The Big Blue (A-League)

The Big Blue

Locale	Melbourne / Sydney (Australia)
Teams	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory, Sydney FC !Sydney FC
First meeting	28 August 2005
Latest meeting	Sydney FC 2–4 Melbourne Victory (14 Nov 2015)
Statistics
Meetings total	37
Most wins	Melbourne Victory FC (12)
Regular season	31
Postseason results	5
Largest victory	Melbourne Victory 5-0 Sydney (16 October 2005) Melbourne Victory 0-5 Sydney FC (26 January 2014)

The Big Blue,^[1] also known as The City Derby,^[2] is a match in Australia's premier soccer competition, the A-League. It is contested between rivals Sydney FC !Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory. While the main colour of both teams are shades of the colour blue, in Australian English the word "blue" can also mean "a fight, brawl or heated argument".^[3]

History

Regional rivals

Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory FC were destined to become major rivals at the inception of the A-League due to the historic regional rivalry between the cities that each represent. At the time, the A-League operated under the "one-team, one-city"^[4] model, so the rivalry was almost instantaneous. The cities of Sydney and Melbourne have had a long-standing rivalry that dates back to pre-Federation Australia. Such was the rivalry, that neither city was chosen as the capital of Australia when federation occurred in 1901. Instead Melbourne served as a temporary capital until the permanent capital of Canberra, that was to be created closer to Sydney, was established. To this day, the two cities are generally competing for bragging rights to be Australia's premier city. Both believe they lay claim to this right as Sydney has been named world's best city by Condé Nast Traveler^[5] and Melbourne has been named world's most liveable city by The Economist.^[6] The Big Blue generally attracts some of the largest crowds and TV audiences of the regular season. Sydney and Melbourne are the two largest cities in Australia, with Sydney FC and Victory two of the league's most supported clubs and the rivalry was sparked by a number of highly competitive meetings between the two teams in early seasons.

Significant moments

The name has its origins in Australian slang, with "blue" meaning "fight" or "confrontation" and the fact that both clubs play in blue jerseys. The first competitive match between the two clubs was significantly played on the opening weekend of the inaugural 2005–06 A-League season. It was held on 28 August 2005 at Sydney FC's home ground, Sydney Football Stadium. Both teams were eager to stamp their authority as the biggest club in the league, with Sydney FC having already won the 2005 OFC Club Championship during pre-season. The match ended in a 1-all draw as Victory's first player signing and soon to become stalwart, Archie Thompson, cancelled out Sydney FC's marquee signing, Dwight Yorke's first half goal.^[7] The second meeting on 16 October 2005 resulted in a landslide win for Victory at their then home ground, Olympic Park Stadium, defeating Sydney FC 5–0.^[8] The result still stands as Sydney FC's worst defeat in this fixture.

The first encounter between the clubs during the 2006–07 A-League season (and fourth overall) entrenched the rivalry between the teams as passion and tension fueled the match. Sydney FC skipper, Mark Rudan was sent off after fourteen minutes and Victory player Fred elbowed Sydney FC defender Mark Milligan in the throat. Fred avoided sanction as he was substituted before the referee could see a replay on the big screen.^[8] The ugly incident required urgent medical attention as it left Milligan struggling to breathe and there were fears he swallowed his tongue.^[9] The following match in Melbourne, the sixth overall, set the record for attendance at an A-League match when 50,333 fans crammed into Etihad Stadium on 8 December 2006. The match ended in a nil-all draw.^[8]

After sealing the 2010 Premiership at home on the final day of the season by beating Melbourne 2-0, Sydney FC went on to win the Championship Grand Final on penalties at Melbourne's home stadium.

The rivalry reached another level in 2011, with both teams in pursuit of the signature of Socceroo Harry Kewell pre-season. Melbourne Victory announced they had signed Kewell on 20 August and five days afterwards Sydney FC announced that they had signed Socceroo Brett Emerton from Blackburn Rovers. The teams played out a 0–0 stalemate in the first round of the 2011-12 A-League season, with Australia's head coach not picking either player for national duty, allowing the eagerly-anticipated match up to occur.

A Big Blue match has been played each Australia Day at either the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium or Docklands Stadium in Melbourne since the 2011–12 A-League season which ended in a 2–all draw. However, the 2014–15 A-League season did not feature this fixture due to the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Since 2012, the teams have played for the BeyondBlue Cup, which is awarded to the winning team in the Big Blue.^[10] Sydney FC claimed the inaugural BeyondBlue Cup by defeating Melbourne Victory 1-0 at Allianz Stadium on 10 March 2012.

On 10 November 2012, Melbourne Victory came from 2–0 down to win 3–2 at Allianz Stadium, with two late goals from substitute player Andrew Nabbout helping them achieve the result. This match turned out of be Ian Crook's last match as Sydney FC manager, as he announced his resignation shortly after the defeat, which was Sydney's fourth in six games.

The fixture played 8 December 2006 holds the record for the highest attendance at a regular season match with 50,333 in attendance. Currently, three fixtures between the two sides make up the top ten of the League's highest regular season attendances.^[11]

Head-to-head summary

As of 22 November 2015

All-time results

Regular season matches

Finals series matches

Other matches

Leading goalscorers

Player	Club	Goals Scored
Archie Thompson	Melbourne	9
Danny Allsopp	Melbourne	5
Mark Bridge	Sydney	5
Alex Brosque	Sydney	4
Sebastian Ryall	Sydney	3
Alessandro Del Piero	Sydney	3
John Aloisi	Sydney	3
Leigh Broxham	Melbourne	2
Shannon Cole	Sydney	2
Steve Corica	Sydney	2
Carlos Hernandez	Melbourne	2
Karol Kisel	Sydney	2
Robbie Kruse	Melbourne	2
Andrew Nabbout	Melbourne	2
James Troisi	Melbourne	2
Kosta Barbarouses	Melbourne	1
Besart Berisha	Melbourne	1
David Carney	Sydney	1
Nick Carle	Sydney	1
Billy Celeski	Melbourne	1
Ranko Despotović	Sydney	1
Mate Dugandžić	Melbourne	1
Joel Chianese	Sydney	1
Ney Fabiano	Melbourne	1
Brendan Gan	Sydney	1
Richard Garcia	Sydney	1
Richard Kitzbichler	Melbourne	1
Terry McFlynn	Sydney	1
Nik Mrdja	Melbourne	1
Nick Ward	Melbourne	1
Dwight Yorke	Sydney	1

• BOLD indicates player still playing for that club.

Players who played for both clubs

Player	Nation	Sydney	Melbourne
Sebastian Ryall		2009–	2007–2009
Mark Milligan ǂ		2005–2008	2012–
Fabio		2012–2013	2011–2012

• ǂ: Mark Milligan moved to Melbourne Victory via a loan from JEF United Chiba which was later made permanent (2012).

See also

• Soccer in Australia
• List of association football club rivalries by country

References