As part of Membership Week, aleagues.com.au speaks to three A-Leagues club members who collectively prove that a club’s supporter base knows no geographical bounds.
Be it from overseas or from interstate in Australia, A-Leagues members come from all walks of life and from far and wide to unite behind their club. This week, we share their respective stories as Membership Week celebrates the A-Leagues’ most dedicated fans.
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These days, more than 16,500 kilometres separate Melbourne Victory member Mark Stemmer from his beloved A-Leagues club.
Stemmer lives in the Dutch city of Arnhem, having left Australia for Europe in 2013. For the last 12 years, the Isuzu UTE A-League club has remained a constant in the life of a football fanatic whose dedication to his hometown club truly knows no bounds.
“I was born in Melbourne. The first 25 years of my life, I was there,” Stemmer tells aleagues.com.au.
“Midway through the 2005-06 season, a friend of mine took me to a game, Melbourne Victory v Central Coast at Docklands. I was only 18. And I was just blown away by the atmosphere. I just could not believe it was like that.
“I got on board, started to go to every game, and became a member the following season.
“I kept my membership until 2013 when I moved to Europe. I let the membership go because I was holding a seat at AAMI Park. But I always try to watch the games if the time difference allows, and I go to the games anytime I go back to Melbourne.
“But I thought this season, I’d become an international member just to be a part of the club. It’s one of these things in my life that, despite my moving to the other side of the world, it’s been a constant.”
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From his home in the Netherlands, Stemmer’s support is felt in Melbourne by a team that, like all clubs in the A-Leagues, are backed by a membership base made up of people from all walks of life and from far and wide, united behind a common cause.
At home, away and far away, members feel a deep connection to their respective clubs. In Stemmer’s case, that connection feels stronger than ever despite the oceans and lands that separate him from Melbourne Victory.
“Becoming a member, it kind of makes it official, actually, that’s the feeling I got,” he says.
“I can contribute a little bit more to the club, to the A-League. This is also very arrogant as a Victory fan, and we’re all arrogant Victory fans. A strong Melbourne Victory means it’s a strong A-League.
“There’s no better way to support your club than to become a member. It’s a way of letting your club know that you’re there. You can’t get any closer.
“There are going to be big things ahead and I want to be a part of that growth. I was part of the initial growth, and I want to be a part of the next stage of growth as well, even though I’m so far away.”
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From the Netherlands to New South Wales, Michele Monterosso picks up the phone in a small town on the outskirts of Canberra.
Like Stemmer, Monterosso too supports Victory from afar – albeit from a mere 600-odd kilometres away, compared to Stemmer’s 16,000.
Monterosso isn’t from Melbourne; he’s lived in New South Wales all his life.
He takes great pleasure in stating it was Victory that captured his heart in the early days of the A-Leagues, despite the competition commencing in 2005 with three of the eight foundation clubs based in his home state.
Newcastle Jets? Sydney FC? Central Coast Mariners? “Not a chance!” Monterosso tells aleagues.com.au.
“One day, I just started to support Victory. It was when the likes of Danny Allsopp and Archie Thompson were playing together, one of the best duos in the history of the A-League, it caught my eye, and it just went from there. Ever since then, I’ve just been in love with the club.
“This year will be my 12th consecutive year as a member. I wanted to repay the club for giving me some amazing moments in my life growing up. It’s a small token of appreciation to clubs that mean so much to people. Being an interstate member is the least I could do.”
Monterosso was in the stands at AAMI Park in 2015 as Victory beat Sydney FC to win the Isuzu UTE A-League Championship – a highlight moment in the two decades he’s spent supporting the club from afar.
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He gets to one or two games a year when Victory cross the border to New South Wales. But despite the distance, Monterosso renews his membership each year in a heartbeat.
“As soon as the memberships opened up, I signed up straight away,” he said.
“I believe that if you support a club, you should stick with them through the highs and the lows. I joined when they were on a pretty big high, we went through those years of lows but if you can’t stick with the club, then that just shows to me that there’s no passion.
“The club’s given me some lifetime memories that I will never forget. So I would never abandon them like that.
“Just sign up. Support your club, support the league. Every club, even the league, benefits from any sort of membership. It could be ticketed or non-ticketed.
“You feel tied to the club, you get little benefits like a percentage off at the shop and discounted tickets, members’ caps and that sort of stuff.
“But for me, it’s just the feeling of being a member of the club that you love. The benefits, for what I think is a small price to pay, outweigh everything else.”
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READ MORE: Why I’m a member of an A-Leagues club – and why you should be too
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Richard Godbehere grew up within earshot of Bramall Lane, the home of Sheffield United in England.
He was 12 years old when he immigrated from England to Australia in 1960. Little did he know then that it would take 45 years for another football club to claim a place in his heart.
“I was born in Sheffield in 1948,” he tells aleagues.com.au. “When I say I was born into football, I could hear football from the moment I was born.
“As soon as the word was going around that there was going to be a new league and a new Melbourne team with the name Melbourne in front of it and Victory after it, I was hooked. I was extremely keen to get right into it.
“It sounded such an exciting, challenging and brave way to start. With people like Kevin Muscat and Archie Thompson involved, one couldn’t help but be drawn into it. I signed up immediately and became a premium reserve seat member, a gold member now, right from the get-go.”
Godbehere is one of the longest-serving members of all A-Leagues clubs, with the 2025-26 campaign set to be his 21st consecutive season with a Victory membership.
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He attends training sessions, NPL games, and both men’s and women’s Victory fixtures in the A-Leagues. In the past year, he’s attended three A-Leagues Grand Finals (two men’s, one women’s) and an Australia Cup title decider.
“I think I’m known at training as that silly old bugger on the bike,” he says.
“I turn up at training and make a nuisance of myself and just see how people are going, have a chat with the players and staff.”
“A lot of clubs talk about it being a big family. But Melbourne Victory, they mean it and they do it. They live it. Look. All clubs have their failings and their ups and downs, but Melbourne Victory seem to do it so well. They’re very well organised. They’re very well led, really good management. It’s more than a football club.”
This week is Membership Week in the A-Leagues, in celebration of the dedicated members of clubs around the competition.
Godbehere, Monterosso and Stemmer are three members of the same A-Leagues club, and although their affection and dedication to Victory are the same, how each of them came to be members of the club is a unique story.
This year, you can begin your own membership story. Becoming a member of your A-Leagues club during Membership Week is easy, and will put you in the draw to win an incredible prize.
“I think being a member shows that you’re putting your money where your mouth is,” Godbehere says.
“You’re not just a supporter. You’re a member. You feel a part of the whole thing.
“Don’t think twice. Just do it. You’ll find yourself in a whole different world of involvement. It’s really connecting when you are a member. The more you put in, the more you’ll get out, like anything in life.”
Become a Member and Win
Purchase a club membership during Membership Week to go into the draw to win:
- Four premium hospitality seats to any Isuzu UTE or Ninja A-League home match of your choice,
- Your very own signed jersey,
- An exclusive inner sanctum tour,
- The chance to meet and mingle with the stars of the squad.
- PLUS Your choice of a SharkNinja product valued up to $500.
All new and renewing members this week will go in the draw to win the ULTIMATE Match Day Pass, a once-in-a-lifetime experience that puts you right in the heart of the action.
All members already signed up for season 2025-26 will also be entered into the draw.
Visit aleagues.com.au, A-Leagues socials or the A-Leagues Official App to find out more.
CLICK HERE TO BECOME AN A-LEAGUES CLUB MEMBER TODAY!
