Melbourne Victory continues as the only current A-League club without an active support group as the long serving, often controversial, passionate support group ‘The Northern Terrace’ officially discontinued active support.
This came for the Victory after the Round 2 derby against the Melbourne City.
The reasons behind this have been well documented, with the main factors playing into this move were restriction of freedom, minimal standards for active support, stadium bans imposed by the FFA, continued police harassment, banned marches and banners restricted.
All these plus more lead to the decision, but looking back now the decision to leave was more a statement at the club of how they would miss the Northern Terrace in terms of enjoyable match day passion and support and in the end it has worked.
One of the Northern Terraces’ requests when they left was to make sure they would not tolerate a club appointed support group at the Northern End of the ground as a quick fix replacement.
Another request was not to use the chants that the Northern Terrace had created and used for the past 10 years.
Still yet the club didn’t feel threatened by that and appointed a replacement support group at the north end of the ground for the home game against Newcastle. They were to be given a drum, a microphone and flags (the flags didn’t happen), but little did they know the NT (sitting above them) would return and stick to their word and boo every chant made in the game.
Eventually much to the clubs dismay, the new Northern Terrace would give up and game by game the old Northern Terrace would sit in strange places of the ground, often in corners well away from security, and start chanting for the club once again.
It was said by a NT representative after the Geelong match that they felt like they were back 10 years ago when the supporters were chanting for enjoyment without all the restrictive and threatening security.
Last week’s game again saw a lousy atmosphere at the Northern End of the ground even though the club were trying really hard to create atmosphere, and the South End couldn’t keep up the good atmosphere they created in the first half.
The Northern Terrace, in a small pocket in the ground, created great atmosphere for the fans and crowd who applauded them for what they were doing, yet still a consistent police and security presence was felt, while Sydney fans had no one controlling them.
Northern Terrace have had their faults in the past with flares etc. But many of these people have nothing to look forward to except their beloved Melbourne Victory.
The last 10 years or so have shown many them are passionate football followers who just want to be left alone like the other clubs are and chant with a bit of freedom instead of policemen asking for their names, ID and the consistent take downs instead of the calm peaceful resolution.
A lot of what has happened has been enforced by the club. When the NT first left, they knew very well the atmosphere would never be the same again at Victory games, yet their actions have shown they seem happy this long serving support group is gone from being the clubs active support group.
Even Thursday night showed again how much the club are against the NT, the non-active supporters at the northern end who were trying to watch the game were forced to start ‘Stand Up for the Victory’ right around the ground while on the big screen the club helped them out by putting those words up for everyone to see.
The most important reason the Melbourne Victory need the NT supporters back is to make themselves the biggest club yet again on and off the field. They have recently been laughed at by other club fans, mockingly asking how Melbourne Victory can have the biggest membership, yet no active support group.
The players have even said they feel that extra bit motivated when the Northern Terrace is in full voice, an important part of the mix for home game wins. Tf this doesn’t get resolved the atmosphere will continue to be dull at Victory home games.
This isn’t to hide the fact that there have been trouble makers in the past. Most football fans with families don’t like flares either. But what the club and the police should be doing is making things equal once again, all they want is fairer security, less ID checks, the possibility of marches returning, and so on. If those small things happen, they will be happy to come back to north end and do Victory proud.
MarkfromCroydon
Roar Pro
“Northern Terrace have had their faults in the past with flares etc. But many of these people have nothing to look forward to except their beloved Melbourne Victory.” Oh please. These kids are born and bred in Melbourne, one of the most expensive cities in the world. “Have nothing to look forward to”..? You’d think the author was talking about Eastern Europe or Sth America. Actually i get that about some kids having nothing else.Yes, Melbourne is one of the most expensive cities in the world, so if you are poor and disenfranchised, you are likely to not be connected at all to the broader community and seek to have something to belong to. For many, that's going to be Football.
AR
Guest
"Northern Terrace have had their faults in the past with flares etc. But many of these people have nothing to look forward to except their beloved Melbourne Victory." Oh please. These kids are born and bred in Melbourne, one of the most expensive cities in the world. "Have nothing to look forward to"..? You'd think the author was talking about Eastern Europe or Sth America.
Travis
Roar Pro
Clubs need money, they don't survive either supporters. Remember the NSL, NZ Knights, North Queensland Fury, didn't bring the required gate attendance's. The NT it's self brings an extra 200 people, plus the fans who come just to watch them.
Travis
Roar Pro
SomethingI have never understood is how AFL fans are always so dirty on soccer, it is like they feel they are threatened by the game because it is growing so much in the country. Personally I enjoy both sports but I can see the massive difference in skill level in soccer and the fact that the big 4 AFL clubs aren't winning at the moment (which drops crowd numbers overall) is proving the A-League is becoming a winner. You don't hear AFL fans complaining about cricket, tennis or racing. They probably support the sports. I think a lot of the hate is because 30 years ago you were all calling the sport a game for girls etc. It's ironic girls now play AFL and a lot of footy fans are against that.
jeff dustby
Guest
he has a point mattq, thhey are both bad. dont turn a blind eye to the comments of other football supporters
Pauly
Guest
Btw peebo, you got to ask YOURSELF why you're even on an article in this tab to make such a stupid comment. Are you living a boring life?
Pauly
Guest
By the way Peebo, wear an Adam Goodes T shirt to your next AFL game and see if racism isn't part of the code's fabric.
Pauly
Guest
Oh yeah peebo. I'm sure fans are constantly engaged when their team gets flogged in yet another one-sided encounter. I once took some overseas relatives to a game where the winning team was determined by quarter time, poor fellas couldn't have been more underwhelmed. The anticipation of a goal, desperation holding onto a one goal lead, it is quite exhilarating, not that you would ever care to understand. I've never felt threatened at an A League match.
Pauly
Guest
It's only a teensy element that we're setting off flares but that doesn't stop the AFL-loving media characterising us all as suburban terrorists and idiots. Don't you lecture us on ignorance!
Nemesis
Guest
All those figures you've stated are well & good. If you'd said 50% of Victory members support an AFL Club, I'd agree. But your contention is that 50% of Victory members are members of AFL Clubs. This is untrue. An Alt-Fact is not a fact. It's a falsehood.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
YOu've been in Eastern Europe for the last nine years. IN that time, the Victory CEO has said on more than one occasion that half of their members are AFL members. I guess he doesn't know. In 2015, the Guardian reported the following: In 2013 at Melbourne Heart 43% of its members were also members of AFL clubs... Richard Wilson, CEO at Victory, also noted that the fan base and their membership was a cross-section of the Australian population. The majority of Victory members support an AFL club... These clubs’ views are supported by detailed Australian Bureau of Statistics data from the most recent survey of Spectator Attendance at Sporting Events, 2009-10. This indicates quite clearly that people who attend Australian Rules are more likely than the general population to attend soccer matches. Of those who went to AFL, 8% also went to soccer — significantly higher than the 5% soccer attendance rate for non-AFL fans.
AZ_RBB
Guest
That's a shame. In recent years, having done a lot of away trips, I've noticed active fans are making a conscious effort to include non-active fans in chants and choreo more and more. Maybe whatever replaces the NT could learn from that. Just from my experience at WSW I've noticed the RBB has doubled its interaction with the non-active parts of the ground which has proven to be difficult because of the stadia we've played in. The RBB was losing the PR battle late last season but it's done well this season to bring some doubters back. With so few teams in the league, the individual active groups become characters in the narrative of each season to fill the void left by a lack of teams. Their place in the league is prominent which carries a lot of responsibility. The bigger the group, the harder it can be to exercise that responsibility.
Mark
Guest
It's not that complicated. Contempt, like respect, is a two way street. The NT have nothing but contempt for the wider Victory membership and fan base, so it shouldn't be surprising to anyone that is the attitude they get back in return.
Nemesis
Guest
Yup. The Membership Manager at MVFC wouldn't know anything. Much rather listen to an AFL fan who has told us he finds football boring.
AZ_RBB
Guest
You could not have been less helpful. Thank you.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
This reminds me of the time you swore black and blue that the Victory didn't have 5 game memberships. You even said at that time, that you rang the front desk, and they confirmed that such memberships had never existed (which was wrong).
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Such was your interest, you rang the bloke at the front desk. It looks like he was able to give you a considered response.
Nemesis
Guest
"And yes, it’s relevant that half the Victory membership are also AFL members." I notice you keep repeating this so, a few weeks ago, I contacted the Membership Dept at MVFC to ask them about the profile of the Members. The bloke I spoke to was very helpful. He said, it's true, Victory's membership does include AFL members. However, when I mentioned I'd heard someone mention 50% of the membership are AFL members, he just laughed and said it's around 5-10% at most. So, that's another Mr AFL ALT-Fact that's been debunked.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
The Victory has a large membership and supporter base, the largest in the A-League, as is evidenced by the fact that they have led average home attendances for the past 10 years. That being the case, it's not hard to imagine that they take unkindly to a handful of numpties who think it's all about them. And yes, it's relevant that half the Victory membership are also AFL members.
AZ_RBB
Guest
I've always found the contempt towards the NT by other MVFC fans to be very interesting. You don't see that between active and non-active fans at other clubs. At least not to the same extent.