Am I mishearing but did the Port guys say specifically that Māori culture wouldn't be a feature of what they do? "You won't see the haka" etc?
You mis heard. It won't be an 'Auckland All Blacks' crowd. I thought that was a dig at sterile rugby crowds and their dull Black, Black, Black chants. They also said they don't welcome 'Ultra' type supporters - which means I guess they ain't looking to cause trouble on game days etc. They are aiming though for that European fan feel. I'm guessing their Bay 22 area will be standing only.
I listened to the interview about a week ago, but from the memory they said all are welcome in The Port, be you Croatian, Maori or whoever. Some harmless off the cuff remark like that. It was just Devlin interviewing 2 passionate fans - not trained media types. Was Bloc 5 at Kingz games a happy, fun, inclusive place?
I got the gist The Port (the name is slowly growing on me), is being set up with the best of intentions. They are just every day fans, who want to be loud & supportive of their new team. But they can't control any dickhead comments on the AFC Supporters FB page (not their specific FB page) or any dickheads in the crowd or who may even join them at Bay 22 at Mt Smart.
I guess once they get up their own website, they can try and police things better, get rid of any nasties. But it's early days, and I'm sure when Yellow Fever started they were a few at the ROF who went over the top & were told to either tone it down or piss off.
And yeah they welcome different fan groups starting up as well from what they say. The 09 is bigger & more multi cultural than the 04, plus the some of the local clubs pretty big, so yeah you could see different (maybe smaller) groups setting up. I'm sure a Fijian Indian bloc would form if Krishna signed!
Early days, wish them the best. The YF at one end, The Port or whoever at the other end - chanting songs at each other. These derbies could be the sporting event of the 2024/25 NZ summer. The ALM maybe at it's healthiest in NZ.