Melbourne Victory pitch invasion: Football Australia’s fines and sanctions will hurt, but should have gone further after shameful episode

That did not happen.

The punishment handed down by Football Australia fell a step short.

The largest fine ever handed down in Australian football will decimate Victory’s bottom line this season, but to have escaped the immediate loss of competition points feels like a let-off.

The shameful scenes of December 17, which were relayed and replayed around the world, warranted the strongest of responses from Football Australia, and a suspended 10-point deduction isn’t that.

The only way it will be triggered is in the event of another pitch invasion.

Surely, even the stupid aren’t that stupid.

No fine or sanction will heal the physical scar to Thomas Glover’s face or the metaphorical scar to the game, but the docking of points would have at the very least sent a loud, clear message to Victory’s violent fringe of supporters that their actions came with the most dramatic consequences possible.

This is how FA chief executive James Johnson explained the rationale.

“We went back to what is ultimately important and that’s the integrity of our competitions,” he said.

“We felt that if we were to implement a points deduction now, it wasn’t the most effective way of deterring the fans that will attend future matches from stopping this kind of behaviour.”

This aligns with a subliminal message FA has been sending out for some time.

The self-regulation of fans.

The Victory appeared to do their part on Tuesday by announcing their intention to disband the problematic active support groups behind the pitch invasion. It feels like a righteous step. But another group will form in the place of Original Style Melbourne. The true indication of Victory’s ability to communicate clearly, and for its active supporters to listen and self-regulate, won’t be known until then.

Johnson was at pains to point out the vast majority of Victory fans are good people who go to games for the right reason. Supporters of other A-League teams have demonstrated how to disapprove of the APL’s decision to sell grand final rights peacefully, without losing intent.

Walkouts. No shows.

They knew where the line was: the fence.

When 150 morons decided to jump it, and throw flares over it, at the Melbourne Derby self-regulation when it came to Victory’s supporters (and a couple of City halfwits who threw flares) was exposed as a well-meaning, but ultimately toothless, gesture.

There has long been a small element of Victory fans who crave anarchy, be it at A-Leagues games, or local NPL fixtures. They idolise ultras groups of Europe and South America, some of whom have control over what goes on in a club.

It can’t work in Australia, and won’t.

The result of the December 17 pitch invasion will be increased policing at games. It will be over the top for the “vast majority” of fans at every game. A-League fans have been here before. Walking into Derby’s in Melbourne and Sydney, or other big games, has felt like a procession into a conflict zone.

Gradually, through communication, the overbearing policing eased a touch.

That’s gone now.

That’s the legacy of the Victory fringe.

There is another element to this sorry saga that should worry football officials.

Even if the Victory is successful in disbanding the active groups in question, there is little to stop the rogue element from getting their “ultras fix” at local NPL games played around Melbourne this winter and beyond. It’s harder to effectively police games in suburban grounds as opposed to big stadia. Football Australia needs to act quickly with Football Victoria to stop this happening.

More time wasted on prevention, instead of evolution.

The bane of the game’s existence.

Back in 1991, there was a riot at a Preston-South Melbourne game in the old NSL. Preston were docked four points the following season. In 1985, a game between Sydney Olympic and Sydney City was cancelled when irate fans invaded the pitch. Such horrible moments smeared the entire sport.

It’s a perception modern-day administrators have been desperate to navigate away from.

In 2005, when the A-League was conceived following the death of the NSL, the marketing label of “football, but not as you know it” wasn’t just a reference to the league's professionalism of all teams. It was about distancing the professional game from the perceived violence and divisions of the past and appealing to a broader market.

The events of December 17 have undone much of that work.

Certainly, $450,000 flying out the door in fines (with another $100,000 suspended) will hurt the Victory. The impact on future commercial negotiations across the league could hurt more, and for longer. Reputations take decades to build and seconds to lose. Just how enduring the pain will be down to the league’s actions from here and the gift of the gab of its executives.

Even notwithstanding the immediate loss of points, this has been a month from hell for the Victory. Their marquee signing, Nani, blew out his ACL last week and the team has lost three straight since the Melbourne Derby disgrace.

The club is at its lowest ebb.

Games won’t look or sound the same for some time, but it could be worse. One more wrong step would be catastrophic for the game’s biggest club in Australia.

Victory has still been hit by a big stick. It just didn’t have nails on it.