When Nick D’Agostino smashed home one of the goals of the season in Melbourne Victory’s entertaining 1-1 draw with Adelaide United on Saturday night, he did so in front of an empty away stand.
D’Agostino’s unstoppable 20-yard rocket flashed into the top corner of Joe Gauci’s goal, in front of what is normally a packed away end that was instead covered by a black tarpaulin.
Victory fans had been advised not to travel to Adelaide for the Original Rivalry clash, with all tickets bought from a Melbourne postcode deemed invalid.
We can thank Original Style Melbourne for that.
It was from Victory’s self-appointed home end that dozens of spectators sprinted onto the pitch at last month’s abandoned Melbourne derby, and judging by some of the group’s subsequent statements, they don’t seem overly perturbed.
“OSM will not be disbanding,” began a statement posted by the group to social media last Friday. “Our group was formed independently and only we control our future.”
That may be true, but OSM have a bigger problem than just posting and deleting social media announcements, like they did with their apology to referee Alex King and Melbourne City goalkeeper Tom Glover after the derby.
(Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
Because too many young men still use A-League games as an excuse to commit acts of anti-social behaviour – and a disproportionate number of them are Melbourne Victory fans.
I’ve been criticised in the past for suggesting these young men are not football fans.
But they’re not football fans – at least in the traditional sense of buying a ticket to watch the action on the pitch.
What they are fans of is causing trouble.
Fuelled by insatiable anti-authoritarianism, the more you ask these miscreants to follow rules, the more desperate they are to break them.
That’s what makes what happened at the Melbourne derby so frustrating.
The 29 fans arrested – some of whom were already serving bans – couldn’t care less about results on the pitch.
What these attention-seeking hooligans crave is a platform to live out their anti-social fantasies on a public stage.
And in their self-entitled minds, the APL’s decision to stage the next three Grand Finals in Sydney gave them licence to do exactly that.
Sadly, it’s everyone else who pays the price, with away fans banned en masse despite the overwhelming majority of supporters having never put a foot wrong.
Which is a real shame, because as entertaining as some of the football has been in recent weeks, there’s been a noticeable lack of atmosphere inside the grounds.
Victory’s draw with Adelaide was an enjoyable Saturday night free-to-air showcase, however Perth Glory went one better and came from two goals down to force a 2-2 draw with Sydney FC deep into stoppage time.
The lights going out at Macedonia Park felt like an appropriate metaphor, and under-fire Sydney FC coach Steve Corica will be desperately disappointed to have seen his team concede the equaliser in what ended up being the 102nd minute of the game.
If the Sky Blues were left frustrated, Western Sydney Wanderers were probably laughing after they held Melbourne City to a 1-1 draw in blazing sunshine in Parramatta on Sunday afternoon despite the reigning premiers firing off more than 30 shots at goal.
Despite throwing everything at their hosts, Rado Vidosic’s team just couldn’t find a winner, as Jamie Maclaren’s 10-game goal-scoring streak finally came to an end.
The results left Melbourne City four points clear of second-placed Central Coast Mariners with a game a hand, and even at this early stage of the season, it’s clear City are the team to beat.
“I say it all the time – but how good is the away team support?” tweeted Wellington Phoenix’s general manager David Dome about his team’s win in Redcliffe, oblivious to the fact that Brisbane Roar’s away fans were effectively banned from attending a fixture last week.
It’s symptomatic of a competition that has always treated away fans as an afterthought.
Unfortunately for those who do like to travel to support their team, the actions of a selfish few have spoiled the away day experience for the rest of us.
Grem
Roar Rookie
What happened in Melbourne was disgusting and needed punishment. Melbourne Victory has been punished quite hard for the behaviour of people at the ground and rightly so. I don’t want to call them supporters. A quick question – should clubs also be punished for the behaviour of their players who are also their responsibility? I would think it’s easier to control players than spectators. With the amount of domestic violence, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, assaults, etc in other codes should the club also be fined and sanctioned? And shouldn’t the code also be brought into disrepute?
sportstar111
Roar Rookie
does any other team's active have good interstate away support ? no.
Grem
Roar Rookie
Of course, you’re right, Secret Scout is just hiding behind a moniker. Thanks for clarifying that Grand Panjandrum.
Grand Panjandrum
Guest
And you just believe him blindly do you? If he's so righteous, he wouldn't hide behind a moniker. It's a reflection of your diminished capacities that you would actually believe him.
Grem
Roar Rookie
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/tennis/australian-open-2023-day-4-live-scores-schedule-order-of-play/news-story/83ab6128232a6f0c6c6f2ebe7a2a8364 Probably!
josh
Guest
It's scary how wrong you got those incidents criag. The Parramatta restaurant 'attack' is a man throwing a glass of water at a Sydney FC fan who (unwisely) tried to antagonise a WSW fan march. The clip is on YouTube, i'd recommend viewing it. The second incident with WSW fans 'blocking traffic' was actually the NSW Police stopping traffic until the crowd had cleared and the graffiti you speak of was actually done by Sydney FC fans on the Albert Cotter walkway bridge over Moore Park Road. There's videos on that too. Part of being a WSW fan is 50% supporting the club and 50% correcting people.
Rodger King
Roar Rookie
Thanks Cam, keep those stats coming.
Rodger King
Roar Rookie
Mid, that too has been running through my mind from when it was first made known. It is all well and good the FA or FIFA or the APL or anyone else handing out a life ban, but when a person pops up to a ticket window on match day and asks for two tickets, who is to know if these tickets are not given to a person or persons who is currently banned? When those same two tickets are scanned at the turnstiles, who is asking if the holder is currently serving a ban of some description? In truth no one, it is like having your driving license banned but you continue to drive, it is only a problem if you recommit an offence and you get caught. Further penalties then apply. I suspect.
Rodger King
Roar Rookie
A good read Mike, thank you. Only ever been to a few away games, it isn't cheap to travel within Australia. The one that stands out to me was an early one when as an AUFC fan I took my son to his first away game to visit Victory when they were playing in the parklands somewhere in Melbourne. Truly, that was a scary experience for an old fella like me, the number of times I could have gotten into a fight, I lost count, all because I was wearing an AUFC shirt. My son was visiting from the UK at the time and in his 30s he too was amazed by the vicious nature of the atmosphere. That left me knowing I would never visit them again, ever. The tribalism of our sport is great and the best people to express that are our young testosterone-driven young men and women. Having stated that, their need to rebel and just strike out at authority, any authority, has to be curtailed as we teach them to direct it in a meaningful way. A way to help their sport not hinder it. Finding that way is the magic silver bullet the sport needs. The youth are our lifeblood and future, both males and females, how are we going to help them direct their energies in the right direction?
Steven
Guest
Only football has a chance with promo and relegation. NRL and AFL will remain fabricated competitions forever
Steven
Guest
No violence is ok. Ch 7 keeps sweeping it all under the carpet. Shame on you ch 7
Grem
Roar Rookie
Just like you’re an expert on Secret Scout, who you have commented upon. From one comment you’ve summed him up … inaccurately as is often the case with you. You should learn to get your facts right before making your pompous statements Grand Panjandrum. He actually travels all over Australia and to overseas destinations scouting and recommending young talent. If anyone was to know about Victoria’s football development programs then he would. A few episodes of House - you have no idea, but as usual, you think you do.
criag
Roar Rookie
Although I follow Sydney FC, I’m first and foremost a football fan and mostly just want the A-League and the national teams to display superior skills, do well and make us proud. I was excited when Wanderers won the Asian Champions League – I didn’t care that they weren’t from my part of the city! I go to games, sit in the middle of the ground and applaud and cheer, don’t hate anyone. I don’t feel the need to belong to a group of ‘active’ supporters, constantly chanting and singing. I don’t really understand why people want to do that, but that’s your choice. Unfortunately, there have been too many unsavoury incidents in recent years; WSW attacking Sydney FC supporters in a restaurant in Parramatta; a fight in the street between Sydney and Victory supporters; WSW supporters blocking traffic as they marched to the SFS proclaiming they ‘own’ Sydney and leaving graffiti everywhere. It’s not just one club, and these are just the incidents I can immediately recall. Then there was the incident at AAMI Park. It just made me very, very sad. I agreed with what they were protesting about, which was a stupid decision, but what happened left me feeling despair for the game here, instead of celebrating our Socceroos’ performance at the World Cup and building on the popularity of the game here as a result. It is clear there are people coming to games who have issues about things outside football. Maybe the answer is for clubs to control membership – I don’t know. I just say to people wanting to come and cause trouble, have your issues if you must, but don’t bring them to A-League games!
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
Far from it in the Australian context. The issue with soccer is 'imported' fan culture. We HAVE generational examples in Australia - with the highest attended competition - of active support and an Australian culture. Far from irrelevant. Your comment/opinion at this point - as entirely dismissive without discussion IS ironic because THAT seems to be the problem for the head in the sand element of soccer; and the feeble punishment handed out to MVSC won't change a thing. And...........we'll continue to see more police attend a soccer derby than a full house at the MCG for AFL or Cricket.
Justin Mahon
Guest
Absolutely we can. No question whatsoever and no surprise either.
Grem
Roar Rookie
Constant enough for players like Adam Goodes and Eddie Betts to retire.
Grem
Roar Rookie
Bad behaviour is bad behaviour and needs to be dealt with. I was disgusted with what happened in Melbourne because it was shocking and it was televised and right in front of me. If cameras were on other behaviours that appear in crowds, on the way to games, at junior games in many sports I think we’d be just as disgusted. https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/junior-rugby-league-referees-refuse-to-show-as-touchline-abuse-turns-toxic-20150711-gia215.html There’s a lot of awful behaviour happening at sport in many codes that would be just as disgusting if it was televised and constantly shown and discussed.
Grem
Roar Rookie
And that despicable act in Melbourne by some Victory “supporters” should also be a one off. All sports have behaviour issues from time to time, whether it’s the supporters or players, but football appears to me and quite a few others to have these behaviours focused on more than other sports.
Grand Panjandrum
Guest
But that's evidently not what they care about...
Grand Panjandrum
Guest
I hope your kids don't pick up your prodigious insecurities...