How significant is the Melbourne derby?

Derbies. There’s nothing quite like them.

The defining fixtures that divide cities, friends and family members for a period of 90 minutes where claiming the three points is merely a side show to the bragging rights and ownership of the city that follows.

While it is easy to lose ourselves as football fans in the bigger derbies across Spain and England, the A-League has shown that it is more than capable of showcasing its own blockbuster spectacles that you simply cannot afford to miss.

In the current ten team competition, Australia’s two largest cities Sydney and Melbourne play host to a set of derbies that ignite a profound degree of passion and loyalty from supporters towards their beloved clubs.

Each derby has its own unique story justifying the passionate hatred rival clubs have for each other.

In Sydney, the cultural and historical divide between the city’s Eastern and Western suburbs has fuelled an intense atmosphere on matchday that captivates fans all across the country to tune in.

The ardour on display from both sets of fans is what really defines this fixture.

The derby is built around the residents of Sydney’s western suburbs feeling misrepresented by Sydney FC and thus disapproved of due to the club lacking that sense of community which they had been striving for.

Likewise the immediate continental and domestic success of the Wanderers resulted in the club seemingly taking over the harbour city, which clearly did not sit well with their Sky Blue neighbours.

We now shift our attention to Melbourne. In what many locals refer to as the ‘sporting capital of the world’ it was only fitting that Melbourne would be the first to be provided with two clubs and thus a true derby.

Despite playing in front of crowds of up to 45,000 whenever the two sides would meet it felt as though the derby was without any backbone.

It seemed as though both teams supposedly hated each other just for the sake of doing so, without any real reason.

It is also not as though a team was based in the Western or Northern suburbs like Sydney to create that geographical and cultural rivalry.

Instead the club founded which was Melbourne Heart at the time, relied on gaining support from those that were anti-Victory or based on them being the red team in the city.

Having attended many of these derbies it did not seem as though there was any significance whenever the Victory would win due to the one sidedness of the supporters in the stadium.

One of the best things about your team winning a derby is the amount of bragging rights that comes after it and without any real support for Heart/City, the win felt a little empty as a Victory fan.

On top of this, Victory fans did not really have any incentive in disliking Heart/City other than the fact that they were another team in Melbourne.

There weren’t many Heart supporters to banter with other than the odd battle on social media platforms.

Melbourne Heart on the other hand felt as though they had a point to prove constantly in the shadow of their cross town rivals.

While not irrelevant, in comparison to the Sydney derby which is embedded with cultural and historical significance there wasn’t a lot of context in the clash between the two Melbourne sides.

Until now that is.

In what already has been an exhilarating first half of season 2016-17 it finally feels as though life has been breathed into the Melbourne derby.

One can argue that the derby’s significance was amplified following the financial takeover of the City Football Group. Albeit, this did little in improving the newly proclaimed Melbourne City’s performance on the field with the Victory remaining high above the food chain.

However when season 2016-17 rolled around it was City that received all the media attention.

One could not turn their heads without being invaded with the heavy focus towards the newer Melbourne club who were outright favourites to win the league right from the very start.

Furthermore the signing of star Socceroo Tim Cahill sent in the league into frenzy.

Cahill has since been marketed as the A-League’s ‘poster boy’ as Melbourne City took centre stage. Such media publicity for City being shoved down the throats of Victory fans would not have pleased them, wanting to prove now more than ever that their boys were still number one.

But what really makes this derby so intriguing and enticing all of a sudden is the on-field performances of both sides.

The Victory’s 4-1 humiliation at the hands of their rivals, as well as their controversial exit out of the FFA Cup sparked a new level of intensity towards City.

In addition the FFA Cup Semi-Final clash was one of the most physical derbies to date with both the players and coaching staff heavily involved.

Such animosity would have hence been exacerbated following City claiming their inaugural trophy in the FFA Cup.

Victory fans were hence unsettled, feeling very much hard done by as their neighbours were heavily advocated by the FFA. But one must look beyond this and endorse how this has greatly amplified the significance of the derby.

Firstly, it has provided City fans with a voice who with their 4-1 thrashing and FFA Cup win allows them to counter the Victory fans boasting about their enriched and proud history.

Secondly, from the perspective of the Victory the club now have greater incentives in beating their cross-town rivals, being motivated by City’s media rise to stamp their authority and regain their position on top.