by The Melbourne City keeper breaks his silence after being badly injured when a bin was smashed over his head in A-League disgrace
- Melbourne City goalkeeper Tom Glover has broken his silence after the weekend chaos
- Glover was attacked by Victory fans invading the pitch and suffered a concussion
- Glover described the ugly incident as ‘disappointing for Australian rules football’
- The goalkeeper said a small minority had ruined the wave created by the Socceroos
Melbourne City goalkeeper Tom Glover has broken his silence after sustaining an injury in Saturday night’s violent pitch invasion in Melbourne’s A-League derby against Victory at AAMI Park.
Just 20 minutes into the first half, Victory fans stormed the pitch and smashed a trash can in Glover’s face, leaving him concussed and bloodied.
Melbourne City goalkeeper Tom Glover (pictured) has broken his silence after sustaining an injury in Saturday night’s violent pitch invasion in the A-League Melbourne derby against Victory at AAMI Park
Just 20 minutes into the first half, Victory fans stormed the pitch and smashed a trash can in Glover’s face, leaving him concussed and bloodied.
The 24-year-old goalkeeper, who was taken to hospital and required stitches, attended his first training session on Monday and addressed the media with a bandage on the right side of his head .
“The incident is disappointing for Australian rules football itself,” he told Channel 9.
“The Socceroos were amazing and (we hoped) to ride the wave of that, but a small minority kind of ruined it.”
The ugly incident has left Australian rules football in shock and the feel-good factor generated by the Socceroos’ outstanding performance at the World Cup seems a distant memory.
The ugly incident has left Australian rules football in shock and the feel-good factor generated by the Socceroos’ outstanding performance at the World Cup seems a distant memory.
Football Australia said it would apply “the strongest possible penalties to the club and those involved” over the incident.
Football Australia bosses have also not ruled out a sanction against Glover for launching a flare into the crowd on Saturday night.
Chief Executive James Johnson said the investigation into the land invasion would begin when the first rocket lands on the land.
“The moment a flare hits the field is the moment…that triggers all of the events,” he said.
“We will look at it fairly and objectively and move on quickly.
Football Australia said it would apply “the strongest possible penalties to the club and those involved” over the incident.
“I don’t want to comment on the outcome…we have to go through the process.” We look at the facts. We will look at it objectively and make a decision that we believe is in the overall best interests of the game.’
Victoria Police have released photos of eight football fans who may be able to help their investigations into how the Melbourne A-League derby descended into shocking scenes.
Acting Superintendent Jason Goddard condemned the “shocking, disgraceful and un-Australian” behavior and expects police “to be knocking on doors very soon”.
“What we saw last night from those who chose to invade the field was shocking, shameful and completely disrespectful to the game of football,” Superintendent Goddard said.
Victorian Police have released photos of eight football fans who may be able to help their investigations into how the Melbourne A-League derby descended into shocking scenes
“I’m a game lover and I’m really sad about what I saw being played out on the pitch last night.
“I was at the game and I watched the vision of what happened several times and I see the behavior as disgusting.
“The detectives of our Metro Northwest Regional Crime Squad are hard at work and I have no doubt we’ll be knocking on a few doors soon.”
