Tigers tackle feral fans

wrennyboy

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Matthew Richardson and fellow Tigers lend support at Coburg.
Picture: Jesse Marlow

Richmond will vigorously pursue and expel those supporters who berated and spat on the club's players after Friday night's massive loss to Adelaide.

The latest dramatic instalment at Tigerland comes as coach Danny Frawley's future at the club looks increasingly tenuous. Speculation intensifies that a shortlist of replacements - featuring Terry Wallace, Rodney Eade and Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy, who has yet to sign a new contract - has been drawn up by Richmond board members.

An official course of action over the Tigers' rogue fans - who swarmed around the players' race at half-time and full-time on Friday night - will be decided at a Richmond heads of department meeting today.

But chief executive Ian Campbell and football director Greg Miller yesterday said they wanted to take the matter further.

Campbell said the club would act as soon as it had the details of those supporters involved, with charges possible for those involved in spitting incidents.

"I've heard it said that spitting is a criminal offence, and that would really be an issue for the police to investigate and make their own assessment," he said. "We were actively working with the police on whatever needed to be done to try to work out who it was."

Campbell said those identified would have their memberships cancelled if they had bought one for the 2004 season. "That behaviour is not going to be tolerated by the club and if we've got their name and address, we are going to be dragging them in . . . we will drag them in and give them their money back," he said.

"Suffice to say, that is completely unacceptable and it is not Richmond-like behaviour. A majority of the supporters are just disgusted with the behaviour of a few."

Miller also indicated his desire to punish the fans who have brought the club more negative publicity during one of its toughest times. "Personally, I think we ought to be doing something about it," he said.

Telstra Dome chief executive Ian Collins said on Saturday that the identity of one female supporter would be passed on to Richmond, while other unruly spectators could be identified by the stadium's video surveillance.

League operations manager Adrian Anderson, speaking on Triple M yesterday, called on the media to avoid giving such people exposure. "If you look closely at the people doing it, they're partly doing it for a bit of exposure for themselves," he said.

Miller rejected suggestions that Richmond would seek extra security for Frawley, despite revelations that Telstra Dome officials had deployed extra security staff on Friday night.

In a show of unity, Richmond players, including Matthew Richardson, Greg Stafford, Ty Zantuck, Joel Bowden and David Rodan, got together for lunch yesterday, before going to watch the Tigers' VFL side Coburg play Box Hill at Coburg City Oval. "As a group, they had lunch and they went to Coburg to watch a lot of their teammates play," Miller said.

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2004/04/25/1082831435877.html
 

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