Support
Melbourne Victory has the largest supporter base in Australia and has consistently set record highs in membership and attendance.
In January 2011, the HORDA active group was suspected to have stolen a Melbourne Heart banner. In the following games, HORDA banners were banned, which led to great protest from the Northern Terrace active members. At the following games, there was an increase in police and security present at the active area. Fans that were perceived as being "too aggressive" were escorted from the terrace, and in some cases fined or banned from the terrace. This led to the fans' anger escalating as they protested against the police control. On 2 February 2011, the fans from the Northern Terrace organised a silent protest for the Melbourne Victory – Newcastle Jets match. They left the Northern Terrace empty, and had a banner saying "No fans no past no future – without us you are nothing", "NT United". The banner was later confiscated by the police.
In February 2011, Victoria Police said they were reluctant to cover Melbourne Victory games because of unacceptable behaviour by fans. Problems included violence, anti-social behaviour and the lighting of flares.
Read more about this topic: Melbourne Victory FC
Famous quotes containing the word support:
“What has been the effect of [religious] coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“The interest in Wisdom is fading. Soon there will not be enough left to support the aphorism, even though it tries to amuse by half-mocking the Wisdom it propounds.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“The community and family networks which helped sustain earlier generations have become scarcer for growing numbers of young parents. Those who lack links to these traditional sources of support are hard-pressed to find other resources, given the emphasis in our society on providing treatment services, rather than preventive services and support for health maintenance and well-being.”
—Bernice Weissbourd (20th century)