Sanitising the Wanderland experience is not all bad

The proposed police crackdown on the unruly element within Western Sydney Wanderers' fan base has met with strong, widespread opposition.

Wanderers fans get behind their team Source: Getty Images Asia Pacific

In a bid to stamp out the unsavoury incidents that sometimes give the A-League's newest club the sort of headlines it does not deserve, the police have planned a set of measures that have been described as "excessive" by the very organisation they are designed to protect.

Yet most of the so-called draconian measures are sensible and nothing new to sport.

They include a ban on flares and offensive banners at the Wanderers' home ground Pirtek Stadium and a zero tolerance for swearing during chanting.

Supporters also won't be allowed to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and jump and clap their hands above their heads when they chant.

Other measures are not so straight-forward.

Remarkably, the club's active supporter group Red and Black Bloc will be banned from staging its colourful march through the main streets of Parramatta to the stadium on match days.

And for some reason only one person will be allowed to bring a megaphone to the stadium.

The club has been quick to denounce these measures but before we start pointing fingers at the police, we should have a think about this and acknowledge that, apart from the proposed ban on the march, none of the measures are as iron-fisted as they have been made out to be.

Is the ban on offensive banners depriving spectators of their rightful enjoyment? Not at all.

Do we really need flares to create an atmosphere, apart from the fact that they are dangerous? Absolutely not.

Should families be exposed to swearing from unscrupulous chanting fans? No way.

Banning spectators from standing shoulder-to-shoulder and arm-in-arm during the traditional 'Poznan' will not go down well with the vast majority of Wanderers fans.

The ritual has become a trademark of Wanderers matches and there appears to be no logical explanation behind the attempt to stop it.

On the other hand, seats at Pirtek and other venues have been damaged by the combined action of thousands of fans at the 80-minute mark of matches so this is probably the main reason for the measure.

It is not an insurmountable problem, however, and I'm sure a suitable compromise can be found to enable spectators to indulge in a ritual that is harmless, inoffensive and adds to the match day spectacle.

For a long time the misbehaviour of a minority of Wanderers fans has been the topic of conversation among those who have the good of the game at heart.

We all like to go to Pirtek for a big game involving the Wanderers because it's often a memorable and uplifting experience that is unique in Australian sport.

But if the truth be told we all would also love the mindless idiots who sometimes ruin it for everybody to go jump in the Parramatta river and never to return to the game.

Now that the club and the police are trying to do something about it we start jumping up and down and claim nanny state treatment. Go figure.

Which brings us to the RBB march, a colourful procession through Parramatta's CBD that on rare occasions got a bit out of hand, particularly on derby days.

At this point it is worth remembering that the enforcement of law and order inside and outside the venues is the police's responsibility, particularly when the cash-strapped A-League clubs pay for this service.

It comes across as a colossal cop-out for police to ban the march outright instead of doing the job they are paid to do and weeding out any trouble-makers so the decent folk can enjoy the experience.

The 11th A-League's kick-off is around the corner but there is still enough time for the police to reconsider the stance on the RBB march.

We are dealing here with two or three hundred marchers not thousands of belligerent aficionados so controlling them is no massive task.

This is Australia not Europe or South America, for goodness' sake.

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