In Perth last Friday night, the football watching public bore witness to disturbing scenes of alcohol-fuelled violence and invective.

But less than 24 hours later, across the country in Bendigo, local football and netball grand finals played out in an atmosphere of respectful parochialism.

The image of Australian Rules Football – and sport in general – was struck a severe blow during last week’s preliminary final between Hawthorn and Fremantle at Subiaco Oval.

Yet the unique ability of sport to bring a community together was never better exemplified than at Bendigo’s Queen Elizabeth Oval on Saturday.

There is no escaping the fact it has been a truly horrible year for the AFL in terms of the behaviour of its crowds at stadiums across the country.

The repeated booing of Swans champion Adam Goodes, which inexplicably went beyond merely barracking to include odious racial overtones, was sickening.

The incident on Friday night when a Dockers supporter cocked his arm and looked for all the world like he was going to throw a punch at a Hawthorn player was genuinely heart-in-the-mouth stuff.

And for footage to then emerge of a man striking a woman to the throat after she dared to ask him to cease a foul-mouth tirade launched in front of her young children made you wonder if the world had gone mad.

One of the AFL’s great strengths has been, especially in recent years, that families can get along to a game and watch in safety.

The same cannot be said about Rugby League and the emerging force that is soccer, which have both been beset by crowd behaviour problems.

But that mantel has slipped this year. There will be parents now unlikely to take their children to games where they risk exposure to violence and obscene language.

And that is a desperate shame because as we saw on Saturday, here in Bendigo, being the supporter of a team – be it one at the highest level or in lower leagues – is a remarkably life-affirming pursuit.

Let us hope the AFL can stamp out this behaviour before it filters right through the code.