If the AFL wants to promote a family-friendly, safe and enjoyable atmosphere for everyone, we’re going to need crowd division. It’s the only way forward. In the wake of the appalling banana-throwing incident at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night, it’s fair to say that crowd behaviour as a whole, has gotten out of control.
It’s anti-social. It’s bullying. It’s violent. It’s vile. It’s unsportsmanlike. It’s a mob driven mentality, almost on par with the barbaric Colosseum of Roman times. It’s nothing I’ve taught my ten-year-old son and it’s nothing I want him to experience as being a “normal” part of society. It’s not normal! It’s downright ugly! And yes, it’s often racist, and very, very scary!
No doubt, alcohol often fuels this type of behaviour. So, how about looking at a “dry section” of the ground. Family-friendly and alcohol-free. I guarantee it’ll be sold out at every match.
We’re one of the few sporting codes where fans are still co-existing, but it’s not a peaceful co-existence, by any means. The next part of the enforced segregation would be to divide fans into their own designated sections. No mixed areas. None!
Without naming any particular club, or ground, recently, a good friend and her children were sworn at and spat on from behind, merely for wearing the opposition team’s colours. They did nothing, or said nothing to antagonize the attack. No woman or child should be fearful of their safety when going to a sporting venue. Sadly, they’ve never returned to another AFL game.
Wonder why crowd numbers are diminishing? This is why!
We are lucky that the video capabilities on smart phones are allowing the decent human beings to name, shame and record this unruly behaviour. Had it not been for the video footage of the “banana-thrower,” it would have all been hearsay. No doubt, there are good people who attend our game. Unfortunately, the bad ones ruin it for everyone, including the players. The perfect example was Eddie Betts’ 250th game, which was capped off by five-goals and a win for Adelaide, and it was totally overshadowed by the negative press surrounding the racially motivated projectile that was hurled towards him as he kicked his fifth and final goal at the end of, what was, an amazing game of football, from both teams. Win or lose, as a spectator, that Showdown between Port Adelaide and the Adelaide Crows was damn good value. It was a hard-contested, close game, right until the very end.
Sadly, at that game, there were kids hurling abuse at players from over the fence. Kids! This is a generational issue, thought-to-be acceptable behaviour within the confines of a sporting venue. No! It’s not okay!
The odd isolated incident that’s pinpointed and targeted in the media, like a 13-year old girl calling Adam Goodes an “ape,” like a woman being king-hit in front of her children by a man at Domain Stadium, like a banana being thrown at Eddie Betts, they’re all shocking examples, but in reality, they’re only a minor snapshot of a cauldron of ugliness that’s brewing and bubbling within the crowds at every AFL game, in every state. It’s what’s not seen, or reported, unless you’re “in it” and witnessing it first hand that’s an even bigger issue.
To AFL CEO, Gillon McLachlan…
Take off the suit, throw on some casual gear and sit in the stands, in the trenches, so to speak, wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses – Undercover Boss style. Take your kids too. Go to a game like the average, middle-class Australian father. Better yet, send your wife, alone, with the kids. Sit behind them. How long will it be before you fear for their safety?
Only then will you ever truly experience the troubling, collective, anti-social, foul-mouthed, violent culture of our AFL crowds, and maybe then, and only then, will there be something done to fix it. When it becomes personal. When you truly feel it. When you fear for the safety of your own family. Then, will you do something about it? We have a crisis on our hands. You’re the only one who has the power to change it. For the good of our great game. Be the trailblazer. Make inroads to stop it. The “zero-tolerance” mantra isn’t working.
The price of a footy ticket does not give anyone the right to verbally or physically abuse a fellow supporter, or player. Yet, it happens. It happens every week. At every game. When it comes to a player being assaulted by an object…how long will it be before he sues the AFL for an unsafe workplace? That football ground is his workplace. He’s there to do his job. He has every right to feel safe doing it. Last week it was a banana…what’s next? I shudder to think, but the way we’re going, unless changes are made, it won’t be long before we find out.
