There was plenty of interest yesterday in the article Time for A-League supporters to take responsibility.
It seems that there is a great divide between sporting fans here on The Roar.
Much of the speculation centred on whether or not there was a worrying level of anti-social behaviour surrounding football in Australia.
Truth be told there is, but before you start tapping away on your keyboards coming up with any number of indignated responses, please consider my next statement. Anti-social behaviour is a blight on the entire Australian sporting landscape – not just football.
We can discuss the merits behind the belief that anti-social behaviour is sensationalised in the media until the end of time, although it probably is sensationalised.
However, the current behaviour of the media is beside the point. Sporting culture in Australia is not able to discourage behaviour that is not to our societal expectations.
I believe that there is a fantastic opportunity for the FFA and A-League to become a sporting model in Australia. With the A-League being the newest of the major sporting competitions in Australia I believe they have the opportunity to nip any issues that are present off the field in the bud.
I recall a Simpsons episode in which Lisa tells Homer that the Chinese have a word that means both crisis and opportunity. Crisitunity.
The is an opportunity for footballing bodies in Australia to unite and build a new standard for sports in Australia.
If the FFA appears to be doing something against perceived problems in football then they are being more proactive than most sports in Australia.
In all reality the media is going to sensationalise a lot of the material that is reported. It is all part of the need to remain relevant when many people are turning away from traditional forms of reporting.
The A-League is seemingly being targeted. It is the easiest to point the finger at, being relatively new compared to the other established football leagues, and with football having had its issues in the past, most of these overseas.
The fact that the general public is naive to the real social issues behind football hooliganism and riots in around the world is convenient for a media that is trying to create hysteria about anything and everything.
I believe that with some strong PR responses from the FFA, football can gain from the ill-informed reporting surrounding the A-League.
But heck, if you are trying to become a united front against crime and hooliganism don’t use the word crime in your catch cry.
Passion is not a crime – but short sighted and poorly thought out movements should be.
No matter how many times I hear that catch cry I can’t help but link it to some sort of movement that encourages the odd fan who takes his passion a little far.
Hopefully the crisitunity at hand can be taken by the FFA and turned into something fresh and innovative.
One Passion, one Game.
Adam
Guest
I really doubt that a boycott would work. Positive action towards the image of football is needed. There is already a fantastic product with truly global reach, it just needs to be managed intelligently.
langou
Roar Guru
Agree Matt F
Matt F
Roar Guru
Comments like this one are the problem. Instead of going "OK we have a problem. It's not a major one and probably blown up by the media a bit, but it's still something we should work on," the reaction is "Other sports do it as well so leave us alone. We're perfect, now I'm going to sick my head back in this wonderful sand" What happens with other sports is irrelevant and references to it are nothing more then desperate attempts to deflect the issue. I like how you're somehow trying to use a media story about crowd troubles in the NRL as evidence that the media doesn't cover crowd troubles in the NRL......There's a pretty obvious contradiction there
Paul Walker
Guest
This is the absolute truth
Football Nation
Guest
Here is the violence of a rugby league crowd a couple of years back (several brawls ,pregnant wowan punched in stomach) http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/classmate/rugby-league-fan-violence-embarrasses-the-nrl/story-e6frewti-1225697156086 This article says they have footage, but we didn't see it on the news...Let alone the disgraceful way Channel 7 is Preminger it in it'd promos ,,,, Fact : Channel 7 has billons invested in AFL & wants to stop Wanders Fact:. League &channel 9 Fact : Murdoch big money in league We should make an example of seven ans start a boycott of there biggest advetisers
Football Nation
Guest
Here is the violence of a rugby league crowd a couple of years back (several brawls ,pregnant wowan punched in stomach) http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/classmate/rugby-league-fan-violence-embarrasses-the-nrl/story-e6frewti-1225697156086 This article says they have footage, but we didn't see it on the news...Let alone the disgraceful way Channel 7 is Preminger it in it'd promos ,,,, Fact : Channel 7 has billons invested in AFL & wants to stop Wanders Fact:. League &channel 9 Fact : Murdoch big money in league We should make an example of seven ans start a boycott of there biggest advetisers
brisvegas
Guest
Crisis? What crisis? Moral panic more like it.
Kasey
Guest
The other thing is that in the old days, you could 'just take it down a side street' and the idiots could do themselves damage and be done with it. Now that everybody with a mobile phone is a walking TV studio, any idiots acting as such will be exposed and I would hope named & shamed. As demonstrated since 2005, there is a real chance for football to take a great leap forward in this country but it is going to be hard to move the image of the game forward if we have to carry with us the baggage the sport has thanks to the overseas idiots(eg: The English disease:() as well as any idiots we have here:(
Brick Tamlin of the Pants Party
Guest
Fair and balanced article Adam,i wish you worked at some of the major media outlets in this country.
mwm
Guest
Another article that will definitely stir the pot!! I do however agree with your points. I don't like the ' passion is not a crime' slogan- it's negative and reactionary ( in that someone must think ' their' type of support is criminal ). Singing witty chants and banging drums are not criminal... Lighting flares, destroying chairs, punching people are criminal.
Fussball's AFL tracking spreadsheet
Guest
I've been considering these allegations of hooliganism in Australian soccer, an idea I've always felt rather quaint having lived for a few years in a town in the UK whose team played Millwall on occasions (now that's hooliganism!) and realised there's a dimension we are ignoring. Consider two sporting events, each attended by 20000 fans. At the first event, 20 random individuals act like anti social morons. At the second, 20 individuals form a group and act like an anti social mob. Morally one could rightly argue that crowd behaviour at both events was just as bad, or good depending upon your perspective. But there's little doubt that in terms of actual perception, particularly to any tv cameras present, or in the minds of law enforcement, the mob of 20 is more impressive / threatening / newsworthy than 20 individual yobbos. I believe this in part explains why behavioural problems at soccer matches receive much greater attention than they deserve. Soccer crowds are by nature more collectivist in their behaviour than Australian Football and Rugby League crowds. This is definitely not a criticism by the way, mass singing is one aspect of the British game that I have always envied. But it does also mean that misbehaviour at soccer matches is also more likely to be collective rather than individual, with all of the perception problems this entails.