It has been a decade in the making but Melbourne City, for so long the A-League’s great underachievers, will finally take their seat at the A-League’s top table on Sunday. Whether they win or not, the monkey is off their back – yet on-field success is but one part of the City conundrum.
The time-worn joke around their lack of cut-through in the Melbourne market will – for fans of other clubs – simply write itself this weekend. When they run out for that inaugural grand final against Sydney FC, it will be to a backdrop of largely empty seats. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the crowd will be limited to around 7,500 (25% capacity at BankWest Stadium) – roughly City’s average attendance.
It has been a source of ongoing frustration for many invested in the growth of football, and the A-League in particular, that a club owned by the wealthy City Football Group has been unable to attract a more significant share of the Melbourne market. Last year’s average of just over 8,000 was the worst in the club’s 10-year history, leading many to wonder whether they will ever be able to capture hearts and minds in an overcrowded sporting city.
In fairness, City are not alone in this particular battle, and CFG (the umbrella organisation which now holds controlling shares in six clubs around the world, and minority stakes in another three) says it is a problem they are committed to fixing. Yet their identity – that indefinable something that drives people to form lifelong emotional bonds with sporting clubs – remains somewhat elusive.
What point of difference do they offer to the more established Melbourne Victory? Are they just an offshoot of the main club in Manchester? They certainly look like them, having ditched the red and white stripes for sky blue, and changed their name from Heart to City just six months after buying the club in 2014. Perhaps most tellingly, defender, Richard Windbichler, referenced CFG in his post-game interview after the semi-final win over Western United – not Melbourne City.
But while some of the old Heart fans dropped away in disgust at those early changes, others, like Tris Ryan, remained, and she believes the club are slowly turning things around. “I was involved with the keep the red and white campaign – I had very mixed feelings about the takeover,” she says. “There was the appeal of having the extra money to get better facilities, but when they announced they were going to change the strip and the name, I thought I was done with the A-League.
“But they have won me over. I decided that first year to give it a few games to see how it felt and, as the years have gone on, it has gone back to that community feel. They have done a lot of work with local clubs, schools, kids... which is what attracted me in the first place.”
There is little doubt CFG has brought some very good things to Australian football: a $20m training facility that ranks among the best in the country; a commitment to their women’s team which has pocketed a remarkable four W-League titles; and, during the Covid hiatus, they alone amongst A-League clubs continued to pay their employees in full.
On the pitch, City have played a pleasing brand of football, secured their highest-ever finish under the French technician, Erick Mombaerts, and in 23-goal striker, Jamie Maclaren, they have a genuine match winner who could dethrone Sydney FC on his own. The rumour however, is that Mombaerts will leave Australia after the grand final, which is why, to return to the supporter theme, it is imperative Maclaren stays.
City have few club servants with the longevity of the likes of Kevin Muscat or Archie Thompson across town at Victory. In building identity, it helps if clubs hang onto their stars. It is the reason why for fans, the excommunication of Bruno Fornaroli under Warren Joyce cut so deeply. City have had plenty of cult heroes, but most have passed through all too quickly. Aaron Mooy and Daniel Arzani both fitted the “production line” brief that is part of the club’s business DNA – but while their departures were understandable, others such as David Villa, left a sour taste in the mouth.
Villa’s arrival in 2014 got tongues wagging about City, with his home debut against Newcastle Jets drawing a crowd of nearly 16,000 – almost 6,000 higher than the overall eventual seasonal average. But his stay was never intended to be long-term, and the fact he departed after just four appearances left fans feeling rather short-changed. Tim Cahill aside, City have not ventured into true marquee territory since. CFG managing director of global football, Brian Marwood, made it clear in 2017 that under the current A-League model, there was “no business return” in them doing so.
Herein lies the rub. CFG have been big players behind the scenes in attempting to change the A-League model towards more of an English Premier League style set-up. An independent competition has been imminent ever since the clubs held sway in the governance war of 2018. Two years on though, Football Federation Australia is still in control – the latest estimation of a separation is Christmas, which would be just in time for the next campaign.
City, as reigning champions, about to enter the AFC Champions League and let off the leash financially? It is an intimidating prospect for the rest of the competition, and one which might go a long way to filling some of those empty seats.
