What does the area refer to? In the old days it was suburb vs suburb (kind of). Melbourne was never part of the suburb vs suburb (maybe upper class vs other team's middle or lower class). Are the Demons the CBD's team? Or Greater Melbourne's team? Do you feel like you're supporting this city's team? The CBD's team? The MCCs team? I know that really it's just a name but does anyone see supporting Melbourne as supporting this whole city? Like you're proud of Melbourne as a city you live in and you feel like it's your club because you live in Melbourne? Not many supporters live in the suburb that their team is named. Do you think that some people don't support the Dees because they feel like supporting the Dees would be a bit too presumptous. As though they are saying by being a supporter that they support this city's team whilst other Melbournians who follow a team which isn't Melbourne aren't supporting their city's team?

What does the area refer to? In the old days it was suburb vs suburb (kind of). Melbourne was never part of the suburb vs suburb (maybe upper class vs other team's middle or lower class). Are the Demons the CBD's team? Or Greater Melbourne's team? Do you feel like you're supporting this city's team? The CBD's team? The MCCs team? I know that really it's just a name but does anyone see supporting Melbourne as supporting this whole city? Like you're proud of Melbourne as a city you live in and you feel like it's your club because you live in Melbourne? Not many supporters live in the suburb that their team is named. Do you think that some people don't support the Dees because they feel like supporting the Dees would be a bit too presumptous. As though they are saying by being a supporter that they support this city's team whilst other Melbournians who follow a team which isn't Melbourne aren't supporting their city's team?

Historically "Melbourne" referred to essentially the CBD and environs as that was the purpose I suspect of the MCC in terms of representation. It would I imagine have encompassed the notion of being the premier club of the town. Some might say it has always be seen as the toff's club. As a club (football) emerged out of the MCC is has always had the problem of what it does actually represent in terms of locale/demographic. Still does really.

We as a team (club ) are uniquely positioned in terms of branding, locational identifiers etc in that we can be both particular and broad in allignment of a perceived support region. The notion of barracking for the City's team..that is Victoria's premier city's team could certainly be leveraged towards new residents of this fair city ( whereever the suburb be).

It is..and always has been a vexed question

What does the area refer to? In the old days it was suburb vs suburb (kind of). Melbourne was never part of the suburb vs suburb (maybe upper class vs other team's middle or lower class). Are the Demons the CBD's team? Or Greater Melbourne's team? Do you feel like you're supporting this city's team? The CBD's team? The MCCs team? I know that really it's just a name but does anyone see supporting Melbourne as supporting this whole city? Like you're proud of Melbourne as a city you live in and you feel like it's your club because you live in Melbourne? Not many supporters live in the suburb that their team is named. Do you think that some people don't support the Dees because they feel like supporting the Dees would be a bit too presumptous. As though they are saying by being a supporter that they support this city's team whilst other Melbournians who follow a team which isn't Melbourne aren't supporting their city's team?

I always feel like i support the Team that shares the same name as the City. Which is why i think we should also build links with the Melbourne City Counil & The State Govt.

We do represent the City of Melbourne as does the MCG & thus the days of us being treated like Garbage must cease. The Re alignment with the MCC was the first stage. On Field must Follow.

When Jim Stynes stated the other day that the Melbourne Football Club could be one of the Biggest Clubs in the World, many people laughed BUT he was right. As long as the right decisions are made. This Club has access to so many contacts, we as a club have to look & be worthy of such Riches.

What does the area refer to? In the old days it was suburb vs suburb (kind of). Melbourne was never part of the suburb vs suburb (maybe upper class vs other team's middle or lower class). Are the Demons the CBD's team? Or Greater Melbourne's team? Do you feel like you're supporting this city's team? The CBD's team? The MCCs team? I know that really it's just a name but does anyone see supporting Melbourne as supporting this whole city? Like you're proud of Melbourne as a city you live in and you feel like it's your club because you live in Melbourne? Not many supporters live in the suburb that their team is named. Do you think that some people don't support the Dees because they feel like supporting the Dees would be a bit too presumptous. As though they are saying by being a supporter that they support this city's team whilst other Melbournians who follow a team which isn't Melbourne aren't supporting their city's team?

I think that Melbourne refers to the CBD in common sense, obviously, since there are teams from other suburbs of Melbourne.

i think this was what paul macnamee was trying to achieve. to make us the "premier" club. wasnt he trying to link us with the melbourne city council?

I think that Melbourne refers to the CBD in common sense, obviously, since there are teams from other suburbs of Melbourne.

The thing is...the club can now make it BE whatever it desires...more than likley to encompass ALL interpretations , why limit the horizons ;

The thing is...the club can now make it BE whatever it desires...more than likley to encompass ALL interpretations , why limit the horizons ;

Yes Exactly! This is what Jim Stynes was on about at the MCC signing, where i heard Journalists Laughing. We have so many more opportunities than other Victorian clubs into the Future if people realize it.

I can only speak for myself, but when I barrack for the Melbourne Demons, I am not supporting Collins St. or the MCC or Federation Square or anything like that. Nor, I guess, do most Collingwood, Geelong or Hawthorn supporters. I think we all barrack for the feeling we get after a come-from-behind win when we're little, and the resulting visit to McDonald's, or the brand new scarf our grandpa bought us one Friday night, or the feeling that my name's Jimmy, my grandpa's name's Jim and there was a guy named Jimmy Stines out there single-handedly kicking butt for the nine-hundredth game in a row.

I suppose I'd feel all of those things no matter what club I barracked for. So in answer to your question, "Melbourne" just happens to be the name of the team with which I associate a large part of my better childhood memories. So I support the team for the same reasons that I choose to remember the good times - because my life would be that much duller if I didn't.

And because you'd be crazy to support anyone else. I mean, as we all know, every heard beats true for the Red and the Blue.

I think if you consider those silly looking fellows only stepped off the lifeboat near the mouth of the Yarra river around 1850, and the origins of the MFC began in 1858, then maybe Melbourne becomes the CBD and also everything else one can see through a good telescope.

What follows is that everyone who now lives in Victoria should be comfortable barracking for, and supporting the MFC as the 'only football club in town'.

The fellows actually stepped off the boat in 1835... but the point about the MFC in 1858 is important. There were a couple of clubs playing a type of football before Tom Wills wrote his famous letter to Bell's Life: a team in St. Kilda (but not the Saints) and South Yarra among them. Melbourne, in 1858 terms, simply means somewhere that formed a footy club when virtually none existed before. By 1859 there was a club in Geelong (the Cats as we know them). There were no real suburbs, or suburban rivalries. Ou club is Melbourne and it stands for history, the foundation of the game, tradition ... we are the beginnings of the gamr. In present day terms, that's as much a selling point as any other. With ground rationalisation the suburbs are irrelevent.

To me, "Melbourne" represents the whole area, right down to Cranbourne and Frankston way. That is the beauty of the name; whilst the club has essentially grown out of the MCG I believe that it has the flexibility to be broad or specific depending on the person.

When Jim Stynes stated the other day that the Melbourne Football Club could be one of the Biggest Clubs in the World, many people laughed BUT he was right. As long as the right decisions are made. This Club has access to so many contacts, we as a club have to look & be worthy of such Riches.

I think Jim is spot on with this appraisal and I'd say this is a result of Russell Howcroft getting in his ear.

Seriously, have you ever seen the guy on the panel on the Gruen Transfer??

Hilarious that last night Todd said of Russell that TV programs annoy him cos they get in the way of the advertisements.

Hilarious, but at the same time that's definitely the kind of guy I want planning the marketing of my club. So happy to have him on board.

Back on topic, from what I've heard in the media and at the Youth Summit I have a feeling Jimma & Schwab are being media-managed to the nth degree to make our public image as inclusive as possible.

Melb the city without doubt.

i think this was what paul macnamee was trying to achieve. to make us the "premier" club. wasnt he trying to link us with the melbourne city council?

My god, that guy was daft.

Make us the team of the CBD?!

How many families live there?

Thank god for Jim Stynes...

I think that linking us somehow with the Melbourne City Council is a fantastic idea. However, have we missed our chance? We would have a had a very good chance of this when John So was mayor.

The thing is...the club can now make it BE whatever it desires...more than likley to encompass ALL interpretations , why limit the horizons ;

I agree. Needs alot of work. But the foundations are already there.

What does the area refer to? In the old days it was suburb vs suburb (kind of). Melbourne was never part of the suburb vs suburb (maybe upper class vs other team's middle or lower class). Are the Demons the CBD's team? Or Greater Melbourne's team? Do you feel like you're supporting this city's team? The CBD's team? The MCCs team? I know that really it's just a name but does anyone see supporting Melbourne as supporting this whole city? Like you're proud of Melbourne as a city you live in and you feel like it's your club because you live in Melbourne? Not many supporters live in the suburb that their team is named. Do you think that some people don't support the Dees because they feel like supporting the Dees would be a bit too presumptous. As though they are saying by being a supporter that they support this city's team whilst other Melbournians who follow a team which isn't Melbourne aren't supporting their city's team?

Yeah, Melbourne doesn`t really feel like Melbourne. It would be more Melbourne If, Every one near the MCG or in the city went for Melbourne, If Melbourne trained on its home ground the MELBOURNE cricket ground and If it had the biggest support base out of all 10 victorian teams. Once you think about it, this is a bit like the AFL issue that the game isn`t nationly enough, "Melbourne Isn`t Melbourne enough". I think they should cover the city with Melbourne signs and posters like what Richmond the suburb did for the Richmond football club`s 100th year. Hopefully in the long term train on the MCG, and have our gym and staff there and use Casey for pre-season and gain more supporters in the Cranbourne region long term. Because Cranbourne the suburb is in Melbourne. Every suburb like Richmond,Essendon,Carlton,Collingwood,Hawthorn,Western Bulldogs,North Melbourne and St.Kilda are in the city MELBOURNE, and this is what Jim stynes is trying to do. Strengthen our identity as Melbourne. Joining the MCC, increasing the support base by embracing Casey by having a strong presence there, Maybe have signs and posters around the city, Train at the MCG and most of all fight like a Melbourne team. I want to have a fighting and passionate identity. I am so sick of hearing other supporters saying "Melbourne supporters are so soft", because we are not that bad. We just need to increase the numbers and get Melbourne supporters who really care and support the club through think and thin like myself.

"My god, that guy was daft."

"How many families live there?"

Perhaps your perception of the CBD is out of date. More and more people live in the inner city, esp. taking Southbank and Docklands into account. They're in easy tram distance from the MCG, and are generally well-heeled....unfortunately in contrast to those West Moe.

My Father and Mother both supported the Melbourne Football Club and as a young lad I joined them. We lived in Brighton and as my Father put it - Brighton doesn't have a VFL (now AFL) team, we live in greater Melbourne, so we support the MFC. It made sense to me as a kid and it still makes sense to me now.

If I travel to (say) Adelaide and I'm asked where I come from I say Melbourne, not Box Hill or Brunswick. To me "Melbourne" is the city of Melbourne and not just the CBD. Look on an atlas - Melbourne's a big place and there must be lots of potential supporters out there!

If I travel to (say) Adelaide and I'm asked where I come from I say Melbourne, not Box Hill or Brunswick. To me "Melbourne" is the city of Melbourne and not just the CBD. Look on an atlas - Melbourne's a big place and there must be lots of potential supporters out there!

That's it, I say I come from Melbourne and I live on the Mornington Peninsula.