Glory Shed stalwart Brian Doherty makes the case to scrap the ‘outdated’ Shed rules so active fans of all ages can come together for the good of the Perth Glory Football Club.
There’s a lot of issues at Perth Glory that makes being a Glory fan as hard as it’s ever been. Most of which, we as fans can’t do a lot about. But one thing we can do, is work to improve the atmosphere at home games.
Once upon a time Glory fans used to proudly sing “We’re the best fans in the land”, and at that time they were right. Huge crowds swarmed to Perth Oval to watch the National Soccer League (NSL) era Glory teams, current Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas hosted a TV show on Channel 7 called ‘Glory Days’ and even prominent Australia Football League (AFL) players in their offseason were spotted as regulars in the shed. Often described as the best Sunday session in town, The Shed was THE place to be with an atmosphere unmatched anywhere in Australia.
Those days are long gone. Sadly, a portion of the once famous atmosphere has gone with it.
There is however, one thing I believe we can do to improve the atmosphere, and that is to allow the younger enthusiastic fans access to the Shed, the heartbeat of the atmosphere at HBF Park.
The Shed was originally called ‘The Hill’. In the early days of our club, this was one of the few areas that was licensed for liquor consumption in the Perth Oval stadium. As such, it was classified as an 18+ area to comply with liquor licence regulations at that time.
As time has passed, so have the liquor regulations, and adults can now purchase and consume alcohol at any location around the stadium, however the outdated 18+ condition of entry to the shed has remained.
When HBF Park is used for other events such as Rugby Union or Rugby League, this condition does not apply, and minors are permitted into our famous Shed. Bizarrely, this rule only seems to apply to football.
Let’s look at some reasons for restricting access to minors and teenagers entering The Shed.
Colourful language
The Shed of the late 90’s was famous for chants that were both humorous and full of colourful language. This caused a lot of outrage at the time from people who didn’t want their impressionable teenagers to hear those words.
Well, time has progressed and society has progressed. Swearing is not quite the social taboo subject it once was. Teenagers now have social media and widespread use of the internet and are exposed to a lot more than accusations that the goal keepers’ parents might have not been married when he was born.
Furthermore, the culture of chants has changed over the years. The chants of 2024 are for the most part influenced by the European ultras scene, while not completely devoid of swearing, the chants are of a more active nature and less comically offensive than they were in the 1990s.
Anti-social behaviour
In a similar vein, The Shed of the 90’s was a crazy place to watch football. You were very likely to see women exposing their breasts, or blow-up inflatable novelty phalluses being punched around above everyone’s head.
I think it is also fair to say that the responsible service of alcohol standards did not apply to the same standard they do today. While it was fun at the time, we simply do not see any of this behaviour in the shed anymore. The only breast tissue you are likely to see is likely to be that of a 50-year-old man, and the only blow-up items getting passed around are bananas (I don’t get that one either).
We do not see people vomiting or passing out drunk anymore. There are no more fanzines with vouchers to the local “establishments of ill-repute”. The Shed is a much more tame and “well-behaved” environment in 2024. CCTV and more prominent security has also played its part.
Safety
The Hill/Shed of the 1990s was an old-fashioned relic of its West Australian Football League (WAFL) past. The surface of the floor was broken concrete and bitumen steps, or muddy/grass slope, depending on what part you stood.
When the shed was renovated in the mid-2000’s, safety became more of a priority. Crash barriers and crowd safety measures were installed and proper concrete steps made the match day experience a lot safer.
In addition to this, the capacity has been heavily reduced. The late 1990’s had 3000-plus inside The Shed; it was more akin to a mosh pit than a football terrace. If a goal was scored, you would often end up lost from your friends until the end of the game. These days a much tamer and safer 700 capacity, will calm the fears of the parents of any teenagers wanting to be a part of the active scene.
So, what is wrong with our current state?
The active teenage demographic that want to be involved in the active fan atmosphere, often to the annoyance of families with small children and the more passive fans, have to locate themselves in the seated area to the Front of the Shed (FOTS).
These young fans are often harassed by the odd ‘Karen’ and told to “Sit down and shut up”. This of course causes more friction.
Based on anecdotal feedback the young, active fan doesn’t want to annoy the more passive fans, but without an alternative area in the home end to show their support – what are they supposed to do?
Furthermore, in a quirk of stadium design and acoustics, you often can’t hear the shed from the FOTS area and vice-versa, coordination with the shed becomes impossible hence the support falls short.
It has led to a lot of young fans at 15 or 16 years old, losing the passion for Glory as they need to wait until they are 18-years-old to genuinely contribute to the active support, and if there’s one thing this clubs needs at the moment it’s enthusiastic support.
I fear Perth Glory may have lost many rusted on fans and potential long-term season ticket-holders due to an outdated rule keeping The Shed as a restricted area for youngsters.
We all want to see more people at Glory games, creating a better atmosphere and pushing our team on to success. This starts with having a united home end and encouraging all active supporter groups such as Glory Fans United and The Shed End together with Perth Glory Youth to see this come to fruition.
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