Anti-Swans sentiments in Melbourne last weekend - UGH!

[Tuesday]

Originally posted by ScottH
Maybe its just you???

Perhaps

I will return, aber natuerlich, and will learn some foul language from the baseball boys in the meantime [though it tends to focus around something to do with 'your mum']... but will that propagate bad footy karma? We spend the entire week picking up footy karma like it's brownie points, so by subscribing to their level of intellect and insulting those who produced them, will it prove detrimental to us/the Swans?

OH! The dilemmas!

Is it all about strategy or survival? Not able to make it down for the Carlton match, so I am kinda glad I have near on a month to work on this... the vibes are everything!

[Rob-bloods]

As an ex Sydneysider, Swans are in no way unpopular as such, down here.

However, the media has really ripped into us lately as we are singlehandedly 'killing football" etc etc.

Most casual observers would obviously have picked Saturday as a crap game, but who would have known 29 was an almost record low 'into 50s' if it wasn't so heavily pushed?

As for abuse in the street for red and white...never for me!

[cressakel]

Re: Anti-Swans sentiments in Melbourne last weekend - UGH!

Originally posted by Tuesday
Well, I just wished to find out experiences of those who were in Melbourne over the weekend. I returned home tonight, thus the thread is probably a little late considering we're all progressing toward the 'optimism' phase that is Wednesday.

So anyhoo, my experiences:

I flew down for the game on the weekend - my first ever interstate viewing. I was so excited and thought nothing could dampen my spirits but I have never in my whole life encountered the degree of general hostility and animosity directed towards Swans supporters down there! I was amazed! We were harassed all day and were only in our scarves!


How do all you Melbourne-based Swans supporters cope?!?!

I know I will need to grow some thicker skin before I return, but having been Sydney born and bred, I have never encountered this nastiness before. Whilst there are people who are rabid supporters of a variety of teams in Sydney, I rekon the general population couldn't care less if you barracked for a certain team [with the exception of the Bulldogs]. Or perhaps it's my apathy once again [damn uni!].

Anyhoo, I was just really shocked. It took us until today [well, Tuesday] to pluck up enough courage to pull our scarves back out and even then I had to stand in Bourke Street Mall and shout at people who were complete tools to us. Talk about bad vibes...

I do not intend this to be a Sydney [lovely city] v Melbourne [terrible!] rant, because that's not what I felt. I was blown away at the degree to which people take the game to heart and how they directed their hatred for a team toward the supporters. I would never do that! Am I misled in my footy ettiquette?

It just really hurt my feelings
Has anyone else encountered this?

Now......Are you sure you were in the Bourke Street Mall and not in either Fitzroy St, St.Kilda or Mt.Alexander Rd, Essendon or Smith St, Collingwood or Lygon St, Carlton ???!!!

I have encountered degrees of ridicule, friendly banter and abuse many times over the years in Melbourne for being a Swans fan - but that is nothing in comparison to what the person giving to myself got back in return....

It is all part of being a passionate supporter of an AFL club in Melbourne. All clubs have a skeleton in the closest, find it and attack opposition supporters with the skeleton like there is no tomorrow is my tip to you......

[jenky28]

Re: Re: Anti-Swans sentiments in Melbourne last weekend - UGH!

I live here in Melbourne and i must admit i dont really get abused by opp supporters. Most are nice and congratulate us when we win.
The only ppl i really cop flack off is the ppl in brisbane. And that is only cos they detest the number 28 i wear on my jumper!

Dont take it to heart ppl are just immature and like to rub the salt deeper into the wounds than it already is!

Keep ur head up!

Jenky 28

[Diego]

Never once have I been abused. I love wearing my swans scarf on the way home. Its such a nice site when you catch a tram and the whole carriage is packed with ppl and their clobber on.

I used to cop more looks in Sydney though. Never forget on the way to the pub last year to watch the final between the saints and the swans and decided to take my two then housemates who were on holiday from Ireland. They were excited asking me to waer some of my swans clobber. Excitement left as soon as we walked down cleveland st and were faced with ppl giving us weird looks.

Its cool to go to a game in Sydney but it very uncool if you walk down the road with your clobber on. You are frowned upon as some classless git, which i find it ironic coming from Sydneysiders who have the least class. Hence why people only put their clobber on when they get to the game and as soon as they leave the SCG they hide it from the public eye.

Ahh Sydneysiders...have to love their insecurities.

[cruiser]

Originally posted by Diego
which i find it ironic coming from Sydneysiders who have the least class. ...... Ahh Sydneysiders...have to love their insecurities.

Gawd

[EMJ]

Swans phone cover available at Parklea markets from those phone cover shops.
Right at the back entrance there is a phone shop that sells Swans phone covers.

[Diego]

Originally posted by cruiser
Gawd

Its true though.

Why not be proud of wearing your clobber instead of worrying what the next person is going to say. Its a very Sydneycentric thing to do.

[swansrock4eva]

Originally posted by janpa
Swans phone cover available at Parklea markets from those phone cover shops.
Right at the back entrance there is a phone shop that sells Swans phone covers.

Sadly not for my phone - I was there a few weeks back and they don't think they're getting any in other than the dodgy fake ones that fall apart and chip and peel really easily

[Cher]

We often head down to Lygon Street (Carlton) after the game and people are always friendly and interested and ask who won the game, most of the people there don't actually live in Carlton.
I have never ever had abuse in the street wearing Swans colours, even in Geelong. Only places I have copped abuse from other fans would be Carlton and Essendon supporters at the games! (but its a rare breed who abuses supporters of other teams)

[Tuesday]

Well, I just downloaded my photos from the adventures we had over the weekend, and like to think of this pic as a visual metaphor for our experiences. We went to pay our respects to Lake Oval/Bob Jane Stadium and even the swans outside at Albert Park Lake had it in for us! Sheesh!

But after reading the rest of the thread, I am sure that next time I will come prepared with some quick-witted comments about those damn Pies/Saints/Bombers etc etc etc... Bring it!

So that's my two cents worth.

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Originally posted by swansrock4eva
I've always loved going to Melbourne - I've been to about 10 matches in Melbourne, and every time I've always ended up having decent footy conversations with supporters of every club - even our rivals for that weekend are happy to sit and have a chat and be friendly, but always bearing in mind the "hehe my team's gonna kick your team's ass" aspect, but it's never been nasty, except for the drunk psycho roos supporters in 96 (imagine getting dragged out of the grand final by cops by your hair, and missing your team's premiership!).

They were just sensational. Sitting in the next bay spitting beer al over us. Then getting dragged out by the cops kicking at their nether regions as hard as they could. One copper pulled her out by her HAIR! Great stuff!

I have chatted to Peter_H and the great Beaussie about how good it feels to be received positively when wearing your club colours around, even on non match days. It seems in Melbourne that wearing one's colours is an invitation for others to come up and talk footy, regardless of what team you barrack for. You go to the markets and get into discussions with other people wearing other team's scarves. It is just awesome. you feel so normal, so alive, so respected.

Then you head back into NSW. I remember we were eating at Holbrook on the way home from a game in Melbourne and the Sydney people were looking at us as if we were some kind of freaks from outer space. I catch the 355 bus to the SCG; you should see some of the looks I get when I'm wearing my Swans.Wearing one's colours is just so uncool in Sydney. I recall even one RWO moderator asking whether he could go home to change before heading out to Lygon St for pizza after the game.

I'm proud to wear my colours. They are part of me, win lose or draw. But it does grate getting glares from the overwhelming majority of Sydney people who are not brought up with the sub-culture of the footy barracker and stare at you like they did on the night Diego mentioned.

The media have been hot on the Swans all week. Really digging the boot in! So you probably bore the brunt of this by wearing your scarves around the city. Melbourne people get very emotional about their footy. and react when the media stirr them up. I think you bore some of that.

You probably were in the wrong place at the wrong time I'm afraid.

JF

[Diego]

Originally posted by JF_Bay22_SCG


Melbourne people get very emotional about their footy. and react when the media stirr them up. I think you bore some of that.

You probably were in the wrong place at the wrong time I'm afraid.

JF

That is true.

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Originally posted by Rizzo
Really? So all that red and white down Oxford St after a game is a co-incidence?

Are you on drugs or what man? That stereotype actually could not be FURTHER from the truth!

I was once BARRED from entering the Oxford Hotel BECAUSE I was with a few of the Gayfooty.com.au gang and we were all wearing heinous Swans supporter gear on. In his view because we were wearing Swans gear, we had to be 'breeders', right. We eventually got in, and were glared at by all the little twinks and muscleboys to the extent that we got up and left. We all went to the Newtown Hotel in a cab. The barman yelled out" Go Swannies! What a win!"

The Beauchamp Hotel, well those were the days! a bar packed FULL of camp Swans queens & dykes in full regalia. It was so great when they stopped the techno soundtrack to play the club song we all went mad, annoying the muscleboys even more, which was even better! I recall after a really exciting win over the Eagles they had a replay in the bar. They had a shot of a player getting his legs rubbed and the place erupted. Bloody classic! Great for a laugh, I tell you!

JF

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Originally posted by Charlie
Interesting. I've seen JF allude to this a few times too.

My day-to-day jacket for cold weather is a Swans one, but not Swans colours... would that be seen as out of the ordinary in Sydney? What about a Swans watch and Cheer Cheer as my ring tone? These are nothing out of the ordinary here in Melbourne - and most people would recognise each club's ring tone if they heard it.

Wearing a jacket I guess would be OK. Hey, if it is cold, you wear a jacket, right? But wearing a scarf to keep off the cold, FUUUUUGETTT IT, you'll get glared at as if you are a freak of nature.

Interestingly, I wear my blue swans bucket hat to work, both to keep out the King St glare as well as to warm the freshly mowed noggin. And have a Swans Melbourne membership lanyard to I hang my keys around when at the office. So people are in no doubt as to my allegiances, even if it kinda subtle.
I used to wear my club tie every Monday morning after a win as you do traditionaly in Melbourne. people just did not understand why I would do this. Some even refused to understand how I could still be so happy about a mere football match 24 hours after it had finished.

JF

PS:- I wear my Fc Bayern scarf to work on cold mornings. People look at it with a mixture of curiousity and suspicion.