It's called Heading for Victory (www.headingforvictory.com.au). Developers Blue Pebble tell au.fourfourtwo.com they wanted to steer clear of the usual penalty shootout and ball juggling concepts.

"We felt they'd been done too many times and wanted to give Victory fans something fresh and exciting to play.

"With Ernie Merrick being involved early in the development by providing audio responses to how the player is going we were confident that fans would want to play the game over and over in order to hear all of the coach's, sometimes cutting, remarks," says lead developer Danny Bishop.

The game was built entirely in Adobe Flash, a program the company has also used for games on behalf of Cricket Australia and the Essendon AFL club. It took three weeks of work day and night to finish headingforvictory.com.au.

"As Victory fans we were happy that Melbourne were the ones who approached us to develop the game just for them," adds Bishop.

"Our entire office is sports nuts - and that includes soccer. It's been a slow start to the season for the boys but I've no doubt they will get things going to defend the title," says Blue Pebble MD Bradley Paton.

Victory told au.fourfourtwo.com the online game is just another way of promoting and interacting with members as well as drawing potential new fans to the club.

"The online game is fun and entertaining and also allows us to continue to build the profile of some of our key players and our coach through a new medium," said Damien Souness, the club's media manager.

Log on and there are a range of prizes on offer including a signed Melbourne Victory shirt, new Victory scarf and tickets to the club's big match against Sydney FC at Etihad Stadium on Friday, October 9.

More information about Blue Pebble Design can be found at www.bluepebble.com.au.