The Beautiful Game

The A-League is in absolutely no doubt its healthiest ever state - record attendances and record memberships, combined with a higher degree of marquee quality is getting fans and administrators excited this year. Add to that, some bloke from Spain amongst the plethora of quality foreigners seen around the league, a dedicated channel for football on Fox Sports, and live Friday night SBS coverage, it appears everyone is matching this increased interest with improved media to keep fans in the loop, however one Melbourne clubs is bucking this trend. Melbourne City have seemingly implemented an almost blanket ban on media relationships from higher ranking officials to their player, meaning most media communication is being done by the coach. The move is one of many changes implemented by the City Group that was seen when they first took over at Manchester City. As a result there has been a significant decrease in the amount of information fans and other media outlets have acc...

Just under 44,000 crammed into Etihad Stadium to witness what has been described the best Melbourne Derby ever. The match itself was incredible. A hotly contested first half, and a comeback of epic proportions. The hype in the lead up to that game however played just as crucial a role in the derby's success, as it always does, fueling the electric atmosphere of both Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart  City fans. That profound atmosphere was in part driven by one player - David Villa. Prior to the Derby, Villa boasted a perfect A-League record of 2 goals from 2 games, saving City from defeat. Two bumper crowds flocked to see the Spanish superstar, over 20,000 in Sydney and over 15,000 in what is now City's largest ever non-derby home attendance. Melbourne City can also boast record membership numbers (having just eclipsed 10,000) and unprecedented Media coverage. David Villa has left an impression on Australian football, but to what extent has Australian footb...

David Villa once again left his mark on the scoreboard and the table with a match defining strike that gave City a share of the points against Newcastle. It was a pretty surreal sight to see David Villa celebrate that goal but that wasn't limited to his own presence. All tiers of AAMI park were open and a 15,000 strong crowd cheered on Melbourne City in what is now their largest ever non-derby crowd and the only time the entire AAMI park has been open for an A-League game Melbourne Victory weren't playing. It is a remarkable feat that shows how far the other Melbourne team has come but with change comes loss and the early rebirth of Victory's cross-town rivals has come at a cost of Melbourne Heart's identity. As I watched Villa run arm in arm with Australian team mates it wasn't the goal that shocked me, it wasn't his presence, the sizable crowd or the open stadium. It was the colour. Watching the game I felt like I could have been looking into any r...