Brisbane local turned American resident Dennis Mellican is proof that geographical boundaries mean little when it comes to supporting your football club.
Brisbane local turned American resident Dennis Mellican is proof that geographical boundaries mean little when it comes to supporting your football club.
A proud Brisbane Roar fan, Mellican had to relinquish his club membership before the start of the last season after he was relocated to San Jose, California for work.
But that hasn-t stopped him from cheering from afar with Mellican making it his mission to spread the word about his beloved club and the Hyundai A-League in his new city.
“For this year-s Grand Final, we were at a packed Irish pub in downtown San Jose and I asked the bartender if he could switch channels, which he obliged,” Mellican said.
“My friend Nicole and I both had Roar jerseys on which attracted much interest from the pub patrons – they wanted to know what league it was and who we were barracking for.
“Soon we had the whole pub cheering for the team.”
Amongst the many people at the Irish pub that night was Eric Hannien, a staff member from Mellican-s local team, San Jose Earthquakes – the club he has adopted as his own in the Major League Soccer competition.
At the next home game, wearing his orange jersey amongst the black and blue-clad San Jose faithful, Mellican presented Hannien with a Brisbane Roar cap to help spread the word about the Australian champions.
Although admitting he misses his hometown club, Mellican is proud to note the uncanny similarities between his Hyundai A-League and MLS team.
“They have adopted the nickname the Cardiac Quakes due to their winning goals in the final minutes of extra time,” he explained.
“This reminds me of the heart-stopping action the Roar seem to be able to pull off time after time – like last year-s Grand Final which was the last Roar game I went to.”
But when it comes down to it, Mellican-s loyalty to the Brisbane club cannot be questioned.
“I would love to see a friendly match between the Roar and the Quakes, on and off the field,” he said.
“Which style of football would win and whose supporters are the most passionate?
“My allegiance still remains with the Roar.”
It-s hard not to admire what Mellican does to keep involved – he-s up late at night watching on cable, he wears his Roar jersey as much as possible and is a regular on the Brisbane Roar website and social media sites.
“It might be stupid o’clock in our time zone, but it’s a small price to pay for live coverage of our favourite football team in the world!” he said.
“I-ve even had requests from work colleagues for Brisbane Roar merchandise.
“The jerseys were a hit with one new owner commenting it-s of better quality than his beloved Chelsea kit.
“This has started a chain reaction with others hitting the Roar website to check out other gear.”
But perhaps what is most impressive is what his wife and friends did earlier in the year when Jenesse travelled back to Brisbane for business without him.
“Sarah and Paul made a cardboard cut-out of me so Jenesse could take me along to the game and the post-game festivities along Caxton Street,” Mellican said.
“I soon saw photos of the cardboard cut-out Dennis on the Internet doing some crazy stunts with the crew!”
Mellican will soon be the proud owner of the newly-renamed Brisbane Roar Global Membership, which allows him all the privileges of a regular season member and a ticket to one Brisbane Roar home game.
“With the Global Membership package, I can now honour my commitments to the club and still support them from afar,” he said.
Global Memberships are just $60 and will be on sale alongside all Brisbane Roar membership packages from June 12. For more information, please click here.
