Adelaide Crows fans have written to the club and threatened to cancel their memberships after they were left embarrassed and devastated in the wake of heavy crowd booing of Isaac Quaynor in Collingwood's qualifying win.
Quaynor was the target of a homophobic slur from Adelaide's Izak Rankine in round 23, which resulted in the Crows star being handed a four-match ban that all but ended his finals campaign before it had begun.
Fans at the game said it was not just the booing. They also overheard slurs and offensive homophobic language being used by a small number of supporters towards the Collingwood players.
Jeff, a life-long fan of the club, was also at the game. The 46-year-old, who did not want his last name used, said he was "genuinely confused when the crowd first booed Quaynor".
"But as the game went on, slurs were freely thrown at Collingwood players from a — thankfully — small group of the crowd, [but] my heart sank," he told ABC Sport.
"It got worse as the game went on. My wife ended up in tears at one point over the whole thing."
Another Crows fan at the game, Jess Fleming, said she overheard a group of male Adelaide supporters in their 20s using offensive homophobic language towards one of the Magpies players.
After she turned around and gave them a stern look, she said they spent the rest of the night teasing her about it.
Fleming said she could not support the Crows with her whole heart for the remainder of their finals campaign.
This sentiment was shared by an LGBTQIA+ Crows supporter, who wished to remain anonymous as they are not fully out. They told ABC Sport that to say they were devastated was an understatement.
"Usually, sitting at Adelaide Oval, cheering with the crowd is the highlight of my week," they said.
"I love footy, I love going to the games, and I did love being a Crows men's supporter but I don't know that I can be anymore."
Fans disappointed in club's reaction to the saga
Much of the fan disappointment has been aimed at the club's handling of Rankine's ban, including a club submission to the league attempting to reduce the sanction.
When asked on two occasions in the post-match press conference his thoughts on the booing, Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks replied: "It's not one for me to comment on."
The Crows released a statement on Friday saying: "We want members and footy fans to be barracking and passionate. However, they should do so respectfully and any behaviour contrary to that is disappointing and not appropriate."
Diversity and inclusion leader Rana Hussain, who was part of the anti-racism advisory committee formed to help the Collingwood Football Club implement recommendations from its 2020 "Do Better" report, drew parallels with the Adam Goodes saga.
"In 2016, we watched Adam Goodes get booed for representing his traditional culture and calling out racism from the crowds. The footy community's response was not to wade in or be definitive about that," Hussain said.
"In 2025, a player of colour reports homophobia and the footy community's response is to boo him.
"And when asked to comment, the head coach, … whose fans were leading the charge, presented with an opportunity to be clear and decisive in condemning that treatment of a player, chose not to wade in.
"Going by this, our footy community hasn't learned as much as we thought we had."
Jacqui Clark is one of many Adelaide fans who wrote to the club. After being a fan for 31 years, Clark asked for the Crows to release a statement that explicitly referenced the harm caused to LGBTQIA+ supporters.
"Last night, for the first time in my life, I felt ashamed to sit amongst supporters who booed an opposition player, who was the victim of a homophobic slur," Clark wrote in an email to the club.
"I felt ashamed to be wearing the same colours as them. I was hoping that in the post-game presser, 'Nicksy' would call this out, and I could point to that and say 'see, that's not what my club stands for', but he didn't. He responded that he wouldn't comment."
'Vile, unacceptable and deeply damaging'
In an open letter the club shared with ABC Sport, supporter Richard Heath called for a sincere apology to Quaynor, a public acknowledgement of the harm caused to the LGBTQIA+ supporters, an apology to Crows fans, and a commitment to meaningful change moving forward.
"This [crowd] behaviour was vile, unacceptable and deeply damaging," Heath said.
"What makes this situation worse is the apparent inaction and complacency from the Adelaide Football Club itself.
"Whether intentional or not, the message sent was clear. There is space for homophobia in and around the club.
"Matthew Nicks had two opportunities in his post-match press conference to condemn the crowd's actions and show solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community. He chose not to … at a time when leadership was sorely needed, none was shown".
For many long supporting Crows fans, the saga has, in supporter Rhys Harrison's words, taken "the most exciting time in a nearly a decade and tarnished it".
"I have written to the Crows and asked them to respond to the situation publicly. If there isn't a decent response, I'll be reconsidering my men's membership for next year," Harrison said.
Similarly, Jess Rooke, 39, who has been a member for 12 years, told ABC Sport said she was reconsidering her membership.
"Next year, I just can't imagine how I will take action and click that renew button," Rooke said.
"I don't have the capacity to watch and wait for positive actions anymore. I'd rather put my support behind people and groups that are already showing up."
