When the President of the NSW Police Association labelled Western Sydney Wanderers fans as grubs last week, it caused significant backlash throughout the Australian footballing community for its continuation of negative stereotypes against football fans.
The Wanderers are a club that does not get by easy when it comes to the police. With issues between the clubs’ supporters and police dating back to 2013, when a group of Wanderers supporters got into an altercation with a group of Melbourne Victory fans, it is fair to say that, for the Wanderers, it has not been smooth sailing off the pitch. A lot of this can be attributed to the Red and Black Bloc (RBB), the largest supporter group for the Wanderers, with just over 32,000 fans on Facebook and arguably the largest supporter group in Australia. Most recently, the RBB was involved in a public hearing alongside the NSW Police Force, Parramatta Council and the Western Sydney Wanderers themselves, and it was in the aftermath of that hearing that Scott Weber labelled the Wanderers fans as ‘grubs’. It was proof of the RBB’s repeated accusations that the police force has an ‘inherent bias’ when dealing with football fans.
Unfortunately, this is not something new in Australia.
The major media outlets such as Seven and Nine are often criticised for their spin of football fans as people who go to matches looking to start fights and throw flares. It was this stereotyping of fans that led to many fans messing with the channels on social media by baiting channels with a promise of a video or a picture of hooliganism. While the idea is funny to look at and some of the switches fans came up with were hilarious, it also was appalling as it further reinforced the negative stereotypes that many news outlets have against football fans in this nation. Not only are football fans being viewed as hooligans by news outlets, they are now being viewed as children who rather than open a discussion in a mature format, would rather repeatedly make stupid jokes in a childish manner and ruin any remaining credibility fans have not only as sources but also as good human beings with a simple passion for football.
This naturally brings us back to the now infamous ‘grubs’ comment. When Weber labelled the fans as grubs, he was not just limiting himself to members of the RBB, but rather all supporters of the game who happen to go to matches. This continues to reinforce the stereotype present against football fans. While it is clear to many that the majority of Wanderers fans are not grubs and not the ones involved in the actions that has caused the police crackdown, it is simply not right to generalise. It would unfair to label a thirteen year old Chelsea supporter from Sydney as a racist hooligan based purely off the actions of other Chelsea supporters on the other side of the globe and it is unfair to do the same to every Wanderers fan.
This entire situation has done nothing more than showcase the massive divide between the fans and the elite of the FFA and Police. With NSW Police reportedly believing that an escalation of the situation with the RBB could lead to another Cronulla Riots scenario, it is arguable that the police seem to be over exaggerating. The Police pointed to an incident at the most recent Sydney derby, where around 130 seats were damaged amongst several flares being lit and a handful of brawls taking place between opposing sets of fans. Calling the situation as Cronulla Riot-esque is almost plain wrong. The Cronulla Riots was predominantly race based and while the police are not saying that Wanderers fans will start a riot based on race, to think that a riot of that scale could break out because of a poor result in a game of football is almost ludicrous. Not even in the 1980’s in the UK was there a footballing riot of the same size and scale as what NSW Police predict and this just shows how far off the mark they are.
It appears the divide is growing, as Western Sydney Wanderers CEO John Tsatsimas accused the police of not communicating with the club at all and with more police present at recent games, a staggering 45 police officers at the clash between Western Sydney and Perth Glory two rounds ago, it shows how serious the police seem to be taking this supposed threat. This was something condemned by Senator David Leyonhjelm who believed the excessive numbers of police plus the fact that several of them are dressed in riot gear could only make the situation worse.
All of this is not to say all the Wanderers fans are saints. The club has constantly been in the headlines over the last couple of seasons for their borderline hooligan actions, but a lot of it has been over spoken by the media looking to discredit fans and the sport. Stereotypes are always something that will exist in football, whether it is portrayed through the media or through the actions of the police. But fans have to try their best to dispel the negative stereotypes for the good of the game, as the more the stereotype enter the mainstream, the less fans will be able to enjoy the sport they love. Yes, football fans are passionate, and sometimes their passion will be spill into the infant stages of hooliganism we see, but to ask them all to settle down through excessive police force and restrictions and not show any passion would be to destroy the support of the game at its heart.
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