Football Victoria held its men’s and women’s end of season deciders over the weekend to strong attendances, and some of its most famous clubs still have key roles to play on the national stage in 2025 with the Australia Cup final and inaugural Championship to be played next month.

Former NSL-clubs Heidelberg, South Melbourne and Preston lead the pack of those campaigning for a return to Australia’s top division on a permanent basis; indeed, their cultural and football histories look increasingly required to inject some desperately-needed life into the stalling A-Leagues.

But as night follows day, their momentum of excitement is tripped up by the actions of a few, and then feasted on by those outside the tent who don’t want the game to succeed. Preston fans – after a season-long celebration of their return to the top flight, lauded for their large crowds, famous kebapi and general enthusiasm – threw flares at Bergers striker Bul Juach during last week’s NPL Men’s semi-final.

Eight days on in Sunday’s final, members of Dandenong City’s contingent acted similarly in scenes that continually, rightly or wrongly, distance the game from the affection of mainstream, corporate Australia.

It’s the line between passion and misbehaviour, rowdiness and criminality, that the game has grappled with for decades. While sometimes it’s got the balance right, it’s never been for long enough, or consistently enough, that the ills of the past have faded into history. A whole season of harmony can be brought down by a single flare at an A-League game when there are so many prepared to dredge up and weaponise the past, in such a competitive sporting market.

‘From our perspective, we have a high-risk framework we operate under for a number of these fixtures. Down here in Victoria and especially Melbourne, we can enjoy the rich fabric and history of much of the cultural heritage of our clubs’ Football Victoria interim-CEO Dan Birrell told Box2Box.

‘At the moment as we’re seeing such an uptake from streaming and spectator standpoints, we’re obviously also seeing some anti-social behaviour which we’re not happy with. There are a variety and group of people who want to come to our games not for football, but to cause a little bit of chaos, a little bit of havoc.

‘From a preparation standpoint I think we’re in a good position. We probably have a couple of things we’ve learnt over the past couple of weeks in terms of pre-fixture high-risk meetings with the clubs, police, security, match commissioners.

‘Now it’s probably time to start engaging with some other groups – be it community, local government, even local council, to ensure the appropriate checks and balances are in place.’

Heidelberg’s Australia Cup run provides the perfect juxtaposition to the damage this kind of behaviour can have. In beating three professional sides on their way to the final they’ve forced themselves and the game at NPL level into the national press.

It’s what football needs to attract sponsorship dollars in a competitive market, to drive a hunger amongst broadcasters to be involved as the A-Leagues near the end of their current arrangement; it all comes crashing down when simultaneously, certain behaviours drive that interest away.

‘The mainstream media doesn’t need an opportunity to have conversations about our code in perhaps not such a positive light. I do think there’s a nefarious element to our game here. Historically the cultural element has brought such a momentum wave of passion, but that passion has probably become a little bit un-bottled.

‘I don’t detract from the view that if it’s unsafe, intimidating or unenjoyable for some, then already we’ve lost a key part of our market share. So we need to make sure 100% of people attending those fixtures feel comfortable, confident, safe, and otherwise.’