Adelaide City chief condemns fans over homophobic abuse aimed at rival soccer clubs

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».

«It is with embarrassment that I report that the recent conduct of some Adelaide City supporters has been completely unacceptable and will no longer be tolerated by this club,» Mr Griffin wrote.

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