By Skye McTavish

Twitter: @skyemct

Why Melbourne Victory?

Prior to the introduction of the A-League, football in Australia had been in a bit of a wilderness. There was a national “soccer” league and various state leagues, but the A-League was the first “shiny and commercial” version. Victory was the only choice and until the 2010-2011 season, we were a one team town. Personally though, at my first live game, it was love. I’ve never questioned it, and never looked back.

Favourite player?

Archie Thompson – awesome player and fantastic person. He does the hard yards on the pitch, and then backs it up with a smile for the crowd. He never fails to recognise the fans, and for that, he is a champ. On the pitch, his 5 goals against Adelaide in the 2007 Grand final and his dogged determination are enough to make him my favourite.

Favourite game?

The 2007 Grand Final was a fantastic game. Not only because we won it 6-0, but because it was an apt end to a season that we had dominated and began to show the league that Victory are a team to be reckoned with. Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp worked so well together in that game which was always a sign that things were going to end well for us.

Favourite strip?

Our normal home strip is my favourite. Navy blue and white are the colours of Victoria, and the ‘V’ is a symbol of our greatest triumphs. It’s starting to get taken over by mediocre sponsors, but we all know that underneath all the commercialisation is the strip of the greatest team in Australia.

Worst thing about being a Melbourne Victory fan?

Football fans in Australia have a fairly bad reputation, and Melbourne Victory has the worst of all the teams even if it isn’t always justified. The active supporters are over policed and over regulated. This tends to stifle passion and create a feeling of disengagement. The media are also overly critical and are mean towards our club and as a fan this can be quite hard to deal with.

Funniest moment?

We did have a comedy of errors going on in goal this season. Not sure that can be truly considered funny, but if we didn’t laugh about some of the goals we conceded, we may have cried.

Favourite moment?

Seeing the happiness and joy on the players faces, and other supporters at the final whistle of our first Melbourne Derby win was incredible. We had lost the first derby and in a city where sport plays such a big role, being top dog is important. Winning this match, and by a bigger margin than we lost the first, meant the world to the team and to our fans.

Posted on April 24th, 2011 by scott
Filed under: My Team & I