Australian A-League match turns violent as fans invade pitch, attack goalie
An Australian A-League soccer match between rivals Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory ended abruptly on Saturday after Victory fans stormed the field and attacked City goalkeeper Tom Glover.
The match has been abandoned.
— Melbourne Victory (@gomvfc) December 17, 2022
Fans ignited flares and small fireworks throughout the game, especially in the 11th minute to celebrate an opening goal from City midfielder Aiden O’Neill.
In the 20th minute, chaos ensued when Glover threw a flare that landed near him off the field and back to Victory fans.
The violent scene unfolded as Victory fans stormed the field and Glover was hit in the head by a metal bucket filled with sand reportedly meant to extinguish the flares hurled in his direction. Teammates rushed him from the pitch as blood spilled from the side of his head.
City officials said that Glover needed stitches and had a suspected concussion after the incident.
Tom was assessed by our club doctor immediately following tonight’s incident and required several stitches due to a laceration to his face. He was taken to hospital for scans and further follow up checks.
We’ll provide a further update as soon as possible. https://t.co/VIh2DchrDg— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) December 17, 2022
Referee Alex King also sustained a bleeding head injury from the thrown bucket and an unnamed referee coach was pushed into the fence.
Victoria Police estimated that 150–200 Victory supporters stormed the field, per ESPN.
After a long delay, the matched was abandoned for player safety, a first in A-League history.
Victory issued a statement on Saturday, condemning fans’ actions and apologizing. “This conduct will not be tolerated and the Club, along with AAMI Park and Victoria Police, will undertake a full investigation into the incident,” the statement read.
“Melbourne Victory would like to reiterate there is no place in football for what was witnessed tonight.”
A protest turned violent
City and Victory fans threw flares as they left the stadium, with one appearing to hit a camera operator for broadcaster Network Ten.
The exits were part of an ongoing walkout demonstration in protest of the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) decision to sell hosting rights of the leagues' men's and women's grand finals to Sydney for the next three years.
Fans on Twitter cited previous demonstrations where fans walked out of multiple matches peacefully and even left signs with messages like “Fans > Money.”
sigh. I'm angrier now at what happened at the #MelbDerby than the original APL decision! The OSM have set the A-League back decades. Those Melbourne Victory "fans" should be ashamed of themselves.
⬇ THIS IS LITERALLY ALL YOU HAD TO DO. WHY WAS THAT SO HARD? pic.twitter.com/m1LkADEBuY— Simon V 🌻 🇺🇦 (@rithmaster) December 17, 2022
Rosengård goalie Teagan Micah reacted to the Melbourne Derby violence on Twitter and cited her own experience with Victory fans.
"Fans throwing GLASS BOTTLES at us and all I got was an 'apology' and notice that the fans were ALREADY BANNED FOR LIFE & STILL GOT IN WITH GLASS BOTTLES,” she wrote. “Melbourne Victory continues to ALLOW their fans to get away with this behavior! It’s a disgrace!!"
EXACTLY RIGHT! @gomvfc fans throwing GLASS BOTTLES at us and all I got was an “apology” and notice that the fans were ALREADY BANNED FOR LIFE & STILL GOT IN WITH GLASS BOTTLES! Melbourne victory continues to ALLOW their fans to get away with this behaviour! It’s a disgrace!! https://t.co/S3X3BzwPHt
— Teagan Micah (@TeaganMicah) December 17, 2022
She sent love to Glover and City, adding that “players should feel SAFE to come and play.”
