An open letter to A-League fans, we have a problem Where there's smoke there's fire. Small minority of A-League fans behaving badly Western Sydney member "Brad" says enough is enough We call on true lovers of football to lobby to ban rogue fans for life I WRITE this not as a sports journalist but as a sports fan. Specifically, I write this as an Australian sports fan, with all the non-violent passion that term entails. And I write this as an average suburban father who takes his kids to sporting events, but who wouldn't dream of taking them to the A-League until football officialdom cracks down on the rogue fans whose existence it barely acknowledges. By now, you've likely seen the footage of the rampaging mob tormenting and hurling projectiles at diners in a Parramatta restaurant. No one is saying all football fans are troublemakers like that violent rabble. But clearly some are. And it's good news that the A-League has this afternoon banned some of them. Don't want to hear this from an outsider? Fine. Let me introduce you to Brad. Brad is a 25-year-old Sydney tradie who has played soccer his whole life. When he finally got a western Sydney team to support, he and 15 mates bought memberships immediately. Brad has since attended nearly every match. His view on the unruly mob? Ban the lot of 'em and never allow them back. "I saw the video and I was appalled," he says. You can have a bit of fun and banter but that went way too far. Brad sits in the northern terrace, among members of the RBB or "Red and Black Bloc," as Wanderers fans are known. He is proud to wear the red and black and to chant and sing for his club. It's a great atmosphere. You don't stop singing the whole game," he says. Brad sits near families with small children enjoying a pleasant day at the football. We understand, both from his anecdotes and from happy family snaps sent to news.com.au, that the entire stadium is not a giant, seething cauldron of rage. Honestly, we get that. Problem is, the rogue element is still there week in, week out. And no one is doing anything. "I have never felt personally threatened, but yeah, I have seen people who felt threatened by aggressive blokes," Brad says. I don't want those people to come. The RBB is better without them, they are just ruining it for everyone. So there you have it. A Wanderers fan and lifelong football fan says he is sick of the thugs. Now, admittedly other Australian sports have had their bad moments with rogue fans. But when major blow-ups happen in NRL or AFL, it is front page news and the offenders are dealt with. All sports have their bad days. Soccer just seems to have a few more. Pic: Mark Evans Source: Football people accept neither the bad publicity nor the blame. You have to change your mindset. You football people simply have to understand that a crackdown on violent fans is not an attack on the game you love. When a patron king hit a fan at a recent Wanderers game in Melbourne, football people got angry at Channel Nine for making the video of the punch the lead TV news story. "It doesn't deserve to be blown up the way it has," Wanderers executive chairman Lyall Gorman said. I think there are lots of agendas. Is this guy for real? Mr Gorman backed down a little this afternoon and admitted he had a problem. The trick for people like him now is not to revert to their line that everyone is trying to undermine the sport of football. We're not. We're just Australians accustomed to attending sporting events without fearing for our personal safety. And we want to keep things that way for everyone. So here's an idea. How about you, the real football fans, follow Brad's lead and urge FFA chief David Gallop and your local club boss to take an even harder line on these thugs and troublemakers and ban them for life. That's not an attack on the game you love. It's an invitation for you to defend it.