A-League Club Melbourne Heart Will Not Relocate; Victory To Increase Memberships

A-League club Melbourne Heart "has quashed talk of relocation," confident it can become a powerhouse in its current guise "despite a sluggish start to the season, on and off the field," according to David Davutovic of the HERALD SUN. Meanwhile, Melbourne's original A-League club, Victory, believes it can reach Australian Football League-type numbers and crack 35,000 members by '16. While "there have been suggestions Heart relocate to Melbourne's southeast or even Geelong," Chair Peter Sidwell said that "the club would not be moving." Sidwell said, "I don't think the geographic divide is the way forward." Victory's membership is just over 18,000 with sponsorship revenue in excess of A$3M ($3.2M), and Managing Dir Richard Wilson said that "if the club continued to improve under coach Ange Postecoglou," its numbers could go through the roof (HERALD SUN, 12/18).