Suburban foes inflame the passion

Forget nations, footy between Australian suburbs set the standard, says Ian Cole

MUCH has been made of the fact that in the Europa League soccer final, two London suburbs were competing against each other.

But we might ask the question, where in the world over the winter months would 80,000 people turn up to watch a sporting rivalry between two suburbs on a fairly regular basis?

Answer — Melbourne. And it doesn’t have to be a final!

Worldwide, huge crowds of 80,000-plus flock to sporting events played between two countries or between two states or between two cities.

But in Melbourne, huge crowds gather to watch two suburbs compete against each other. So elsewhere in the world, 80,000 plus may turn up to witness countries playing each other such as Brazil playing Argentina or England playing Italy at soccer. If two states are competing such as Rugby’s State of Origin, again vast crowds are only limited by the size of the stadium.

When it is city versus city with the Chicago White Sox playing the New York Yankees at baseball or Barcelona taking on Valencia in La Liga, then stadiums are full.

But in Australia with Australian Rules Football, 80,000 plus can attend a game fought out between suburbs! When Carlton plays Richmond in the first game of the season or Collingwood plays Essendon on Anzac Day, or Richmond plays Essendon in the Indigenous round or later on the Queen’s Birthday, Melbourne plays Collingwood, stadium seats are at a premium.

Yet it is simply two suburbs playing each other.

Teams for Australian Rules grew up based on suburban rivalry.

Even here in Tassie it was the same with the post-war TFL competition based on suburbs.

Great rivalry grew up between Glenorchy and North Hobart, while everyone wanted to beat Sandy Bay.

So when some teams dissolved, it was a huge loss to supporters, to the competition and to the suburb. Sandy Bay was a case in point. Opposing teams wanted to beat them, but when they disappeared, it was a sad moment for such a successful and much-admired club.

In Victoria, it was the same with South Melbourne dissolving and also the muchloved Fitzroy. Their demise was exemplified by the three irascible, disgruntled and cantankerous Fitzroy supporters who frequent the bar of the Napier Hotel in the television series Jack Irish. They continually lament the loss of their beloved Fitzroy.

Suburban rivalry can be a positive thing but it can be spoiled by crowd misbehaviour such as occasions in suburban London soccer.

Off the sporting field, suburban rivalry can also get a bad name in plays and movies where a negative perception may be given when things end in tears.

Examples are the New York Sharks and Jets in West Side Story, the Scorpions and T-Birds in Grease and of course the Montagues and Capulets in Romeo and Juliet.

Mostly, thankfully in Australia suburban rivalry is played out positively on the footy field.

Sure there are always exceptions, but having a gender balance in the crowd compared to other countries, may help the rivalry remain peaceful.

On the whole, Australian crowds seem at the moment to abide by Shakespeare’s maxim from the Taming of the Shrew, “Strive mightily, but then eat and drink as friends”.