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'Melbourne Victory Football Club' is a football (soccer) team in the Australian A-League based in Melbourne, Victoria.
They are currently A-League premiers and champions - the first and only club in the ''A-League'' to achieve the championship/premiership double[1]. As a result, the club will be one of two Australian representatives to the 2008 AFC Champions League.

Contents

History

Colours and badge

Stadium

Supporters

Current Squad

Notable Former Players

Personnel

Club officials

Coaching and medical staff

Managers

Honours

Records

References

See also

External links

History

Melbourne Victory were founded in 2004 after the announcement of a revamped domestic league in Australia. The National Soccer League, which was disbanded in 2004.
The FFA approved the Melbourne Victory consortium as Melbourne's representative in the league, with Belgravia Leisure Pty Ltd backing the club. The Chairman and CEO of Belgravia Leisure, Geoff Lord, was installed as the inaugural Chairman of Melbourne Victory F.C.
Gary Cole (an ex-Socceroo) was hired to become Football Operations manager, and was soon joined by Ernie Merrick, appointed as head coach from the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS). Archie Thompson, a current Socceroo who had been playing in Belgium with Lierse S.K., was the club's first player signing. The club soon signed three more internationals for the innagural squad - Socceroo Kevin Muscat, Austrian Richard Kitzbichler and Belgian Geoffrey Claeys.
The remainder of the squad was quickly assembled, although room was left for signings before Melbourne played its first competitive match against Adelaide United in a World Club Championship qualifier.
On October 27 2005, South Korean electronics giant Samsung became the club's major sponsor in a two year deal.
Melbourne Victory were the first team to complete the A-League double in the history of the competition; clinching the premiership against the New Zealand Knights 4-0 at Olympic Park with 4 rounds of competition remaining, then beating Adelaide United 6-0 in the grand final at a sold out Telstra Dome to take the championship.
Influential Australia defender Adrian Leijer left on the eve of the 2007-08 season for English Premiership side Fulham FC for a Victory record transfer fee received of more than $1.2 million. He was replaced in the side by another youngster in Sebastian Ryall, a very similar player and Captain of the Young Socceroos side that won the Weifang Cup in China.

Colours and badge

Melbourne Victorys kit colours are navy blue, silver and white, which encompass the traditional state sporting colours of Victoria. In the first A-League season, only the club badge displayed a chevron, known colloquially as the "Big V", a symbol that has long been identied with Victorian sporting teams. However, in the 2006-07 season the away strip was changed to a grey jersey with a white chevron on the front. This was an immediate hit with the club's supporters and fans, and from the 2007-08 season onwards the Victory's home jersey will sport a white chevron on the front.

Stadium

Melbourne Victory were originally based at the aging Olympic Park stadium, where they played all home matches during the 2005-06 A-League season. This stadium has seated areas only on the wings, with standing-room sandy terraces on the north and south ends.
On the back of a then-record regular season attendance of 39,730 at the all-seater Telstra Dome for the match against Sydney FC on September 2 2006, it was announced that seven home matches would be moved to "the Dome". Only one match (due to a Robbie Williams concert)- against the struggling New Zealand Knights - would remain at Olympic Park.
This move to such a large stadium was viewed with skepticism by many, but proved to be an outstanding success, with the average attendance rising to over 27,000 during the season.
Prior to the 06-07 season the club had planned to move to a new stadium being planned to the east of the current Olympic Park complex. The new Melbourne Rectangular Stadium was originally expected to seat approximately 20,000 spectators (expandable to 25,000) and was to be completed in time for the start of the 2008-09 campaign.
These plans have since been revised after the Victory refused to commit to playing at such a small capacity stadium. On May 23 2007, the club announced it had signed as a founding co-tenant of the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, which would now be built to accommodate a minimum of 31,000 spectators.
Telstra Dome will continue to serve as the club's home ground until the completion of the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. The club will split its home games between the new stadium and the Telstra Dome from the 2009-10 A-League campaign.

Supporters

Melbourne Victory is the only A-League team based in Victoria, and have a dedicated fan base - the club have consistently set records for A-League attendances. With the move to Telstra Dome during the 2006/07 season, large crowds have been a feature of Victory home games. On February 18, 2007, a capacity crowd of 55,436 attended the Grand Final against Adelaide United at the Telstra Dome. This is the largest attendance on record for a domestic football match in Australia, surpassing the previous record of 50,333 set at the same venue earlier in the season in a match against Sydney F.C., recorded as the current record Australian Domestic regular season attendance. Melbourne are known to take the largest numbers of away fans when travelling in the league, with many fans undeterred by travelling several thousand kilometres to places like Brisbane and Perth.
Melbourne Victory has a number of supporter groups, each group with its own style of support. These biggest and most notable group is the ''BWB'' (Blue and White Brigade) who locate in the northern terrace, ''M7C'' , ''SDC'' (Southern Death Crew), ''T27'' and a small number of fans associated with Melbourne Victory's inaugural supporters group UNION. The British style of support generally stand at the North End of Telstra Dome, however it's referred to as the 'South End' because of the tradition started by the SDC and affiliates at the South-End terrace of Olympic Park. The South-End of Telstra Dome hosts the more European / South American style of support led by the ''BWB'', however they are branded the 'Northern Terrace' as a whole, again because of ties to the club's original stadium. Victory supporters are also famous for singing the riff to Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes as a celebration to a goal.

Current Squad

Notable Former Players

★ Fred

★ Geoffrey Claeys

★ Richard Kitzbichler

★ Adrian Leijer
''See also: List of Melbourne Victory players''

Personnel

Club officials

★ 'Chairman': Geoff Lord

★ 'Directors': Ron Peck, Richard Wilson, Anthony Di Pietro, Mario Biasin, John Harris

★ 'CEO': Geoff Miles

★ 'Media & Communications Manager': Tony Ising

Coaching and medical staff

★ 'Football Operations Manager': Gary Cole

★ 'Manager': Ernie Merrick

★ 'Assistant Manager': Aaron Healey

★ 'Goalkeeping Coach': Steve Mautone

★ 'Strength & Conditioning Coach': Adam Basil

★ 'Sports Scientist': Anita Pendrana

★ 'Physio': Andrew Wallis

★ 'Physio': Lauren Cramer

★ 'Doctor': Dr Anik Shawdon

Managers

★ '2005 - Present' Ernie Merrick

Honours

;Club

★ A-League Championship: (1) 2006/07

★ A-League Premiership: (1) 2006/07

★ AFC Champions League Qualification: (1) 2008
;Other Honours

★ QNI North Queensland Trophy: (1) 2006

★ Lord Mayors Cup: (1) 2007
;Individual
List of Individual award winners who won awards while playing for Melbourne Victory FC.

★ A-League Golden Boot Winners
:- 2005/06: Archie Thompson
★
:- 2006/07: Daniel Allsopp

★ Joe Marston Medal Winners
:- 2006/07: Archie Thompson

★ A-League Coach of the Year
:- 2006/07: Ernie Merrick

★ Victory Medal: Club's best Player
:- 2005/06: Kevin Muscat
:- 2006/07: Kevin Muscat, Daniel Allsopp (tied vote)
(
★ ) Indicates co-winner

Records

★ 'Record Victory': 6 - 0 vs Adelaide United, A-League Grand Final, February 18 2007

★ 'Record Defeat': 0 - 4 vs , January 19 2007

★ 'Record High Attendance': 55,436 vs , Telstra Dome, Melbourne, February 18 2007

★ 'Record High Attendance (Season)': 50,333 vs Sydney FC, Telstra Dome, Melbourne, December 8 2006

★ 'Most Goals by a Player in a Game': 5 - Archie Thompson, A-League Grand Final, February 18, 2007

★ 'Most Wins in a Row': 8, February 4, 2006 – October 8, 2006

★ 'Highest Season Average Attendance': 27,728 - A-League 2006-07

★ 'All-time Leading Goal Scorer': Archie Thompson - 23 goals (as of February 18, 2007)

★ 'Most Goals In a Regular Season': Danny Allsopp - 11 goals, A-League 2006-07

★ 'All-time Leading Appearances': Danny Allsopp - 44 appearances (as of August 31, 2007)

★ 'Longest Period Without Conceding a Goal': 329 minutes, November 3, 2006 - November 26, 2006

References

See also

★ Richest football clubs

External links

★ Melbourne Victory - Official Website