I have been a Brisbane Roar fan since day one and a football fan long before that. But I am sure that the following is typical for many fans and clubs in the country.
I live outside Brisbane, and usually bring my family to five or six games each season, and every final at Suncorp Stadium.
We spent well in excess of $1200 this past season to attend those games, not including fuel for the four-hour 250-kilometre round trip
I have never found a membership package that really suited my needs or finances, so have never bought one.
My daughter has started to indicate that she might like to stand in the Den, and I have also chosen to stand with them a couple of times when I have been unaccompanied at matches.
Now though, our option to stand and sing with the Den is to be denied unless we purchase memberships, which is not something I plan to do anytime soon.
Why are we to be denied this right?
Apparently it is because of the actions of less than one per cent of overall A-League attendees, in a few stadiums more than 1000 kilometres from Suncorp. They have, on occasion, caused trouble. In fact, the worst trouble they have caused was not even inside a stadium.
I am not aware of any significant trouble at any Roar home match.
While my family and I may not stand with the Den, we love them, what they bring to the game and are proud of the gains they have made in the past several seasons. They are part of the Roar, and we want them to continue to grow and improve.
Active supporter growth across the entire league has come only via a lot of dedication and hard work by a number of people, and dare I suggest a number greater than that of the troublemakers.
Now though, that hard work is being undermined by the blanket restrictions being put in place by the FFA.
By making these restrictions league wide, it reflects not just on the handful of troublemakers present at a couple of grounds, or even just the active supporter sections, but on every A-League supporter.
I am all for the FFA doing whatever it can to stamp out the unwanted minority causing problems, but where is the recognition for the vast majority of well behaved fans who want to do nothing more than voice their support for the teams that they love?
I am sick of the FFA publicly apologising by deed for the actions of a few, and belittling every other regular football fan in the process.
Instead, I want to see the FFA grow a pair, and stand up for all the other football fans in this country and show they are proud of the fans and they way they choose to support their teams.
I want to see them demonstrate that by actively helping our emerging supporter groups and not placing unnecessary and counter-productive restrictions on fan groups.
At the very least, I want them to stop imposing sanctions against every fan and potential future fan of the game for events that have nothing to do with them.
How can we even grow support for the sport in this country when our very own governing body is feeding in to the public perception that all football crowds are violent, unruly mobs that need to be controlled?
Kyle Stewart
Roar Pro
Have you muts read about the GUEST PASSES, until more details come about I will not pass my judgement, i only hope that firstly the clubs are allowed to allocate the amount of active seats and secondly are allowed to choose how they work the guest pass system
Jon
Guest
Hey buddy, you sound like a cantankerous old man. I'm not talking to you anymore after this. You're style of discussion is ridiculous. You go on these completely unrelated rants that have nothing to do with the issues at hand. You're seriously sitting here railing about how children aren't raised properly these days, and how you know better. You may as well start grumbling about how you had to walk ten miles through snow to get to the football when you were a kid, and how us spoilt brats don't know how good we got it. Seems like a lot of other people on this site have you tagged too, based on the posts of other people.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
I see nothing wrong with that reply from the FFA. It addressed your issues and treated you with respect. I hope you also treated the FFA with respect in your letter & avoided the ill-mannered abuse & swearing directed at Damien DeBohun that I've been witnessing on social media? Whilst the football landscape in Australia has never been better, the only negative has been the constant whinging from certain sections of AUS football fans. If things are not exactly the way they want, they stamp their feet & pout. I blame their parents for creating spoilt brats, who have been raised to think the world must do whatever they demand. Some of you better get used to people telling you: "we will operate our business the way we think is best; not the way you think is best", or you're in for a very unhappy adult life.
DinoWeb
Guest
Just some points about some of the replies and the real point of my article. A good match day atmosphere helps to encourage new fans to regularly attend games. Active support is a big part of the A-League match day atmosphere. Damien de Bohun on the official FFA is happy to claim that it is “unique in Australian sport”. Some new fans will want to become part of active support. Putting any restrictions on attendance in active support will turn away some potential new fans. All the above though is immaterial to the biggest issue. By the FFA putting a blanket restriction of any type on crowd activity, regardless of the reason for it, how it is implemented, or how it is enforced by various clubs, they reinforce the general public perception that football crowds are dangerous and need controlling. By de Bohun stating “this development ... will continue to create a safe and family friendly environment”, it implies that this is not already the case. In my experience, and I am sure this is the same at every other founding club, Roar has existed for 9 seasons without any serious crowd trouble either in or out of active support areas and already has a safe, family friendly environment. We don’t need to do anything to create one. My issue is not about where I chose to sit or stand, or how I chose to support my club, but about the FFA failing to acknowledge that the vast majority of fans at every club already enjoy a safe and friendly environment that does not need any pointless restriction on how they chose to enjoy their match day experience.
RBBAnonymous
Guest
You have to love the personal touch. LOL FFA.
Jon
Guest
They don't give a stuff. They don't respect us, they see us as a problem to be controlled.
Jon
Guest
It's a copy of the same email she sent me. This is what i got : Thanks for the email. To address some of your concerns, please let us clarify that it is definitely not in the interests of FFA to restrict or diminish the number of fans in the active supporter areas at Hyundai A-League matches. On the contrary, FFA wants to see the number of active supporters grow at each of the clubs. As mentioned in the media release yesterday (http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/article/ffas-new-measures-for-active-support-areas/zsvcy29hykuk1iy25f48bchdo), FFA will be working with the individual Hyundai A-League clubs to find custom solutions for their unique markets to grow the number of fans in active supporter areas. Contrary to some views, FFA is not forcing fans to buy full season tickets and there will be other pre-pay ticketing solutions in the active supporter areas that will allow fans to attend a smaller number of matches through-out the season. These solutions will be designed to allow fans to pre-purchase tickets (if available) into the active supporter areas and join season ticket-holder members at home matches. The specific ticketing details will be communicated by each Hyundai A-League club as the specifics will be venue and ticket availability dependant. I hope this email goes some way to allay your concerns in regard to the new measures that will be implemented for the upcoming Hyundai A-League Season. If you have any further specific questions, please do not hesitate to reply to this email.
SN2204
Guest
Fuss let me tell you something about standing in the cove. The angle of the stand in the cove is so shite that a majority of people who go to the cove don't get a good view of the game.They go there for the shenanigans and atmosphere.If you deny the casuals entry,they won't move to the sides to watch the game as it was never their reason for turning up !
RBBAnonymous
Guest
I sent an email in regards to the cracking article Simon Hill wrote about the active support in the world cup and the measures the FFA has put in place. I asked them to forward the email to Damian De Bohun so he could read it. Not sure if he has or not but this is a response I received from one of the FFA membership consultants. Simon Hill article for your reference: http://www.news.com.au/sport/football/aleague-could-take-a-lesson-from-world-cup-fandom-before-implementing-active-zones-plan/story-fnkjl6g2-1226957017790 Hi XXXX (real name not given) Thanks for the email. This email has been forwarded to me as it sits under my area of expertise. To address some of your concerns, please let us clarify that it is definitely not in the interests of FFA to restrict or diminish the number of fans in the active supporter areas at Hyundai A-League matches. On the contrary, FFA wants to see the number of active supporters grow at each of the clubs. As mentioned in the media release (http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/article/ffas-new-measures-for-active-support-areas/zsvcy29hykuk1iy25f48bchdo), FFA will be working with the individual Hyundai A-League clubs to find custom solutions for their unique markets to grow the number of fans in active supporter areas. Contrary to some views, FFA is not forcing fans to buy full season tickets and there will be other pre-pay ticketing solutions in the active supporter areas that will allow fans to attend a smaller number of matches through-out the season. These solutions will be designed to allow fans to pre-purchase tickets (if available) into the active supporter areas and join season ticket-holder members at home matches. The specific ticketing details will be communicated by each Hyundai A-League club as the specifics will be venue and ticket availability dependant. I hope this email goes some way to allay your concerns in regard to the new measures that will be implemented for the upcoming Hyundai A-League Season. If you have any further specific questions, please do not hesitate to reply to this email.
RBBAnonymous
Guest
Last year after the ACL match if you weren't an RBB member you couldn't buy an Active away ticket, you had to buy in an adjacent bay next to the active supporters. For me it wasn't an issue but for others it was a hassle.
The Den
Guest
We were informed about a week ago it was coming and started making our support base aware of it - At the time we didn't know specifics, but knew it was aimed at restricting access and data mining personal information from supporters. Naively we thought our good behavior would see us exempt from this kind of rubbish. How wrong we were. It's a great message for the FFA to give.. Your behavior doesn't matter, you'll just cop a league wide punishment regardless.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Yeah West Sydney Football started discussing it a few days before the announcement, particularly because of WSW's involvement in the decision. Lets see what happens.
Jon
Guest
Not sure what you what you mean by active support. For the purposes of this discussion, active support means being a part of one of the active supporter groups, in your case the Den, and would involve singing in unison, chanting in unison, displaying banners, flags and tifos. I am not denigrating your support, but if by active support, you mean that you enthusiastically cheer on your team, that that is not what anyone here is talking about, and isn't relevant to the discussion. And if you buy tickets on the day, you won't ever be allowed to sit in the Den anymore (if you do now). If you don't sit in the Den and engage in active support (again see above for what that is referencing), then this discussion is irrelevant to your activities on game day. The only difference you'll notice is the Den atrophying and dying away as the FFA crushes the life out of it. That may not matter to you, I don't know.
The Den
Guest
Word on the street is that the FFA didn't intend to make an announcement on this for another month or so, but supporter groups caught wind of it and started kicking up a fuss - which led to media asking questions. The FFA's hand was forced and they had to release the info early. True to their usual reactive and dysfunctional ways.
tezza
Guest
yeah Ian you are correct, We buy the tickets on the day.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Alot of people including me, have criticised the timing of this announcement. But at least they've done it several months before the league starts. This way the discourse the FFA have purported to have done, can actually take place now.
tezza
Guest
Absolutely do participate in active support no matter where we sit.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Well said Den.
Magic Sponge
Guest
Administrators make so many rules and regulations and security is way over the top , I'm surprised they get as many fans as they do.
The Den
Guest
Our biggest issue is with the FFA enforcing blanket rules on active support groups. These rules should be determined by club and fans, for the betterment of the clubs they represent. If an active support group wants to be member only, that's fine. They can negotiate that with their club directly. The FFA doesn't need to be in this space trying to control supporters. They should be more interested in reducing junior registration costs, fixing our football pathways and maintaining the game at a national level. The supporters are a club issue. If a club is experiencing behavioral issues within its support base, it's up to the club/support group to fix the issue - with the reprisal of fines/point deductions from the governing body if it's not resolved. Our collective fear is the FFA being emboldened by this move - if not fought against and squashed - and further restricting the activities of active support in the future - i.e. no standing; no singing; no having fun.