It was an act so vile, so public and so over-the-top that it will forever be linked to not only the club, but the entire suburb.
Located just down down the road from the famous VFL Park in Melbourne’s south east, Glen Waverley Football Club had enjoyed a grand 50-year history before a Mad Monday binge made headlines around the planet
On Monday, the club’s committee members, which had earlier promised a solid public response to how it had handled the incident, firmly stuck their heads in the sand in hope what happened could be erased from history.
Wishful thinking. The fallout from a bunch of drunken footballers whose lewd antics in a suburban pub shocked the world will be felt for years to come.
Shocking footage emerged from a footy club’s raucous Mad Monday celebrations where one young man performed a sex act on his teammate
In the grand days of VFL Park, which hosted its last ever AFL match before 72,130 fans in 1999, such outlandish antics would have never been spoken of again outside of club circles.
But in these days of mobile phones and social media, what happened between two drunks at the Mountain View Hotel in Glen Waverley quickly went viral.
Patrons claimed the team smashed glasses inside and outside the pub, vaped indoors, stole drinks from behind the bar, and danced on tables.
They further claimed bathrooms were damaged and covered in vomit and players were abusive to other customers.
But what happened beside a pool table that day will add the Glen Waverley Football Club onto every list of Mad Monday disgraces for decades to come.
Glen Waverley Football Club players ran amok inside the Mountain View Hotel before filming a lewd act that went viral
Patrons and staff within the Mountain View Hotel were rightfully appalled about how the Glen Waverley Football Club players behaved themselves on August 14
The story goes when one player lost a bet to another he was forced to perform a sex act in the pub.
That act, in all its depravity, was captured on video by another team member, whose decision to share the hilarity sent the footage viral within hours.
The winner, dressed in a sea captain’s white jacket adorned with medals, was filmed standing legs spread with his undies down while the loser dropped to his knees and carried out the act.
‘Suck it’ a man was heard shouting as another player dressed in convict orange went in for a better look.
A young player wearing a Geelong jumper also appeared to enjoy the spectacle.
The 12-second video quickly spread within local footy circles and by the next day was in the hands of Melbourne journalists.
The story, which first appeared in Melbourne’s Herald Sun, was picked-up instantly by national news sites before being splashed across world famous celebrity website TMZ.
Before long the New York Post was running the story as were a number of other news sites spread across the planet.
Just punching ‘Glen Waverley’ into Twitter provides countless tweets referring to the club’s twisted antics within the Mountain View.
Until now, the Glen Waverley Football Club had been revered as a club that produced top AFL talent.
One of the Glen Waverley player’s lost a bet to his teammate – forced to perform the lewd act in the middle of a packed public pub
The Pickering brothers, both Justin and Michael, went onto become champion footballers with Richmond.
This year was supposed to herald a new era for the club, bringing in decorated VAFA coach Brett Gatehouse to lead the charge.
While the team itself didn’t have much to celebrate after finishing last in the Eastern League’s Division 3 and being relegated to Division 4, the fallout from Mad Monday has caused more pain than any on-field losses.
The club’s reputation is in tatters, with scores of people sinking the boot in online.
Over the weekend cruel rumours began circulating that at least one of those involved had taken his own life.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal those rumours are false.
While many with an opinion online offered sordid tales of Mad Monday filth and depravity, few, if any, seemed to happen while still inside the pub.
Even rugby league star Joel Monaghan, who quit the Canberra Raiders after a photo of him ‘simulating sex with a dog’ was circulated on a social media, had the good sense to keep it at home.
The old stadium at VFL Park remains in place 23 years after it hosted its last ever crowd of AFL fans
Former Canberra winger Joel Monaghan was filmed engaging in a lewd sex act with a dog after a Mad Monday bender in 2010
So incensed by the fallout, Monash City Council Mayor Stuart James told Daily Mail Australia on Friday the council had contacted Glen Waverley Football Club to make sure it knew just how it felt.
‘Council is extremely disappointed and concerned at the incident that occurred and finds the behaviour completely unacceptable. This has been relayed to the club,’ Mr Stuart said.
Despite claims by the club that a council representative would attend an emergency meeting it called this week to address the incident, Mr Stuart said no council representative did so.
‘We understand that a formal investigation is underway and therefore it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this time,’ he said.
Club president Matt Hollard told Daily Mail Australia on Monday the team’s behaviour threatened to derail the past 20 years of work building the club up.
‘As much as I’m very concerned about the players, I’m the president of the football club – that means everybody within the club – so my concern is huge and it’s draining and we’ve got to do the best we can to deal with a horrible situation,’ he said.
Mr Hollard assured those players, including the player who captured and shared the video, were to face the music.
‘Some of the ramifications from what their actions were will be brought up and discussed,’ he said.
‘There will be penalties. And for us as a club if we’re not careful.’
Richmond’s Michael Pickering has been a poster boy for the Glen Waverley Football Club since the 80s
Glen Waverley Football Club president Matt Holland has been forced to clean-up a public relations disaster after a video shared by club members went viral
Mr Holland said the club was deeply concerned for the wellbeing of all involved in the scandal, including those staff members who had to endure the feral team.
Daily Mail Australia contacted the Mountain View Hotel on Friday, but its manager refused to comment.
‘It’s probably done more damage than anything in the 50 year history of the footy club,’ Mr Hollard said.
Mr Hollard said the club had offered support to the men who featured in the video and further refuted reports that one of the men had been dumped on-the-spot by his wife.
‘That’s absolutely not true,’ he said.
Glen Waverley Football Club said in an earlier statement it would take ‘immediate action’ on the players involved in both the lewd video and the destructive behaviour.
‘The committee has been made aware of an incident which has occurred during the post-season celebrations of some of our senior playing group,’ it said.
‘While this occurred away from the club and was not a club-sanctioned event, we are extremely saddened and disappointed in the behaviour shown by people who should know better.
‘The club is taking immediate action to address the serious breach of our culture and values that has occurred within this incident.’
Club officials said all players involved would be disciplined, not just the pair who committed the sex act.
‘The individuals involved, along with the broader playing group will be both disciplined and educated and if need be, counselled in the type of conduct expected by members of our club,’ it said.
‘Along with the physical and emotional impact this has had on the families involved, club members, players and the wider community.’
But how the club sanctioned those involved remains, at least to the wider community, a mystery.
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