Football fans walked out en masse during games around the country last weekend in protest at crowd surveillance and heavy-handed police tactics against fans.
In the last week of November, A-League supporters waged an unprecedented campaign in response to Sydney’s Daily Telegraph publishing a leaked list of 198 supporters banned from games for “anti-social behaviour”.
Active support groups have long organised independently to march to games, sing and chant for their clubs. This has put us at odds with the Federal Football Association and the media, which want to promote a clean-cut, corporate image of the sport.
The “anti-social behaviour” category includes a range of alleged offences, with bans handed down without evidence or any right of appeal. The effects of this leak are only beginning to be felt by those named. Julian Combo, a Western Sydney Wanderers supporter, lost his job after his boss spotted him on the leaked list.
Rebecca Wilson, the journalist responsible, spoke to Alan Jones on 2GB radio as the campaign was building. “Is this like terrorism in Paris?”, Jones asked. Wilson replied, “Exactly right”.
Supporters reacted by uniting across club lines to organise protests at all matches of the A-League, including two active support groups staging mass walkouts.
Melbourne Victory’s North Terrace and the Western Sydney Wanderers’ Red and Black Bloc walked out in the 30th minute of their respective matches on 28 and 29 November, leaving their usually loud and vibrant bays silent and empty to highlight the essential role fan culture plays in the growth and attraction of the league.
The demands put forward by fans include the introduction of a fair and open appeals process for all banned supporters.
Elsewhere, other supporter groups held up banners condemning the FFA and News Limited. In Newcastle, the Squadron unfurled a banner denouncing the “anti-football mafia”. Melbourne City’s active support group, the Melburnians, had a number of members evicted from the stadium for unfurling a banner reading, “WE STAND WITH THE 198”.
Protesting supporters have received the backing of players, who are fresh from their own bitter bargaining dispute with the FFA. Matt McKay, Brisbane Roar captain and president of the players’ union, told the union’s annual general meeting, “[T]he players are firm in their support of the fans and the players must stand with them”.
Media commentators have also entered the fray, including former Socceroos player Mark Bosnich, who interrupted A-League head Damien de Bohun on Fox Sports mid-interview after he avoided answering questions and refused to commit to an appeals process.
The response from de Bohun and FFA CEO David Gallop shows their complete disregard for active supporters. They have refused to defend fans from media slander or commit to a fair appeals process.
The Red and Black Bloc have vowed to boycott their next fixture. Other supporter groups are set to follow. In the words of the North Terrace, “We will not lie down until we achieve what we set out to”.

Benjamin Solah

Jeremy Gibson

Football fans walk out to defend those banned

The residents of Tecoma, in the Dandenong Ranges, are still fighting against an attempt by McDonald’s to open an outlet in their suburb. In recent weeks, they have taken serious steps forward in their David vs. Goliath struggle against the global hamburger giant.
Representatives of the campaign travelled to Chicago to visit the McDonald’s corporate headquarters and present a petition demanding that the company respect the wishes of the town. Their petition has to date gathered nearly 100,000 signatures from around the world. More than $40,000 was raised in donations to fund the trip and pay for a half-page ad in the Chicago Tribune.
People around the world, aware of the destructive impact McDonald’s has on workers and communities globally, have found inspiration in this battle.
 While in Chicago, the Tecoma representatives met with the Workers Organizing Committee of Chicago, which has been making headlines with its Fight for 15 campaign. Fight for 15 is organising low wage workers in the fast food and retail industries to campaign for a $15 an hour minimum wage. The US federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 an hour. McDonald’s pays most of its workers at this rate while raking in billions in profits. 
In Melbourne, eight activists are tied up in the courts as McDonald’s lawyers scramble for a means to shut down the ongoing protest at the Tecoma site. The Supreme Court has upheld an injunction banning the eight from the site, and has directed the parties to seek mediation. If this fails, they’ll be back in the Supreme Court. 
One glimmer of hope is that McDonald’s has dropped its claims for damages against the protesters, and is now pushing only for legal costs and a permanent injunction. This is still a major attack on the ability of Tecoma residents to resist corporate invasion. But it shows that McDonald’s isn’t immune to public pressure and that there is still potential to shut down the McDonald’s site for good.

Tecoma takes fight to Chicago

The struggle by residents against the construction of a McDonald’s in the Dandenong Ranges township of Tecoma has entered a difficult new phase, with eight protesters now being sued by the company.
The campaign began in earnest in October 2012, when, after its plans to build a 24-hour outlet in Tecoma were knocked back by the local council, McDonald’s appealed directly to the Victorian planning tribunal. Ignoring more than 1,000 objections to the development, the tribunal overruled the council and gave McDonald’s the green light.
This kick started a determined campaign by local residents, as they asserted their right to have a say over what development was allowed in their township. The biggest boon for the campaign came in July, two days after demolition work began. The construction union, the CFMEU, advised members on the site that working in the midst of protests and disruptions put health and safety at risk, and shut down the site.
A CFMEU branch meeting then passed a motion “supporting the right of residents to protest the store” and recommending that McDonald’s “reconsider” its plans for the site. Residents have since also received backing from other unions, including the ASU and NUW.
Demolition at the site finally resumed with non-union labour in August, but only after dozens of police were mobilised to remove protesters.
McDonald’s has now hauled a number of protesters into the Victorian Supreme Court, attempting to sue for damages for the disruption that has been caused to date. Dubbed the “Tecoma Eight”, these campaigners have been served with injunctions, now extended to 20 September, banning them from trespassing on the site lest they face further legal ramifications.
Lawyers representing McDonald’s are yet to specify the amount they’ll be seeking in damages from the eight, but given that they’re claiming to have lost thousands of dollars a day due to the protests, it seems likely that they’ll be after a significant sum.
However, residents have shown no sign of wavering, and as support for the campaign continues to grow, so too does their confidence.

Football fans walk out to defend those banned

Tecoma takes fight to Chicago

David confronts a goliath in yellow overalls

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