Melbourne Victory FC

This article is about the men's Football team. For the women's Football club, see Melbourne Victory FC (W-League). For the youth team, see Melbourne Victory FC Youth.
Melbourne Victory
Full name Melbourne Victory Football Club
Nickname(s) The Blues, Big V
Short name MVFC
Founded 1 November 2004 (2004-11-01)
Ground AAMI Park, Etihad Stadium
Ground Capacity 30,050 and 53,359
Chairman Anthony Di Pietro
Head Coach Kevin Muscat
League A-League
2015–16 A-League, 6th
Website Club home page
Active teams of Melbourne Victory
Football (Men's) Youth & NPL team (Men's) W-League team (Women's)

Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia.[1] Victory entered the competition in the inaugural season as the only Victorian-based club in the newly revamped domestic Australian league. The club has won three A-League Championships, three A-League Premierships, one Pre-Season Challenge Cup and one FFA Cup, the only club to have won all four Australian football trophies. They have also competed in the AFC Champions League on five occasions.

The club plays matches at both multi-use venues, Melbourne Rectangular Stadium and Docklands Stadium, with seated capacities of 30,050 and 56,347 respectively. A youth team competes in the National Youth League. A women's team competes in the W-League. The youth and women matches are played at various locations across Melbourne, including Lakeside Stadium, Kingston Heath Soccer Complex as well as Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.

History

Season A-League A-League
Finals
FFA Cup A-League
Pre-Season
Challenge Cup
AFC Champions
League
Captain(s) Head Coach(s) Members Average attn. Total attn.
2005–067thDNQNot HeldSemi-FinalsDNQAustralia Kevin MuscatScotland Ernie Merrick14,90814,167141,668[2]
2006–07PremiersChampionsGroup Stage19,23527,728305,011[3]
2007–085thDNQGroup Stage22,61126,064260,642[4]
2008–09PremiersChampionsChampionsDNQ21,90824,516269,671[5]
2009–102ndRunners-UpNot HeldGroup Stage22,52620,750290,503[6]
2010–115thScotland Ernie Merrick
Australia Mehmet Durakovic (interim)
17,64215,058225,875[7]
2011–128thDNQDNQAustralia Adrian LeijerAustralia Mehmet Durakovic
Australia Kevin Muscat (interim)
Northern Ireland Jim Magilton (2nd interim)
18,04719,208268,916[8]
2012–133rdAustralia Ange Postecoglou18,43221,885306,396[9]
2013–144thQuarter FinalGroup StageAustralia Mark MilliganAustralia Ange Postecoglou
Australia Kevin Muscat
22,02121,808283,507
2014–15PremiersChampionsChampionsDNQAustralia Mark Milligan[10]
Australia Carl Valeri[10]
Australia Kevin Muscat24,20025,388355,436
2015–166th5thTBDRound of 16Australia Carl Valeri27,43623,112300,452

-DNQ denotes that the club Did Not Qualify for the particular fixture
-Not Held denotes that the event did not take place
-TBD denotes that the final outcome has not occurred

Colours and badge

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor (front) Shirt sponsor (back)
2005–09 Reebok Samsung Samsung
2009–11 Intralot La Ionica
2011–12 Adidas Adecco (home)

EnergyWatch (away)

La Ionica
2012–14 Adecco (home)

Oliana Foods (away)

La Ionica
2014–2016 Community Training Initiatives (home)

Oliana Foods (away)

La Ionica
2016- Adidas Optislim (home)

Builders Academy (away)

La Ionica

Melbourne Victory's club colours are navy blue, silver and white, which encompass the traditional state sporting colours of Victoria. In the Victory's inaugural A-League season, only the club badge displayed a chevron, known colloquially as the "Big V", a symbol traditionally used by the Victoria Australian rules football team. From 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 from the 2007–08 season onwards Melbourne's home jersey also sported the white chevron on the front. A new kit was introduced for the 2008 AFC Champions League[11] due to AFC rules requiring kits to have player numbers on the front of the uniform as well as the back, which would not fit well with the 'V' on the Victory's regular kit. For the 2009–10 season, Melbourne changed their away jersey to be a reverse of their home jersey; a white shirt with a blue chevron.[12] In 2010, Melbourne wore the TAC 'seatbelt' shirt against Perth Glory in a charity event to raise awareness for the necessary use of seat belts in cars. On 16 June 2011, the current kits were announced via the club's YouTube channel,[13] which features a change to a fluoro yellow away jersey. Adidas were announced as the club's official kit manufacturer for five years.[14] For their 2013–14 kits, Melbourne Victory received backlash from supporters following the releasing of the kits, as the away kits had a large resemblance to rivals Sydney FC.[15]

First home kit (2005–07)

First away kit (2005–06)

First ACL home kit (2008–11)

First ACL away kit (2008–11)

Club songs

"Stand by Me" by Ben E. King is played prior to kick-off, when the Victory walk onto the field.[16] "Victory the Brave", a rearrangement for the club of Scotland the Brave by Jim Keays of The Masters Apprentices, is played after a home win, as is "Horses" by Daryl Braithwaite at AAMI Park.

Stadium

2007 A-League Grand Final at Docklands Stadium

Melbourne were originally based at the 50-year-old Olympic Park Stadium, where they played all home matches during the 2005–06 A-League season. This stadium had seated areas only on the wings, with standing-room sandy terraces on the north and south ends. The average crowd during the first year was 14,158.

On 2 September 2006, Melbourne Victory played Sydney FC at the 56,000 capacity Docklands Stadium. The match was a runaway success in terms of crowds, with 39,730 in attendance.[17] As a result, the club moved all but one of their home games to the ground.[18]

This move to such a large stadium was viewed with scepticism by many, but proved to be an outstanding success, with the Grand Final held there. The average attendance rose to 27,728 for the 2006–07 season, 10,000 above the next highest in the A-League.

2015 A-League Grand Final at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium

Prior to the 2006–07 season the club had planned to move to a new $190 million stadium being built to the east of the current Olympic Park complex.[19] The new stadium was originally expected to sit approximately 20,000 spectators (expandable to 25,000) and was to be completed by 2009.[19]

These plans were revised after the Victory refused to commit to playing at such a small capacity stadium. On 23 May 2007, the club announced it had signed as a founding co-tenant of the new stadium, which would now be built to accommodate a maximum of 30,050 spectators with further renovations to 50,000 possible. However, further expansion in the near-term is unlikely as it was discovered during Australia's World Cup Bid process that to build such an expansion would be prohibitively expensive.[20]

Docklands Stadium continued to serve as the club's only home ground until the completion of AAMI Park. The club split its home games between the new stadium and Etihad Stadium from the 2010–11 A-League campaign onwards; the games of less importance or potential drawing power at the new stadium and the 'blockbusters' and finals matches at Etihad Stadium.

On 15 February 2014, Melbourne Victory played their Asian Champions League qualifying game against Muangthong United at Kardinia Park in Geelong due to AAMI Park and Etihad Stadium being unavailable.[21]

Support

Melbourne Victory supporters at the 2007 A-League Grand Final
Season Members Average attn. Total attn.
2005–0614,90814,167141,668[2]
2006–0719,23527,728305,011[3]
2007–0822,61126,064260,642[4]
2008–0921,90824,516269,671[5]
2009–1022,52620,750290,503[6]
2010–1117,64215,058225,875[7]
2011–1218,04719,208268,916[8]
2012–1318,43221,885306,396[9]
2013–1422,02121,808283,507
2014–1524,20025,388355,436
2015–1627,43623,112300,452
2016-1725,75228,26084,781

Melbourne Victory has the largest supporter base in Australia and has consistently set record highs in membership and attendance.[22]

In January 2011, the Horda group was suspected to have stolen a banner from Melbourne Heart's Yarraside active group.[23] In the following games, Horda banners were banned, which led to great protest from the Northern Terrace active members.[24] At the following games, there was an increase in police and security present at the active area. Fans that were perceived as being "too aggressive" were escorted from the terrace, and in some cases fined or banned from the terrace. This led to the fans' anger escalating as they protested against the police control. On 2 February 2011, the fans from the North Terrace organised a silent protest for the Melbourne Victory – Newcastle Jets match. They left the North Terrace empty, and had a banner saying "No fans no past no future – without us you are nothing",[25] "NT United". The banner was later confiscated by the police.

In February 2011, Victoria Police said they were reluctant to cover Melbourne Victory games because of behaviour by fans that they claimed was unacceptable. Problems included violence, anti-social behaviour and the lighting of flares.[26][27]

On 3 January 2014 the Football Federation of Australia charged both Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers with bringing the game into disrepute following violent fan behaviour before and during their game on 28 December 2013.[28]

Rivalries

Rivalry exists with Sydney FC, Melbourne City and Adelaide United, as well as a budding rivalry with the Western Sydney Wanderers.

Players

First team squad

As of 31 July 2016[32]

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

No. Position Player
2 Australia DF Jason Geria
4 Australia DF Nick Ansell
5 Republic of Macedonia DF Daniel Georgievski
6 Australia MF Leigh Broxham (vice-captain)
7 New Zealand FW Marco Rojas
8 Albania FW Besart Berisha
9 Germany FW Maximilian Beister (on loan from Mainz 05)
10 Australia MF James Troisi
11 Australia FW Mitch Austin
13 Australia MF Oliver Bozanic
14 Tunisia FW Fahid Ben Khalfallah
No. Position Player
15 Spain DF Alan Baró
16 Australia MF Rashid Mahazi
17 Australia DF James Donachie
19 Australia FW George Howard
20 Australia GK Lawrence Thomas
21 Australia MF Carl Valeri (Captain)
22 Australia MF Stefan Nigro
23 Australia FW Jai Ingham
27 Australia GK Alastair Bray
30 Australia GK Lucas Spinella
40 Australia GK Matt Acton

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player
24 Australia DF Thomas Deng (on loan to PSV Eindhoven until end of 2016–17 season)

Youth squad

Further information: Melbourne Victory FC Youth

Corporate

Club chairman Anthony Di Pietro took charge in the 2011–12 pre-season following inaugural chairman Geoff Lord's resignation.
Period Chairman
2005–2011 Australia Geoff Lord
2011– Australia Anthony Di Pietro

As of 2015, the largest of around fifty shareholders of Melbourne Victory Ltd, an unlisted public company, is Mario Biasin, owner of construction company Metricon, followed by others including current Victory chairman Anthony Di Pietro, CEO of Premier Fruits Group.

Victory struggled to raise the initial $5 million equity capital to join the A-League in its first year and the FFA helped the club over the line by contributing franchise and set-up fees of about $500,000.[33] The FFA took a ten per cent holding in the club in return, as well as having a representative on the Victory board.[33] The shareholding was offered back to the club in 2007 and Geoff Lord and his partners – including Ron Peck, Richard Wilson and John Harris – raised the money to buy the shares.[33]

In 2014, it was announced that major shareholder, real estate investor Harry Stamoulis and fellow shareholder Robert Belteky, Managing Director of car parking company Care Park, along with some other minority shareholders, would offer their combined 35% stake in Melbourne Victory for sale to the general public, making part ownership of the club available to regular fans, a first for an A-League club.[34] However, despite payments already having been collected from fans by the facilitator of the sale Deloitte, on the 12 of November it was announced that the entire allocation of shares were eventually purchased "by a small number of long-term substantial shareholders".[35]

Victory's commercial success has even surpassed many much longer established Melbourne AFL teams (with Hawthorn the only team to report a higher profit in 2014-15). Despite this, Melbourne Victory FC is not a "for profit" business, and as such the shareholders have never taken a dividend.[36]

Sponsors

On 5 December 2005, South Korean electronics giant Samsung became the club's major sponsor in a two-year deal.[37] This would ensure that Samsung would have their logo feature on the front and the back of Victory's home and away kits. Prior to the 2006–07 season, KFC were announced as Victory's sleeve sponsor, with their logo appearing on the sleeve of Victory's home and away kits.[38] On 28 January 2009, Samsung announced that they would not be renewing their sponsorship for the 2009–10 A-League season. Intralot became the Melbourne Victory's new major sponsor when they signed a two season $2 million contract on 4 May 2009. Their logo subsequently featured on the front of Melbourne Victory's playing strip, starting from the 2009–10 season.[39] On 6 August 2010, it was announced that law firm Florin Burhala Lawyers would be Melbourne Victory's official shorts sponsor for the 2010–11 season.[40] On 1 June 2011, it was announced that human resources company Adecco Group signed a three-year deal as the club's major sponsor, replacing Intralot. As part of the deal, Adecco's logo will appear on the front of the club's playing strip.[41] Melbourne Victory announced on 16 June 2011 that they had signed a five-year deal with global sportswear giant Adidas as the club's official kit manufacturer.[14]

Personnel

Board members

[42]

Current technical staff

Position Staff
Football Operations Manager Australia Paul Trimboli
Head Coach Australia Kevin Muscat
Assistant Coach Australia Jean-Paul de Marigny
Assistant Coach Wales Darren Davies
Goalkeeping Coach Australia Dean Anastasiadis
Strength and Conditioning Coach Australia Anthony Crea
Head of Video Analysis Australia Aaron D'Antino
Sports Science Australia Amber Rowell
Doctor Australia Dr Martin Strikker
Doctor Australia Dr Krishant Naidu
Head of Physiotherapy Australia Ryan Florence-Rieniets
Physiotherapist Australia William Tardiff
Academy Director Portugal Paulo Cardoso
NYL Coach Australia Gareth Naven
NYL Development Coach Scotland Grant Brebner
NYL Development Coach New Zealand Vaughan Coveny
NYL Development Coach Australia Brian Vanega
NYL Goalkeeping Coach Australia Peter Zois
NYL Lead Physiotherapist Australia Rees Thomas
NYL Assistant Physiotherapist Australia Jordan Cook
Women's Head Coach Wales Jeff Hopkins

Source:

[42]

Director of football

Dates Name Notes
2005 – 12 April 2011 Australia Gary Cole Football Operations Manager
21 June 2011 – 22 November 2011[43] Australia Francis Awaritefe Director of Football
25 June 2012 – present Australia Paul Trimboli[44] Football Operations Manager

Managerial history

Dates Name Notes Honours
20 December 2004 – 12 March 2011 Scotland Ernie Merrick Inaugural head coach and first dual-nationality head coach 2006–07 A-League Premiership
2008–09 A-League Premiership
2009–10 A-League Premiership Runner Up
2006–07 A-League Championship
2008–09 A-League Championship
2009–10 A-League Championship Runner Up
2008 A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup
A-League Coach of the Year 2006–07
A-League Coach of the Year 2009–10
12 March 2011 – 20 June 2011 Australia Mehmet Durakovic Caretaker head coach
21 June 2011 – 6 January 2012 Australia Mehmet Durakovic First head coach who previously represented Socceroos
6 January 2012 – 7 January 2012 Australia Kevin Muscat Caretaker head coach for one match
7 January 2012 – 1 April 2012 Northern Ireland Jim Magilton First foreign head coach
26 April 2012 – 26 October 2013 Australia Ange Postecoglou First head coach to progress from the club directly to the Socceroos
31 October 2013 – present Australia Kevin Muscat First former club captain & club player appointed as head coach 2014–15 A-League Premiership
2014–15 A-League Championship
A-League Coach of the Year 2014–15
2015 FFA Cup

Club captains

Dates Name Notes Honours (as captain)
5 May 2005 – 16 February 2011 Australia Kevin Muscat Inaugural club captain 2006–07 A-League Premiership
2008–09 A-League Premiership
2009–10 A-League Premiership Runner Up
2006–07 A-League Championship
2008–09 A-League Championship
2009–10 A-League Championship Runner Up
2008 A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup
16 February 2011 – 17 September 2013 Australia Adrian Leijer
17 September 2013 – 23 June 2015 Australia Mark Milligan First club captain as Australian marquee 2014–15 A-League Premiership
2014–15 A-League Championship
2015 Joe Marston Medal
7 September 2015  Australia Carl Valeri[45] 2015 FFA Cup

Affiliated clubs

Honours

Premierships (3) – record: 2006–07, 2008–09, 2014–15
Runners-Up (1): 2009–10
Championships (3) – record: 2007, 2009, 2015
Runners-Up (1): 2010
Winners (1): 2008
Winners (1) – record: 2015

Records

For more details on this topic, see List of Melbourne Victory FC records and statistics.
Archie Thompson was Melbourne's first signing. He leads in most appearances & most goals scored for the club.

Archie Thompson holds the team record for number of total games played with 174 matches. Thompson also holds the record for all-time highest goalscorer in all competitions with 95 goals.

Melbourne Victory's record win came against Adelaide United 6–0, on 18 February 2007, in the 2007 A-League Grand Final.[46] Victory's record defeat was against rival Sydney FC, in a 0–5 on 26 January 2014.[47] Melbourne Victory's record FFA Cup win came against Balmain Tigers FC on the 4th of August 2015 with the score of 0–6.

The clubs highest home attendance is 50,333 for a league Big Blue match on 8 December 2006, at Docklands Stadium.[48] The clubs highest home attendance for any match is 95,446 for pre-season friendly at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 24 July 2013, against Liverpool.[49]

See also

References

  1. "A-League owners to be offered far longer licences by Football Federation Australia". www.adelaidenow.com.au. 28 October 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  2. 1 2 "2005/06 Attendance Statistics". Ultimate A-League. Hamson Design Group. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  3. 1 2 "2006/07 Attendance Statistics". Ultimate A-League. Hamson Design Group. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  4. 1 2 "2007/08 Attendance Statistics". Ultimate A-League. Hamson Design Group. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  5. 1 2 "2008/09 Attendance Statistics". Ultimate A-League. Hamson Design Group. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  6. 1 2 "2009/10 Attendance Statistics". Ultimate A-League. Hamson Design Group. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  7. 1 2 "2010/11 Attendance Statistics". Ultimate A-League. Hamson Design Group. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  8. 1 2 "2011/12 Attendance Statistics". Ultimate A-League. Hamson Design Group. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  9. 1 2 "2012/13 Attendance Statistics". Ultimate A-League. Hamson Design Group. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  10. 1 2 Milligan captained the club to victory in the regular season & finals, but departed following the 2014-15 grand final, during the 2015 FFA cup, in which Carl Valeri was promoted and captained the club to victory
  11. "No V For Victory On Asian Kit". Australian FourFourTwo. Haymarket Group. 20 February 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  12. Warner, Michael (4 May 2009). "Melbourne Victory to be sponsored by gambling giant Intralot". Herald Sun. Herald and Weekly Times. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  13. "adidas and Melbourne Victory join forces!". Melbourne Victory Official YouTube Channel. 15 June 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  14. 1 2 "Victory joins the world's elite". Melbourne Victory FC. 16 June 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  15. Melbourne Victory unveil new strips – Australia News – Australian FourFourTwo – The Ultimate Football Website
  16. "Stand By Me". melbournevictory.com.au. Melbourne Victory. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  17. Watt, Stuart (2 September 2006). "Record crowd sees Victory down 10-man Sydney". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  18. Desira, Peter (21 September 2006). "Victory makes move to Docklands". Fox Sports. Premier Media Group. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  19. 1 2 "New $190m soccer, rugby stadium for Vic". The Age. Melbourne: Fairfax Media. 6 April 2006. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  20. Higgs, Paddy (26 April 2010). "AAMI Park size the right fit for spectators". The Melbourne Leader. News Community Media. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013.
  21. "Melbourne Victory set to play their Asian Champions League qualifier in Geelong". heraldsun.com.au. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  22. Ormond, Aidan (31 August 2007). "Victory Hits The Magic 20K Mark". Australian FourFourTwo. Haymarket Group. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  23. Buttler, Mark (3 February 2011). "Four men charged after tempers flare following Victory-Heart soccer clash". Herald Sun. Herald and Weekly Times.
  24. "original terrace boys melbourne australia". Originalterraceboys.com. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  25. "No fans no past no future – without us you are nothing". Facebook.
  26. Spits, Scott; Levy, Megan (18 February 2011). "Police 'scared off by Melbourne Victory soccer louts'". The Age. Fairfax Media.
  27. Tatnell, Paul (18 February 2011). "Soccer fans are the most violent, says superintendent Rod Wilson". Adelaide Now.
  28. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-03/victory-wanderers-charged-over-fans-brawl/5183482
  29. Bernard, Grantley (23 January 2011). "Kevin Muscat says sorry for his tackle on Adrian Zahra". Herald Sun. Herald and Weekly Times. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  30. Lynch, Michael (16 October 2006). "Muscat and Kosmina in fiery clash". The Age. Melbourne: Fairfax Media. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  31. "Fab Ban Reduced On Appeal". Australian FourFourTwo. Haymarket Group. 24 September 2008. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  32. "Players and staff: A-League". melbournevictory.com.au. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  33. 1 2 3 Desira, Peter (21 November 2007). "Geoff Lord and Co take control of full Victory". Herald Sun. Herald and Weekly Times.
  34. "Fans offered to buy stake in Melbourne Victory, with a stake going for as little as $500". Herald Sun. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  35. Share sale confirms stability at Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory FC, 12 November 2014
  36. Melbourne Victory post a record $1.5 million profit for the financial year Herald Sun, Matt Windley, November 26, 2015
  37. "Samsung partners Victory". Melbourne Victory FC. Archived from the original on 26 August 2006. Retrieved 5 December 2005.
  38. "You Can't Beat the Taste... of Victory!". Melbourne Victory FC. Archived from the original on 22 August 2006. Retrieved 22 August 2006.
  39. "Intralot and Victory a perfect fit". Melbourne Victory FC. 4 May 2009.
  40. "Melbourne Victory welcomes new sponsor". Melbourne Victory FC. 6 August 2010.
  41. "Adecco recruited on a three-year deal". Melbourne Victory FC. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  42. 1 2 http://www.melbournevictory.com.au/about/board-and-management/g1iwer3tbs5f1peqfzcweqxgf
  43. "Awaritefe Axed By Melbourne Victory". Australian Four Four Two. Haymarket Group. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  44. "About Us". Melbourne Victory FC. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  45. Micallef, Philip. "Valeri reveals Victory's success formula". The World Game. Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  46. "2007 A-League Grand Final – Scoreboard". A-League Official Website. Football Federation Australia. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  47. Ryall, Seb (26 January 2014). "Sydney FC hands Melbourne Victory second 5–0 thumping". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  48. "FC, Victory fight out draw". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 8 December 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  49. "Melbourne tells Liverpool: You'll never walk alone". The Age. Melbourne.

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