South Melbourne make $7 million offer for Melbourne Heart

[sevengoals]

Is this news for you guys down there?

South Melbourne FC detailed the chain of events that led to its $3.5 million takeover bid of Melbourne Heart being rejected, and also revealed an interest to coach the club by Brazilian great Emerson.

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/115 ... -situation

Of course the old "ethnic club" discussion rears it's ugly head again in the comments of the World Game article.

Another view...

They’re shouting it from the rooftops now – four-time national champions South Melbourne want in the A-League. Make no mistake, this is a huge moment in Australian football.

http://www.theroar.com.au/2013/05/03/is ... melbourne/

[shinAUFC]

Any club that has survived for this long yet has so many assets deserves to be in the league.

Imo they could teach the rest a bit about sustainability

[Stuckey]

With the NPL coming up I feel these big old clubs only have to wait before they are back on the national scene. Everyone harps on that there couldn't be a second div but when you see clubs like South throwing around cash like this its pretty clear there could be.

[shinAUFC]

The reason clubs like south melbourne and marconi still have good amounts of money tucked away is ( IMO ) they are so much more then just a football club, they are the centre point of their community.....plus they have pokies i suppose lol.

This is where A-league clubs fail miserably for now.

[Stuckey]

The reason clubs like south melbourne and marconi still have good amounts of money tucked away is ( IMO ) they are so much more then just a football club, they are the centre point of their community.....plus they have pokies i suppose lol.

This is where A-league clubs fail miserably for now.

Yeah I agree they are actually community clubs. This is why AUFC not going thru with the Veneto club was so disappointing. Obviously the club can't go out and blindly spend money but having a base like that is such an advantage.
I asked Glenn about this and he said he wasn't sure where the money would come from as the AUMC doesn't have anywhere near that sort of money and obviously the owners would rather not outlay that sort of cash if they didn't have to, I suggested why not putting it to the members to raise the cash required. If 3,000 members raised $250 each that's $750,000 raised which would be a great start towards purchasing a pub. This would also definitely put the community into the community club! He said he has taken my suggestions on board.

[ZANZIBAR]

if south melbourne make it back to the top flight...we will be ruined...the hardcore smfc fans hate the a-league and every club in it.if you think they wouldn't come in and cause trouble and let everyone know they are all about greek australians only you are kidding yourself. great club great history but not a club that would fit into the changing landscape of Australian football.

[sevengoals]

^
Zanzibar you want to exclude all the South Melbourne fans because of a few idiots?
South Melbourne FC doesn't get another chance because they are Greek Australians and therefore more likely to cause trouble?

Zanzibar, you are disrespecting a whole lot of people here, me included.

Football should reflect all of Australia's communities and for it to grow and succeed it has to be inclusive, not exclusive and segregated.

[ZANZIBAR]

the NSL was all about excluding people. that is the reason the a-league was created, they had their chance. they are more than welcome to support melbourne heart or mvfc or another team? bring back smfc and the slippery slope gets steeper to plunge back to NSL days, great football but run poorly and excluded too many football fans. i don't know how that disrespect you?

[shinAUFC]

Im no expert on south melbourne but i do recall them going to great lengths to break down the barriers of it being just a greek club.

In the end it seemed it was other peoples pre conceived perceptions holding them back, though i could never warm to adelaide city before united came along so its understandable imo. But worth noting all the same

Lets face it, most aleague clubs are linked with a certain ethnicity and multiplied by people willing to believe it. If you listen to some people aufc is just an italian club.

Smfc games will be policed hard and im sure the club would look to expand into the greater community, which would be easy for them as they have the facilities to definetly make anyone welcome and have a good meal on a friday night.

[sevengoals]

if south melbourne make it back to the top flight...we will be ruined...the hardcore smfc fans hate the a-league and every club in it.if you think they wouldn't come in and cause trouble and let everyone know they are all about greek australians only you are kidding yourself. great club great history but not a club that would fit into the changing landscape of Australian football.

You want to exclude a club because you believe they have a few idiots who will "cause trouble and let everyone know they are all about greek australians".

What exactly does this mean?

Are they trouble makers because they are SMFC supporters or are they trouble makers because they are "greek australians" or is that in your mind one and the same?

What has it do do with their ethnic/cultural makeup?

[sevengoals]

Nothing has changed.
The wogs play wog ball.

Sheedy allegedly responded to Foster's speech about his pride in soccer's multiculturalism with the words: "Yeah, sure, the ‘boat people’, that’s your sport."

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl ... 6640968472

[ZANZIBAR]

have you not seen what happened when they played mvfc in a friendly? a large group was there purely to fight a-league fans.
the A-league deliberately severed ties with clubs that have strong ethnic ties so that teams could include all ethnic backgrounds. nowhere did i say they are trouble because of an ethnic background so stop trying to blow this up and take a deep breath.
If the smfc fans wanted to get involved in the a league, as many already have, they have two melbourne teams to choose from so no one can claim they are being excluded. i dont want the fans excluded....i just don't want a club that would make others feel like they shouldnt be supporting them because they are not greek.
i strongly believe it would be a backwards step for the a-league.
the same goes for adelaide city...i went to many games and was always ridiculed by italian mates because i supported the italian team? those stigmas will be around for a long long time.
do you really think melbourne need another team or would be better served dumping heart and turning them into smfc?

[blahblah]

Are they trouble makers because they are SMFC supporters or are they trouble makers because they are "greek australians"

They're trouble makers because they're Victorians; sneaky buggers.

[sevengoals]

Are they trouble makers because they are SMFC supporters or are they trouble makers because they are "greek australians"

They're trouble makers because they're Victorians; sneaky buggers.

[Stuckey]

I think it will be great to see SM back. Football has come a long way and I feel it is unlikely we will see us return to the days of the NSL.
We may see trouble makers to begin with but I feel this will be much like the start of WSW when we saw trouble makers there as well.
That has paled into insignificance now with the season WSW ended up having.
Bringing football together will assure football's status as a major player in the Australian sports market.