By Roy Ward
Melbourne Victory coach Tony Popovic thought the A-League had moved beyond the violent pitch invasion last Saturday which has plunged its season into chaos.
Popovic grew up in Australian football starring in the old NSL with Sydney United before moving on to the Socceroos and captaining English Premier League club Crystal Palace then coming home to build a successful coaching career.
Victory coach Tony Popovic on Saturday.Credit:Joe Armao
Popovic was shocked by the violent acts of some crowd members when approximately 150 people from Victory’s active supporter area stormed onto the field in the Melbourne Derby against Melbourne City at AAMI Park.
The Victory have had crowd sanctions put on it by Football Australia banning its fans from its upcoming away games starting with the Boxing Day clash with Western United at AAMI Park.
Valid Victory members will still be able to attend home games.
The governing body is completing its show cause process before giving out the final penalties which could see Victory stripped of A-League men’s points, fined and face further crowd sanctions.
A bleeding Tom Glover of Melbourne City is escorted from the pitch by teammates on December 17, 2022Credit:Getty
Victoria Police have launched Operation Astute to identify and punish all those who invaded the pitch with almost 40 people identified, 29 arrested and 24 charged with a variety of offences including assault and riotous behaviour.
“It’s the sentiment that everyone shares that saw it – shocked, disappointed, appalled – there many words that come to mind,” Popovic said on Saturday in his first press conference since last Saturday’s game was called off due to player safety following the pitch invasion.
“It’s not something that you ever want to expect to see on a football pitch and just at that moment, clearly disappointed.
“I’ve seen it [before], yes, I’ve seen it. It’s not something that I thought we would see again.
“But it has happened now and it’s about how we deal with the situation and how we move forward from here.”
The Victory knows every win will be vital for them heading into the second half of the season as they could be battling to stay in the finals race if they lose points from their season record.
Victory veteran Leigh Broxham shared a statement from the players during the week expressing their shock and asking all Victory fans to get behind them and win back the trust of the other clubs.
“The next day everyone’s a bit shaken up, that night everyone was shaken up,” Popovic said.
“You are playing a big derby, I thought in the first 20 minutes it was a very good game of football, a great battle and we were enjoying being out there playing.
“It’s what the players love to do, what we love doing as a football staff.
“So those actions by a very small minority have hurt football, have hurt Melbourne Victory and they have hurt our code. It was very disappointing.”
The Victory are ready to get back to business on Boxing Day and Popovic said his team wanted to represent the club’s 23,000 members who will be denied many chances to watch the team live by the actions of those 150 supporters.
“We’re not naive enough to say that it’s not something that we’re thinking about or that is on our minds but all we can do is train well and play as best we can on Boxing Day,” Popovic said.
“We have to remember that apart from a very small minority, we are a football club with the biggest membership base in the country.
“Now those 23,000 members I’m sure are disappointed that they can’t come on Boxing Day and cheer on their team. What we can control is that while they’re at home, we can put a smile on their face by showing a true Melbourne Victory performance and make them proud over this Christmas period.”
Melbourne Victory play Western United at AAMI Park on Boxing Day at 6pm AEDT.
