Nine years ago, Melbourne Victory stepped out onto the Melbourne Cricket Ground in scenes that grabbed worldwide headlines and continue to live long in the memory.
A sea of 95,446 fans greeted Victory and Premier League powerhouse Liverpool for their blockbuster friendly in Melbourne in July 2013.
A spine-tingling rendition of Liverpool’s iconic anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ set the tone as Steve Gerrard & Co. overcame an impressive Victory side 2-0.
Victory will be back at the MCG and up against another footballing juggernaut – Manchester United – on Friday.
One-club great Leigh Broxham and Victory team-mate Jason Geria are the survivors from that famous night versus Liverpool.
Broxham told KEEPUP: “It was a great night for our fans and football fans in Australia.”
The Victory-Manchester United showdown forms part of a football feast Down Under, with seven matches scheduled within 10 days.
Brisbane Roar and Leeds United get the ball rolling on Thursday before Victory and Manchester United go head-to-head the following day.
Then there’s Aston Villa against Leeds (July 17), Manchester United versus Crystal Palace (July 19), Villa against Brisbane (July 20), Palace versus Leeds (July 22) and Manchester United against Villa (July 23).
Broxham added: “It’s great. You’re getting like seven or eight games in the space of 10-11 days in Australia. How could you not love that?
“Instead of being nothing or state-league friendly games, you have these massive exhibition games filling huge stadiums. It’s great for us, us as players to play against some top players in the world.
“Of course you want to be playing in games against these types of players. It’s great for the game in Australia as a whole.”
‘It didn’t feel real’
Liverpool made history in Australia as the 19-time English champions visited Down Under for the first time in their illustrious history.
Managed by Brendan Rodgers at the time, the Reds brought the likes of Gerrard, Luis Suarez, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger and Aussie goalkeeper Brad Jones to Melbourne.
Liverpool came up against Ange Postecoglou’s youthful Victory side, featuring a 20-year-old Geria at the MCG.
“Standing in the tunnel, walking up beside them and looking to your left – you’re seeing the calibre of players next to you,” Geria said.
“Walking out and then the crowd singing You’ll Never Walk Alone. To this day, I’m still in awe of it. It didn’t feel real at the time, just how loud it was, the sea of red. It was pretty unreal.
“At the time I was playing against Raheem Sterling. That in itself, the challenge for myself of how I could compete against him. Then obviously guys like Steven Gerrard on the ball, Luis Suarez playing the last 20 minutes. These are world-class players.
“You have to play the game but at the same time you need to take it in and realise the enormity of what you’re doing.”
But you’re there to show you can play football
These kind of fixtures attract a lot of interest, with eyes on the star-studded visitors as we’ve seen in the past when Victory played host to European giants like Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Celtic.
But, Geria adds: “That’s the other thing, sort of realising you’re not there to be mannequins, you’re there to compete as well.”
“There can be moments where you can get caught up in it – there’s Steven Gerrard or Luis Suarez on the ball. That can happen in moments but ultimately realising you’re there to compete and show you can play football too.
“Ange Postecoglou was the coach at the time and he made it very important we give it to them. Not there to just put on a show, we’re there to compete and play our football, show we are a very good team.
“I think that did show. There were a lot of young boys out there that day. It was good for us as a club because we showed we could compete against a very good team in Liverpool.
“I think people were pleasantly surprised and I think we surprised ourselves even.
“When you do something like that against a team like that, it gives you belief going into the season that you can compete against anyone.”
And Victory did put on a show, earning praise from Rodgers.
“Melbourne Victory is a very good side, I’ve got to say that their coach is outstanding,” Rodgers said after the game.
“I’ve had a couple of chats with him and to see his team play, he’s very similar to myself and he believes the game should be played in a certain way.
“You can see the team is very well coached, so we knew it was going to be a tough game for us.”
Brox as hungry as ever
Friday’s clash marks Broxham’s first game since re-signing with his beloved Victory – a contract that will take him into his 17th ALM season in Melbourne.
Broxham has won it all since debuting for Victory in 2006.
Four Championships, three Premierships and two Australia Cup titles, including the 2021 crown. He’s also experienced the lows.
Even with so much silverware in his cabinet, the 34-year-old remains as motivated as ever.
“Now you make a lot of sacrifices being away from family, so you want to make it worthwhile,” said Broxham.
“Especially over the last few years, you’re away a bit more than usual. It’s all worthwhile but you want it to be even more worthwhile with something to show at the end.
“Having won so much. You remember the good times, the reward from it and how it made you feel at the time.
“How it makes other people feel, how it makes your fanbase feel and how happy you can make people be.
“All those types of things make you want to keep going and win more trophies. We won the Australia Cup. We hadn’t won a trophy in a few years, so it was nice.
“Now my kids as well, they’re understanding winning and losing, what daddy does more. They’re a bit of a motivation as well.
“Putting smiles on faces and knowing how it makes me feel as well when we win trophies, it’s a great feeling and I want that again.”
The perfect prep for a Western reunion
It’s not every year in the ALM that a club is able to gear up for the new season against opposition like Manchester United.
Well, that’s the case for Victory, who are preparing to start their Australia Cup title defence against ALM champions Western United in the Round of 32 on August 3.
It’s a reunion and chance for some revenge after Victory lost to Western in last season’s ALM semi-finals.
“Some years you train 14 weeks, playing NPL sides on a Tuesday or Wednesday night, which you need to do but it can be a long pre-season,” Broxham said.
“You’re coming back now and within three weeks you’re playing Manchester United at the MCG. You can’t complain about that all being a footballer.
“It’s great, it gives you something to look forward to. It gives you a great competitive game to go into a Cup game.”
Geria added: “Pre-season is the time you use to build.
“This is an opportunity to do that, granted it’s on such a big scale against such a big opponent, and there’s going to be a lot of people watching.
“We have a competitive game in a months’ time, so this is a perfect opportunity to build towards that.
“With the boss, there’s not going to be any concessions or sort of time to take it as a friendly or an easy sort of run to soak in the occasion. We want to win all the games we play.”
