An Adelaide soccer club has publicly slammed a group of its own supporters over homophobic and other "disgraceful" comments levelled at opposition players.
In a statement on Facebook, Adelaide City FC chairman Greg Griffin said that two rival teams that had played at his side's home ground at Oakden this season had been subjected to offensive comments.
Nicknamed the Zebras, Adelaide City was a founding member of the old NSL and is one of Australia's most successful sides, today competing in the National Premier Leagues, the tier below the A-League Women's and Men's competitions.
Mr Griffin, who is a prominent lawyer and a former chairman of A-League club Adelaide United, said he was "deeply concerned" by the conduct and behaviour of some supporters that ranged from "being inappropriate to disgraceful".
He said while some fans had so far avoided sanction, that would no longer be the case, and that opposition players had the right to take to the field without "being the subject of obscene abuse and ridicule" from "so-called supporters".
Mr Griffin said fans identified by Football South Australia (FSA) as having engaged in such conduct would be banned from entering today's match, and that anyone who persisted was "no longer welcome at Oakden".
In addition to being inherently unacceptable, the abuse was also harming the club by driving away its next generation of players, Mr Griffin said.
"Every time some foul-mouthed supporter screams homophobic and offensive comments at an opposing player, the less likely the parents are to bring their children back the next week," he said.
Mr Griffin was moved to issue the statement after the "disgusting and vile" conduct was brought to the attention of the club's senior management team.
"It is an issue of great importance to me," he told the ABC.
"When I read them [the comments], it troubled me that somebody could even think of saying some of the things that were said."
Mr Griffin said incidents at games against Campbelltown and Cumberland were currently being investigated by FSA, but added that the club would respect "whatever sanction … FSA chooses to impose".
"Unless fans and spectators are prepared to comply with the FSA Codes which Adelaide City embraces without question, then to be blunt you are no longer welcome here," he said.
The persistence of homophobia at soccer grounds across Australia was again brought into the spotlight earlier this year, when Adelaide United defender Josh Cavallo was subjected to homophobic slurs.
