Great point in regards the London Football Club.

I think the use of the word malaise is a little unfair when labelling the supporters of this club. Given the number of 'supporters' we have, the number converted into 'members' is quite impressive. Let's stop stabbing each other in the back and look at the way forward. With the lack of success we've had over the past 44 years, I'm amazed sometimes that we're still going. Consider the lack of facilites and separated training, admin and social structures and it's a bloody miracle we've been competitive for so many of the last 20 years.

If we are to survive and then (as ND loved saying) thrive, unity is the key. From my perspective this club is 2 years ahead of the criticism. The plans for new Admin and training facilities is genuinely exciting. Add the fresh approach of a determined new coach, the energy of Chris Connolly and the profile of Paul McNamee and I'm convinced we're well placed to grow and again be competitive on and off the field within the next 2 seasons.

What we need to do is place a little faith in the decisions of the past 24 months and jump on board and support our team. There's a reason why some clubs are more successful than others. We throw around the word 'culture' for good reason. Culture is the key. A stable culture that promotes a strong work ethic and the avoidance of short cuts is critical. Culture is restricted to players or coaches, it applies to supporters as well! Calling for the board to be thrown out could very well signal the end. Gardner and his board have started on a journey and have every right to see many of their goals and objectives realized over the next 12 - 24 months.

The passion of every contributor to this forum cannot be questioned and the current spate of negativity is understandable but not productive. Don't meekly accept every generalized, reclycled, cliched piece of crap to be offered up by a growing band of negativity-hunting footy journos. And don't be fooled by the predictable public lashing handed out by an agenda-driven AFL.

When things are bad (in football and life) I've always been buoyed by the sentiment expressed by many of the wiser posters on this forum. It's often been said that when things are good, they're never quite as good as they seem and equally, when things are bad, they're quite as dire as they seem. The worm will turn and the reward, as always, will be all the more sweeter, if you've stuck by the team and the club when they needed you most. If easy success is what you're after, move to England and go and support Chelsea or tour with the Australian cricket team when they next head to Zimbabwe or Bangladesh.

Kipling was onto something when he wrote his popular poem 'If'. Maybe a few of the hissy fit throwing posters on Demonland and Demonology could follow his advice and maybe one day they will become men. Put simply, whinging is for petulant children. Let's become a band of supporters know for their intestinal fortune and moral fibre. Let's become doers. Let's become part of the solution and stop contibuting to the negativity that may well kill the club we claim to love.

Great post, have been saying the same thing for a while now, wish people would take a deep breath and see how it all pans out during the year.

could somebody please answer me this question, does the MFC own the rights to the name MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB? why i am asking is whether the afl tries to merge us or relocate us or even wind us up what can it do as we are the MFC and even if we ellected to play with the vfl or even the edfl we own the brand name.

i for one would follow the MFC to any league as i barrack for the MFC not the afl.

we should tell them where to get off. question when was the last time anyone saw a board member at the footy [ not up with the toffs but down with us plebs. do they even know where the chear squad sit?]

i could go on about our lack of ANY publicity or club events up to now concerning the 150th. a terrific chance gone begging.

lets train at casey and blitz the surrounding area and schools with MFC persons, make the sw of melb our backyard and push for all we are worth.

lets train at casey and blitz the surrounding area and schools with MFC persons, make the sw of melb our backyard and push for all we are worth.

I don't know much about the dynamics of Casey and not much has been said about this development. Do people believe that a realistic opportunity exists to lay foundations in the area?

I don't know much about the dynamics of Casey and not much has been said about this development. Do people believe that a realistic opportunity exists to lay foundations in the area?

I think it could turn out a great deal if we did not go to Olympic Park, the city of Casey want to build a Stadium to seat about 20,000 for away games against interstate sides, ( wish list I might add ) and we could end up with great facilities for training and Admin for year round use, hell think about the growth within the area, mind blowing.

I know a lot of supporters believe that we should stay in the central district, but I think we need to think outside the box and get bed (so to speak) with a council that would support us.

Ponders what could have been if the Melbourne Football Club had have invested in its future when it had the chance to buy a very large motel back in the sixties

how ironic is it that our last cup was 1964

You could also argue that North have had some success yet are still below the standard of a financially stable long term club

With 10 clubs in Victoria i think its time to get some footy smarts into our administration with the limited ammount of market share on offer within this state

Hamilton ,Aylett ,Oakley , Jackson and Demitiou all had a football background

Swampfox