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Melbourne Victory FC

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Melbourne Victory FC
Melbourne Victory FC Logo
Full nameMelbourne Victory Football Club
Nickname(s)Victory, The Big V, The Tards[1][2]
Founded2004
GroundTelstra Dome
Melbourne, Australia
Capacity56,347
ChairmanAustralia Geoff Lord
LeagueA-League
A-League 2006-071st (premiership)
1st (championship)

Melbourne Victory Football Club is a football (soccer) team in the Australian A-League based in Melbourne, Victoria. They are currently A-League premiers and champions - the first and only club in the A-League to achieve the championship/premiership double[1]. As a result, the club will be one of two Australian representatives to the 2008 AFC Champions League.

History

Melbourne Victory were founded in 2004 after the announcement of a revamped domestic league in Australia. The National Soccer League, which was disbanded in 2004.

The FFA approved the Melbourne Victory consortium as Melbourne's representative in the league, with Belgravia Leisure Pty Ltd backing the club. The Chairman and CEO of Belgravia Leisure, Geoff Lord, was installed as the inaugural Chairman of Melbourne Victory F.C.

Gary Cole (an ex-Socceroo) was hired to become Football Operations manager, and was soon joined by Ernie Merrick, appointed as head coach from the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS). Archie Thompson, a current Socceroo who had been playing in Belgium with Lierse S.K., was the club's first player signing. The club soon signed three more internationals for the innagural squad - Socceroo Kevin Muscat, Austrian Richard Kitzbichler and Belgian Geoffrey Claeys.

The remainder of the squad was quickly assembled, although room was left for signings before Melbourne played its first competitive match against Adelaide United in a World Club Championship qualifier.

Melbourne Victory were the first team to complete the A-League double in the history of the competition; clinching the premiership against the New Zealand Knights 4-0 at Olympic Park with 4 rounds of competition remaining, then beating Adelaide United 6-0 in the grand final at a sold out Telstra Dome to take the championship.

Influential Australia defender Adrian Leijer left on the eve of the 2007-08 season for English Premiership side Fulham FC for a Victory record transfer fee received of more than $1.2 million. He was replaced in the side by another youngster in Sebastian Ryall, a very similar player and Captain of the Young Socceroos side that won the Weifang Cup in China.

Corporate

The ownership of the club is structured as such:

  • Geoff Lord - 50%
  • Football Federation Australia - 10%[3]
  • Private Investors - 40%

The Australian Federal Government provides $4 million a year.[4]

Sponsors

On October 27 2005, South Korean electronics giant Samsung became the club's major sponsor in a two year deal.

Colours and badge

Melbourne Victory's kit colours are navy blue, silver and white, which encompass the traditional state sporting colours of Victoria. In the first A-League season, only the club badge displayed a chevron, known colloquially as the "Big V", a symbol that has long been identified with Victorian sporting teams. However, in the 2006-07 season the away strip was changed to a grey jersey with a white chevron on the front. This was an immediate hit with the club's supporters and fans, and from the 2007-08 season onwards the Melbourne Victory's home jersey sported a white chevron on the front.

2005-2007 Home
2005-2006 Away
2007-2008 Home
2006-2008 Away

Stadium

2006-07 A-League Grand Final at Telstra Dome
Further information: Telstra Dome, Olympic Park Stadium, and Melbourne Rectangular Stadium

Melbourne Victory were originally based at the aging Olympic Park stadium, where they played all home matches during the 2005-06 A-League season. This stadium has seated areas only on the wings, with standing-room sandy terraces on the north and south ends.

On the back of a then-record regular season attendance of 39,730 at the all-seater Telstra Dome for the match against Sydney FC on September 2 2006, it was announced that seven home matches would be moved to "the Dome". Only one match (due to a Robbie Williams concert)- against the struggling New Zealand Knights - would remain at Olympic Park.

This move to such a large stadium was viewed with skepticism by many, but proved to be an outstanding success, with the average attendance rising to over 27,000 during the season.

Prior to the 06-07 season the club had planned to move to a new stadium being planned to the east of the current Olympic Park complex. The new Melbourne Rectangular Stadium was originally expected to seat approximately 20,000 spectators (expandable to 25,000) and was to be completed in time for the start of the 2008-09 campaign.

These plans have since been revised after the Victory refused to commit to playing at such a small capacity stadium. On May 23 2007, the club announced it had signed as a founding co-tenant of the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, which would now be built to accommodate a minimum of 31,000 spectators.

Telstra Dome will continue to serve as the club's home ground until the completion of the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. The club will split its home games between the new stadium and the Telstra Dome from the 2009-10 A-League campaign.

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. With the move to Telstra Dome during the 2006/07 season, large crowds have been a feature of Victory home games. On February 18, 2007, a capacity crowd of 55,436 attended the Grand Final against Adelaide United at the Telstra Dome. This is the largest attendance on record for a domestic football match in Australia, surpassing the previous record of 50,333 set at the same venue earlier in the season in a match against Sydney F.C., recorded as the current record Australian Domestic regular season attendance.

Melbourne Victory has a number of supporter groups, each group with its own style of support. The biggest and most notable group is the BWB (Blue and White Brigade) who locate in the northern terrace or on Level 3, SDC (Southern Death Crew), UFLS (United Force for Light Spanking), FDZ (Fossa Dei Zebrati), Frontline, T27, CC (Clarendon Corner), IPF (Iraqi People's Front), ELH (Epping Line Hooligaans/Frontline Ultra's) and a small number of fans associated with Melbourne Victory's inaugural supporters group UNION. The British style of support generally stand at the North End of Telstra Dome, however it's referred to as the 'South End' because of the tradition started by the SDC and affiliates at the South-End terrace of Olympic Park.

Current Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Australia AUS Michael Theoklitos
2 MF Australia AUS Kevin Muscat (Captain)
3 DF Australia AUS Daniel Piorkowski
5 DF Australia AUS Ljubo Milicevic
6 DF Australia AUS Steve Pantelidis
7 DF Australia AUS Matthew Kemp
8 MF Scotland SCO Grant Brebner
9 FW Australia AUS Daniel Allsopp
10 FW Australia AUS Archie Thompson (Marquee)
11 DF England ENG Joe Keenan
12 DF Australia AUS Rodrigo Vargas
No. Pos. Nation Player
13 MF Australia AUS Kaz Patafta
14 MF Australia AUS Adrian Caceres
15 FW Brazil BRA Leandro Love
16 MF Costa Rica CRC Carlos Hernández
17 MF Australia AUS Daniel Vasilevski
18 MF Australia AUS Leigh Broxham
19 MF Australia AUS Evan Berger
21 DF Australia AUS Sebastian Ryall
24 DF Australia AUS Steven Pace
30 GK Australia AUS Mitchell Langerak

Notable Former Players

See also: List of Melbourne Victory players

Personnel

Club officials

  • Chairman: Geoff Lord
  • Directors: Ron Peck, Richard Wilson, Anthony Di Pietro, Mario Biasin, John Harris
  • CEO: Geoff Miles
  • Media & Communications Manager: Tony Ising

Coaching and medical staff

Coaches

Honours

Club
Other Honours
  • QNI North Queensland Trophy: (1) 2006
  • Lord Mayors Cup: (1) 2007
Individual

List of Individual award winners who won awards while playing for Melbourne Victory FC.

  • A-League Golden Boot Winners
- 2005/06: Archie Thompson *
- 2006/07: Daniel Allsopp
  • Joe Marston Medal Winners
- 2006/07: Archie Thompson
  • A-League Coach of the Year
- 2006/07: Ernie Merrick
  • Victory Medal: Club's best Player
- 2005/06: Kevin Muscat
- 2006/07: Kevin Muscat, Daniel Allsopp (tied vote)

(*) Indicates co-winner

Year-by-year

Year Pre-Season Reg. Season Final Series AFC Champions Leaguge
2005-06 3rd 7th Did not qualify Did not qualify
2006-07 5th Premiers Champions Did not qualify
2007-08 8th TBA TBA Qualified

Records

Top scorers

Name Goals Games Average Years
1 Australia Archie Thompson 27 45 0.60 2005-
2 Australia Danny Allsopp 17 51 0.34 2005-
3 Australia Kevin Muscat 15 44 0.34 2005-
4 Brazil Fred 4 20 0.20 2006-2007
= Austria Richard Kitzbichler 4 17 0.23 2005-2006
= Australia Adrian Caceres 4 30 0.13 2006-

References

  1. ^ "The big V: how Melbourne got on the road to victory". 2007-02-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "Big V for Victory". 2007-02-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ FFA refuses to panic after report reveals $11m loss
  4. ^ FFA refuses to panic after report reveals $11m loss

See also

Preceded by A-League Premiers
2006/07 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by A-League Champions
2006/07 		Succeeded by
Incumbent

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