Melbourne Heart FC buy out - Man City, Melbourne City FC, etc.

[Kiro Kompiro]

^^^I have not heard anyone who is OK with a colour change say they actually want it, only that its worth it for the other benefits having rich owners will give us winning football.

 

Well if its just about watching winning football, I'll watch Champions League, or La Liga or EPL and it will much better football than Melb Citeh will ever play.  But I don't CARE if Barca wins or Bayern wins and I don't CARE if Man City wins either.  They are not my team.

 

The thing is following a football club is an emotional experience.

 

 If I don't feel a thing for the club, I won't be a supporter its as simple as that.

[belaguttman]

Further to your comment Kiro, active supporters are a key component of the emotional game day experience and really what the league os selling is an emotional experience - passion, tension and release, joy and despair. There would need to be a compelling gain elsewhere to risk sacrificing the goodwill of the active supporters. I don't just mean Yarraside but also the whole 5-6000 who have dipped into that emotional experience for 4 seasons. There may well be some fair-weather supporters who don't feel strongly about a colour change but they contribute less to the emotional experience

[Peter]

^^^I have not heard anyone who is OK with a colour change say they actually want it, only that its worth it for the other benefits having rich owners will give us winning football.

 

Well if its just about watching winning football, I'll watch Champions League, or La Liga or EPL and it will much better football than Melb Citeh will ever play.  But I don't CARE if Barca wins or Bayern wins and I don't CARE if Man City wins either.  They are not my team.

 

The thing is following a football club is an emotional experience.

 

 If I don't feel a thing for the club, I won't be a supporter its as simple as that.

Discussing the Man City take over yesterday with another supporter I commented that part of supporting a football club is wanting to beat the likes of Man City, not be them. He agreed, as I am sure most supporters do.

Whilst the extra finance/expertise etc. is welcome, this set up of being bought by another club is weird (and I believe quite unique). As you said Kiro, "they are not my team". I feel as if we have been invaded. But what a day when we rebel and hit the mother ship 5-0. We can still dream of taking it to, and beating the EPL side can't we? Or would that be treachery? Can we no longer aspire to this level? Or can we?

A weird set up.

COYBIR.

[Falastur]

Well there's likely to be a fairly regular friendly between the two, so you can guarantee it will happen eventually.

[Dylan]

Not sure this is the right place to put this but where were the player of the year awards held last year? The photos on twitter from last night looked like it was a pretty expensive looking afair...

[Tommykins]

Crown, I think.

[M13]

Players, journalists, club staff etc are all getting a first class evening I bet... It´s good P.R

[Deeming]

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/sydney-fc-in-blue-over-new-melbourne-heart-colours-20140414-zqune.html Sydney FC are lodging a protest to MHFC apparently seeking to change to sky blue.
I think they've got a strong arguement. Changing colours is bad enough changing to Sydney's colours makes it so much worse.

[MelbourneIsRedAndWhite]

So much for them listening to the fans. I hope Sydney win their protest, for one they make a good point that that is their identity, secondly are cross town rivals are blue so the contrasting at the derby games won't look nearly as good.

Melbourne City in red and white.

[Heart of Melbourne]

Supporting a team with sky blue, no thanks. Melbourne is red and white.

[Kippax75-MCFC]

Manchester City led the consortium which bought Heart in January and are expected to change the club's name after registering the business name Melbourne City FC with the local authorities and buying the domain name MelbourneCityFC.com.au.

The English Premier League club last year established New York City Football Club, who will play in sky blue when they enter the Major League Soccer competition next year, and Melbourne are expected to follow suit.

 

 

 

Looks like the name change is imminent

[Jestr]

Players, journalists, club staff etc are all getting a first class evening I bet... It´s good P.R

Considering the results this event should have taken place in broadmeadow's town hall

[Red or Dead]

 

People need to realise, also, that these colours aren't 4 years old, they're over 150 years old!

They are not the colours of Melbourne Heart, they are the colours of Melbourne.

The city of Melbourne has, and always will be, represented by red and white.

+!

What logically coherent argument could you make for changing the franchise name to Melbourne City and changing the strip colours away from the colours of the City of Melbourne?

And for those who argue that Heart is only 4 years old and changing our colours 'should' be an easier pill to swallow is utter nonsense. Do you think a 40 year old Man City supporter has more passion and would hate change so much more than 25yo Man City supporter because they've been supporting the club for 15 less years?

 

I was born in Greece and support Olympiacos (founded in 1925), but I have just as much interest, passion and emotion for Melbourne Heart (founded in 2009). I'm now 31, which means I've been following Olympiacos for 31 years as opposed to Heart for only 4 years and yet it'd bother me equally as much if either club changed their colours tomorrow!

[Red or Dead]

Just a thought. If we become Melbourne City, will there be a new forum? Considering its mhfcsupporters.com?

mcfcsupporters.com has already been registered by a dedicated Melbourne Heart supporter so don't worry too much about it 

[Dylan]

Players, journalists, club staff etc are all getting a first class evening I bet... It´s good P.R

Considering the results this event should have taken place in broadmeadow's town hall

Not even...

Bell street mc donalds is more like it.

Edited April 15, 2014 by Dylan

[LR9]

Singin' don't worry about a thing,

'Coz every little thing's gonna be alright...

[Alexxandro]

 

Just a thought. If we become Melbourne City, will there be a new forum? Considering its mhfcsupporters.com?

mcfcsupporters.com has already been registered by a dedicated Melbourne Heart supporter so don't worry too much about it 

 

Yeah and if you type that address into your browser you'll see it's already sorted. 

[Peter]

I am interested to know with this takeover whether anybody on here associates themselves with Manchester City or if anyone desires to associate themselves with the EPL club/sports group?

[Tesla]

Just a thought. If we become Melbourne City, will there be a new forum? Considering its mhfcsupporters.com?

mcfcsupporters.com has already been registered by a dedicated Melbourne Heart supporter so don't worry too much about it 

They might want to invest in private registration.

FWIW, that won't be the forum domain anyway if the name changes.

[MUTD/MLBHRT/ESSNDON]

Manchester City and Paris St-Germain are poised to be punished by Uefa’s Club Financial Control Body, which was created to police “greed, reckless spending and financial insanity” in European football and will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday to make its first decisions on which clubs will be prosecuted.

City and PSG are understood to be among fewer than 20 teams under threat of a sanction and, unless dramatic new evidence emerges in the next 48 hours to support their claims they have played by the rules, they are on course to be hit hardest of all.

The nature and degree of any punishment will be determined in the coming days but it is understood neither team will be faced with expulsion from the Champions League.

The sanction is far more likely to be either a heavy fine or transfer embargo to prevent their mega-rich owners adding to two of the most expensive squads in history.

Such a punishment could hardly come at a worse time for City, who remain at the centre of one of the most thrilling three-horse title races English football has seen and will be desperate to avoid any distractions in their final six games of the season.

They declined to comment on Monday night on the status of the CFCB’s probe into their finances, PSG did not respond to requests for comment, while Uefa refused to comment on the identities of any team in danger of being punished.

[MUTD/MLBHRT/ESSNDON]

FFS! I hope it's not like Barcas punishment, and players can't come or leave... Then we are stuck with Murdocca, Willo and co...

[Shahanga]

FFS! I hope it's not like Barcas punishment, and players can't come or leave... Then we are stuck with Murdocca, Willo and co...

Ummm we are not ACTUALLY Manchester City.

 

Anyway maybe the punishment will be they have to release a player or 2.  They will therefore choose to release Silva, who conicidentally will be snapped up by Melbourne Heart on a 4 year deal.

[silva10]

That FFP piece is from the Telegraph and the journo is already backtracking on twitter

 

There is no transfer embargo by failing FFP

 

Also City fans are well aware we will fail, but this will be because of pre 2010 contracts that then can be excluded, and this will bring us under the limit

 

It is all very complicated and newspapers are just interested in headlines

[Sash]

I am interested to know with this takeover whether anybody on here associates themselves with Manchester City or if anyone desires to associate themselves with the EPL club/sports group?

I've started taking more of an interest. I don't have any real affiliation with any epl clubs. But from watching, I now have more knowledge of City and their players than any other clubs. I happen to have a friend who's a City supporter and he adopted Heart a couple of years ago, at least partly due to my encouragement, so I'll probably return the favour. But any support will be dependent on how they treat us.

[Jovan]

 

I am interested to know with this takeover whether anybody on here associates themselves with Manchester City or if anyone desires to associate themselves with the EPL club/sports group?

I've started taking more of an interest. I don't have any real affiliation with any epl clubs. But from watching, I now have more knowledge of City and their players than any other clubs. I happen to have a friend who's a City supporter and he adopted Heart a couple of years ago, at least partly due to my encouragement, so I'll probably return the favour. But any support will be dependent on how they treat us.

 

I am almost in the same sort of frame of mind. I like watching, the EPL but don't really have any allegiances, but have been taken more interest in city. Probably due to the takeover but also because of how good there travelling lately and also they play such an attractive style. Their last game was the best game of open end to end attacking soccer I can recall. (pity they lost).

[Jun]

 

 

I am interested to know with this takeover whether anybody on here associates themselves with Manchester City or if anyone desires to associate themselves with the EPL club/sports group?

I've started taking more of an interest. I don't have any real affiliation with any epl clubs. But from watching, I now have more knowledge of City and their players than any other clubs. I happen to have a friend who's a City supporter and he adopted Heart a couple of years ago, at least partly due to my encouragement, so I'll probably return the favour. But any support will be dependent on how they treat us.

 

I am almost in the same sort of frame of mind. I like watching, the EPL but don't really have any allegiances, but have been taken more interest in city. Probably due to the takeover but also because of how good there travelling lately and also they play such an attractive style. Their last game was the best game of open end to end attacking soccer I can recall. (pity they lost).

 

Likewise, After the takeover I took an interest in the EPL for the first time in a long time, and that interest lay with Man City. But hearing all this talk of the colour change, I'm not sure I could follow this new Sydney FC City, and Man U will be getting a new fan. (long time listener, first time caller)

Edited April 15, 2014 by Jun

[marteaux]

Have these assholes sold us Robinho yet

[Kinnibari]

While I remember, for everyone who was hoping that Man City buying us meant finally getting a w-league team, this was sort of addressed at the Women with Heart afternoon tea - Ash Brown was a guest speaker (for those that don't know her, she plays for Victory w-league and was playing for the Matildas before doing her ACL (twice, seriously there are too many ACLs in women's football)) and she mentioned that there wasn't much depth in the Victory squad as it was so she didn't think Melbourne could support two w-league teams. And then Bolton agreed with her and mentioned that FFV and FFA were also concerned about that . So bad news there, although that was not an official statement from the club.

[belaguttman]

Given that the womens team is paid for at least in part by FFV then we should at least insist that they change the name from Victory to something more satisfactory. It could be a longer term project for the Academy though

[daniboi]

Given the fact that Sydney FC have lodged a formal complaint after meeting with MCFC representatives basically tells us all we need to know.

Whether we like it or not, it's going to happen.  Whatever they decide, I hope the do it quickly, I don't want this to drag through the off season and become a major distraction for the club, players and fans.

While I will prefer to stay with the R&W, if it changes, I'm sticking with the club.  Given the huge social and economic emphasis that MCFC invest in women's, children's, and low socio-economic football programs, the club will still stand for the fundamentals that I believe in. BTW, I'm a NUFC supporter in the EPL. 

[Murfy1]

While I remember, for everyone who was hoping that Man City buying us meant finally getting a w-league team, this was sort of addressed at the Women with Heart afternoon tea - Ash Brown was a guest speaker (for those that don't know her, she plays for Victory w-league and was playing for the Matildas before doing her ACL (twice, seriously there are too many ACLs in women's football)) and she mentioned that there wasn't much depth in the Victory squad as it was so she didn't think Melbourne could support two w-league teams. And then Bolton agreed with her and mentioned that FFV and FFA were also concerned about that . So bad news there, although that was not an official statement from the club.

 

 

If they said that, then that's really a joke. Okay, maybe there isn't that much talent in Melbourne alone for a W-League team, but no W-League sides fully depend on their home city for players. And there's certainly enough talent across Australia to form a 20 player W-League team. And teams are allowed 5 foreigners (which are pretty easy to get, as the W-League doesn't crossover with a lot of womens' leagues, so for instance lots of Americans join the W-League). So that's a real cop out for someone on the Heart books like Bolton to come out and say that Melbourne couldn't form a second W-League.

 

It really should just be a given that Heart will get a W-League side, and soon enough. Surely this is an assumed benefit that City can actually deliver on, as it's also meant to be something they believe in (i.e. the women's game).

[HeartFc]

FFS! I hope it's not like Barcas punishment, and players can't come or leave... Then we are stuck with Murdocca, Willo and co...

[Kinnibari]

Given that the womens team is paid for at least in part by FFV then we should at least insist that they change the name from Victory to something more satisfactory. It could be a longer term project for the Academy though

I really hope so. The club has been working hard on the community programs for girls, including putting on free clinics, so hopefully that will continue and be expanded to more long term projects.

 

 

While I remember, for everyone who was hoping that Man City buying us meant finally getting a w-league team, this was sort of addressed at the Women with Heart afternoon tea - Ash Brown was a guest speaker (for those that don't know her, she plays for Victory w-league and was playing for the Matildas before doing her ACL (twice, seriously there are too many ACLs in women's football)) and she mentioned that there wasn't much depth in the Victory squad as it was so she didn't think Melbourne could support two w-league teams. And then Bolton agreed with her and mentioned that FFV and FFA were also concerned about that . So bad news there, although that was not an official statement from the club.

 

 

If they said that, then that's really a joke. Okay, maybe there isn't that much talent in Melbourne alone for a W-League team, but no W-League sides fully depend on their home city for players. And there's certainly enough talent across Australia to form a 20 player W-League team. And teams are allowed 5 foreigners (which are pretty easy to get, as the W-League doesn't crossover with a lot of womens' leagues, so for instance lots of Americans join the W-League). So that's a real cop out for someone on the Heart books like Bolton to come out and say that Melbourne couldn't form a second W-League.

 

It really should just be a given that Heart will get a W-League side, and soon enough. Surely this is an assumed benefit that City can actually deliver on, as it's also meant to be something they believe in (i.e. the women's game).

 

Part of the problem is that for the w-league you don't get paid much, so moving cities to play is more of a barrier. Having said that, I really really want a w-league side so I hope we do get a team and soon. (I also hope I get to see them play in red and white... would be bittersweet to see them turn out in sky blue after waiting so long to see a women's side in Heart's red and white not Victory's blue.)

[moops]

God I hope so, there has been a marked improvement on playets fitness/recovery/injury coumt since he has been here.

[KD.]

 

FFS! I hope it's not like Barcas punishment, and players can't come or leave... Then we are stuck with Murdocca, Willo and co...

 

[moops]

FFS! I hope it's not like Barcas punishment, and players can't come or leave... Then we are stuck with Murdocca, Willo and co...

Bit racist much?

[KD.]

 

 

 

FFS! I hope it's not like Barcas punishment, and players can't come or leave... Then we are stuck with Murdocca, Willo and co...

Bit racist much?

 

for some, maybe. 

Edited April 16, 2014 by Demon_Heart

[NewConvert]

Being a touch facetious here but given that Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain are from the Catalan and Basque regions, perhaps if they do change our colours then as a tank you gift we should give them something from Real Madrid. Or perhaps a tifo that the basques and catalans will always be part of the Kingdom of Castile...

[HeartFc]

FFS! I hope it's not like Barcas punishment, and players can't come or leave... Then we are stuck with Murdocca, Willo and co...

Bit racist much?

for some, maybe.

Not for me, I'm still struggling to understand it.

[LR9]

Given the fact that Sydney FC have lodged a formal complaint after meeting with MCFC representatives basically tells us all we need to know.

Whether we like it or not, it's going to happen.  Whatever they decide, I hope the do it quickly, I don't want this to drag through the off season and become a major distraction for the club, players and fans.

While I will prefer to stay with the R&W, if it changes, I'm sticking with the club.  Given the huge social and economic emphasis that MCFC invest in women's, children's, and low socio-economic football programs, the club will still stand for the fundamentals that I believe in. BTW, I'm a NUFC supporter in the EPL.

They're just protesting the use of sky blue in general, not a specificly a sky blue kit, emblem, etc.

Barlow only said, "we're extremely concerned about the proposed use of sky blue..." So take that as you want.

Pearce told the FRG that City understands Melbourne Heart is Red and White, they want to avoid the situation at Cardiff and they believe it will reach an outcome which will please most Heart fans.

For me, none of that indicates well be playing in a predominantly sky blue strip, at least not at home.