“I can’t believe how many people came to this game, and most of them are waiting in line for a souvlaki”

Yes, we’ll touch quickly on that Oakleigh match…day experience. The new stand is incredible but it makes the rest of their experience seem incomprehensible. How can a club that just delivered a $15 million grand stand mismanage so many aspects of the matchday?

Commentators complained about their provided space, spectators were in line for food for over an hour, kick off was delayed due to slow ticket processing, groups of teenagers ran a mock (lol), flares where thrown onto the ground and fireworks were set off by the stadium. Sure it was fun, but it was also fucked. Anyway, this isn’t a blog about Oakleigh, this is a blog about South Melbourne.

“The Championship, we’re gonna win…”

So what did that Oakleigh game tell us about South’s fans? It told us that there’s a shit ton of new ones. Many of you have probably noticed this growth during the season. Clarendon Corner is bigger, the grand stand is fuller, and merchandise is selling out. Among the many reasons for this, I strong believe the Australian Championship last year was the biggest factor.

Unlike the winter competitions which clash with grassroots fixtures, the spring time competition allowed many more South fans to actually attend games and the national status of the competition was an easier to sell to new and dormant fans. Critically the club delivered a memorable experience on and off the field. Full grandstands, daytime drinks on Clarendon Street, warm days, lake views, DJs, rock bands, ice cream, bougatsa, souvlakia – jeeze was that a dream? Unsurprisingly many of those new attendees have come to Lakeside this year in search of more! However, this includes swathes of new active fans which has resulted in a few growing pains.

“Hellas Ole Ole Hellas Hellas He-Ole-llas!

At the Oakleigh game the active bay was packed with newer fans and younger fans mixing with the older rusted-ons. The atmosphere was great but growing pains were exacerbated by the very tight seating allocation. There were overlapping chants, false starts, instances of miscoordination and even differences in matchday reactions.

This was clearest during the last minute penalty where many newer fans celebrated as though we had already scored, whilst many of the older crowd held themselves back. The following penalty miss then stung all the more due to the overexuberant preceding celebrations.

Although these are all seemingly minor things, I think that acknowledging these issues now offers a great opportunities for South active fans going forward.

*clawing actions* “South Melbourne’s mauling the Lions! Mauling the Lions! South Melbourne’s mauling the Lions!”

At the Lions game Clarendon Corner swelled further, spilling out of the bay and boasting many new and younger fans. Imagine my surprise when I turned my head and spotted my cousin a few rows behind me in the Clarendon Corner, attending his first ever South Melbourne game with his girlfriend!

Now for the most part this was fantastic – the new fans have brough flags, drums, colour, noise and energy – many of whom even spearheaded the march to the ground which was great fun! However, we still saw instances of overlapping chants, false starts and miscoordination. Although a lot of this will settle over time it still requires stronger guidance from active support leaders.

Bottom line for me is that we’re at the point now where we need someone with a megaphone to coordinate chants for big matches. We’re also at a point where Clarendon Corner (who are already very well organised) will need to coordinate this new intake of active fans, or at least cooperate with fan groups.

“There’s only one team in Melbourne! One team in Melbourne!”

In most circumstances we’d have some breathing space to iron things out. In fact in most cases the Lions attendance would be a high point we wouldn’t need to contemplate again until another infrequent massive games hits the club. However there’s a little something called the Australia Cup Final barrelling towards us with the weight of 30,000 people.

This is a completely different issue of a similar variety. For all the annoyances that come with integrating a few dozen new active fans the Australian Cup final offers the prospect of coordinating thousands of fans in the active area – many of whom may not attend South games regularly or if at all. As well as the gargantuan task of getting this many people to lift their hands to the trumpet (or to even hear it) there’s also a higher sense of expectation (of people expecting a show from Clarendon Corner) and pressure (from people remembering the headlines of the Macarthur vs Sydney United final).

Then you have the micro-challenges. Unlike Lakeside, where seating is self-assigned, AAMI Park’s allocated seating has meant that many groups of friends will be split up. The usually dense Clarendon Corner may also be spread across a giant stand with the gaps filled by – dormant fans? Neutrals? Theatre goers? New fans? Families? Who knows!?

Drums, trumpets, flags, banners, tifos(?), chants, all need a different level of coordination and face a heightened sense of expectation in size and atmosphere. If you think about too much can make your head spin! This challenge is especially difficult as this is a one-off away game rather than as a home match with established stadium connections and relationships.

“Clarendon Ole! Clarendon Ole! Clarendon Ole!”

So yes, that Oakleigh game got me thinking about our growing fanbase and future challenges. The longer term challenge for us to navigate and likely first bare its head at the Australian Championship – where we will have to integrate new active fans week on week. The second challenge is both more uncertain and more immediate – how will Clarendon Corner approach managing thousands of mixed fans for the Australia Cup final?

I hope they have a big megaphone!