As would-be A-League franchisees jostle for influence and position as the deadline for a decision on expansion gets closer, one consortium is hopeful that it might be able to rely on ''investment'' from one of Australia's greatest ever racehorses to boost its bid.
If the Team 11 group from Melbourne's south eastern region does end up winning the nod from the FFA board for one of the new A-League licenses, its supporters and backers can, in a roundabout way, thank the champion racehorse Black Caviar.
A-League hopeful Team 11 may well have a champion in Black Caviar.Credit:Pat Scala
One of her part owners is Colin Madden, the managing director of Dandenong-based First Mortgage Lending and Investment.
And he has sunk around $1 million into backing the Team 11 bid, joking ''if it gets up they can thank Black Caviar just a little," referring to his share of the nearly $8 million in stakemoney the superstar sprinter amassed during her five-season career when she won 25 consecutive races and retired unbeaten.
Madden was a lawyer for 30 years in the Dandenong area and has been involved in finance for a decade, and he sees the putative soccer club as a way of building community spirit in the south east of Melbourne.
''We are risking a million dollars in this project. Our whole working life has been based here. Twenty years ago there were 89 different languages spoken in the primary school, that would be double now.
''We have got to find a way of bringing our communities together rather than blowing them apart. I can think of no better way than through football in this community,'' said Madden.
''Through football people see themselves as supporting a team, they will see themselves relating to the team, the town, the country, relating to being an Australian citizen rather than where they have come from. This to me is the best thing I have seen.''
Madden, who jokes that his racetrack involvement these days is spending good money on slow horses, is not expecting to make any money out of the initiative.
''I think this will be a heritage investment. What I have found in life is if you put something in you get something back. If you engage in life and society you get rewards you never anticipate.
''The population here is 1.5 million now, in 30 years when there's eight million in Melbourne there will be 2.5 million out here, and this will be their centre. It's a mixed community and we have got to find a way for it to evolve.
''You could say Black Caviar is certainly supporting it,'' he said with a grin.
Madden is not the only racing identity involved with the Team 11 consortium. Sports investor Gerry Ryan has also signed up, and the latter has owned numerous top racehorses including a share in the 2010 Melbourne Cup winner Americain and the 2017 hero Rekindling.
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