Melbourne Victory FC

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Melbourne Victory season 2007-08

Full name

Melbourne Victory Football Club

Nickname(s)

Victory, The Big V, ^[1]^[2]

Founded

2004

Ground

Telstra Dome
Melbourne, Australia
(Capacity 56,347)

Chairman

Geoff Lord

League

A-League

A-League 2006-07

1st (premiership)
1st (championship)





Home colours





Away colours

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. As a result, the club will be one of two Australian representatives to the 2008 AFC Champions League.

1 History
2 Corporate
- 2.1 Sponsors
3 Colours and badge
4 Stadium
5 Rivalry
6 Current Squad
7 Notable Former Players
8 Personnel
- 8.1 Club officials
- 8.2 Coaching and medical staff
9 Coaches
10 Honours
11 Year-by-year
12 Records
- 12.1 Top scorers
- 12.2 Most Appearances
13 References
14 External links

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. They replaced Victorian teams South Melbourne FC and Melbourne Knights, who now play in the second tier competition - the Victorian Premier League.

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.

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.

The ownership of the club is structured as such:

Geoff Lord - 50%
Football Federation Australia - 10%^[3]
Private Investors - 40%

On October 27, 2005, South Korean electronics giant Samsung became the club's major sponsor in a two year deal.

Melbourne Victory's 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 identified 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 Melbourne Victory's home jersey sported a white chevron on the front.

2005-2007 Home

2005-2006 Away

2007-2008 Home

2006-2008 Away

2006-07 A-League Grand Final at Telstra Dome

Further information: Telstra Dome, Olympic Park Stadium, and Melbourne Rectangular 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 49,730 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. However, many of the Victory's active supporters have little affection for "The Dome", citing over-zelous security restrictions for hampering their efforts on match day.

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.

Rivalry exists between Sydney FC and Adelaide United. Victory have recorded big wins against Adelaide (6-0 in the 2006-7 Grand Final) and Sydney (5-0 during the 05-06 Season).

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Michael Theoklitos
2	MF	Kevin Muscat (Captain)
3	DF	Daniel Piorkowski
5	DF	Ljubo Milicevic
6	DF	Steve Pantelidis
7	DF	Matthew Kemp
8	MF	Grant Brebner
9	FW	Daniel Allsopp
10	FW	Archie Thompson (Marquee)
11	DF	Joe Keenan
12	DF	Rodrigo Vargas

No.	Position	Player
13	MF	Kaz Patafta
14	MF	Adrian Caceres
15	FW	Leandro Love
16	MF	Carlos Hernández
17	MF	Daniel Vasilevski
18	MF	Leigh Broxham
19	MF	Evan Berger
21	DF	Sebastian Ryall
22	MF	Nick Ward
24	DF	Steven Pace
30	GK	Mitchell Langerak

Chairman: Geoff Lord
Directors: Ron Peck, Richard Wilson, Anthony Di Pietro, Mario Biasin, John Harris
CEO: Geoff Miles
Media & Communications Manager: Tony Ising

Football Operations Manager: Gary Cole
Manager: Ernie Merrick
Assistant Manager: Aaron Healey
Assistant Manager: Kevin Muscat
Goalkeeping Coach: Steve Mautone
Strength & Conditioning Coach: Adam Basil
Sports Scientist: Anita Pedrana
Physio: Andrew Wallis
Physio: Lauren Cramer
Doctor: Dr Anika Shawdon

2005 - Present Ernie Merrick

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: Super Kevin Muscat

- 2006/07: Kevin Muscat, Daniel Allsopp (tied vote)

(*) Indicates co-winner

Year	Pre-Season	Reg. Season	Final Series	AFC Champions Leaguge
2005-06	3rd	7th	Did not qualify	Did not qualify
2006-07	5th	Premiers	Champions	Qualified
2007-08	8th	TBA	TBA	TBA

Record Victory: 6 - 0 vs Adelaide United, A-League Grand Final, February 18, 2007
Record Defeat: 0 - 4 vs Newcastle Jets, January 19, 2007
Record High Attendance: 55,436 vs Adelaide United, 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 - 27 goals (as of October 22, 2007)
Most Goals In a Regular Season: Danny Allsopp - 11 goals, A-League 2006-07
All-time Leading Appearances: Danny Allsopp - 57 appearances (as of December 10, 2007)
Longest Period Without Conceding a Goal: 329 minutes - November 3, 2006 - November 26, 2006

	Name	Goals	Games	Average	Years
1	Archie Thompson	27	52	0.52	2005-
2	Danny Allsopp	18	57	0.32	2005-
3	Kevin Muscat	16	49	0.33	2005-
4	Adrian Caceres	5	37	0.14	2006-
5	Fred	4	20	0.20	2006-2007
=	Richard Kitzbichler	4	17	0.23	2005-2006

	Name	Games	Goals	Years
1	Danny Allsopp	58	18	2005-
2	Steve Pantelidis	53	0	2005-
2	Archie Thompson	53	27	2005-
4	Kevin Muscat	50	16	2005-
5	Michael Theoklitos	48	0	2005-

Melbourne Victory - Official Website
[1] - Pictures of Melbourne Victory supporters

Preceded by Adelaide United	A-League Premiers 2006/07	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Sydney FC	A-League Champions 2006/07	Succeeded by Incumbent

v • d • e Professional sporting teams based in Melbourne
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Basketball (NBL)	Melbourne Tigers · South Dragons
Cricket	Victorian Bushrangers
Football (soccer) (A-League)	Melbourne Victory
Motorsport (V8 Supercar)	Autobarn Racing · Britek Motorsport · Ford Performance Racing · Garry Rogers Motorsport · Holden Racing Team · Jack Daniel's Racing · Tasman Motorsport · Toll HSV Dealer Team
Rugby League (NRL)	Melbourne Storm
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