Heart fans of Melbourne City rejoice, for your time has come. Finally, you will get the attention you most certainly deserve.
No more will you be seen as that second team in Melbourne. Although excited at the thought of a sold-out Etihad Stadium for the new edition of the Melbourne derby, as a Victory supporter I am also somewhat terrified.
Terrified of a man who just last month played in a UEFA Champions League final, that man of course being David Villa, who is set to join Melbourne City as a guest player in preparation for his new MLS adventure.
The thought of Spain’s all-time top goal scorer facing an already very ordinary Victory defence is frightening.
Villa’s signing is a first for the A-League. Over the years, there have been many great signings of world-class players in the league, however the players have all been past there prime – Alessandro del Piero, William Gallas and Robbie Fowler, to name just a few.
At the age of 32, Villa is still in great form on his way to a third World Cup for Spain. Although Villa may only be in Melbourne for a maximum of 10 games, his impact on City’s season will be huge.
Away from the pitch his signing has been a major talking point in Australian sport, while he will look to start off City’s on-field campaign with a bang.
The focus is now on City and the possibilities of who else they could bring in. They still have an international and Australian marquee spot to fill before the season begins. Names thrown around include Frank Lampard and Mark Bresciano, who would both be great acquisitions for the league.
City will immediately gather new fans with signings such as these, and will finally show the potential of a second Melbourne team in the league. Apart from the signings they make, the club now have an identity to follow and build a foundation on.
The large majority of Heart supporters will stick around as the new owners have fulfilled many of the requests that the loyal supporters had made, primarily about keeping the club’s original colours in some form.
Heart fans, your years of frustration and disappointment are finally up. Your rebranded Melbourne City have taken the limelight and most definitely will shine.
The talk is no longer about what your neighbours Victory are up to. You are the centre of all the talk, and to be fair it’s about time.
Jacques
Guest
Great positive article. I'm a Victory fan but loving the Melbourne City at present
ciudadmarron
Guest
+1 re: the committed fans aspect. Like I said, it might reflect global branding and awareness etc but not actual support. But interesting figures nonetheless AZ, thanks for them!
AZ_RBB
Guest
Just on that point similar research by Coventry University's Centre of the International Business of Sport found that particularly in China, European clubs and NTs had a much higher profile and passionate following than China's local clubs and NT. But Guangzhou Evergrande is rapidly changing that.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@AZ_RBB If a survey asked "what 3 football teams do you support", I would answer: MVFC, ManU, Celtic. So, my name would join that combined supporter base of 1.026 billion people. However, if the question was: "Name the 1 club football team that you support" The answer would be Melbourne Victory FC Common sense tells us it is a complete fabrication & exaggeration to suggest the "4 biggest clubs in the world (Barca, Real, United and Bayern)" would have "1.026 billion committed fans", who follow that club as their No. 1 team
AZ_RBB
Guest
Just in relation to the point I made about the top 6 having a lions share of support around the world. A report published by Sports Agency Euromericas stated that the 4 biggest clubs in the world (Barca, Real, United and Bayern) had a combined supporter base of 1.026 billion people. Fairly safe to say the next 2 biggest, whoever they might be will have at least 100 million fans worldwide each. Bringing the total figure for 6 over 1.2 billion. In 2011, German company Sport+Markt found that 1.154 billion followed the top 6 clubs.
Philip Panas
Roar Rookie
Haha was a great win.
ciudadmarron
Guest
MF, AZ, yes, success breeds global awareness and the number of people who are fans of those clubs around the world. Global brands, all that stuff, sure. I get that. But the reason people follow Man U (or City!) in Zambia or wherever else - or the reason you don't see so many Chicago Bulls caps anymore - is not to do with their success as football sides so much as their success as fashion statements.... maybe it's the same thing in the end. But on top of that, around the world those that support local sides would outnumber those that support those big clubs, especially outside of countries like ours where football is the no 1 sport.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Re: Arsenal, I do stevo. Bah! Go back to woolwich. Never relegated my bum. Highbury library, re-naming London localities to change history.... plastic! :lol:
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@AZ_RBB Sure. If we define "biggest" in AUS by letters in the team's name: NRMA Insurance Western Sydney Wanderers I'm more than happy to concede that "biggest in AUS" prize to your club.
tickbites
Guest
Fuss - Your ridiculous pedantry has no doubt driven away many people who came to this site looking for genuine debate and discussion.
AZ_RBB
Guest
All of that is dwarfed by the fact that Perth Glory cover a significantly bigger area than MVFC ever has or ever could. Perth Glory are arguably the biggest club in the world!
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"clayts said that they were (albeit barely) the biggest team in Australia" No. What clayts actually said was: "the biggest club in the land (only barely true)" Which is why I'm keen to know what data suggests it is "only barely true" that MVFC is the biggest team in Australia. The data over 9 consecutive seasons that I have: * memberships * crowds * TV sponsorship * corporate support * revenue * profitability puts MVFC so far ahead of the competition, there's daylight between the next "biggest" football team in AUS.
tickbites
Guest
Ahhh, clayts said that they were (albeit barely) the biggest team in Australia. I never understand people being too lazy to read.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@clayts Please educate MVFC fans: 1. Which parameters, or metrics, suggest MVFC is not the biggest football club in AUS? 2. There were 12 matches played over 4yrs between MVFC & MHT - how do you arrive at the conclusion "MVFC's record against Heart was mediocre at best" In the age of instant information, I never understand people being too lazy to access facts when forming opinions.
clayts
Guest
This. I find it funny when Victory supporters get all uppity about history (9 years of it) and being the biggest club in the land (only barely true) and most successful (not any more - Go Roar) and yet their record against Heart is, nay, was mediocre at best.
Bondy
Guest
I wouldn't dispute that 6 out of 10 football players/supporters in Malaysia or Singapore for instance follow probably only Liverpool or Man Utd , but globally its a different kettle of fish ..
Bob
Guest
Don't be so obtuse Fuss. There are plenty of people who support clubs in different leagues. E.g. my nephew supports the Roar in the A-League, Arsenal in the EPL and RM in La Liga. Although he supports the Roar because he lives in Brisbane, he didn't choose Arsenal and RM because he felt a strong affinity with those regions.
The Bush
Roar Guru
I don't think it's quite as simple as just 6 European teams, but it is true that successful teams disproportionately hold fan bases. I just spent three months in Argentina and as far as the people on the street are concerned - 40m odd - it's Boca or River and that's it locally. After that they like European teams. Real had a huge following during the final and I mean huge. As for poorer countries outside Latin America, it's major Euro teams for sure. The Premier League was followed with intense passion when I was in Egypt (and you can bet they don't support Everton).
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@AZ_RBB You're making stuff up. I've cut & pasted the actual words that I found quite comical: ----------- @MF said: "There is a reason why the whole world follows half a dozen European soccer clubs out of the hundreds which exist – because they have latched onto success." and... "Around 180 of those leagues are absolute rubbish, i.e. the residents of those countries are just as likely to follow one of the big European clubs as they are to follow a local club." ----------------- Based on my interaction with football fans when I've travelled abroad it is utter nonsense to suggest residents of nations outside the "Top 20 leagues" - e.g. Scandanavia, Eastern Europe, Central America, South America, Africa, etc. - "are just as likely to follow one of the big European clubs as they are to follow a local club." It's not true = Does not happen = Complete rubbish.
AZ_RBB
Guest
I think you're all misconstruing what he's saying. He's not saying everyone in the world only follows 6 teams but that there a handful of teams (I would argue 25) who have a global presence. This global presence is driven by the success these clubs have enjoyed over time and recently. Hardly controversial.