Lowdown of Huddersfield Town defender Dean Heffernan’s new club Melbourne Heart

May 21 2010 by Dougie Thomson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Dean Heffernan

DEAN HEFFERNAN will swap blue and white for red and white stripes when he returns to Australia.

Those are the colours to be worn by his new club Melbourne Heart, who will become the A-League’s 11th club next season.

The Town defender will be playing under former Dutch international John van’t Schip at AAMI Park, also known as the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.

They’ll be sharing with rugby league club Melbourne Storm, and union’s Super 15 side Melbourne Rebels.

The origins of Heart go back to 2008, when it was decided that the city in the South-Eastern state of Victoria could support two top-flight football clubs.

Melbourne Victory have been playing A-League football since 2005, drawing the biggest attendances in the competition.

They have also been among the league’s most successful clubs, losing on penalties in this year’s grand final to Sydney FC.

There were three bids to create a club, with Heart winning through under the leadership of Peter Sidwell, who had previous involvement with Victory.

Sidwell’s planned set-up proved the strongest, with Heart clinching a lucrative three-year sponsorship deal with top Aussie financial institution Westpac.

As well as former Ajax and Genoa player van’t Schip, Heart have appointed John Didulica, brother of former Croatian international Joey Didulica, as their football operations manager.

And former Manchester United and Denmark winger Jesper Olsen and one-time Australian international striker Ante Milicic will be assistant coaches.

Heffernan is part of a strong squad assembled for the new campaign, with ex-Australian international ace Josip Skoko a key arrival.

At 34, the former Wigan and Stoke player will finally turn out for a senior Australian club after a 15-year career in Europe.