In a concerning incident at Adelaide’s Sturt Football Club, the property manager faced knife threats while players endured a barrage of thrown objects from a group of young individuals.
The unsettling episode unfolded during senior training at Unley Oval last week.
According to the historic SANFL club, formed in 1901, five youths disrupted the training session by riding bikes and running through drills. When asked to leave, one youth brandished a knife at the property manager while others hurled objects and unleashed verbal abuse at the players.
Visibly shaken by the ordeal, members of the women’s team were escorted to their cars by coaching staff as a precautionary measure. The club suspects the same group was responsible for vandalizing Unley Oval later that evening.
South Australia Police arrived at the grounds on Trimmer Tce around 6.20pm, but the suspects had already fled. The following morning extensive graffiti damage was found on the club’s facilities, including grandstands, the new interchange shelter, coaches’ boxes, canteen, benches, pavers, and public toilets.
Sturt Football Club is now collaborating with the City of Unley and volunteers to clean the graffiti before weekend games. The club believes this group has been involved in other recent acts of vandalism targeting City of Unley infrastructure and local businesses.
Police investigations into both incidents are ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to contact the authorities.
