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More News Ltd crap, with anti-soccer sensationalisation on the front page of the Herald Sun today. The fear of the round ball is alive and well and why wouldn't it be during a World Cup Year!

Scrounging up photos of flares from three seasons ago and grossly exaggerating the misbehaviour at matches. I feel as safe as houses at A-League matches (more so than at some AFL matches). Even away trips to Sydney I have made have been pleasant experiences.

And then Rebecca Wilson has the audacity to write an article yesterday comparing active support and Australian soccer matches to the Hillsborough stadium disaster in England (a completely different we of circumstances all together!)

Makes my stomach churn all this pseudo and agenda-driven journalism.

Sorry, had to rant.
 
Rebecca Wilson is an A-grade dickhead... But when was the last time groups of supporters from two teams fought in the city three hours before a fucking game? Never.
 
Yeah you're burying your head in your sand if you think soccer doesn't have a disproportionate and noteworthy degree of supporter violence, even if the media may be engaging in a bit of a beat-up.
 
You don't see it with AFL, cricket, league, union. Although I have heard from a few people that they feel quite safe at A-League games (but to say they feel safer there than at the AFL I feel is a bit of a copout to fit their narrative, not once have I ever felt remotely unsafe at the footy). I do think Melbourne media has it in for soccer and its fans (which doesn't bother me much because I don't like soccer), and there are probably more people evicted at a day of cricket than an A-League game, but there seems to be a lot more trouble with soccer, disproportionate as Ax says.

And fuck, if you have to light a flare liven things up there's something wrong. Idiocy.
 
You're right, there are a few thugs who use football as a vehicle for reckless behaviour - but these thugs are not a threat to anyone attending an A-league match, they are only a threat to each other. The FFA are tackling the issue, let them get on with it.

To portray attending at an A-league match as if it is like entering a war zone is just alarmist and clearly agenda-driven nonsense by the HS.

I've been to roughly 100-120 AFL games and witnessed four fights. I've probably been to about 100 A-League matches and witnessed four or 5 fights. On par.

Just shits me that after a decade of extremely good work that the FFA have put in to creating a sustainable and compelling football competition, News Limited are frothing at the mouth for it to all unravel. Never mind all the boys and especially girls who have taken up the sport competitively since, and the many new Australians who have felt welcomed and been engaged by the football community at grassroots level.

There have been no flares at Melbourne Victory or Melbourne Heart matches this season - aside from the 3 or 4 lit by travelling WSW supporters last week. The active supporter groups are law-abiding and don't encourage such behaviour, so why plaster their faces all over the paper as If they are criminals? It's just disappointing as a fan of the sport and the league.

Just shits me the whole thing, but please excuse the rant :) had to do it somewhere and to others who are not News Limited apologists!
 
I feel you man. Can I ask what the eight or nine fights have been like? Like how many people were involved, how intense were they, etc.

I saw the HS' front cover today and, as much as I cracked a wry little smile, it is sensationalist, which is par for the course when it comes to that paper, as all of us here know. I wonder how David Davutovic must feel... he provides pretty good coverage of the A-League in the HS' sports pages, but then he flips it over and sees that rubbish.

I do have to say however that there is a lot more corruption at a local level in soccer than any other sport I've come across, and it's not even close. Southern Stars is but one example... there are some very, very shady characters bankrolling a number of clubs.

Just shits me that after a decade of extremely good work that the FFA have put in to creating a sustainable and compelling football competition, News Limited are frothing at the mouth for it to all unravel. Never mind all the boys and especially girls who have taken up the sport competitively since, and the many new Australians who have felt welcomed and been engaged by the football community at grassroots level.
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Completely and totally agree. I've covered soccer at the local level for two and a bit years now, so I know the good work being done, particularly at a grass roots level (even if the NPLV has been a complete fucking disaster so far - ordinary governance and a lack of due diligence from the FFV combined with stubborn boards at certain clubs).
 
The fights at A-League matches have always been instances where some bold clown enters the opposition's active support area and antagonises them in some way, including at the most recent Melbourne derby. The security seem to be pretty reactive to any sign of a scuffle and swiftly drag the clown out. Outside of the stadium, I haven't seen any scuffles or violence or "riots".

The only fight at AFL games where I knew the cause was at a Footscray vs Adelaide match at Docklands about 10 or so years ago. Some bloke threw something from the top tier into the Adelaide cheer squad and a couple of guys came up and confronted him and some pushing and shoving ensued. It was a little scary as we were only two rows in front and with the steepness of the seating you felt that you could have been fallen onto.

The couple of other occasions were more recent (usually attend about 20 matches a year these days, so can't remember specific games). I'd just be walking past a couple of guys having a confrontation after the game, not sure what caused them, but alcohol was presumably consumed by at least one of those involved. There was one spitting incident, the others never went beyond much of a wrestle.

Regardless of the sport, you're far far more likely to get bowled over by a couple of people nearby squaring up at the pub on a Saturday night, as pretty much happens weekly at the busier pubs and clubs.
 
'Conservative revolution' is as much an oxymoron as you're ever going to get. :laugh:
 
cobl04 said:
Also inte what do you make of this article? Code damaged by failure to admit problem
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It's a difficult article to read, because it is so peppered with mistruths.

The football community has admitted that there is a problem and have already acted to stop it from happening (the FFA have even gone as far as as to strip the teams of points). Expect more measures to be implemented. The active supporter groups frown on this kind of behaviour and dissociate themselves from those who hang off them for their own "hooligan" endeavours.

But this is the kind of HS article that we have every right to slam and to defend ourselves against. It is horribly sensationalist, clearly agenda-driven and jam packed with lies and exaggerations. This is not about an "inferiority complex", this is about defending the sport from poor journalism.

I was fortunate to be at the excellent Melbourne vs West Sydney match and I was even more fortunate to have my reserved seat at AAMI Park in the tier above, looking down into the West Sydney Supporters area. 1400 travelled down and 99.9% of them sang and supported their team throughout the entire 90 mins. They are the best fans in the league by far, and it is hard to not be impressed and envious of what they have happening.

1. No flares were thrown near the field of play (they were actually brought closer to the field by the security to extinguish!)

2. Panahi reckons that "hundreds" should have been ejected from the stadium, but why? What did they do? 8 were evicted because they lit a flare or became aggressive. No one else did anything wrong, except sing and support!

3. "Metal bars" - first I've heard of them?

Reading this has ruined my morning, Cobbler! ;)

These articles really get to me because in my experience at so very many A-League matches over nine seasons (as an away supporter in Sydney and occasionally in active supporter areas), I still feel completely unthreatened and safe.

It disappoints me to see "journalists" slandering the league as they are. The HS clearly has a bias (look at the shameful back page last year of Barassi deflating and tearing apart a soccer ball).
 
In some countries, the government enlists the help of paramilitaries to kill any homeless people. Colombia comes to mind.
 
intedomine said:
It's a difficult article to read, because it is so peppered with mistruths.

The football community has admitted that there is a problem and have already acted to stop it from happening (the FFA have even gone as far as as to strip the teams of points). Expect more measures to be implemented. The active supporter groups frown on this kind of behaviour and dissociate themselves from those who hang off them for their own "hooligan" endeavours.

But this is the kind of HS article that we have every right to slam and to defend ourselves against. It is horribly sensationalist, clearly agenda-driven and jam packed with lies and exaggerations. This is not about an "inferiority complex", this is about defending the sport from poor journalism.

I was fortunate to be at the excellent Melbourne vs West Sydney match and I was even more fortunate to have my reserved seat at AAMI Park in the tier above, looking down into the West Sydney Supporters area. 1400 travelled down and 99.9% of them sang and supported their team throughout the entire 90 mins. They are the best fans in the league by far, and it is hard to not be impressed and envious of what they have happening.

1. No flares were thrown near the field of play (they were actually brought closer to the field by the security to extinguish!)

2. Panahi reckons that "hundreds" should have been ejected from the stadium, but why? What did they do? 8 were evicted because they lit a flare or became aggressive. No one else did anything wrong, except sing and support!

3. "Metal bars" - first I've heard of them?

Reading this has ruined my morning, Cobbler! ;)

These articles really get to me because in my experience at so very many A-League matches over nine seasons (as an away supporter in Sydney and occasionally in active supporter areas), I still feel completely unthreatened and safe.

It disappoints me to see "journalists" slandering the league as they are. The HS clearly has a bias (look at the shameful back page last year of Barassi deflating and tearing apart a soccer ball).
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Panahi is one of the HS' more sensationalist journalists. I follow her on Twitter, I must be a masochist.

intedomine said:
Why would someone do this? What is the point, they've got nothing to give you? Sad thing is that some people will see this as "cleaning up the streets".
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I got the impression it was another homeless person who killed him.
 
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