Boomer NIMBYs are a fucking cancer on Melbourne.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/melbourne-victory-s-footscray-plan-raises-ire-over-loss-of-green-space-20190530-p51sw2.html

Its not members based its privately owned.
So the government has handed a private organisation $10 Million and an organisation that's first priority is its share holders, not season ticket holders and not the local community.
Then the local council is giving a parcel of land that may end up in foreign hands.

How Kafkesque!

I am an under 25 renter in Footscray with a young family and I don't really agree with it. It's the only park where you can play sport within walking distance for the majority of Footscray and it's going to be sectioned off for the sole use of Melbourne Victory. Considering Victory need it pristine condition, locals who aren't playing for Victory's academy aren't really going to be able to use it are they? So it's taking away the one actually usable park in Footscray for private use, I agree that Victory need an academy but surely there are better sites than this?

Lol locals. Most of them are bloody newbies to the area. Hell they even complained about the race course... 

Where? Land is at a premium . There is no vacant land in Melbourne unless you move into Melton now

Land is at a premium, does that mean council should be handing it to provide enterprise?

You mean like how council can give prime land for afl Ovals and noone bats an eyelid   . 

I don't agree with that either.

would this even be a discussion point if Footscray Park was to be converted to AFL ovals? I can't remember the location, but last year there was a similar outrage from locals in the South East (Monash I think) when the council approved 4 Football pitches in local parklands. 

Also, this project is being done in conjunction with Victoria Uni, which is also located in Footscray Park. 

Its not the only section of park where you can play sport though. This part is directly below the university, there is also a section on the other side of the park near the bbq's that will still be open and available to be used.

This is basically how politics works. There will always be winners and losers. This is obviously good for our sport but it comes at the cost of public facilities. MV have obviously used their connections to secure government funding, which is no small task in Victoria, especially for a non-afl organisation. It is a bit unfortunate that some locals will lose some public parks, but this is an inevitability with the rapid growth of Melbourne. Inner city suburban land is becoming more and more rare. To be fair, if it wasn't this sort of facility, it would have been high-rise apartments at some point. At least this facility will serve a segment of the sporting community well.

Victory got the $10 million in funding because they pushed the "womens sport" angle which gets a lot of political milage in Victoria. But its still signicantly less than the $40 million upgrade of Princess Park to make it the Victoria HQ of AFLW. the feds have also chipped in $15 million, but I am not sure if that is inclusive of the $40 million or on top of the $40 million.

Akbari has gone back to roar....weird 

Why? He only went to victory for the money and there’s an interesting family back story to him driving all this. 

At Roar he was on a $10k scholarship contract but victory offered him an U23 contract worth four or five times more which was too good to turn down as he supports his family with what he earns.

But he’s not quite ready for first team football and presumably Victory had a shortage of youth players to elevate so Akbari was a good fit in an ACL year. 

I dont think its done anyone any harm, not least the kids family. 

Who knows? Maybe a back room  agreement between the two clubs. 

He was on loan wasnt he,  pretty sure it was announced it was a loan deal like DDS.

Nope. The first story did say loan but it wasn’t. He was uncontracted at Roar when he left and he’s returned uncontracted (to an NYL contract) meaning he can be poached again. 

Yep, youre right,  just had a look back. Shouldn't post til ive got the facts hey. 

Nah, not you ... the journo’s at the time should have checked their facts lol 

Sven being linked to us lol

-PB

About the Footscray Park development, I went to uni there years ago and have been back to the area a few times recently, and I actually see it as a positive thing.

The overall MV academy though does seem a bit fragmented though, as part of the plan if I remember correctly sees other grounds built near Highpoint, which is a few kms away. It’s hard to find land I know, but seems less than ideal from an operational perspective, especially with the club effectively running from 3 locations (AAMI Park, Footscray Park, Highpoint).

Any football investment should be welcomed though, as it is not something that is easy to get stakeholders to invest in.

They just need a good consultancy firm to get the training facility approved. There’s plenty of space elsewhere in the same park.
It’ll get done.

Part of the academy is actually part of mariybnong  college.

Maribyrnong College is 2km from Footscray Park. 2 pitches there and 3 at Footscray Park. Its not ideal, but its hard to find land close to the city and we consider ourselves to be the club of central Melbourne. I also suspect we will be leaving Gosch's Paddock (next to AAMI Park) as a training venue. When you factor in the first team squad, womens squad and numerous youth teams, its not anywhere near big enough. There is also no privacy at Gosch's Paddock

I expect our first team will stick with the paddock for the most part due to the top class facilities inside AAMI Park that were built for us.

Definitely true that we need a location somewhere central as our academy players will be coming from all over metropolitan Melbourne and beyond and need to fit it in with their education.

Plans by Australia’s largest soccer club to build multimillion-dollar complex in a public park have raised the ire of nearby residents who say the development would eradicate some of the last open parkland in Melbourne's inner west.

Melbourne Victory revealed in October last year that it had received $10 million in state government funding to help it build an $18 million women’s and youth academy in the heritage-listed Footscray Park.

Ruby and her owner Kate frolic in the open space Footscray Park on Saturday.

Occupying the entire flat parkland to the west of the park, which hosts annual events such as Laneway Festival and New Year’s Eve fireworks, the complex would include three floodlit, synthetic and turf soccer pitches, six change rooms and a 500-person stand.

However, residents say they are concerned that one of their suburb's largest off-lead dog walking and recreation areas will be confined to a walking path around the pitches, with few guarantees on benefits for the wider community.

Sharon Schwab, whose online petition against the plan has more than 1900 signatures, said she opposed the concept of a private development on public land.

“Footscray Park is not a large-scale park filled with numerous flat open recreational spaces," Ms Schwab said. "It’s mostly hilly parkland that cascades down to the Maribyrnong River.

“Council’s proposal to lease our park’s only flat open recreational space will leave nowhere for the community to go that is suitable for non-organised sports, general recreation and large gatherings for the community.”

Maribyrnong council CEO Stephen Wall said the academy would be a “great thing for young people” and “having recreation facilities that can come to our city with external funding is certainly a positive".

“I can appreciate that a lot of local residents are challenged by change,” he said. “But this has been a pretty passive piece of open space for a long time.

“When you look at three soccer pitches being built in a fairly underdeveloped part of Footscray Park - it’s greenery, it’ll still be available for people to walk across and kick a soccer ball at times.”

Former Maribyrnong mayor Sara Coward, who has been using the park for off-lead dog walking for 30 years, said she did not agree the development would be an enhancement for the broader public.

Footscray residents, including former mayor Sara Coward (centre) and Steve Wilson (far right), are sceptical of development plans they say aren't beneficial to the wider community.
Footscray residents, including former mayor Sara Coward (centre) and Steve Wilson (far right), are sceptical of development plans they say aren't beneficial to the wider community.CREDIT:JUSTIN MCMANUS

“We all support recreation, we all think that soccer for women and young people is fantastic,” she said.

“But the threat we’re going to lose this space is a real problem. It’s not a noted municipality for its green space ... yes there’s gains for some parts of the community, but it seems to me there’s losses for a larger part.”

Maribyrnong Council released an updated Footscray Park masterplan in March that included the Melbourne Victory development.

The updated Footscray Park masterplan. The three proposed soccer pitches occupy the large majority of the flat area in the west of the park.
The updated Footscray Park masterplan. The three proposed soccer pitches occupy the large majority of the flat area in the west of the park.CREDIT:MARIBYRNONG COUNCIL

Mr Wall said the plan was a “live project” that remained open to adjustment based on community feedback, which had so far been garnered through an online survey and two information sessions last week.

He said the council hoped to move to the second consultation stage regarding the lease and licensing within three to six months, with construction potentially starting “in the next year or two”.

Mr Wall said Melbourne Victory, which has 25,000 members – 5000-plus more than the next largest Australian soccer club – intended to host six to 12 match-day events at the new complex each year.

Yet confirmation of the exact number of matches, along with details about pitch fencing, hours of use and how often patrons could utilise the pitches, remains up in the air.


A Melbourne Victory spokesman said inquiries about the project should be directed to Maribyrnong Council.

Despite the frustration of many residents that October’s announcement came without notice, Mr Wall said the timing was because “the concept and the funding had to reach a level of maturity before it was appropriate to go out and speak with the community”.

The flat parkland hosts Laneway Festival's main stage, and thousands attend New Year's fireworks there every year.


Steve Wilson, a Footscray resident for more than 40 years, said the area already struggled with parking congestion, and questioned whether events such as the New Year’s fireworks would be able to continue, despite the council guaranteeing their viability.

There's are the sort of people that have their little flea bags at cafes hovering around you while you're trying to eat in peace, smiling like it's teh cutest thing ever.

If Olympic Park hadn't been pointlessly destroyed, it would have been the ideal spot for first team training. 

Drives me nuts!!

Someone should create a Pro Victory Academy change petition. It should match the anti for numbers pretty quickly.