FEW things excite me more than an F3 derby – just anticipating this match all week gave me an adrenaline rush.

So when the Mariners came out with all guns blazing it was sheer pleasure to watch them.

Macca’s lucky shin pads were working, Vukes showed he was back with a vengeance and Hutch (as always) demonstrated his fighting spirit. We even had a comic face-off between Joel and O’Grady to round off the night.

What with all this and our gleaming gaffer fresh from his waxing to raise money for breast cancer, it was a night that should’ve made any Mariners fan proud.

And it felt so good...until the moment Zura had a minor run-in with Vukes and the torrent of racial abuse began around me.

The idiots couldn’t even get their continents right as they flung their ignorant insults at Zura. Then followed the usual anti-Asian stuff directed at Song and at one stage they even seemed to be struggling to find a suitable insult to hurl at Dutchy but were frustrated by their ignorance of the Netherlands (suggestion - “your mother wears…clogs” ).

But the comment that really made me sick was directed to Jade North and a slur on his aboriginal background. In 20 years of watching football in Australia I cannot remember hearing a more offensive remark from a spectator. Do they realise this is the same guy who has represented his country with distinction, or do they simply not care?

Close sporting rivalry is a beautiful thing: it intensifies our passion, excitement and team loyalty and can provide us with a sense of pride and camaraderie. And what football fan can honestly say they have not participated in a bit of hassling of the opposition? Insulting a player’s haircut, ball skills, lack of toughness or even their hobbies (as in sneering “how’s your pet rabbit, Durante?”) is all part of the fun.

But racial abuse of any kind cannot be tolerated. These were not a few blokes who’d wandered in after a night at the pub (although they did spend most of the match getting tanked) but card-carrying Mariners Members. I felt ashamed to wear the same colours, disgusted that there were numerous children listening. Imagine the damage these blokes do to the club’s reputation when they go to away games, let alone overseas.

In a week when (I hope) all A-League fans rejoiced in Adelaide’s historic victory, perhaps these ‘fans’ need a little history lesson of their own. Australian ‘soccer’ (as I heard these boofheads call it) is and always has been a culturally diverse sport. If you’ve got a problem with that perhaps it’s time you stopped coming to matches and took your bigotry elsewhere.

The Mariners are the team I have been waiting to support all my life – I’ll be damned if I’ll let their fanbase be corrupted by a bunch of racist morons. The players, the club and the A-League deserve better.

Yes, I know about the spectator code of conduct and “Give Racism the Red Card” but perhaps we also need a fan-led initiative. In this, as they have done in so many other things, let the Mariners lead the way forward.

When not watching the Mariners, Julia enjoys a wide-range of interests. These include talking about football, thinking about football and watching football on TV. Her most prized possession is her autographed copy of “Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters”, and meeting Bozza was this year’s highlight.