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The Roar

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True power in football belongs to the fans

1st September, 2014
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1999 was a good year to be a fan of Australian sport. (Photo: Paul Barkley/LookPro)
Expert
1st September, 2014
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The half-time whistle sounds and your team just put in one of the worst shifts you’ve seen. You look down at the stadium food you spent half a days’ wage on, the seat you paid for, the jersey you might be feeling a bit less proud in.

You’re faced with a dilemma. You’ll likely have two types of people around you. There is the one that applauds and rallies their team to salvage something from the next 45 minutes. Then you’ve got the one flailing their arms, flashing their membership and unleashing a cringe worthy jeer in the players’ direction. And the ref, it’s always the ref’s fault.

More often than not, the latter personality is outnumbered. There is an eerie sense in Australian football that possessing a membership isn’t a free pass to criticise. But the fan that questions and challenges decisions is undoubtedly doing more for their club than the fan that trots along quietly.

The power of the fan is well underrated, yet we’ve seen precedents laid right across the country. Jets fans’ vocal disapproval of Nathan Tinkler’s tumultuous ownership, Melbourne Victory’s North Terrace standing firm against over-cooked governance and Mariners fans disputing the regular off-field uncertainty that remains a polar opposite to the on-field success.

Every couple of months, a small number of fans take to their respective club forums, if they’re lucky enough to have that luxury, and voice their concerns. Granted, some opinions are misguided and unrealistic in the business world that football is at its core. But clubs need a friendly reminder that the board isn’t always right, the fans deserve their say. Because, more often than not, fans have an opinion worth listening to.

The key is making the transition from customer to business partner. Buying a membership makes you an investor, a part of the club. It gives you a right to have a say. Whether or not the club listens is another matter, but the game needs more fans to stand up and be counted.

English football is a great proponent of that method. From Manchester United fans’ disapproval of Malcolm Glazer’s takeover, a contributing factor to the formation of breakaway club FC United of Manchester, to the fan-owned Portsmouth Football Club.

FC United was partly formed for the purpose of Red Devils fans refused to accept ownership that appeared to have the club’s interests far down the pecking order. And Pompey was single-handedly rescued by a majority buyout by fans who put their minds where their hearts were.

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Clubs across the UK feel compelled to listen to their fans, the reverse of Australian football.

The takeover of Melbourne City is one that has proved divisive with the heart of its fans. While many have accepted the move, coerced by the tantalising fruits of a decent Spaniard and a former Chelsea striker, others refused to accept the face lift.

And they have every right to. A game that has become subservient to bank cheques – something we’re reluctantly forced to accept as the days go by – took away the foundations of Melbourne Heart.

To some, it’s just a change of name and a wardrobe overhaul, but to others it symbolises something greater. They’re not weak for walking away from the club, they’re stronger for having an opinion.

Any sort of investment in a club provides the right to have standards. And that’s just what football needs – more drivers and fewer passengers.

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