It was all going so well. The national men’s team had made the last 16 of a World Cup. The crowds that gathered at Federation Square and AAMI Park in the dead of the night were unlike anything we had seen in this country. It was a mix of class, race and backgrounds. More so than any other sporting crowd, it was a neat snapshot of what our big cities in 2022 actually look like. The players themselves were drawn from all around the world. Four were born in Africa. One was born in the Balkans during the war in the 1990s. Two were from Scotland. “Many journeys, one jersey,” the coach said.
Astonishingly, it was only a fortnight ago. After the events of Saturday night, it feels pre-pandemic. There’s no tiptoeing around or justifying the scenes at AAMI Park. The last time sport was played at the arena, the Matildas won 4-0. It was a joyous occasion. This was the complete opposite. Those storming the pitch were, in a way, instantly familiar. They tended to bob up during the darkest days of the pandemic – forever aggrieved, at the margins, resentful of authority, thick as two planks and almost always male. They presented as a motley mix of the stupid, the far right, the selfish and the lost. Saturday night’s crew was from “Original Style Melbourne”. They thought they were Ultras. They thought they were fighting a worthy cause.
