The Official Supporters Thread to the Melbourne Heart.

As we know, South Melbourne FC, made a bid as Southern Cross FC to enter the A-League. Also the Melbourne City bid failed. Which left it between the two, which Melbourne Heart eventually won. The reason why Southern Cross FC failed is because the FFA did not want a club Culturally backed.

Chairman: Peter Sidwell

As much as Peter Sidwell needs to shave his mo. It is great to have someone like Peter Sidwell lead the Melbourne Hearts. Peter Sidwell had backed other sports in previous times but its great to have Peter Sidwell join the Melbourne Heart panel, Marko Bresicano and Vince Grella have given him applaude for Syndicate. Melbourne Victory & the Central Coast Mariners are the only clubs making profit. Hopefully he can make this club a profitable club for all investors in the club.

Coach: John van 't Schip

Before signing John, Melbourne Heart tried to sign Henk van Stee who currently coaches De Graafschap in the Dutch League, he rejected the move because of family reasons.

John was an International player for the Dutch, as you all should know by now, Dutch coaches are very successful all around the world. John was a successful player for the Netherlands making 41 apperances, and also playing over 250 games for Ajax and over 100 games for Genoa.

John was assistant coach of the Netherlands, and coached FC Twente where current Socceroos David Carney and Nikita Rukavytsya currently play. His team finished 12th in a 18 team league during the 2001-02 season, after quiting, the club finished in the same spot as they did last season 12th. FC Twente weren't a big club back then, it was until Steve McClaren took over the club became a title contender.

John coached Ajax when Marco van Basten resigned from the job.

Assistant Coaches: Jesper Olsen & Ante Milicic

Jesper Olsen: A Former Manchester United player, who played 139 games for the Red Devils, Current French Champions, Bordeaux, and most successful club in the Netherlands, Ajax. He also played for the Danish national team.

Jesper Olsen had lived in Australia before signing on as assistant coach to the Melbourne Heart. Both John van 't Schip and Jesper Olsen have played in a world cup, and both have been Semi-Finalists, allthough John won the European Championships too.

Ante Milicic: Ante Milicic has also had experience as a Coach, he was a player coach for Sydney United in the 2009 NSW Premier League season, he also was called up to be a assistant coach for the U-20 Young Socceroos at the U-20 World Cup in Egypt, and he was also the first player to score a Hatrick in the A-League.

Ante Milicic played for both Newcastle Jets, and Queensland Roar. All 3 Coaches have played in the Dutch League, Ante Milicic playing with NAC Brada. Ante played with the Socceroos on 6 occassions scoring 5 goals.

Football Operations Manager: John Didulica

John Didulica is the brother of Croatian International Joey Didulica, who were both born in Australia.

John speaks to Melbournes sports radio station. 1116 SEN. He has said to want to sign the following players:

* Michael Petkovic - Sivasspor are currently in the relegation spots in the Turkish Super League.
* Mark Viduka - Mark Viduka is a free agent, he is only 34 years old, he is regardard as one of the best footballers of Australian History.
* Josip Skoko - Josip Skoko is playing in the Croatian First Division and said he would consider joining Melbourne Heart.
* Simon Colosimo - Simon is Melbourne born, it accually wouldnt be a suprise if he joins Melbourne Heart.
* Ljubo Milicevic - Also Melbourne Born, played for the Melbourne Victory, if aall doesnt go well at Newcastle Jets, you should know by now that he will leave if not happy.

It is still not known if Melbourne Heart will have a youth team in the first season.

As we know, South Melbourne FC, made a bid as Southern Cross FC to enter the A-League. Also the Melbourne City bid failed. Which left it between the two, which Melbourne Heart eventually won. The reason why Southern Cross FC failed is because the FFA did not want a club Culturally backed.

Anyway, tell me how many gold coast players made the A-League/European Squad. Zero.

I think you'll find that Jason Culina did, but pulled out through injury.

Remove the whole first paragraph. I'm going to be visiting this page often, so I don't want anything to trigger flame wars. You took on a heavy role here, get it right.

IMO, too early to make this thread since names are not yet confirmed (true, almost there, but not officially yet). Best of luck though. Remove the first paragraph.

How many of these threads do you guys need?

But I guess at least you tried to start one with correct spelling and grammar.

I got this big button called 'EDIT' so i will change the title if i have to if Melbourne does pick another name.

Shittest team in the country. And that's saying something with the likes of Adelaide United and Sydney FC.

I still hate United ALOT, but I hate Melbourne Heart more.
Plus, the AU VS MV rivarly is very boring now. 8 in a row?? Too easy! :p

agenda much?

I seriously do not know what agenda I was pushing, I have read this forum for a long, long time and decided to post my thoughts on this thread about the Melbourne Heart.

I am here under the name HeartAttack, I have no other accounts I am sure an administrator can point this out.

Everything off the pitch has been done well so far.

The signings of the coaching staff have been a class above anything else I have seen in the league so far.

The players first appointed were good players with experience in the league. They should establish a core and leadership that will ensure a goods start for this club. I don't think anyone is expecting miracles straight away, but you can't help thinking this club will be competitive.

I just simply like what this club is doing, therefor I will commit to becoming a member and supporter of this club.

I am an avid football follower, passionately in love with Newcastle United in England, but never fully got myself into the Victory. Don't get me wrong, I was a supporter, went to a few games every year (even the Grand Final in the second season) and always watched them on TV whenever I could and hoped they would win, but just was never 100% into them. I am a Melbournian first and foremost and patriotic about that so of course I was left no choice in the decision but to follow them.

Then this syndicate came along and I was excited about another team in Melbourne to establish a rivalry and for the growth of the game in Australia. I was going to wait to see what they were about and how they were going to operate before either committing to them or strengthening my relationship with the Melbourne Victory as there was going to be another rival in town. Well a few months ago and after the appointment of John Van't Schip I met Scott Munn through fortunate circumstances. Soon after that I decided. So to did four of my mates. We intend to purchase reserve season tickets in the new stadium as members of the Heart or whatever they will be called. (We all know it will be Heart)

I have no significant reason for crossing the great divide by switching from the Melbourne Victory to the Melbourne Heart, I just feel connected with this new club. Already. More so then I ever did with the Victory. I check this and other websites for new news on this club everyday, I have ideas in my head in who I would approach, I watch other A-League games often just to know a little glimpse of information on anyone we decide to pick up from rival clubs. I have fallen in love and consider this my club already.

Can't wait for the announcement on colours, name, kit and logo. Then more signings. This is really exciting.

Go the Heart! :d

Wahey, another Toon boy ;D

Hey I don't mind at all...I hope there is another 12-16k of you who will buy memberships and go to matches each week.

A Glasgow type rivalry without the religious connotations. That would be simply awesome.

Not sure if that's possible to be honest, mate. It's 90% of what makes that rivalry so intense is centuries of difference. A lot like the Sunderland/Newcastle rivalry - it goes back way before football. I don't think you can create that intensity in the modern era (anywhere).

They are all multi's of 1 person....

Yeah I called that as well...

Yeah pretty obvious! Good call! :p

:lol: :lol:

It's all about realistic expectations, mate. If you go into it expecting the kind of passion you get over there - it's inevitably going to be a let-down. If we accept that it's going 'just' to be a strong rivalry, fair enough.

The biggest problem with a rivalry here is that because supporters are few and far between (relative to population), the chances of working surrounded by your rivals, is low. If you live in Glasgow, or Sunderland/Newcastle, the probability is that you will see rival supporters within a day of the match - you lose and you know it's going to be a nightmare going to work the next day. I remember working in Washington one night, my shift starting 2 hours after the final whistle in the Sunderland-Newcastle match, an absolute nightmare going into work that night (we lost 2-1). Here in Melbourne, you could quite easily go days without seeing a rival.

It will build though, no worries about that.

Can an administrator on this forum clear up that I have but only one account to put an ease to the minds of these numskull posters?

You can always have 2 rivals.. Liverpool v Everton? Liverpool v Manchester Utd?

MEL vs ADL (Biggest Rivalry for Adelaidians but Melbournians dont give a right f*ck about it)

of course you don't give a "right f*ck about it".. that's why you've brought it up twice. That's why you and your mates come down here in droves for your away games. That's why you and your mates come armed with your "ratchets and hammers".. unless you're a mechanic of course?

Oh and what's this business about "f*ggots with the mardigras" and your avatar? A forum filled with men and you want us to do what with your "Love Pump"??

Sorry to burst your bubble, but we dont care about your petty little rivalry.
We have won eight times in a f*cking row.
i mean, seriously?
SYD vs MEL is the only true rivalry in AUS, and when West SYD and MEL HRT come in, it'll
fu*k everything up.

I think West Sydney have got their shit together and will form an interesting battle between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory.

As for the Heart, their administration sounds alright, but i'm quite skeptical of what their going to bring to the HAL. Like i said on another thread, when i look at Heart and Victory, i really can't work out the so-called "point of difference" apart from the name. But if Victory and Heart wanna go ahead and kill eachother, i'm fine with that. Let me just grab my popcorn and coke first...
;)

Edited by redeyerob: 10/1/2010 04:43:18 PM

I still believe that Heart will get around 12k average, with Victory continuing around the 20k mark. There will be a few bumps - derby games, rivalries with the Sydney teams, etc.

I strongly suspect that the 12k will consist of:

6k ex-Victory.
4k dual memberships.
2k 'new' supporters - ie/ those who never go on the Victory train

In other words - the new franchise will bring around 2k supporters to the game. Not bad considering one of the key criteria put down by the FFA when negotiating the franchise rights was the need to bring 'new' supporters to the game.

Exactly what you see everytime you go to Etihad stadium. A bunch of halfwit people running around, t-shirts off looking for everything else other than the purity that is football. Ruined the experience for me whenever I go. Some of the stuff in the stands was worst than the tactics used by Ernie Merrick!

I still don't get how people can support a club from scratch that doesn't representing anything.

The only thing I can think of is that these so-called Heart supporters posting on here are part of a marketing campaign organised by the franchise which is designed to drum up support, stir a bit of shit and manufacture a rivalry.


Edited by johnny come lately: 10/1/2010 10:43:48 PM

I still believe that Heart will get around 12k average, with Victory continuing around the 20k mark. There will be a few bumps - derby games, rivalries with the Sydney teams, etc.

I strongly suspect that the 12k will consist of:

6k ex-Victory.
4k dual memberships.
2k 'new' supporters - ie/ those who never go on the Victory train

In other words - the new franchise will bring around 2k supporters to the game. Not bad considering one of the key criteria put down by the FFA when negotiating the franchise rights was the need to bring 'new' supporters to the game.

True lovers of the beautiful art called Football will flock to see the sport played the way it should be played.

Also on Merrick's tactics, majority of Victory fans are frustrated with it, have been for a long, long time. Next time you go to a game take time in listening to other fans around you, get a feel of the general consensus on your team. Listening to call back callers and reading forums is great, but go to a game and converse with the diehard's.

Let's hope the Heart bring back beauty to this, the beautiful game.....

At your request I have requested a check of the four recent Heart sign-ups.

Isnt the whole A League based on people supporting a club from scratch that doesnt represent anything. The new Heart team will fit in perfectly

You know both Melbourne and football better than I do but 4K dual? Why would so many back two teams regularly? (I know people in Manchester did several decades ago, and maybe AFL fans often back two teams, but the idea of a third of the fans backing the other team seems weird to me. Victory seem to have different supporter groups (compared to the cove in sydney), is there any word some of these groups are planning to move over to heart en masse? Considering Victory seem to have about a 22K fan group but are capable of producing double.
(like the 50K that turned up for a Sydney match in season 2) it appears they have a lot of fans that are not too hardcore for victory. I would guess that is where most of the fans would come from.

How will you deal with it when Van't Schip arrives and you end up watching the club version of Pim's Borearoos ?

IPs checked, none match. All appears legit.

The A-League was built on one-team one-city, so the theory was that supporters were getting behind the team that represented their home city. The Heart are the only team in the entire competition (including the state leagues if I'm not mistaken) who do not represent a specific location.

The A-League was built on one-team one-city, so the theory was that supporters were getting behind the team that represented their home city. The Heart are the only team in the entire competition (including the state leagues if I'm not mistaken) who do not represent a specific location.

Seems to me that Heart are being set up on the same basis as every other club. They are being set up to represent Melbourne. The original intention of the A-League was to include 2 clubs from Melbourne and Sydney but the FFA could not find franchises that were prepared to take the risk. They even had to nurse Victory into existence by waiving their entrance payment until they could afford to pay it. It was when they couldn't find 2 franchises in Melbourne and Sydney that O'Neill started talking Rugby Union speak about one team per city.

How long do you guys think Van't Schip will stick around for? And Merrick? He's not going to be there forever. You'll find that especially after yesterday's performance some aren't pleased with our tactics, but that doesn't mean we run off to support another team. The ups and downs are what supporting a team is all about.

You haven't even seen the team play yet or what players you're going to get, and a Dutch coach does not guarantee beautiful football.

The reality is that your squad is still going to be made up of A-Leaguers from other squads, perhaps a few state league players and maybe a few imports who will most likely be hit and miss like most other A-League clubs.

You'll still have players like Sarkies and Hoffman running around. Will those who have had no interest in watching A-League standard football come out to see A-League players simply in a different strip? You can't dress up shit as a piece of chocolate. The challenge not just for Heart, but for the whole league, is to try and get those who watch European football to A-League games.

Honestly I applaud Van't Schip's appointment, I just think that there is this weird assumption that just because he is Dutch, his team are going to play an unbelievable brand of football when most of what will be at his disposal is already running around in the league.

The problem is though, that Victory have 5 years on Heart, and they already have the 'Victoria' brand. So how is MH then relevant? Sure, they could play attractive football, but that's easier said than done, as has been pointed out earlier in this thread. Plus it's something Victory can copy - who have been exciting to watch anyway for the most part.

They should be representing a defined neighbourhood of Melbourne - eg Mornington area or Northern suburbs. Then they can engage with the local football community and clubs etc, build a social club there etc etc. Then they can build their fan base from there, and it will mean something, they will represent something.

Yes Victory have a 5 year advantage but that doesn't mean that they own the market. Victory were given a 5 year guarantee that they would not have a competitor in the Melbourne market. That time is over. Now it is time for them to compete and Heart has been given task of being their competitor. It is up to Heart to decide how they want to compete in the Melbourne market. Let the market decide if they like the product that Heart put forward. If the FFA had its preference the two would have been competing for the same market from Day 1 and the market would have sorted itself out. This business that Heart should only be able to compete for part of the market was never part of the deal.

Yes, Victory certainly don't own the market. And I agree, we need competition for Victory, I personally believe Melbourne could support at least 3 or 4 clubs in the not too distant future. Certainly the market will decide. But I question the strategy that they are adopting. They will have to offer something different to Victory. So far, everything they have proposed can be copied. A geographical differentiation is something that cannot be copied. They could easily represent a neighbourhood of 1 million people (which is more than what a lot of other A-league clubs have to draw on) and use a targeted marketing campaign to this demographic. This way, they will have a clear differentiation with Victory.

It may not be as high as 4k, but I believe there will be a lot of dual membership simply because, as everyone keeps saying, Melbourne people love their sport. I know people who make a point of going to every AFL game in the city - if that AFL mob are happy to do 2 games a weekend, it's perfectly reasonable to believe that sum will do every weekend.

As for the 20-30k who turn up sometimes, but not all the time - they would qualify as part of the 'ex-Victory'.

I accept what you are saying but I believe that the target markets should be for Melbourne/Victoria # 3 and 4. Melbourne is big enough for 2 general clubs. The fact that Heart will have their admin and training outside the centre of the city is enough at this stage of expansion of top flight football in Melbourne.

The difficulty in Melbourne in establishing on geographical grounds is that venues in Melbourne have gone through a 30 year rationalisation that has concentrated all the venues in the city centre. There is no way any new club could play in a second class venue and be seen by the market as an equal.

But Victory isn't a general club, it represents Melbourne (Victoria even) - look at its strip, the big V. Heart is a general club, it doesn't represent anyone - maybe a style of football but that is yet to be seen.

Hey i heard we are Second on the later with a game in hand.
I also heard we are currently playing the best title defense in the History of the A-League.
Hey i also heard we have won the Championship twice. Hey i also heard we have ended up Premiers twice.


I Heard we're going to Asia this year.

are you?
=]

Edited by LickMyLovePump: 11/1/2010 01:22:06 PM

4 points behind with a game in hand and 3 goals behind on goal difference. Can't predict anything in the A-League this year but it is quite likely that the title will be decided on the last game of the year against Sydney FC at the SFS. That could be a cracker. The team with the best home results this year against the team with the best away results this year. Only bad bit about that is that if they stay 1 and 2 then they will play 3 weeks in a row which could get a bit tiring.

Only bad bit about that is that if they stay 1 and 2 then they will play 3 weeks in a row which could get a bit tiring.

:shock: take it back.




Iv'e been saving money for that exact reason.

Oh and im hoping for a Sydney Away GF. Just putting that out there.

If they both get to the GF it will mean 4 meetings in 5 weeks.

It no more represents Melbourne than Heart will. It is a general club just the same as every other team in the League. Seems to me that you are taking the view that Victory is some sort of elitist club. It isn't! It is just a successful club at the moment.

Do not want.

This is entirely my reason for hating the finals series. It turns bitter rivalries into bland annoyance that you're playing the same fucking team again.

Regardless of what happens with the premiership, i won't be going to a single finals game this year.