Violence in Alice Spring - Grand Final

[kickit2me]

Pioneers, the green & gold side are predominantly a half caste club, who recruit Darwin based aboriginals midway thru the season.

They have been involved in several violent incidents at CAFL Grand Finals. I was there for one in 1986, spot fires all over the ground, one player for Pioneers, their ruckman, Chippy Miller got reported 11 times (susequently suspended for 17 weeks). Some Pioneer fans jumped the fence but didn't go any further. .....and the reason for that?

At the previous year's grand final they did go further...all the way to the other end of the ground (right of youtube screeen) to the Rovers clubrooms (Rovers won). They forced the Rovers club to barricade itself inside. Supporters or players who didn't make it inside the clubroom were attacked. The Pioneers Football Club were fined heavily but no arrests were made.

The Pioneers football club has a very poor history with supporter, and player, violence.

When I played for Wests (...good to see ya's won another flag fellas) I once accidently kneed a Pioneers player in the back whilst in a marking contest. The following day after work, I was followed home (I rode a bike in Alice) by the player I kneed and about 6 of his mates, who were sitting in the back of a ute. They gave me lots of throat cutting gestures and "whitey this, whitey that, you're dead"...etc etc. Thankfully nothing came of it.

West Alice Springs Football Club is a club that, traditionally, are made up of tradesmen and labourers. Working class. Tough but fair. I played there for 2 seasons and we only had one aboriginal on the senior list, a great rover called Athol Mitchell, who we recruited from the predominantly full blood club, Souths.

Teams are divided, not just on race, but on occupation....It's not strict and over time this division has blurred, but footy, like the city itself, is divided. Black suburbs, white suburbs, half caste suburbs. It's fact.

All of the clubs supporters impose a sort of self segregation on game day. Wests and Federals share the 'hill'. Rovers have their clubrooms and a bar at the southern end goal. Pioneers take up the hill, left of the change rooms all the way to behind the northern goal. Souths have the outer wing. Non affiliated fans got to the grandstand.

My views are from what I witnessed 20 years ago, but I'm sure Sherrife can clarify most of them as fact.


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You can see clearly on the video that Wests players, who are predominantly white, are first harangued by a Pioneers player, a little bloke. You can see him trying to get the the celebrating huddle of West's players. A Wests trainer??? wearing yellow stops him with a bump and shove and within moments a group of Pioneers supporters (entering left of screen) are in amongst it.

It takes a little longer for the West's supporters, who seat themselves on a hill to the left of the grandstand (where the video camera was) to get involved.

[David]

If this is the case kickit2me, you've got to wonder if this club should be suspended from the league.

Didn't that happen to North Melbourne a century ago, or something? I seem to recall they were kicked out of the VFA for a short time because of the players' and supporters' behaviour.

[HAL]

Or something. What is your real name?