Soccer's active supporter groups needed to be treated like adolescents and lose their coveted privileges at games to stop the troublemakers among them lighting flares and throwing bottles as more trouble marred one of the A-League's biggest fixtures of the year at the weekend.
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Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane said all of the trouble police had encountered at games – including the flares lit before and during the Melbourne derby between Victory and City on Saturday night – had come from the active supporter groups.
The active supporter groups are like the cheer squads in football and enjoy special rights and privileges that other fans do not, including priority seating behind the goals, the ability to bring in over-sized flags and to use microphones and megaphones.
"Maybe it's like dealing with an adolescent child and you actually start to turn those privileges off," Leane said.
He said about 150 Melbourne Victory active supporter group members - and some fans banned from matches - marched along Punt Road blocking off traffic and set off seven flares before arriving at the ground. Two more flares were lit inside the ground, bottles were thrown onto the ground, including one which hit the goalkeeper, and a police officer was also struck in the face by a half-full bottle of water.
A Channel Nine cameraman and journalist were also assaulted by the fans marching to the game.
Leane said not all soccer fans were trouble and not all active supporter group members were troublemakers but all of the trouble that occurred on Saturday night emanated from the active supporter groups.
He said the marches to the ground which blocked off one of Melbourne's busiest roads were not sanctioned by the clubs nor were they part of official club pre-match entertainment.
"Melbourne people do not want 150 young fans deciding to own the road for 15 minutes," Leane said.
He said clubs needed to explore new mechanisms to control and change the behaviour of the active supporter groups but also pointed out that games have been played in empty stadiums in Europe and Britain to change the culture of fans attending matches. He said flares were not part of the culture of soccer going in Britain and would not be part of the culture here.
He again warned of the danger of flares which could reach temperatures of more than 1000 degrees Celsius and would set fire to clothes and burn anyone seeking to grab them. He was concerned that with litter in the stands a flare could easily spark a fire in the stadium.
