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Had a bit of time to think this one through so here are a few of my thoughts on City’s move to the south east.
FWIW, I have lived in the region (Dandenong specifically) since migrating to Australia in January 2001. https://twitter.com/espnausnz/status/1338624855915130881
FWIW, I have lived in the region (Dandenong specifically) since migrating to Australia in January 2001. https://twitter.com/espnausnz/status/1338624855915130881
If it succeeds, the move solves two pressing issues.
1) The need for an A-League team in the region which has grown substantially in the last 10-20 years (a much larger and concentrated catchment area than the one Western United claimed in its winning bid).
1) The need for an A-League team in the region which has grown substantially in the last 10-20 years (a much larger and concentrated catchment area than the one Western United claimed in its winning bid).
2) City’s identity issues which stem back to their Heart days. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and while such a move should have been made at the inception of the club’s history, better late than never. Those who ran Heart in the early years faced a difficult task.
This was not aided by their struggles on the pitch with Victory still the dominant force that it was, consistently finishing above Heart despite the odd derby victory or two by the new boys. Following the CFG takeover in January 2014, some progress was made.
The team performed better on the pitch with the Fornaroli, Mooy and Novillo season making City the most entertaining side in the league. Cahill’s signing only raised expectations and led to an increase in crowd numbers and interest.
Unfortunately much of that progress was undone by the Warren Joyce appointment who drastically changed City’s style to a more mechanical and mundane approach, while ostracising Cahill and Fornaroli (the latter a deeply unpopular and counter productive move in more ways than one).
That halted much of the momentum and progress City were making, coupled with larger disenfranchisement and indifference to the league as a whole. Covid then threw another spanner in City’s hopes to build on from their on-field success of last season.
The move to Casey Fields and the purported building of a stadium in Dandenong can only help foster the development of a unique identity that City has so far failed to attain out of their Bundoora base.
Much like the transition from Heart to City, it remains to be seen much how of the club’s existing supporter base will be disadvantaged by this move, particularly those living in the northern and western suburbs respectively, and others outside the south eastern suburbs.
Having said that though, building and basing an identity around the south eastern suburbs could alleviate any future issues that might arise should the CFG ever pull this pin on their Melbourne operation.
As alluded to there is also a massive amount of untapped potential in this part of Melbourne, and while most AL fans in this area are Victory, there are so many others whose allegiance isn’t fixed or developed.
Since moving to AAMI Park in 2010, Victory’s membership and supporter base has been consistently high without ever suggesting they have a monopoly over the city’s football population whereby further growth and news teams would be unsustainable in the face of a juggernaut.
In that time Melbourne’s population has grown to over 5 million with many new suburbs and population centres arising in the city’s south east, particularly in the City of Cases. A considerable amount of that migration is new arrivals to the country, many of them football fans.
Casey*. Add to that the fact that juniors in this region hoping to get into the AL academy sides or the state team would have to travel to Bundoora, Caroline Springs, Maribyrnong and Darebin to continue their development, and in there lies the need for a south east base.
City was the most logical and obvious of the three AL sides to make the move to the enormous growth corridor it will now occupy. Does it come with a degree of risk? Yes. Can those risks be overcome? Absolutely. Is it better than the status quo? I’d say so.
Massive credit needs to go out to all those behind Team 11 who pushed for this outcome. Without them and their work, this region’s football potential would be ignored while other codes made considerable ground. It might not be their own team, but it’s the next best thing.
I was reminded of this potential at Tatterson Park the other night as I went for a quick kick around. Occupying the half pitch next to me were about 25 men, mostly from migrant backgrounds with a clear passion for the game but most probably without an AL team to call their own.
