au.fourfourtwo.com caught up with Heart CEO Scott Munn to gauge the progress of the new club which is set to launch next season in an 11 team A-League as a rival to Victory in Melbourne.

What's the argument for having a second team in Melbourne, particularly given how strong Victory has become both on and off the pitch...

There's no question of the benefit of having football played in Melbourne every week. It will grow the game and the presence. When Victory is playing away, they might get half a page in the newspaper and the equivalent on the radio and TV.

Second, research shows there is a whole lot of fans across Victoria that don't go to Victory games. So that's important as well. Being able to have a choice - and also I've been to Manchester many times and to see the rivalry in that city with United and City is just incredible. Choice is a good thing.

Who are you targeting in Melbourne?

The entire Victoria region. And we believe there are a number of fans who aren't necessarily consuming Victory and they're spread across the whole of Victoria from Warnambool to Melbourne's CBD and we'll be spreading far and wide to attract those people.

The board have done an incredible amount of work in securing the licence will help us grow the club. We're really looking forward to the challenge but confident the work's been done to make it successful. What we're about is to engage and grow the pie of football.

It's not about being divisive or taking fans away from other clubs. It's about growing the whole game, and we know there are fans in Melbourne who aren't necessarily Victory fans. So we certainly want to target those fans.

We think the majority will come from non Victory fans. Having said that, I think there'll be fans who just want to go to the football every week.

What will your sell be to a potential member?

You'll see an exciting brand of football and also a high level of entertainment and value for money. Patrick Prendergast, one of our board members, runs Andrew McManus Presents, one of the largest entertainment companies in Australia who've brought out acts such as Bon Jovi and Fleetwood Mac. So I certainly think he can help us and we'll have a high level of focus on the entertainment factor. So it's just not turning up to see a team.

We're really keen on a family experience at the games too. At the new rectangular stadium there is an interactive area, a children's zone, which you can take the kids to before the game then go and see the action on the pitch.

Those things don't come cheap though?

They don't but we're very aware and conscious of our financial model. A lot work has gone into it from independent sources and our people.

What's been the biggest challenge so far?

We've set some pretty high standards in terms of the coach and delivering on those standards has been at times tough. Just to explain and work through the A-League and Australia. Many of these guys haven't even been to Australia and don't understand the sheer distance...

Will the coach be foreign or local?

We've said all along is that our preference is to sign an international coach but we won't look to secure a second or third tier international coach if we believe there is a better Australian coach. At the moment the focus is very much on some very well credentialed international coaches but if that didn't work out we may well look out for some local coaches. I believe there are some outstanding choices locally. 

Such as?

There are a number put forward but it's inappropriate to put those name out there just there now.

Name and colours. How's that coming along?

We started a competition on Saturday in conjunction with the Herald Sun and MMM and some online registrations to put forward the name. It'll be decided by the public running for about a week, then we'll shortlist it down to four names which we can register and use then we'll get the public to vote on the Herald Sun website.

The name is incredibly important. It will help us build a presence in the market place. Melbourne Heart was just a working title for the bid. And we're doing a lot of brand work. In two weeks time we'll have a brand day where members of the public and mums and dads of footballers really help us build the club's values and what the brand stands for. That will help formulate what the club stands for and the name.

Do you favour a traditional name or the more American style moniker that have sadly found favour in the A-League?

Personally I like historical names. It represents what football's all about. Let's not kid ourselves - this is the biggest game in the world, so why try and "Americanise" it? I don't buy into that but the public will have its say and ultimately they will make the decision, not me. I've been looking at some blogs and some have suggested we've already decided a name but I can assure you it's never been discussed at a board level. It's a process so far of engagement and getting the feedback.

This Melbourne derby sounds like it could take A-League derbies to a new level of intensity?

It'll be pretty special. I was lucky enough to meet Geoff Lord this year and he's incredibly articulate and passionate about the Victory. So from their perspective they'll be looking forward to it and for our guys too. Peter Sidwell is incredibly passionate and I think there'll be a lot of people looking forward to it.

Speaking of Lordy, what did you make of his comments about your club getting out of town and targeting fans in the Casey region of Melbourne?

I can't comment other than our position is that we'll look to grow the game as a whole. And we've had some great discussions with the people in Casey. I had a meeting there a couple of weeks ago and it's a great growth area and I'd love to be out there. But we're not going to disenfranchise other areas. For instance I'm meeting people from the Essendon City Council next week. So we'll be looking to target the whole of Victoria and the country areas.

The club's base of operations and training grounds. Any news there?

We're working through that at the moment. It hasn't been decided. We have a little time. The players don't start till March and we have some options. Our preference is to have them housed together. We'll have that finalised along with the stadium around Christmas.

What are the timelines for the remainder of the year?

After John Didulica [football operations] the next big appointment is the coach. I'm confident we'll have a coach by the end of this month. Our key goals are to have a name, logo and brand values completed by Christmas. We will have a coach and obviously we're in a trade window right now and we've written to those clubs who we want to speak to their players last week. [By Christmas] also we'd want to have the stadium and training deals.

And yourself, can you tell us a little more about Scott Munn?

I've worked with the AFL helping set up the new AFL franchise on the Gold Coast. I started there a couple of years now, getting the franchise set up, finding staff, putting in place the support team and coaching team.