Booze ban mooted after finals fisticuffs

By Casey Neill and Lilly O’Gorman
ALCOHOL-fuelled violence marred Saturday’s football finals at Gembrook, prompting a police call for a blanket booze ban at future finals series across the district.
A vicious fight broke out between Emerald and Seville supporters during the last quarter of their Division Two seniors clash at Gembrook.
The YVMDFNL is co-operating with police and mounting a full investigation into Saturday’s brawl.
Senior Constable Andrew Macreadie said he and his colleagues separated those involved in the Gembrook brawl and maintained a visible presence for the rest of the event.
About 10 police were on the scene, but no arrests were made. Sen Const Macreadie said several people were injured in the fight but no ambulance was called.
“It was all alcohol,” he said.
He suggested an alcohol-free finals series would prevent a repeat of the incident.
Yarra Valley Mountain District Football and Netball League CEO Stephen Walter said a broken car window sparked the violent confrontation. Mr Walter said this was the league’s first grand final incident in 15 years.
“We had a great day of football and netball and this overshadows everything,” he said. “This spectator behaviour is unacceptable.”
The YVMDFNL alcohol policy is now under the spotlight, with police and the league considering a total ban.
There has already been a major crackdown on alcohol at finals in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football, which is the parent organisation of the YVMDFNL and Casey Cardinia Football League, with designated wet and dry areas.
Given those measures, the MPNFL is confident there would be no violence at the CCFL grand final between Cranbourne and Narre Warren at Edwin Flack Reserve in Berwick on Saturday.
Casey-Cardinia League’s strict alcohol policy saw wet and dry areas introduced four years ago to segregate drinkers and non-drinkers during finals. The move came at the instigation of police after an ugly incident between primarily thirds players at Berwick a few years back. The league has also changed the format of the day, with the reserves playing before the thirds, to help remedy the situation and give the 18-year-old thirds players less potential drinking time.
MPNFL operations manager Ian Benson said after an issue with the location of wet and dry areas was resolved, the policy has proved to work well at both Toomuc Reserve in Pakenham and Edwin Flack Reserve in Berwick.
“I don’t have any concerns for the spectators’ behaviour this weekend,” Mr Benson said.
“We had no incidents last year. We have wet and dry areas at Berwick and Pakenham and the behaviour has been very good.
“I believe we’ve got sufficient controls in place for this year to manage the alcohol. At this point in time, we don’t intend to change but would look at any proposals in the future.”
Sergeant Frank Bodor from Pakenham police station said the excellent behaviour of 1800 spectators at the Casey-Cardinia Seniors preliminary final at Pakenham last Sunday proved the success of wet and dry areas.
“Here it is working very well. We have got a lot of conditions and stipulations on the liquor license which the league have agreed to and are working with us,” Sgt Bodor said.
“From our point of view, it was a brilliant day.”