It may sound grossly unfair to criticise a team that currently sits on top of the A-League, but are alarm bells starting to clang for Melbourne City?
Let me explain.

There's nothing wrong with the team that Erick Mombaerts has put together, far from it. They've taken 10 points from the first 12, and reached the FFA Cup Final.

City are blooding some excellent youngsters. Denis Genreau seems to have matured during his year in the Eredivisie with PEC Zwolle, Stefan Colakovski excited off the bench against Wellington, and Connor Metcalfe - that bullocking midfielder, chiselled straight from the Newcastle coalfields - grabbed his first A-League goal, and atoned for a rather scratchy cameo off the bench last week against Western United.




But it's those last two words that are the focus of this week’s column, and, more to the point, how their arrival could affect City.

10 years into their A-League tenure (five under the CFG), and Melbourne City's attendances remain rather stagnant. Last year’s average of 8,135 was their lowest yet. This year’s two home games have brought in 7,399 and 6,440 respectively.

City are not alone in struggling for crowds, but the introduction of Western United has brought those numbers into sharp focus. It's one thing playing second fiddle to Melbourne Victory - but to the new boys too?


Yet after two home games each, Western United's crowd average is marginally higher than City's, albeit with the rider that one of those games WAS a derby, with City themselves being the visitors.

Saturday's win over Victory feels like a seminal moment for the new club - a moment when they laid down a marker. There even seems to be a name for the rivalry emerging, with the "Westgate" derby getting an airing in some quarters this week.

Western United CEO, Chris Pehlivanis, says the derby success has helped establish their brand.


“We've been able to get our players on the major radio stations in Victoria - before that it was hard,” said Pehlivanis.

“The derby was an opportunity, and there was a lot from the inner west that came to support us as well. It can be a 25-30,000 derby very quickly.”

So, is the pressure on City, who will this week celebrate their first decade in the A-League by wearing the old Melbourne Heart strip for the game against the Mariners?

City CEO, Brad Rowse, acknowledges his club has much more to do, but maintains building a fan base is a long-term project.

"We've admitted we've had a tough couple of years - we weren't playing the style of football we wanted to,” Rowse said. “There was a lot of fan frustration - the Bruno (Fornaroli) issue.

“It takes a while to build a fan base, and not much time for them to drop away. But we do a thrice-yearly fan survey for our members, and the last one saw a big turnaround - there's a lot more optimism.”

City have increased their community footprint, with a very visible presence in the "Macca's City Cup" for juniors, and a recent youth tournament in Shepperton, which had 4,000 child participants. It's a slow-burn approach they hope will pay dividends in the future.

But questions remain as to whether the link with the City Football Group, and the lack of big-name marquees (at the one A-League club which could readily afford one), is keeping potential fans away.

"We don't ram it (the link with Manchester City) down people's throats - you won't find anything about Man City on our website,” Rowse added. “We want to be a standalone club. Our research shows it’s less of an influence than people think.

“Marquees? The evidence to date shows that you don't get a return on your investment. We're not opposed to it, but it has to be the right player.”

Western United meantime, are keen to reap the benefits from their derby success.


"We will click over 4,000 members this week - since the game we have signed up close to 300 members,” added Pehlivanis.

“It's hard to gauge if they will all jump on long term, but success drives membership in the right way.

“We have a lot of hard work to do in the community, and we have done over a hundred school & club visits already. We are on a journey, and we don't know what the ceiling is. But we are pretty happy with a 7,000 average to start off with, it's a good base."

Western have geographical difference, and a new stadium coming in three years’ time. City have a decade head start, plus the resources of the CFG.

With both teams at home again this weekend, perhaps we will get a further clue as to which will emerge as the "second force" in Victoria behind Victory?

https://www.foxsports.com.au/g00/football/a-league/a-league-news-melbourne-city-western-united-simon-hill-column-derby-membership/news-story/4206c241a22d4acdf2745ba26643d284?i10c.ua=1&i10c.encReferrer=&i10c.dv=15