Western Sydney Wanderers have a problem. It is not a football-specific problem, nor is it set to cripple the club overnight, but it is a significant social issue which bears discussing nonetheless.
Fox Sports commentator Simon Hill wrote a terrific article during the week in which he stated that it’s “time to weed these idiots out”.
He was, of course, referring to the incidents before and during Saturday night’s enthralling 1-1 draw between Melbourne Victory and the Wanderers.
The facts as we know them are these; a video taken before the match shows two groups engaged in a violent brawl in which countless projectiles are hurled, whilst during the game flares were lit and noise-bomb detonators were reportedly activated from Western Sydney’s end.
Were it not for the pre-match violence the incidents inside AAMI Park may not have garnered the column inches they did, because the use of flares inside A-League stadia remains depressingly commonplace.
But now that the incidents have shone an unwelcome mainstream media spotlight onto the A-League, it’s incumbent upon the game’s leaders to engage in some frank discussions about how to resolve these issues.
The first phone call David Gallop should make is to the NRL’s former Canterbury Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenberg, to enquire about how he and predecessor Malcolm Noad helped transform the club from an outfit plagued by anti-social behaviour into one of the competition’s best-supported and most family-friendly clubs.
One of most common and laughably inane statements made by football’s detractors is that the sport is ‘so boring it compels fans to riot’.
Such logic crumbles the second one examines some of the incidents of fan violence which bedevilled the Bulldogs – to borrow an example from another code – in the recent past.
What the Wanderers and the Bulldogs have in common is this; both clubs have at one time or another attracted a small minority of individuals who use them as vehicles to conduct anti-social behaviour.
The code itself is irrelevant.
These individuals are not interested in watching sport, they’re interested in fighting and vandalism and other such rituals presumably aimed at solidifying their misguided notions of masculinity.
Much like honest motorcyclists have seen legitimate pursuits co-opted by outlaw ‘bikie gangs’ who wouldn’t know a Harley Davidson if it ran over them in the street, so too is the image of the A-League in danger of being held hostage by ‘fans’ who don’t actually give a damn about the round-ball game.
So what can we do about it?
The mainstream media is liable to do little more than label it ‘soccer violence’ and move on, despite the fact this oversimplifies both complex social triggers and ignores the prevalence of violence elsewhere – typified by a sickening king-hit culture outside pubs across Australia.
But when your average Herald Sun reader sees images of away fans covering their faces with scarves, shouting obscene chants and taunting anyone who comes across their path, it’s perhaps natural for them to conclude that the majority of football fans are thugs.
Football fans are quite palpably not all thugs, but the frustrating reality is that the impact of such a tiny minority resonates so loudly in the face of an overwhelming majority.
It is time for that majority, who come for the sole purpose of watching football, to speak out against the selfish individuals who attend A-League games purely to indulge in behaviour which would make their own mothers weep in despair.
We can shoot the messenger and blame the media all we like, but these issues exist and they won’t go away if we bury our heads in the sand.
Instances of fan violence may have a negligible impact on most facets of the A-League – a point exemplified by the fact the Wanderers are about to be purchased by a consortium of investors.
However, they damage the competition’s credibility across the broader community and have the ability to seriously hinder the sport’s growth going forward.
Whether it’s through better self-policing or hard-hitting life bans or something in between, ignoring the issue of anti-social behaviour at A-League games does our great game a disservice.
Simon Hill is right. It’s time to weed these idiots out.
Aaron
Guest
Simon Hill is a disgrace. He was on Adelaide radio today, he told the interviewers that the reason there are people dying from coward hits (formerly king) is because of sports like Aussie rules and rugby promoting these actions. This was a slap in the face to all those who have been the victims of these attacks and their families. Yes go ahead and preach Simon, while you stomp on the memories of these young victims.
bryan
Guest
Maybe Hawks supporters are more genteel than Dockers supporters! More inventive?----- Singing copies of UK songs,setting off flares like in Europe? Fairly derivative,if you ask me! In the Glory's years in the doldrums,we sang & chanted in the Shed,even though we were getting killed on the field-------derivative & all,it was great fun! We even sang in English accents.. All pretty much in an ironic vein,but then again,we had a lot to be ironic about!. :) I never noticed much activity in the rest of the NIB,but maybe we were making too much noise. Barracking at Dockers games is pretty much distributed evenly across the stadium. If there are. ferals,they are probably mainly in the 3 tier stand. You can pretty much trigger the "Freeeooohhh!! chant by doing it several times at intervals throughout the game.
Kasey
Guest
Like the proverbial mangy dog:(
Kasey
Guest
How quickly AFL fans forget just September last year. Big brawl at Richmond station caught on CCTV and shock horror reported in the Herald Sun. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/football-fans-taken-to-hospital-after-brawl-leaving-richmond-and-carlton-clash/story-fni0fega-1226714839147 Then you have the father of a player being bashed by collingwood fans: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/demon-players-father-bashed-for-telling-abusive-pies-fan-to-calm-down-20120717-228hr.html The obvious Massive difference in coverage between sokkah's 'riot' and footy's brawl being the lack of the NewsLtd organisational organised slam with a mass of opinion pieces from everybody from the law and order reporter to the music guy. Not a 'conspiracy' but a noticeable difference in coverage no? It really grinds my gears to hear AFL fans claim that these sorts of things are unique to Sokkah. Bollocks. ALL sports have idiot fans, the lies some footy fans tell themselves are absurd sometimes.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Ps. there's also a difference between claiming conspiracy and simply pointing out a cultural hegemony in action.
ciudadmarron
Guest
I;m sorry Steele I've missed the bit where the police say that it has the most violence. I have read the bits where they make it clear they are looking at a minority of fans though - did you miss those? I guess you just read the commentary that went along with it. Your summary of clubs being held hostage doesn't really bear scrutiny either. Here's a nice summary for you: http://prestoninstitute.com/2014/01/05/wowmuchethnic/
Steele
Guest
And what do you make of the leading story in the Herald Sun today? Let me guess. It's an AFL loving tabloid on another mission to stamp out the threat of soccer taking over its turf? Just ignore what the police say about the A league having the most violence, because their in on the great conspiracy too! And then there's The Age reporting that the clubs are now being held hostage by their own fans poor behaviour. Are they in on the conspiracy too? Or is that bias reporting and therefore not credible?
Avon River
Guest
Letting off the flares is dangerous and illegal. If you want smoke then copy the BBL Renegades at Etihad with stunt motor bikes and fireworks and gas flames etc. That plus music snd flashing bails/stumps adds multi sensory 'colour' without the menace.
Australian Rules
Guest
Fuss..? THE most aggressive and divisive bully on the Roar, who dished out more personal insults than any other poster...couldn't take some blowback? *sniff* MidF is a good contributor most of the time...but strays into "AFL is to blame for everything" territory, occasionally.
c
Guest
ciudadmarron valid point anything inappropriate that they do is seen in a positive light eg "footy banter" anything inappropriate that we do is seen in a negative light eg "soccer hooliganism" and this comment may be applied across a range of topics for each sport
ciudadmarron
Guest
Forgot about this http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/football-banter-led-to-broken-noses-at-richmond-station-police-say-20130909-2tfq3.html 2 men bashed unconscious after a fight involving opposing sets of AFL fans. Police response? "It is believed it might have been over just over a bit of footy banter after the game," Related opinion articles in press? Zero.
Beat My Whippet, Usain Bolt!
Guest
Been to just as many AFL games (Hawks) as I have A-League games (MV). And I've sat with opposition supporters at both -- no wuckers. The supporters at A-League games are definitely way more inventive with their active support, whereas AFL fans too often painfully resort to "Carn the [insert generic AFL mascot here]" as their rallying cry -- as I am able to attest. But, and as we have seen in recent days, Uber Leidenschaft is great when harnessed but has awful consequences if it gets out of control. Australians probably have got it right after all: be laconic and don't show too much emotion; these being traditional, national traits of the white anglo population -- as per LDU's comments. The mob behaviour you get at futbol/soccer matches appears to be creeping into the AFL: primarily amongst Collingwood supporters: at the mo it is benign stuff like mass chanting and bearing the scarf above the head (as opposed to swinging it about Sheedyesque). If this trend continues it's only a matter of time before it's apotheosis is reached: crowd brawling. And, yes, I have unfortunately heard plenty of polite clapping -- at AFL matches but more so at d cricket.
ciudadmarron
Guest
1. He is an academic 2. This particular website is a collection of articles without comment. They are written by other sources. They mostly condemn the violence. But interestingly they are mostly not from the mainstream press, even though they tell of a litany of violence around various codes of football.
ciudadmarron
Guest
BTW, there have been flares at Rugby League matches on and off for several years at St George and Rabbitohs games. No moral panic. Of course, they aren't violent... unless they occur at football matches.
ciudadmarron
Guest
The relevance it has is that you have on a single weekend 3-400 aussie rules fans engaged in violent behaviour, and it goes unreported. Why does it matter at what level it happens? What is the matter with a-league related violence? Is it that it is violent? Or is it that it is a-league related? Or is it that it is football related? What is actually the issue here? I would hope that most people could see that the real issue is that there is simply the violence. And yet, when similar violent acts are perpetrated in different contexts - outside the top leagues - it's irrelevant and doesn't matter and not interesting. Surely you can see that this is a problem with the way our society/the media values things? I have not at any point stated that the AFL is the same as the A-League because brawls break out in the AFL. I raised the Waverley thing because it demonstrates how the hegemony the actual acts of mass crowd violence/trouble - not just in the 90s, but more recently when the footyrati reminisced over great moments in the game. What I have said is that violence or bad behaviour is treated differently.
Punter
Guest
Likewise AR PTB!!!! Not the player like you did with Fuss & starting to do with Midfielder
Ben
Guest
This article is all about the A League correct? Then what relevance does a suburban Aussie rules game have? If your going to try and draw comparisons, come up with something related to a recent AFL/NRL game that is similar to the recent A League troubles. As I've mentioned already, this would be a much bigger story if Collingwood and essondon fans rioted in the city on game day. The same would apply if flares were let off at the MCG. The A league gets off lightly IMO. You draw a long bow.
Chocco
Roar Rookie
Exactly right, that website is a real piece of work !. The guy claims he is a academic. All a bit sad really.
ciudadmarron
Guest
I'm sorry Ben, no relevance? the events involved hundreds of opposing fans, within the last 6 months, there were injuries, damage done., Police unable to control the situation... Irregardless of this, the point is there was no moral panic in major newspapers. The story of hundreds of fans rioting wasn't taken up. Perhaps it will be remembered in 20 years in glowing terms? I don't see why violence at lower league level is different or doesn't need to go under examination. 200 people! It must have been close to the whole crowd. Ah, that's just blokes having a bit of fun. Ah, it's only a lower league! That doesn't count! It takes no effort to persist, just a few minutes searching on google. I don't know why it's relevant, as I haven't called you out on anything, but I'm a sports fan as well. Big I'm happy to be a dog with a bone on this because football and its problems - of which I agree there are quite a few - are treated differently by the mainstream media. Public perceptions continue to be informed by this.
Ben
Guest
Once again you are digging too deep to make your point. Still not relevant. Your talking about suburban footy brawls and previously had to go back to the 80's when the AFL was non existent. My point only related to the current A League problems and the other big codes. You don't get the same street violence in the other big codes. The brawl you showed was terrible, yet had no links to an AFL match. I'm perplexed at the lengths you go to, to try and find a valid point supporting your argument. As I said, I have no agenda at all, I like all sports generally. It's just obvious to the neutrals that the A League has a unique set of challenges.