AS I sat in Canberra Stadium last weekend, hoping in vain for a late Mariners’ goal, my thoughts turned to our former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.

Although he brings back unpleasant memories for some Australians, Fraser is the only Prime Minister we've ever had who publicly supported his local football team. Fraser was Number One badge holder at the Canberra Cosmos in the 1970's, and while it may simply have been a publicity stunt, having a Prime Minister directly involved in supporting the local league sends a powerful message to the Australian public.

We can only hope that when Canberra's A-League bid is finally successful (and it deserves to be), Kevin will do the right thing and follow suit. While the crowd last weekend was fairly modest, there didn't appear to be any boycott, although it seemed to me that "Capital Punishment" missed a great opportunity to publicise their cause on national television.

God knows, we could have done with some entertaining crowd behaviour, or even a green painted streaker, as there was precious little entertainment on the pitch.

Sure, we're still fourth on the table, and players like Bojic, Heff and Travis (give him a starting position, Lawrie!) were impressive, but where are the goals? Although our defence is fantastic, our campaign seems to be stagnating as we wait patiently for those precious goals to materialise.

It's times like this that I wish we hadn't lost Sasho. He's just the kind of experienced and shrewd operator we need right now to balance Simon's youthful enthusiasm upfront. Lawrie dangled the exciting prospect of Paul Ifill before us this week, but it seems the club doesn't have the funds to make this a reality.

This is not the first time we've heard this type of "wish-list" statement from the gaffer. Apart from the fact that I don't really understand how one of the A-League's only profitable clubs has so little money, what's the point in tempting us with players we're never going to have ? Fans crave real results, not idle daydreams.

But what was more of a nightmare than a daydream was the ridiculous red card given in Saturday's match to Crowell. It is just the type of "letter-of-the-law" decision that causes normally fair-minded people to curse referees. With the first yellow somewhat dubious as well, it's hard not to sympathise with Matt's outburst at the fourth official as he left the pitch.

The Mariners will now have to face Melbourne this weekend without him: great! Another victory for pedantry over common sense.

A more dismal event than Crowell's dismissal awaited me, however, when I returned to my Canberra hotel room. Has there ever been a sadder sight in Australian football history than the desolate vision of Skilled Park on Saturday night ? And has there ever been a more rousing sight than those beautiful members of The Beach who broke through the barriers to wave a hand-painted sign at the cameras?

As far as I'm concerned, the fans who organised that protest are heroes. They epitomise all that is great about football fans and we should all admire and support their refusal to be restricted by those whose decisions are not in the best interests of the game. Their peaceful yet effective protest is surely a guiding light to other A-League fans of the future, a warning that we will not be taken for granted.

Sure, we can write blogs, paint signs and post on forums for the next ten years or we could take the lead from UK fans and form a Football Supporters Federation for the A-League.

This is the next logical step for fans who want to exercise genuine influence and use their considerable power for the good of the game. Imagine if all A-League supporters could join up for free to an organisation that would represent and campaign for their interests. Not to mention hold a massive annual free party.

This is exactly what happens in the UK, where the FSF has over 140,000 members and is now a highly regarded and influential body. It has regular meetings with football authorities, the Department of Sport and the police. It has campaigned successfully in such areas as ticket pricing and policing and taken up complaints on behalf of numerous members.

Perhaps the action of The Beach is a sign to all of us that the time has come to take fan support to another level. The question is: have we got the balls ?