The last game of the A-League season for the Western Sydney Wanderers took a nasty turn last weekend when crowd behaviour was again thrust into the spotlight.
I wasn’t at Pirtek Stadium last Saturday night and hence can’t provide any first hand knowledge of what happened.
Wanderers fans who are part of the Red and Black Bloc active supporter group have made it pretty clear that they believe police were heavy-handed and used pepper spray unnecessarily.
In a statement issued via social media, the Red and Black Bloc claimed that police resources “can be better utilised elsewhere” and encouraged people to record incidents involving police.
Fans have also posted videos that they believe show police in a negative light.
I don’t quite see it that way – one of the videos clearly shows Wanderers supporters acting like complete idiots outside of the ground, perhaps justifying the police response.
As is fair, there should be an investigation to ensure that the actions of police on the night were above board, and I am sure there will be as discussions continue between the club, the FFA and police.
But my main question is this: After all the problems the Wanderers had in the initial year or two of their existence, and after all the warnings, why did some buffoon let off a flare during the game?
And why in their statement issued on Sunday night did the Red and Black Bloc not condemn the lighting of the flare that sparked all of the drama?
Is it that a certain section of the Wanderers fan base just doesn’t get it?
Lighting a flare inside a sporting venue is illegal. What is so hard about that for some of these so-called fans to understand?
In their statement, the Red and Black Bloc said they would not “be treated as second class citizens”. Fair enough, but the fan base can also not pretend it is above the law.
The reality is this: Don’t light the flare, and much of the problem that occurred on Saturday night wouldn’t have happened.