Geoff Lord - You are a t**ser!

Geoff Lord - You are a t**ser!

Base 'Heartless' in outer suburbs: Victory chief

MELBOURNE Victory chairman Geoff Lord has urged the State Government to force the second Melbourne soccer franchise - which he dubbed Melbourne Heartless - to set its headquarters up more than 30 kilometres from the city centre so as not to cannibalise Victory's supporter base and grow the game in fresh markets.

The outspoken Victory chairman, who has been a consistent opponent of the second club's entry, also took aim at the game's governing body over the timing of the start of the league, its format and the way the sport is run by Football Federation Australia.

Lord believes the A-League should start in October, after the AFL and NRL finals, and when it ultimately expands to 12 clubs should have no more than 22 home-and-away games.

He advocates a mid-season break over the Christmas-January holiday period when an FA Cup-style knockout competition could take place, with the league and finals resuming after that to conclude at the end of March.

Lord, who yesterday launched Unite, a Victory initiative to celebrate multiculturalism ahead of its blockbuster home game against Sydney next Friday, also argued the FFA should give clubs more control in its decision making and policy setting and follow the AFL model to establish a commission to run the league.

He said Melbourne Heart's training base should be in Cranbourne, or somewhere else in the south-eastern suburbs.

There have been reports that Heart, who's chairman, Peter Sidwell is Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse's manager, could utilise its ties with the Magpies to gain some use of Collingwood's facilities when the Victorian Institute of Sport moves to Bob Jane Stadium in Albert Park.

''It's all about community involvement and taking the game to the people,'' said Lord.

''One of the things I would have changed with the so-called Melbourne Heartless is that it should have been located around Cranbourne or out in the outer suburbs where there is a need to take the game to the people.

''Sydney are doing it by taking the second team to west Sydney. I think the Government can still play a role in trying to build a support base for the new club in the outer south-east suburbs where there is a paucity of entertainment and top-level sport.''

Lord made the comments as he shared a platform with Acting Premier Rob Hulls, who was quick to distance himself from the comments, saying: ''I am not going to make policy decisions on the run.''

Lord warmed to his theme when quizzed about disappointing crowds this season, suggesting less could be more.

''In Victory's view it would be better to limit the season to a number of games and then mid-season play an FA Cup-style competition which might even include the two state league finalists from each state,'' he said.

''You could run a knockout cup and you may be able to sell that to different media outlets, for example free-to-air television � it would be quite a fun thing to do.''

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