Melbourne Heart

Melbourne Heart

In June 2009, Melbourne Heart became the 11th A-League franchise and the second Melbourne-based club in the competition, when it was awarded a licence to compete in the 2010-2011 A-League season. The Heart were granted the licence ahead of a rival Victorian bid by Southern Cross FC, which represented the South Melbourne region. Since the A-League’s inception in 2004, Football Federation Australia had indicated that there would eventually be a second team in both Sydney and Melbourne. And – given Melbourne Victory’s swelling crowd figures over the first three A-League seasons – it was no surprise to see a second Melbourne side enter the league just five years after its beginning.

 In October 2009, club chairman Peter Sidwell announced that former Netherlands international John van’t Schip would be the Heart’s first head coach. Before naming any signings ahead of their debut season, Van’t Schip promised that he would employ an attacking style of play, based on the Dutch football philosophy. In keeping with the Dutch theme, the club announced the signings of duo Rutger Worm and Gerald Sibon in early 2010, along with a host of local stars such as Simon Colosimo, John Aloisi, Clint Bolton and Matt Thompson. When Australia’s World Cup defender Michael Beauchamp and former Socceroo Josip Skoko were added to the Heart’s squad just weeks before their debut A-League encounter, many football experts were tipping them as one of the teams to beat this season.

In July, the Heart played a pre-season exhibition game against English Premier League side Everton at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium and were beaten 2-0. The match was one of just five warm-up fixtures for the new club and Van’t Schip himself admitted that his side were under-prepared ahead of the A-League season. In August, Melbourne played their first ever match against the Central Coast Mariners at the newly built AAMI Park, in front of over 11,000 home fans. It was a disappointing night for the Heart though, as the game ended 1-0 in favour of the Mariners.

Melbourne scored their first ever A-League goal the following week in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle Jets, but that was an own-goal that came courtesy of Jets defender Ben Kantarovski. They had to wait until the following round’s game against Adelaide United for their first goal from a Heart player, which was scored by Worm in a 3-2 loss. Their first victory came in round five at home to North Queensland, where they triumphed 1-0 despite being out-played for large periods.

The Heart face a long, hard challenge if they hope to emulate the success – both on and off the field – of their neighbours the Victory, but they have taken the right steps so far. Off the field, the club has a sound financial backing from the private sector, as well as a rich sponsorship deal with Westpac, which should allow them to slowly build a strong public following. And on the field, whilst the Heart are yet to fully hit their straps, they have a squad talented enough to factor at the business end of the season.

Key Players: Simon Colosimo, Josip Skoko, Clint Bolton, Michael Beauchamp, John Aloisi.