Melbourne Victory
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| Melbourne Victory FC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Melbourne Victory Football Club |
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| Nickname(s) | Victory | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Olympic Park Stadium / Telstra Dome | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capacity | 18,500 / 53,355 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | Geoff Lord | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager | Ernie Merrick | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | A-League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A-League 2005-06 | 7th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Melbourne Victory FC is a football (soccer) club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was selected as Melbourne's entry in the re-vamped national league, the A-League.
Melbourne Victory's colours are navy blue, silver and white, which encompass the navy blue and white traditional state sporting colours of Victoria. The club badge and away kit display the "V", a symbol that has long been an identifier of Victorian sporting teams.
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[edit] Stadium
On the back of a home-and-away season record attendance of 39,730 at the Telstra Dome for the 3-2 win over Sydney FC on September 2, 2006, it was announced that seven home matches would be moved to the Dome. Only one match - against the struggling New Zealand Knights - would remain at the club's original home Olympic Park, due to a music concert the night of and after the game by Robbie Williams. [1],[2]
The new record attendance of 50,333 was achieved on the 8th of December 2006 for the return match against Sydney FC. It was an anticlimatic game with the result being 0-0 with Archie Thompson and Daniel Allsopp missing crucial chances.
The club is planning to move to a new stadium to the east of the current Olympic Park complex. It will seat approximately 20,000 spectators (expandable to 25,000) and is expected to be completed in time for the start of the 2008-2009 campaign. Given current attendances often approach and sometimes exceed that capacity there is a strong push for the stadium plan to be revised. The possibility of the club remaining at the Telstra Dome has not been ruled out if the proposed stadium design cannot be revised and/or the club's attendances remain high (they currently stand at over 26,000 for the 2006/07 season). On December 5, the news surfaced that the club would fight the size of the stadium to 30,000 seats with the Government's minister of sport.
[edit] Sponsorship
On 27 October 2005, it was announced that South Korean electronics giant Samsung would become the club's major sponsor in a two year deal, believed to be the largest in Australian domestic football history. Multinational fast food giant KFC have also signed on as a secondary shirt sponsor for the 2006-07 season.
[edit] Supporters
Melbourne Victory is the only A-League team based in Victoria, and have a dedicated fan base - the club have consistently set records for A-League attendances, particularly in the 2006/07 season as the team have been top of the league. On the 8th of December a crowd of 50,333 attended the match against Sydney FC at the Telstra Dome. This is the largest attendance on record for a domestic football match in Australia.
Melbourne Victory has a number of supporter groups, each group with its own style of support. These groups include BWB (Blue and White Brigade), M7C (May 7 Crew) and SDC (Southern Death Crew).
The British style support, from the many fans of the FA Premier League and The Football League, can be found at the Southern End. The North-East Terrace houses the European style support led by the BWB.
When games are played at Telstra Dome, the North-East Terrace supporters stand behind the southern goal (Coventry End), while the Southern End supporters stand behind the northern goal (Lockett End). Both sides chant to each other during games.
The atmosphere created by Melbourne Victory fans under the roof at the Telstra Dome, has become the benchmark in the competition. This atmosphere is now a draw card for the club with people from interstate and overseas [citation needed] making the trip to Telstra Dome to soak up the experience.
Melbourne Victory's fans are also renowned as one of the best travelers in the A-League. Despite having to travel 1000's of kilometers to get to some opponents, Melbourne Victory fans travel in big numbers. In recent away clashes an estimated 400 fans made the journey to Sydney and Adelaide to see Melbourne take full points over Sydney FC and Adelaide United respectively.[citation needed]
[edit] Rivalries
Sydney FC are developing into Melbourne Victory's main rivals, which Melbourne fans consider the most heated rivalry in the A-League. Given the short history of the league, this is primarily due to other historical competitions and rivalries between the cities of Melbourne and Sydney.
Melbourne and Adelaide United are also developing a rivalry. Both sides' travelling fans turn out in good numbers when the two teams clash, and often have heated exchanges. An incident during the Round 8 clash of the 2006/07 season saw Melbourne captain Kevin Muscat knock Adelaide United coach John Kosmina from his chair in the technical area, as he was retrieving the play ball that had rolled under Kosmina's chair. The Adelaide coach jumped to his feet and grabbed Muscat by the throat as the two exchanged words on the sideline. Muscat was given a yellow card, while Kosmina was sent to the stand and later received a four-match ban from the technical area for his part in the altercation.
[edit] 2006-07 Season
- Main article: Melbourne Victory Season 2006-07
Melbourne Victory are currently participating in the 2006-07 A-League competition, hoping to improve on their 7th-placed finish in the inaugural competition.
[edit] A-League Table
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
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| Melbourne Victory | 16 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 32 | 11 | +21 | 38 |
| Sydney FC | 16 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 25 | 16 | +9 | 25 |
| Adelaide United | 16 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 25 | 23 | +2 | 23 |
| Central Coast Mariners | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 17 | +1 | 23 |
| Newcastle Jets | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 23 |
| Queensland Roar | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 17 | 20 | -3 | 19 |
| Perth Glory | 16 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 19 | 22 | -3 | 17 |
| New Zealand Knights | 16 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 7 | 34 | -27 | 9 |
[edit] Current squad
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[edit] Notable former players
[edit] Records
- Record Victory: 6 - 1 vs Changchun Yatai, QNI North Queensland Trophy, 24 June 2006
- Record Victory (A-League): 5 - 0 vs Sydney FC, 16 October 2005
- Record Defeat: 1 - 3 vs Central Coast Mariners, 12 August 2005, 27 January & 29 July 2006
- Undefeated Streak: 7, 4th February 2006 – 8th October 2006
- Most Wins in a Row: 7, 4th February 2006 – 8th October 2006
- Most Away Wins in a Row: 7, 10th September 2006 - Current
- Record High Attendance: 50,333 vs Sydney FC, Telstra Dome, Melbourne, 8th December 2006
- Record Low Attendance: 10,078 vs New Zealand Knights, Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne, 4 February 2006
- Highest Season Average Attendance: 14,157 - A-League 2005-06
- All-time Leading Goal Scorer: Archie Thompson - 15 goals (as of 4th December 2006)
- Longest Period Without Conceding a Goal: 309 minutes, 3rd November 2006 - 26th November 2006
[edit] Honours
2006 QNI North Queensland Trophy Winners
[edit] References
- ^ "Victory makes leap from park to stadium", The Age, 2006-09-21.
- ^ "Victory Jets to Dome again", 2006-10-20.
[edit] External links
- melbournevictory.com.au - Official Website
- melbournevictory.net - Supporters Home
- ESPNsoccernet - ESPNsoccernet Statistics for MVFC (2005-2006)
- BlueWhiteBrigade.com - Blue & White Brigade
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Melbourne Victory
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