guest
real football Can't say for certain ,but it,s a time thing IMO. Don't know how long Fox has been going in Australia ,but I know a next door neighbour was a RL fan & it seems forever (maybe 18 years ago) that he first had his cable in specifically to view RL. Remembering that the NRL already had a dedicated substantial audience in NSW & QLD at the time unlike football which was marginalised by the NSL.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"it is because not many Australians like the game of soccer…" Huh? It's the most popular game played in Australia!! Of the team sports, in Australia, according to the ABS participation figures for Aussies aged 5yrs and over, popularity is as follows: 1. Football (outdoor) 2. Netball 3. Basketball 4. ARules 5. Cricket (outdoor) 6. RL 7. RU Compared to football's popularity in AUS: * ARules about 1/2 as popular * RL about 1/4 as popular * RU about 1/5 as popular People need to realise "the sport" is not the same as the "professional league". And, ARules fans need to understand their sport is just a non-entity in Qld & NSW.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
I suspect part of it is the game-day experience. Football offers a rather vibrant game-day experience at the stadium which is hard to replicate on TV. This encourages a greater percentage of fans to attend games in person rather than on the box. Something similar can be seen in the AFL numbers where the game-day attendances are double that of NRL yet the TV audiences are fairly similar. As with football, AFL offers far more at the stadium than it does on TV (though in AFL's case it is due to the fluid nature of the game and sheer size of field which means much is missed on the box).
langou
Roar Guru
Real, it is because not many Australians like the game of soccer...those who do are every passionate but it is still mostly a niche sport in this country
Bondy
Guest
Blocking Hoarding and Manipulation. RF Do you ever think to yourself how explosively entertaining those sports are NRL though nobody finds it explosively entertaining in the Southern States though and vice versa AFL such an explosively riveting sport though people dont really watch it on the Eastern Seaboard it doesn't make sense RF does it. Its blocking hoarding and manipulation that sees the products through, can you think of anything else, I cant.
realfootball
Guest
Yes. Interesting reading. We are getting close to NRL in terms of crowds, but my word we are light years away on tv. Anyone have any thoughts on why?