Melbourne Victory thug Matthew ‘Matt’ Gualano pleads guilty to AAMI Park pitch invasion: Court
A plumber has finally been exposed as the hooligan who beckoned unruly fans to “get aboard” the infamous AAMI Park invasion.
Melbourne City
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A Balaclava-clad thug has been unmasked as a key agitator who fired up a mob of unruly soccer hooligans to storm an A-League match that ended in violence.
Matthew ‘Matt’ Gualano, 23, was sentenced in the County Court on Wednesday to a two-year community correction order after pleading guilty to violent disorder.
Gualano, who also pleaded guilty to disrupting a sporting event, was one of the key hooligans who stormed the pitch during the infamous Melbourne Victory versus Melbourne City A-League game at AAMI Park on December 17, 2022.
The court heard Gualano, the sole hooligan to be slapped with an indictable charge, was part of the “fist wave” of thug supporters to storm the ground at the 20-minute mark of the game.
Gualano donned a balaclava and ran towards Melbourne City goalkeeper Thomas Glover.
Gualano threw a water bottle in the direction of Glover, match referee Alexander King and AAMI Park security guard John Skantzos.
King and Skantzos had run to help Glover after a group of thugs attempted to punch the goalkeeper in the head, the court was told.
Two lit flares were also thrown onto the pitch towards Glover.
The goalkeeper picked up a flare and hurtled it back into the stands near unruly Victory fans.
Another flare hit a cameraman at the ground.
Victory fans also destroyed 45 multi-screen LED monitors which circled the field.
Another hooligan threw a sand bucket at Glover which left the City goalkeeper with a facial laceration.
Glover was later rushed to hospital where he was treated for concussion.
Gualano then ran back towards the stands and used “beckoning arm gestures” to incite other Victory supporters to storm the ground.
The court heard Gualano hurled another sand bucket, trampled on LED monitors, ran back to the stands and fled the stadium.
Another hooligan ran towards City player Andrew Nabbout and “swung a clenched fist” but was intercepted by security.
Other Victory fans threw flares, buckets, bottles and broken stadium seating at players and officials until the match was officially abandoned at the 22-minute mark.
Unruly fans also threw missiles at police who had rushed to the game to curtail the violence.
The fracas was eventually broken up but not before the hooligans caused several injuries and almost $220,000 in damage.
The extraordinary scenes were captured by TV cameras and made headlines across the globe.
Victoria Police issued a statewide media blitz to hunt down Gualano and other violent offenders.
Gualano, who was identified via CCTV by being the only hooligan wearing a balaclava and his orange Adidas shoes, eventually handed himself to police.
Gualano told police he “saw people running onto the pitch” and “pretty much just followed”.
“(I) was under the impression that it was just a pitch invasion and when (I) saw
the goalkeeper get assaulted (I) was like, s--t, I don’t want to be involved,” Gualano told police.
“(I) just saw people running on and thought it was just a mass pitch invasion.
“(I) was just trying to throw the water bottle onto the pitch … (I) did see the
goalkeeper there and purposefully threw (the water bottle) to the side cause (I) did not want
to hit him or anyone …”
The court heard the pitch invasion had been ignited over an arrangement to play their A-League grand final games in Sydney.
Judge Fiona Todd said Gualano was an “early and keen participant in a big group”.
“You came with a balaclava … you came to the ground prepared to participate in some kind of illegal activity that night …,’’ she said.
“You followed the pack but you readied yourself for sometime … you threw two missiles … your behaviour no doubt encouraged others to participate …
“At one stage you pluckily stand on the boundary beckoning others to get aboard … you were part of a commission of an offence that was large-scale with a degree of planning and foresight …
“It caused widespread disruption and property damage … this was serious pack-driven pointless disruption …
“The game of football, so widely loved and so enjoyed from community level to professional, was made to look grim and dangerous and the domain of violent young men.
“Little wonder the community fell over themselves to support the Matildas the following year if this is what awaited them at the men’s game …”
Gualano, an apprentice plumber, avoided a conviction but was banned from entering AAMI Park and attending professional soccer games including A-League, AFC Asian Cup, World Cup and national team matches for five years.
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