Wanderers face huge punishment for flares and pitch invasion

Western Sydney Wanderers fans have been banned from attending NSW State League matches for the rest of the season after the club was handed a huge fine and points deduction for two separate incidents involving flares, fireworks and an on-field assault.

Football NSW on Tuesday presented its findings following an investigation into the behaviour of Wanderers supporters during two National Premier Leagues Men’s NSW matches, an away match against Sydney United 58 on May 5 and a home match against Sydney Olympic a week later.

The club pleaded guilty to a range of charges under Football NSW’s Complaints and Disciplinary Rules and was fined $33,500 and had six points deducted from its championship standings for the 2024 season, equivalent to two wins.

An additional six-point penalty has been suspended for the remainder of this season and the entire 2025 and 2026 seasons, which will be applied in the event of further violations, while all remaining home games this year will be played during “daylight hours” as directed by the state federation.

Home games at the club’s Rooty Hill training ground will be played under ‘restricted access’ conditions, meaning that only club officials, parents and family members, committee members and guests of the club will be allowed to attend. The same rules will apply to all away games.

Supporters of the A-League club, which fields a junior team in the NPL, reportedly set off flares at both matches. However, Football NSW took stricter action after wild scenes at the second match, a resounding 3-2 victory for the Wanderers over Sydney Olympic.

Players were sent off for several minutes by the referee at the end of the second half after a series of loud bangs were heard from the stands. Footage of the match, still on YouTube, then shows a thick plume of smoke billowing across the pitch, with a Wanderers player venting his frustration towards the corner of the pitch where Wanderers fans had gathered over the game being stopped.

“No, you’re not watching a derby in Belgrade or Zagreb or Buenos Aires, Argentina,” the match commentator said on the stream. “This is NSW NPL football at Wanderers Football Park and there’s been a flare and fireworks that have gone off, causing play to be stopped for a moment.