Pitch invaders behind the “darkest day” in Australian football have lined up to be punished in court for their part in an A-League soccer brawl that resulted in decades-long bans for disrespectful fans.
A derby match between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City had to be suspended in December last year after more than 150 spectators stormed the AAMI Park pitch.
Three dozen people were charged after a public campaign to identify those involved.
Magistrate Rosemary Falla handed down five-year bans - which carry criminal sanctions if breached - for several invaders already under 20-year Football Australia exclusion orders.
She's still considering her sentence for one of the major offenders, flagging jail time is one of several penalties on the cards.
Alex Agelopoulos, 23, launched a bucket of sand at Melbourne City goalkeeper Tom Glover, striking him in the side of the head during the incursion.
Glover required 10 stitches and suffered a concussion which stopped him training for a week after the incident.
"For a sport that is known as the beautiful game, these were indeed ugly actions," Agelopoulos' barrister Dermot Dann KC said, noting he had written letters of apology to Glover and Football Australia pledging to redeem himself.
He said Agelopoulos, who also threw another bucket of sand at the goals, had become the public face of the invasion and had to deal with labels including "bucket boy" that would live with him forever.
Agelopoulos will be sentenced by Ms Falla on two charges, including violent disorder, at a later date.
Referee Alex King, a TV cameraman and two security guards were also injured by others in the violent mob, which also turned on police as they responded to the chaos.
Ricardo Di Marco, 21, described as one of the instigators of the pitch invasion, was banned and fined $5000 by Ms Falla.
He threw a lit flare onto the pitch toward Glover before making his way onto the playing field.
Ms Falla said their protest against the Australian Premier League’s decision to host A-League finals in Sydney for the next three years was never going to convince officials that Melbourne or Victoria should have been chosen.
“Instead of promoting the world’s game in a way that shows our supporters, our clubs, our leagues and our players in the best light, you have contributed to this being the darkest day for football, for soccer, in Australia,” she said on Friday.
Deniz Kockaya, 26, was ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid community work and undergo an anger management program after striking a security guard in the back of the head.
His lawyer claimed his actions were motivated by a "mob mentality" and that he was remorseful and embarrassed about the entire incident.
Ms Falla described December 17 as a great day of shame for Football Australia and for Victoria.
“It remains inexplicable why you and your cohort behaved in the way that you did,” she told Kockaya.
“You all profess to love the game and yet totally disrespected it.”
Melbourne Victory was previously penalised by Football Australia for their fans' actions, which caused more than $200,000 worth of damage to AAMI Park.
The club was barred from selling tickets to home games, and fans were also precluded from attending away fixtures under an interim sanction that was the harshest in the sport’s history.
