Excitement surrounds Saturday night’s Melbourne Derby. We haven’t just got a return of the Christmas Derby, but the terraces will be packed again bursting with noise. To set the scene, KEEPUP got a few from those stands thanks to Regan Connor from a City point of view and Dave Srhoj from Melbourne Victory.
We’re more than the second team in Melbourne
What makes a derby special?
All around the world, the greatest derbies comprise key themes: disdain for one another, tension in the lead-up, anxiety as the first ball kicks off and finally, elation when your team nets the winner.
The Melbourne Derby contains all of that, and then some.
For some it might be about bragging rights with their friends at school or colleagues at work, but to others it means more than that. For me, a win in the Melbourne Derby backs up the fact that our City boys are no longer the “second team in Melbourne”.
We’re more than that.
An aggregate score of 14-1 across three matches in the season previous confirms this, and I would count on the lads that they are hungry for more.
But it hasn’t always been this way for us, where we can feel confident going into a Melbourne Derby, blissfully ignorant to the taunts of the opposing fans. There was a time where a win seemed unattainable.
I moved to Melbourne from regional New South Wales as a 14-year-old, completely unaware of the world game, growing up with rugby league. This all changed when I picked up a football at school, and never looked back. My first football game was one to forget, the 5-2 drubbing in the Melbourne Derby back in 2014. My parents, who had a long disdain for the game, drove home elated at the immense atmosphere that the match presented. Me? I was heartbroken.
The years that followed were no better, other than the Erik Paartalu winner and Christmas Derby win of 2015.
The real turning point in the rivalry was the 4-1 win in 2016 at Etihad Stadium, as it was known then. With the likes of Fernando Brandan turning on the pace, and not to mention Timmy Cahill’s fabulous half-volley from halfway, this result foreshadowed what was to come. And, I was able to rub it into my Victory-following mate from school on the hour-long train back home.
Since then, we have not lost a Melbourne Derby by more than one goal, suggesting the clear competitiveness our club now possesses. Perseverance builds character, and character results in a 6-0 and 7-0 thrashing, obviously…
Now, we turn our attention to Saturday night. Both ends will be packed, the fans riled and full of anticipation, ready for the largest Melbourne Derby crowd we’ve seen since the end of 2019. Victory will no longer be the whipping boys we saw last season, but we are ready for them. Bring it on.
The Popa-lution is underway!
With the traditional Christmas Melbourne Derby upon us this weekend, Victory fans are expectant.
We don’t ‘expect to win’ – Bradley Stubb’s style (see The Coach Whisperer)– however, what we do expect to see is a rapid halt to the sorts of results we have witnessed in this fixture of late.
The “Popa-lution” is well and truly underway and after four games we find ourselves at the pointier end of the table.
Truth be told, this rivalry is lower on the pecking order compared to the rivalries our club has with the likes of Adelaide United and Sydney FC. Melbourne City (née Heart) were not a club that the people of Melbourne organically demanded.
With the arrival of the City Football Group in 2014, this clash took on a different meaning for Victory fans, pitting a club made in Melbourne by Melburnians against a global monolith. The resolve, pride, and belief in the idea of Victory being the A-League club for Victorians has only strengthened during this period. Win, lose or draw this has not changed.
Saturday night presents The Victory with an opportunity to undo the damage of the past two seasons, in particular, the humiliating losses last season that saw The Vuck ship 14 goals across three fixtures.
There is also the battle off the park. Melbourne City may currently hold the Isuzu UTE A-League title, but they also hold the title for being one of the few clubs in world football that are outnumbered significantly in the terraces for their own home game. While this derby is not seen by Victory fans at the most important across the course of a season, the fixture that is now annually held in the lead-up to Christmas is a special fixture. We have witnessed highs and lows, but without a doubt the Christmas derby’s most epic and memorable moment was in 2012 when a last gasp Archie Thompson winner sealed a win for the good guys.
Victoria as a state has had a tough couple of years. With COVID-issues mostly behind us now and fans back on the terraces it has been encouraging to see strong, league-leading numbers in attendance for the two Sunday evening home fixtures experienced thus far. Saturday’s ‘away’ allocation of tickets are sold-out and make no mistake it will feel and sound like a Melbourne Victory home game.
Given the Victory side of 2021/22 is a brand-new outfit led by an organised and pragmatic tactician in Tony Popovic, confidence is high heading into this clash. The loss of Davidson to suspension hurts, and the fear is that the Socceroo-heavy front third for City will finally click.
Yet, the return of Ikonomidis coupled with the resurgent form of Rojas and Kruse gives this set of fans a sense of belief that the City Football Group applecart can be upset.
