Outraged fans of Brisbane Roar have joined their counterparts at Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City and Adelaide United in planning a mass walkout to protest against the A-League’s decision to hold the grand finals in Sydney for the next three years.
Brisbane’s fan group – The Den – announced the move on Wednesday evening in a Facebook post that read: ‘The Den will partake in the league wide protest by supporters groups at our next home game, against West Sydney on the 23rd.’
They plan to walk out on the 20th minute and added: ‘Unless change is seen, many won’t be back.’
The trending news came a day after City and Victory supporters revealed they will walk out in the 20th minute of the Melbourne derby on Saturday night, while United fans said they would walk out of their game on December 27.
The fans are lashing out after Monday’s announcement that the A-League has signed a $10million deal with the NSW Government to hold the season’s biggest games in Sydney until 2025.
Brisbane Roar fans will stage a mass walkout for their game against WSW on December 23
The Den will join fans of Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City, who will walk out of their derby clash on Saturday.
Adelaide United fans will also walk out on December 27
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It flies in the face of A-League tradition, which rewards the highest-ranked team with a home grand final.
Peak body the Australian Professional Leagues have doubled down on the decision despite a huge backlash from fans and football stars that led APL director Anthony Di Pietro to resign.
Socceroos hero Craig Goodwin joined the chorus of condemnation on Monday, tweeting: ‘I do not support it.
I am a player, but I am also a fan. Like many fans around the country, and like I said, I too am disappointed in this decision.’
The Den’s Facebook post further stated: ‘For the foreseeable future the den will not be active.
This includes any future finals series that the club makes. This breaks our hearts to say but we see no other option for the time being.
Brisbane fans said ‘many won’t be back’ as they demand the APL to reverse its decision
‘This decision not only is anti football but every thing it stands for and the manner in which it has been made and communicated shows that the suits simply do not care about us, the fans.
‘For too long we have felt the our club has not respected us enough and was not acting in the fan’s best interests, and our chairman’s actions throughout this controversy confirms this.
‘Now the organisation as a whole has shown that they too do not have the fans a priority number 1.
‘The fans should always be 1st priority.
‘Football is not a business.
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‘If not for the fans, then who is the A-Leagues for?’
Newcastle Jets fans have not announced any plans to stage a walkout, but they did brand the grand final switch a ‘terrible decision’ in a statement on Monday.
Furious Adelaide United fans released the above statement on Facebook on Tuesday night
A-League CEO Danny Townsend is in the firing line as fans, players and clubs voice their outrage over the $10million deal with the NSW Government.
He defended the highly controversial agreement on Tuesday despite the growing backlash
‘Did they not see what 33,000 locals fans packed into McDonald Jones Stadium did for the town?’ they wrote.
‘Goodluck selling out a Sydney stadium if no Sydney team makes the GF.
Sometimes money isn’t everything.’
On Tuesday, Melbourne Victory Chairman Anthony Di Pietro tendered his resignation as a director of the APL in response to the controversial move.
‘It has become clear that in order for me to act in the best interests of Melbourne Victory and football in Victoria, I needed to resign as a board member of APL,’ Di Pietro said in a club statement.
Western United and Wellington Phoenix also publicly opposed the move.
United argued that their fans are ‘entitled to attend a Grand Final in their home state should we be successful in earning the right to do so.’
Phoenix added that they were not consulted in the decision and echoed United’s sentiments.
‘Our preference is that both the men’s and women’s A-League grand finals are played in the city of the highest ranked qualifier, as has been the case up until now.’
