Hopefully the Police charge the Auckland 'fan' who king hit the WSW guy breaking his jaw. And he also gets a life time ban from Mt Smart.
Gonna be hard to fine or prosecute any of the RBB mob. They are all back in Sydney you'd imagine. But next time they turn up, Mt Smart security and the police issue a pre game warning through WSW's socials that there will be a big security/police presence and any idiots will be thrown out straight into a waiting paddy van.
Perhaps all WSW fans in the away section have to register pre game, using their passports as ID. So anyone who does later get thrown out, is automatically barred from re-entering NZ in the future.
Anyone wearing a scarf as a balacava also thrown out, as it's clear you plan to misbehave.
Becker should have some experience around how to plan for any future trouble. He was at Melb City previously. Knows the league well.
One spectator at the game, who asked not to be named, said he saw Western Sydney fans eager to start fights with Auckland fans.
“There were some really fired-up agro people in there,” the Auckland fan said.
“It didn't feel very safe, we had several families near us who packed up and moved away. “There were bottles and items being thrown, I saw one poor kid get hit with a half-full water bottle.
“Several of them were standing facing the Auckland supporters, just trying to inspire a fight, I saw one covered up wearing a balaclava; they just wanted to brawl.”
The Auckland fan said he had been to five other Auckland FC games this season and had always felt it had been a safe experience, but it wasn’t on this occasion.
“[It was] hard to watch and enjoy the game and atmosphere when you’re keeping a side eye on the football hooligans. Pretty disappointed they didn't just throw them out,” he said.
There was a crowd of 18,342 at the game, with a couple of hundred Western United fans entering the stadium together, standing behind a large banner. They were spurred on by one spectator with a loud hailer as they entered the venue, who encouraged them to get energised and remind Auckland fans how far they’d come for the game.
They were vocal throughout the game, but emotions rose when their team had a goal disallowed in the first half, with both sets of fans hurling abuse at each other.
However, another spectator emailed Stuff saying they believed the incidents “are being very exaggerated”.
They said Auckland fans were also to blame for the disorder but security staff concentrated on the Western Sydney fans “instead of the AFC troublemakers”.
Auckland FC CEO Nick Becker said he was disappointed with what happened.
“Auckland FC has worked extremely hard to cultivate a positive and inclusive family atmosphere for the 200,000 plus football fans who have enjoyed an incredible season at Go Media Stadium,” Becker said.
“This includes our most passionate football fans, thousands of families and first-timers from Auckland, Wellington and beyond.
“This is the first time we have had any incidents involving fan anti-social behaviour and it’s something that we take very seriously. It does not represent our values or who we are as a club.
“We are working closely with the police and the team at Go Media Stadium to see if any lessons can be learned, particularly in regard to how we manage travelling fans, as well as looking to identify and ban anyone who is found to be responsible.”
Becker said any form of anti-social behaviour runs counter to who they are as a club.
Western Sydney Wanderers has not responded to a request for comment.
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