WATCH: AFL crowds in the spotlight after brawls at St Kilda, Collingwood game caught on camera

Mick Stirling

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WATCH: AFL crowds in the spotlight after brawls at St Kilda, Collingwood game caught on camera image

Concerns have again been raised over AFL fan behaviour after two separate fights among supporters were caught on camera at the St Kilda and Collingwood round nine game.

A seeming increase in the number of violent episodes in the stands at AFL matches will no doubt have the League concerned over the image of the game.

One incident was an all-in brawl between a number of Saints and Magpies fans in one of Etihad Stadium’s bars, believed to have started due to taunting that referred to Collingwood’s 2010 Grand Final victory over St Kilda.

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Big punches were thrown, with memorabilia and glasses broken in the dust up which only stopped when security guards intervened.


The second incident reportedly started in the stands and saw a single Saints supporter beset upon by Pies fans while children watched.

Punches stopped flying when a woman put herself in the middle of the fray, but tempers flared again when the Collingwood group threw beer at the St Kilda fans.



The brawls followed quickly on the back of a fight at the Essendon and Geelong clash at the MCG earlier on Saturday, with police needing to use pepper spray to break up the participants.

Fights were part of the football scenery up until the 1990s, but the AFL has prioritised improving crowd behaviour in an effort to make the game-day experience a family friendly one.

However, these and other recent incidents suggest violence is creeping back into the stands.

"That's as bad a look as you can have for footy," former Melbourne champion Garry Lyon said on SEN Breakfast on Tuesday morning.

"The AFL would be absolutely off their nut about that, and rightfully so.

"If that was the soccer we'd be screaming from the top of the trees."

Mick Stirling