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In the early hours of Saturday morning, the atmosphere at Federation Square felt pretty unsafe.
Having queued for hours before being denied entry, they were cold, wet, frustrated – and in some cases spoiling for a fight.
When I arrived at 4.15am to cover the match for The Age, the security guard wasn’t letting anyone in.
“If I open the gate, and they see, they’ll rush it,” she explained. “We’ve just got to wait until they disperse.”
The “they” the security guard was referring to were the hoards of teenage boys milling around the area looking for a way in.
Some had been waiting since 2am to try to get inside, only for the gates to open at 4am and the square to reach capacity within about five minutes.
The small group of media standing at an entry gate quickly caught their attention.
“Are you letting people in this gate?” one young man challenged the guard.
He tried to push past her, and when she put up her hands to protect herself he started yelling.
“Don’t touch me, you’re not allowed to touch me,” he shouted.
One of his friends began to film the interaction and a crowd started to gather, sensing an opportunity.
The group started pushing on the closed gate, causing the two guards to stand aside helplessly as they were completely outnumbered.
“Let’s go! Go, go, go,” the fans cried as they ran past and pushed open the barriers. “Rush it!”
Once inside, the mob was jubilant – until the armed police and guard dogs showed up and cordoned them off.
I was waved through, a little shaken by the experience, but glad to be able to move on.
It seems that Federation Square has become a victim of its own success as a beloved venue to watch live sport.
In 2006, when the Socceroos made the World Cup for the first time in 32 years, I remember heading to Fed Square with my housemates to watch the games on the big screen.
Back then, there were no fences, barriers or queues. You could just turn up and the atmosphere was joyful and good willed, cheering on Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell.
In contrast, many in the crowd on Saturday seemed like they were there looking for trouble.
As the national anthem played, before the match even began, flares turned the sky red and caused groups to scatter for their safety.
The crowd was mainly big groups of men, and I saw hardly any other women. I was saddened, but not completely surprised, to learn that a woman was allegedly sexually assaulted as the game began, with police identifying a 16-year-old boy as a person of interest.
The Melbourne Arts Precinct, which manages Federation Square, announced in May that it would not screen World Cup matches due to previous poor behaviour from fans. The decision caused such an outcry that Premier Jacinta Allan quickly intervened and overturned it.
“There’s always the risk of bad behaviour from a few dickheads at every public gathering, but police and security will be on-site and there’ll be zero tolerance for it,” Allan said at the time.
Sure, the majority of the crowd at Fed Square on the weekend was well-behaved. But those few dickheads spoiled it for me and countless others.
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