I am doing this post as I hope that this may lead some people in bay 16 and in the Marinators to have a think about their behaviour at games, in particular, behaviour and attitudes towards women. I was under the impression that the bay welcomed all wearing yellow and all who are prepared to chant. Many times on the forum it has been said that if you see something inappropriate then you should speak up. Well there was and we did.
There was an incident regarding some guys doing a chant about f** wives up the a*se. My issues with last night are twofold - the chant itself and what happens when someone speaks up against an offensive chant.
When the chant started, rather than sit by in silence, my wife said something to the guys, as she was offended and she thought it was an inappropriate chant. This was met with a fair degree of anger, she was told "this is australia and we can say these things" (whatever that means?!?) and she was also told that she had no right to say anything as she is "new" to the bay and that this chant has been used for 3 years. I'm assuming that going to all games v2 and standing in the bay for all of this season spending over $2K traveling to away games, when asked for help by Marinators we put our hands up, constitutes as being a "newcomer". I thought that we were trying to encourage new fans to the bay anyway or is it that the Marinators wish too encourage only yellow wearing, misogynist men?!?! Seriously this is not good enough and well .. frankly.. its bogan behaviour! Maybe the "Bogan free zone" banner is a bit hypocritical in the bay.
I did react to the guy in question and in some peoples eyes I may have overreacted, but I have a lot of respect for women who are in bay 16 and who are actively involved in supporting our team and football in general, and I couldn't stand by and watch my wife be berated in the manner that she was. I think it was disgusting and completely outrageous behaviour that someone can speak up and have shit put upon them like that. If this kind of attitude and behaviour is widely accepted in the bay then no one will speak up and I am sorry to say that the marinators will become squadron v2.
So regarding the chant, I guess some would say that football has always had these kind of chants. I am fully aware of the past as I was part of the Rowdies for Breakers games but hey, the NSL days are over! I thought that the A-League heralded a new start, a deferral from the past and an opportunity for football to be appreciated and loved by a wider audience. Seriously if I wanted to hear that kind of shit I should start going to the rugby league. If we believed that old chants are still okay to be used then would you be happy yelling out nigger chants to Bruce Djite or Jonas Salley when we play Adelaide because that's the way it was done back in the 1950's??? Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about making all of our chants sunday school sing-a-longs, I'm just saying that some common sense judgment needs to be used.
Just take a look around at the number of women and children in the crowd. My hope is that when the women's a-league starts next year that these players are not treated with such disrespect and contempt. I think its high-time that some people get with the times and think about their behaviour and ask themselves how they would feel if it was their wife/girlfriend/sister/mother in the bay I guess its a question of how many and what kind of supporters you want in bay 16.
I am and always will be a devoted and loyal mariners fan but I very much doubt that I will return to the bay unless this attitude changes.
There was an incident regarding some guys doing a chant about f** wives up the a*se. My issues with last night are twofold - the chant itself and what happens when someone speaks up against an offensive chant.
When the chant started, rather than sit by in silence, my wife said something to the guys, as she was offended and she thought it was an inappropriate chant. This was met with a fair degree of anger, she was told "this is australia and we can say these things" (whatever that means?!?) and she was also told that she had no right to say anything as she is "new" to the bay and that this chant has been used for 3 years. I'm assuming that going to all games v2 and standing in the bay for all of this season spending over $2K traveling to away games, when asked for help by Marinators we put our hands up, constitutes as being a "newcomer". I thought that we were trying to encourage new fans to the bay anyway or is it that the Marinators wish too encourage only yellow wearing, misogynist men?!?! Seriously this is not good enough and well .. frankly.. its bogan behaviour! Maybe the "Bogan free zone" banner is a bit hypocritical in the bay.
I did react to the guy in question and in some peoples eyes I may have overreacted, but I have a lot of respect for women who are in bay 16 and who are actively involved in supporting our team and football in general, and I couldn't stand by and watch my wife be berated in the manner that she was. I think it was disgusting and completely outrageous behaviour that someone can speak up and have shit put upon them like that. If this kind of attitude and behaviour is widely accepted in the bay then no one will speak up and I am sorry to say that the marinators will become squadron v2.
So regarding the chant, I guess some would say that football has always had these kind of chants. I am fully aware of the past as I was part of the Rowdies for Breakers games but hey, the NSL days are over! I thought that the A-League heralded a new start, a deferral from the past and an opportunity for football to be appreciated and loved by a wider audience. Seriously if I wanted to hear that kind of shit I should start going to the rugby league. If we believed that old chants are still okay to be used then would you be happy yelling out nigger chants to Bruce Djite or Jonas Salley when we play Adelaide because that's the way it was done back in the 1950's??? Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about making all of our chants sunday school sing-a-longs, I'm just saying that some common sense judgment needs to be used.
Just take a look around at the number of women and children in the crowd. My hope is that when the women's a-league starts next year that these players are not treated with such disrespect and contempt. I think its high-time that some people get with the times and think about their behaviour and ask themselves how they would feel if it was their wife/girlfriend/sister/mother in the bay I guess its a question of how many and what kind of supporters you want in bay 16.
I am and always will be a devoted and loyal mariners fan but I very much doubt that I will return to the bay unless this attitude changes.