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A-League game chaos as flock of seagulls halt game with pitch invasion

The A-League match between Melbourne Victory and Newcastle Jets at AAMI Park in Melbourne turned into chaos after the game was briefly halted as a flock of seagulls descended on the pitch

[Seagulls on the pitch ]

The pesky seagulls caused brief disruption to the game(Image: Paramount )

A major football league match in Australia came to a brief stoppage after a flock of seagulls began surrounding the area of a freekick in the dying minutes of the game.

The bizarre seagull invasion came during the A-League match between Melbourne Victory and Newcastle Jets at AAMI Park in Melbourne on Friday (April 17).

In the 90th minute of the game, seagulls suddenly descended onto the pitch close to where Newcastle Jets midfielder Lachlan Bayliss was looking to take a freekick.

The pesky birds, notorious for nicking chips, seemed to have turned their attention to halting proceedings to the beautiful game as they surrounded the freekick taker.

The game ended in a 2-2 draw, but despite the entertaining contest, it was the seagulls that stole the show after footage of the incident went viral online.

One X user said: "Seagulls love their football!" Another added: "Peak A-League when the pitch is covered by seagulls. Pure, unadulterated chaos."

Other fans were joking about Premier League side Brighton, suggesting this is more like how their home games should be.

[MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 17: Lachlan Bayliss of the Jets is surrounded by seagulls as he prepares to take a free kick during the round 25 A-League Men match between Melbourne Victory and Newcastle Jets at AAMI Park, on April 17, 2026, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)]

The ref really needed to show some red cards (Image: Getty Images)

Others were also questioning just why there were so many seagulls in that area of the pitch. Some suggested some fans may have thrown food from the stands.

Despite the bizarre scenes, Victory boss Arthur Diles failed to knowledge the seagulls in his post-match interview but did see positives in his teams draw.

He said: "I think we deserve more out of these two games, and we got bit in the end. The performance is something Ive got to focus on, and the performance was good for a lot of that game. So thats a pleasing sign.

[Seaguls invade A-League game]

The action later got a bit too close to the gulls(Image: Paramount )

We want to play well as well, not just pick up points, but the points in the end should correlate with a good performance. When you dont get the three points, when you feel like you probably can, thats disappointing, its hard to take, but well go again."

Newcastle Jets, who are currently leading the A-League, also did not point out the gulls despite their actions disrupting their late freekick hat could have potentially led to an opportunity to win the game.

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