Adelaide United’s fans seen during the AFC Champions League semifinals second leg match between Bunyodkor and Adelaide United in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008. AP Photo/Anvar Ilyasov
It’s been a bit of a gloomy start to the new A-League campaign. Crowds have stagnated. Certain pitches are a disgrace. And now the mainstream media has a new show reel of ‘crowd violence’ to dredge up every time football threatens the status quo.
The so-called ‘clashes’ between Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory supporters last Friday night were the usual storm-in-a-teacup stuff.
Footage of police dragging prepubescent teens away from rival supporters kept the cameras rolling outside the ground, whilst the sound of chanting fans apparently had some Adelaide citizens scared witless.
It was all reminiscent of those stupid “World’s Worst” TV shows – grainy stock footage, a shaky camera operator and the lingering sense of disappointment that what you’d just seen wasn’t half as shocking as first promised.
But while genuine A-League fans can sit and snigger at the benign nature of what the mainstream press calls ‘crowd violence,’ the fact is that such imagery strikes at the heart of the A-League – no matter how inane it is.
Yes, we can gnash our teeth at the injustice of it all. 29 fans ejected from an A-League game seems to herald the breakdown of Australian society, but large-scale fan violence at the cricket is a mere example of Aussie larrikinism.
But what we can’t ignore is the fact that morons who lob projectiles and fans who scuffle with police give the A-League a reputation it can ill-afford.
Any regular A-League fan knows that a football game in Australia is a safe and relatively fun place to be. Trouble is, many members of Australian society do not.
It is they who are left tut-tutting at the back page headlines and sensationalist media reports – concerned for the safety of loved ones and friends should they ever run into an A-League fan in a dark alley.
Without an accurate basis of comparison, they often take at face value reports of hooliganism and mistake active, vocal support for the threat of imminent violence.
More importantly, many have young sons and daughters who play the game, or run businesses that might otherwise plough money into football were it not for the spectre – real or imagined – of crowd violence.
In his fascinating account of Italian fan culture “A Season With Verona,” English novelist Tim Parks reveals that many Italian ‘Ultras’ give up their unique version of active support the minute they acquire a love interest.
Forgive the crass generalisation, but it looks like one or two of the cretins who drag the A-League’s name into the gutter could do with a hair wash and a good old-fashioned girlfriend.
And – lest I be accused of such – I’m not some prudish version of a football wowser either.
I’ve stood on the terraces at high-security games in Germany on countless occasions, and once had the unenviable pleasure of being in the Swiss capital Bern the night visiting Feyenoord fans turned the city centre into their own version of “Kristallnacht.”
I’ve just never understood the point of ripping a flare in support of my team. If you want to play with distress signals, why not join the Navy?
The fact of the matter is that the A-League does not have a major problem with fan violence or crowd safety. A few isolated incidents and some scruffy-haired Elijah Wood-wannabes does not a Taylor Report make.
But with the A-League battling gallantly to muscle its way into the consciousness of the wider Australian public, the last thing it needs is a bunch of fringe-dwelling lunatics ruining it for everyone else.
I’m not the first to say it, and I doubt I’ll be the last – but I wish some of the boneheads within our ranks would find a new hobby.
Otherwise we run the risk of the A-League being remembered for everything that it’s not – an unsafe and unfriendly environment in which to watch football.
Corey
Guest
Actually our media is 16th for having media freedom (http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2009,1001.html) amongst the whole world, so it isn't that well known, since it is a fallacy. And the nations with greater freedom aren't too far ahead of us. NZ is one ahead (15th) and that puts it in the standing of blue (either full freedom or almost full freedom), so our Media wouldn't be bagged out by European Universities since the countries in Europe that could do that have smaller populations than ours. It would be better for them to pay out Germany, France, England, Italy, USA etc. Much worse than Australia.
Matt S
Guest
11 X 8 i have to agree with you about the xenophobic media here in Asutralia because the only NRL club they have gone after in terms of crowd voilence happens to be the most enthnically diverse followed club in Australian sport-The Bulldogs
Matt S
Guest
Can RedB explain the following goings on at AFL junior level which makes the Blacktown kids thing look like a kindergarten tiff: http://preston-leader.whereilive.com.au/sport/story/nfl-junior-grand-finals-called-off-after-violence-erupts/ http://www.theage.com.au/national/teenager-charged-over-incident-at-afl-game-20090905-fc4o.html http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/man-found-dead-at-east-geelong-football-club-assault-at-cranbourne-north/story-e6frf7jo-1225772304346 http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/umpire-escort-could-be-charged-over-football-brawl/story-e6frf7kx-1225768985916 Jusrt some examples of voilence at AFL games this year, but not sensationalised like A-league & rugby league incidents. Why? If this is happening at grassroot level then it is happening at the professional level.
11x8
Guest
Oh I'm just a pawn, a spectator of the game I love, a game that's played in every country in the world, a game that offers a gold medal for football @ the Olympics. I can easily dis-regard personal attacks, but constant attacks by a xenophobic Australian media come close to injustice based on political bias and ignorance and are worthy of fighting - no matter how minor they may seem.
Alex
Guest
Probably not but then: 1. You are wrong if you think RL has never attracted attention over crowd behaviour. Remember the bulldogs and issues over inappropriate comments made by crowds in the 80's and 90's. There was also the Gordon Tallis incident. 2. It was in PNG and therefore didn't involve Australians or have the history of the PL or English football in general. 3. It was the PM's XIII which hardly attracts any attention rather than a domestic match. Get the chip of your shoulder and get on with it.
11x8
Guest
On the w/e an Australian team played an " international " in Port Moresby. Some of the fans began a battle with their compatriots - throwing rocks, and after smuggling machetes in tried to use them. The riot was broken up by police firing rubber bullets into the crowd. Now will we hear anything from the media about this brawl @ a Rugby League game? My guess is NO.
Thomas
Guest
The media likes playing up the violence in general! I live in Melbourne and often go out and constantly fail to find these mass violent scenes that the media would have you believe occur on every corner. As a side note there have been at least two flares set of at mvfc games this year and I haven't seen anything about it in the media.
Killer_Tomatoes
Guest
Are you serious Pip? What section of the ground do you sit in at most of these games? The MCC? The Medallion Club? I've been to about 12 AFL games this year, at most of seen at least some violence (at the midseason game between Richmond and Carlton i saw three guys fighting with police outside of Gate 4 of the 'G at half time) and during the last round game between Hawthorn and Essendon I saw skirmishes break out all over the ground, not necessarily between rival fans (I saw two Essendon fans fighting one other Essendon fan, and two Hawthorn fans going at it while security stood on watching), I even saw a fight in the bathroom and two guys so drunk neither could stand and had to be helped by one of those St Johns Ambulance buggies. But even at the few games where I haven't seen actual fights I've seen the threat of violence bubbling beneath the surface between bogans who had had way too much to drink. One of my mates had his nose broken at a Collingwood v Carlton game and then there was the incident with Nathan Jones', the Melbourne footballers, father early in the season. I've seen a few scuffles between security and rival fans at A-League and VPL games over the last year, but never have I seen somebody leave the ground to go straight to the Emergency Room, and i definitely haven't seen the same level or amount of violence at roundball football games. To make this clear, I'm a lover of both sports, I attend all Carlton FC games at the MCG (plus a lot of other games of other teams with friends) and all Victory home games (plus as many away games as I can realistically get to). I have no agenda against AFL by claiming it is violent, but i have certainly seen much, much more violence at AFL games than any football games, and this is even post-Princess/Victoria/Kardinia Park where fights in the outer occurred numerous times in a match. The level of violence at A-League games is blown way out of proportion due to the fear that a large group of people united for one cause (a lot of them ethnic, lets not beat around the bush) is infinitely more dangerous to wider society 'if' they get violent than one or two pissed blokes beating the crap out of each other at Jolimont Station.
Killer_Tomatoes
Guest
the people who are the ones that fight are hardly going to be wearing club colours
Timmo
Guest
just wrote this on the aritcle "Philip of Adelaide its because this rivalry goes beyond sport. This isn't about Adelaide United versus Melbourne Victory its all about SA versus VIC that really fueled this hatred exspecially the "KICK A VIC" campaign in the 90's? Wait next year when there are 2 melbourne teams. Are you gonna hate both teams equally the same or just the victory? The supporter from the Red army said it best on the news that at the end of the day all who attend games regardless of who we support should in essence be mates. Support cheer boo your team but leave opposition fans alone. They are Football/Soccer supporters too who have the same amount of passion as everyone else. That should be commended!
11x8
Guest
I went to the Adelaide vs Gamba Osaka game - nothing. Now you get fans who are prepared to fly to Australia for a 90min game of football, if anyone could be viooent there was white aussies and Japanese - no racism, or does that just happen in NRL Stdney burbs? When the AFL & NRL have their international club games......Oh that's right they're just mobs playing piddly little games that don't inspire passion
Pippinu
Roar Guru
I was old enough to be there (10 years old) - but I wasn't there because I don't follow either team!! I remember Blethyn from the footy cards of the time - hard not to recognise him!!
albatross
Roar Pro
You must be a young Puppini then, I woulda thought you woulda been a big fan of Speccy Blethyn. I was only there 'cos I was keen on the daughter of the secretary of the Essendon social club, not that that got us any seating privileges. Fortunately she gave me the flick and I didn't have to go to any more VFL games.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
I'd say this is about as comprehensive a retort to our terrified scribe Tim Hilferty as you can possibly get. http://www.sbs.com.au/sport/blog/single/113217/Explain-what-family-friendly-means-again-Tim
Rob
Guest
Maybe not, but since we're having a debate about crowd violence, some of these initiatives might actually help prevent the spotty teenagers we're talking about from actually doing this stuff. It would also reward the "Real Fans" who want to go, have fun and support their team in a "family friendly" environment. They sign up, get discounts for having signed up (and discounts on team merchandise), and have the fact that they have signed up recognised by these measures. It's a preventative measure more than anything else, and it rewards the fans for signing up, which can only be good for marketing purposes.
keeper11
Guest
Craig b watches channel 9..says it all... Geez...images of groups of pimply adolescents cheering, jumping and waving fists at the camera... ooooh..Hillsborough breakdown repeated and breakdown of 'decent' Strayan society from the foreign threat .. difference is these negative images for football by agenda driven media appear and then followed up by...nothing. Any positive or even neutral Football stories are ofcourseburied or ignored as per usual.... seen any Young socceroos stories lately on he quest for WC glory..umm no.. in contrast...media may well run for one day the latest atrocity by an NRL thug.. but the following day its media mates will still run one of those feelgood front page league stories featuring footy ..umm 'superstar' Bret Bogan, and his sweet wife..and his footy loving kids holding a footy...
melbvictory87
Guest
if you follow cricket your a homosexual craigb. grow some balls and follow a real sport
melbvictory87
Guest
what the f_ck are you talking about. honestly, if you have never been to a game then why would you bother to comment. ive been to 60 a league matches and you never see any form of violence whatsoever. its so peaceful compared to other sports its unbelievable, but then you come along who has no idea whatsoever and makes some rash judgement with no evidence to abck that up
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Plenty of drunken incidents at the cricket have made the news over the years.
melbvictory87
Guest
mmmmmmmmmmmmm maybe lol its not watche by animals its just more of a passionate sport than league. i love afl but passion is almost non existent, chanting collingwood clap clap clap is hardly passion for your sport. cant comment on this because i love active support and it makes football so much fun