It’s one of the longest running rivalries, and arguably the fiercest rivalry in the A-League.
The Big Blue has produced some of the greatest games and most memorable moments in the league. Their three grand-final matchups have produced historic moments; the clang of the post as Kevin Muscat missed his penalty in the shootout in 2010, a Melbourne Victory masterclass in a 3-0 battering in 2015, and Simon Hill’s shout of “dreams have come true in Sky Blue” as Sydney won their championship in seven years in 2017.
Then there’s Terry Antonis going from villain to hero for the Victory in the 2018 preliminary final, followed by Sydney FC returning the favour a year later in a 6-1 demolition.
The Big Blue has always been more than just the action on the pitch, it’s a clash of the two biggest cities in the country, a clash of prestige, class and power as the league’s two biggest sides battle it out for superiority and often for the top spots in the table. The Australia Day Big Blue, which has become a tradition in recent years, has also become one of the biggest games in the season, with crowds for this fixture averaging nearly 25,000.
The COVID pandemic has meant that the league has been deprived of this marquee fixture on Australia Day for the last three years, and fans were excited to see it return for this season, yet today will be unique in Big Blue history for all the wrong reasons.
Two sides accustomed and expecting of raging success are instead occupy two of the bottom three places in the table. A season of dreams is instead turning into the season of nightmares.
For Sydney, this was supposed to be a season of redemption and rebirth. Returning to their spiritual home in Moore Park, they were supposed to catapult themselves back to success after missing the finals last season. Yet their malaise has continued, having the second worst defence in the competition and a wasteful attack means they sit 10th.
Coach and club legend Steve Corica – who was handed a contract extension at the end of last season – has seen his fan support dwindle, with many on social media calling for his removal as the dawning realisation that Sydney may need a rebuild grows larger by the day.
The Victory meanwhile had already had their season of redemption when Tony Popovic took them from cellar dwellers to preliminary finalists in the space of a season. For helping revitalising a previously stagnant club and reconnecting the bond between fans and club he was named the A-League Men’s coach of the season.
Many tipped them to kick on this year as they retained many of their core players and signed Portuguese star Nani. Many predicted them to finish in the top two, some even tipped them to go invincible.
Yet their form before the World Cup break was inconsistent, and they’ve had nothing short of the month from hell on and off the field since the league resumed in December.
Their form, which was patchy before the World Cup, has nosedived in the last month, with the club without a win since mid December. They have lost four of their last five matches, have only scored 11 goals – the equal second lowest in the league – and currently sit bottom of the ladder. Coach Tony Popovic admitted after their latest defeat to Perth that “we are where we are because we deserve to be there, that’s the reality.”
Many players who shone last year, such as Johnny Warren Medal winner Jake Brimmer, have failed to recapture the same form. They have also been hampered by injuries which has forced many changes in defence; first choice keeper Paul Izzo has also faced a spell out of the team through injury and Nani ruptured his ACL in a loss to Brisbane, cutting short a season where the Portuguese star admittedly failed to perform to expectations.
But this drop off in form has undeniably coincided with events off the pitch. A small group of fans from the Melbourne Victory active support invaded the pitch at the Melbourne Derby on 17th December, where a metal bucket was thrown at Melbourne City keeper Tom Glover. Glover had to get stitches and suffered a concussion, and the game was abandoned after 21 minutes. Preceding this, many flares were thrown onto the pitch from both sets of fans, with Glover throwing one flare that landed near him off the pitch, which inadvertently landed near the Victory fans.
It was the darkest moment in the leagues history, and harsh sanctions followed. The Victory will not be allowed active fans for the rest of the season and will also not be allocated away bays when they travel. Entry to home matches is also limited to paying members. The club was also fined $550,000, a substantial penalty given the club had lost $6.7 million in the previous year.
The catalyst for the pitch invasion was the decision of the APL to give hosting rights to the next three grand finals regardless of who qualifies to Sydney in a deal with the NSW Government worth $10 million, and whilst it in no way excuses or legitimises the abhorrent actions of that night, the deal has left many fans feeling disillusioned with the state of the league, with some even beginning to walk away.
All of these reasons will combine to create one of the most muted atmospheres at a Big Blue in recent memory. No active fans, very few away fans and a pervading cloud of apathy that will shroud the contest, which is disappointing because on the pitch at least the match will be an intriguing tussle between two normally successful teams battling to kickstart their seasons.
And it is especially disappointing given how much of a success the first Big Blue of the season was. In what was Sydney’s first match at the new Allianz Stadium, the sides played out a highly entertaining match where the Victory triumphed 3-2. Despite apocalyptic rain in Sydney unfortunately keeping many away, over 21,000 fans – including a sizeable and vocal away bay – created a fantastic atmosphere. If you told any fans there that night that this would be the situation three months later, you would have been laughed out of town. Yet here we are.
They say that a week is a long time in football. For A-League fans, 110 days ago feels like an eternity.
Image Credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
