KEEPING THE GIANT ASLEEPOften called the Sleeping Giant of Australian sport, the game of soccer and those who played it endured hardship and discrimination to such a degree that it is somewhat surprising that it is flourishing today. This essay examines a few of the obstacles to the integration and acceptance of the world game.

Australia has a very proud sporting identity. As a nation, we revere our sporting heroes as gods, and sport itself is seen as being a great leveller for the many different segments of a diverse and multicultural society. However, the unfortunate reality is that like all other areas of society sport is not untouched by the vices of prejudice and racism. In no better way has this been evidenced than in the treatment of the game of soccer by mainstream media outlets and socially influential people. Fear of a growing migrant community on Australian shores was masked as a disdain and disrespect for the game and those associated with it. The measures taken by authorities and mainstream media to prevent any meaningful integration of soccer into the broader sporting landscape of Australia revealed intolerance of a more sinister sort. This essay will argue that the processes of segregating ethnic minorities into ethnocentric clubs in conjunction with the sensationalist and disrespectful media approach helped to create and foster the very situations which were feared from the beginning: ethnocentrism, ethnic tensions, and a general failure to integrate a large portion of the migrant community into the wider Australian culture. While it is impossible to cover such an expansive history in such a short time, a focus on post-Second World War South Melbourne Soccer Club will provide a glimpse into what certain sections of the Melbourne Greek community endured during the latter half of the 20th Century, thus giving a model for the way in which soccer and immigrants were treated. Through an examination of player and fan experiences and a close focus on anti-soccer media reportage, it will be seen how a clear agenda existed and flourished to subdue the world game and what it represented in Australia.The PeopleAustralia is widely known as a multicultural society. Since the conclusion of the Second World War, non-British populations around the country soared. In particular, the number of Southern Europeans (namely Greeks, Italians and Maltese) increased dramatically in Australias southern metropolitan centres[endnoteRef:1]. Melbourne alone saw a 41 percent increase in the overseas-born population between 1947 and 1966[endnoteRef:2]. As a predominately British nation, the ostensibly British game of soccer had been introduced to Australia at a much earlier stage. The wave of European (non-Anglo) immigrants from the mid-20th Century brought with it a significant interest in the round-ball code. Having operated under the White Australia policy for most of its young existence, British Australians still carried with themselves xenophobic attitudes and viewed the growing non-Anglo community unfavourably[endnoteRef:3]. Without the sense of integration, the European communities remained grouped together in enclaves, seeking out their own types and forming ethnically homogenous societies and clubs, including sporting clubs[endnoteRef:4]. As soccer was the most popular sport from southern and eastern European countries, it was the most popular sport among the new arrivals on Australian shores. However, given the marginalization of these new foreign groups, this measure served to marginalise the game of soccer, and it became viewed as a fringe sport by mainstream Australians[endnoteRef:5]. This combined discrimination led to the rise of the derogatory term for soccer known as wogball[endnoteRef:6]. [1: I. H. Burnley, Immigrant Absorption in the Australian City, 1947-1971, International Migration Review, 9/3 (1975), pp. 319-333] [2: Ibid.] [3: James Skinnera, Dwight H. Zakus & Allan Edwards, Coming in from the margins: ethnicity, community support and the rebranding of Australian soccer, Soccer and Society, 9/3 (2008), pp. 394-404] [4: Ibid.] [5: Ibid.] [6: Ibid.]

The ClubsSoccer clubs soon became heavily associated with a particular ethnic group. In particular, Italian, Greek, Croatian and Dutch populations became heavily involved in the game, and clubs took on an almost homogenous ethnic identity[endnoteRef:7]. (While this was helpful for immigrants to find a sense of belonging, the clubs ethnic identities became so integral that they were essentially closed off to anyone not of that particular ethnicity[endnoteRef:8].) In Melbourne alone there were three big clubs with a strictly Greek orientation: Oakleigh, Heidelberg Alexander, and South Melbourne Hellas. South Melbourne became the club most synonymous with the Greek community, and is certainly one of the most famous clubs from the pre-A-League era. The club became a safe place for Melbourne Greeks to dwell, both literally and metaphorically. It was often assumed that the Greeks either played for or strongly supported the South Melbourne club[endnoteRef:9]. The sense of togetherness was a clear goal of the club administrators, who sought to provide the Greek community with a feeling of having a home away from home[endnoteRef:10]. As good and as noble as such an initiative was, the continued grouping together of the one ethnic community hindered the process of integration, thus the majority of the soccer community and by extension the game itself remained separate from the mainstream Australian sporting landscape. [7: Roy Haya & Nick Guoth, No single pattern: Australian migrant minorities and the round ball code in Victoria, Soccer and Society, 10/6 (2009), pp. 823-842] [8: Christopher J. Hallinan; John E. Hughson (eds.), Containment of Soccer in Australia: Fencing off the World Game (Abingdon: Routledge, 2010)] [9: Georgina Tsolidisa & Vikki Pollard, Being a wog in Melbourne young people's self-fashioning through discourses of racism, Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 30/4 (2009) pp. 427-442] [10: Loring M. Danforth, Is the "World Game" an "Ethnic Game" or an "Aussie Game"? Narrating the Nation in Australian Soccer, American Ethnologist, 28/2 (2001), p. 370]

South MelbourneLike many other ethnically branded clubs, South Melbourne had very close ties with religion, namely the Greek Orthodox Church[endnoteRef:11]. Such alliances served to further alienate ethnic clubs not just from mainstream Australia, but also from each other. Traditional European rivals now had extra outlets to oppose each other, and the Catholic-Protestant-Orthodox divide only served to add to the rivalry. Old adversaries of the Greeks, such as the Turks and Macedonians who themselves had similarly ethnically homogenous soccer clubs in the Melbourne region continued their ages-old conflict on the sporting grounds and in the terraces. The level of enmity which developed between clubs and their respective supporters was particularly high in instances where the Greek South Melbourne faced off against Preston Makedonia. Interviews with supporters who attended these matches reveal the level of vitriol that opposing fans had for each other. Racist terms would get hurled from supporter groups during matches, with even children witnessing or being subjected to such behaviour[endnoteRef:12]. Occasionally these situation descended into physically violent encounters, with punch-ons being recalled and reported on[endnoteRef:13]. [11: . Roy Haya & Nick Guoth, No single pattern: Australian migrant minorities and the round ball code in Victoria, Soccer and Society, 10/6 (2009), pp. 823-842] [12: Georgina Tsolidisa & Vikki Pollard, Being a wog in Melbourne young people's self-fashioning through discourses of racism, Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 30/4 (2009) pp. 427-442] [13: Ibid.]

Tarnished ReputationIncidents which saw fans clash with each other soon were seen as being typical to the game of soccer, particularly by the white mainstream Australian. Media reports of violence and disruptive behaviour produced a particular mindset about the game, and enhanced its existing reputation as being disruptive, foreign, and thoroughly un-Australian. While there was indeed truth behind much of what was espoused by news outlets, the sensationalist nature of the reporting indicated a specific agenda to maintain the status-quo in Australian sport, which would be much more blatantly obvious in the move into the 21st Century.[endnoteRef:14] 1950 article from the Brisbane paper Courier-Mail, highlighting the migrant interest in the game of soccer and the unusual attention that it drew. This article speaks primarily of the formation of Greek clubs in the Brisbane area, highlighting the segregation and ethnically homogenous nature of soccer clubs in Australia. [14: MIGRANTS TO PLAY SOCCER, The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Ql), February 11, 1950, p. 7, in Trove [online database] Retrieved October 14, 2015]

[endnoteRef:15]1990 article from Canberra Times showing the Macedonian-supported club Preston Makedonia asking fans to be well-behaved. Incidents between Macedonian and Greek fans were known to be quite intense, and while news outlets had responsibilities to report the facts, the soccer community gained undesirable monikers such as hooligans and thugs. [15: Cool soccer fans wanted, Canberra Times, October 9, 1990, p. 20, in Trove [online database] Retrieved October 15, 2015]

The MediaThe Australian tabloid media has long been regarded as an enemy of the round-ball code in Australia. Whether one believes that the supporters of soccer simply suffered from a persecution complex or that the mainstream media really did have an anti-soccer agenda, it is difficult to ignore the disproportionate level of bad press that soccer seems to have received. Increasing reports on the troubles associated with soccer games often those involving South Melbourne, Preston Makedonia or the Croatian club Melbourne Knights contributed to the public mindset that the soccer in Australia was un-Australian[endnoteRef:16]. [16: Loring M. Danforth, Is the "World Game" an "Ethnic Game" or an "Aussie Game"? Narrating the Nation in Australian Soccer, American Ethnologist, 28/2 (2001), p. 374]

[endnoteRef:17]1994 article from Canberra Times describing measures taken by soccer authorities to limit the possibility for ethnic tensions to erupt in a match between Melbourne Knights and South Melbourne. The fears of racial violence at a high profile soccer match caused the organisers to ban items which might incite racial insensitivity. [17: Croatian, Greek flags banned for soccer match, The Canberra Times, March 5, 1994, p. 13, in Trove [online database] retrieved October 18, 2015]

The ResponseThe level of bad press that soccer was receiving particularly in relation to its ethnic diversity and instability caused soccer authorities to drastically rethink the structure of the game. Reports conducted in 1990[endnoteRef:18] and 1992[endnoteRef:19] for the governing body of the sport suggested that the game was seriously in need of a new image. Seemingly a drastic measure, the governing body sought to deethnicise clubs in Australia[endnoteRef:20]. This initiative brings about an interesting twist on Australias stance on multiculturalism. That such intolerance of ethnicity should be seen at a specific level of society seems inconsistent with Australias reputation as a multicultural society, and raises questions about how deeply Australians truly embraced multiculturalism in practice[endnoteRef:21]. [18: Christopher J. Hallinan; John E. Hughson (eds.), Containment of Soccer in Australia: Fencing off the World Game (Abingdon: Routledge, 2010)p. 94] [19: Loring M. Danforth, Is the "World Game" an "Ethnic Game" or an "Aussie Game"? Narrating the Nation in Australian Soccer, American Ethnologist, 28/2 (2001), p. 373] [20: Ibid.] [21: Ibid.]

Continued Media BiasWhile many soccer clubs with prior ethnic affiliations (including South Melbourne) continued to operate into the 21st Century, a new league of professional soccer teams was created in 2005, with teams designed to appeal to a much wider audience than previous ethnically focused clubs. Despite this effort to make the game seem more Australian, tabloid media still continued to negatively portray the sport. Sensationalist articles in newspapers such as Melbournes own Herald Sun showed a distinct lack of excitement and acceptance for what was becoming an increasingly popular game. In no better way was this exemplified than when AFL legen Ron Barassi was plastered on the front page of the newspaper, aggresively crushing a soccer ball and defiantly refusing to entertain the thought of the soccer World Cup being hosted in Australia and disrupting Australias better game of AFL[endnoteRef:22]. Barassi himself had no say over what the respective sporting organisations would decide, but his legendary status among AFL-loving Australians gave tremendous weight to the emotion that the paper sought to elicit. [22: Michael Warner, Soccer chiefs cave in after footy fans send message to favour AFL over Australian World Cup bid, Herald Sun, December 8, 2009 accessed October 19, 2015. Image from ]

Further illustrations of the Herald Suns questionable journalism can be seen in the disproportionate reportage of troubles at soccer matches. While in no way is this meant to excuse the misdemeanours of soccer supporter groups, the sensational headlines and front-page placement of flares, fan scuffles and the like is hardly comparable to the minor mentions of crowd trouble in other sports. Even as recently as 2013, a Sun-affiliated newspaper has even gone to the trouble of posting an article which includes a picture taken in 2005. The article served as a preview for a match between traditional rivals South Melbourne and Preston, with the photo showing crowd trouble from their meeting nine years earlier, serving to create a sense of worry and fear around the fixture[endnoteRef:23]. Again, while this is not an attempt on the authors part to excuse poor crowd behaviour, it does come across as quite unnecessary to point to poor behaviour from so long ago on the off-chance that it may occur again. [23: Andrew Jefferson, Restrictions to deter crowd trouble at South Melbourne vs Preston Lions soccer match, Preston Leader, July 23, 2013 ]

Australian soccer has a truly unique history. From a widely played and accepted game, to a symbol of the other and a foreign element, to an increasingly popular major football code, Ausralian soccer in many ways gives a picture of Australias own story. The hesitancy of British Australians to welcome soccer-loving foreigners shows just how deeply entrenched the White Australia policy was for the country. The struggles that ethnic groups had with integrating into the nations admitedtly-crowded sporting landscape not just with Australians but with other ethnic groups raises questions about how deeply multiculturalism penetrated into every aspect of Australian society. And the growing interest in the game now perhaps gives a more accurate glimpse into Australias current makeup, and even the nations future.

Notes